Grouper Betas Video Sharing Service

California-based software company Grouper unveiled a free video sharing service on Wednesday, which would allow for the easy editing, sharing and transfer of user-created videos. Grouper is moving away from its previous incarnation as a private P2P network to focus on video.

The 2.0 beta release of Grouper also allows users to format their videos for playback on the video iPod, PSP and other portable devices. The company says it will not put limits on the number, size or duration of content being shared on the service by any one user.

"By offering the core features to capture, edit and share user-created videos in one service, we have made it simple and exciting for anyone to share their lives through video," Grouper Networks CEO Josh Felser said. "Not only have we created a great user experience, we've found the secret sauce of the video business model."

Felser said Grouper's technology allows the company to provide the service at no cost to the user by combining a hosted and a secure distributed computing model. By leveraging this computer-to-computer backend, Grouper can deliver the videos efficiently to users without compromising the experience.

The Grouper application will enable users to both import videos directly from their cameras, as well as edit them from within the program. Several different options provide different methods to share videos.

Grouper is capable of saving edited videos in three different formats. Users can also create dynamic previews of their videos, called filmstrips, for others to view, as well as syndicate their work through RSS feeds to other services.

Users can also watch content created by others through Grouper TV, which will allow for the browsing of content uploaded to Grouper.

Grouper's original peer-to-peer consumer media sharing application was released in the fall of 2004. Grouper 2.0 Beta is available for download from FileForum.