Best Buy and Mydeo announce video sharing service

Minneapolis (MN) - Best Buy is trying to take advantage of the Internet video phenomenon, offering its own platform for users to swap home movies.

The Minneapolis-based electronics retailer this week launched a new service that allows users to upload their own videos to a dedicated server, where they can be accessed by any other Internet user.

After uploading a video, the user will receive an HTML code that can be embedded into his or her own personal website. This will create a flash video player that functions essentially the same as Youtube, Veoh, or any other video sharing site that offers embedded Web code.

Users can also send their video files via e-mail. The new service is the result of a partnership between Best Buy and Mydeo. The retailer bought a minority stake in Mydeo, a company that specializes in hosting streaming video files.

The catch is that users will have to pay for their uploads, at the rate of around $7/month for 100 minutes of video hosting. Plans go up from there for additional storage capacity.