Veoh takes on Joost and Babelgum in the Telly 2.0 war
Just a couple of days ago I was writing about how online TV is set to explode in the next six months, thanks to firms like Joost and Babelgum. Now another startup has joined the fray: Veoh Networks. It launched its VeohTV service today, in beta naturally.
It’s billed as a combined video browser and DVR service, with a focus on its TiVo-like recommendation engine that serves users with stuff it thinks they’d like to watch, based on their preferences.
Veoh is also making great play of VeohTV’s openness, as it’s able to pull in video from all over the Web, including content from big broadcasters and user-generated stuff from YouTube and MySpace.
“Unlike Joost, which is a closed system with content from a limited number of sources, VeohTV supports open Internet standards, and has access to virtually all of the video content on the Internet, on demand.” says Dmitry Shapiro, CEO of Veoh Networks.
The press release has adulatory quotes from TV industry figures Barry Diller and Ross Levinsohn, so it’s obviously impressing some broadcast bigwigs. However, unlike Joost it involves installing an application on your PC, through which you browse available content and watch it full-screen.
Most of it will be streaming, but there’ll be an option to download some shows/videos to watch offline. Veoh clearly has one eye on the living room too – the service has been designed to be usable with a remote control.
It’s also got some cool Web 2.0 malarkey going on, with the inclusion of widgets to interact with other websites while watching. At launch, there’s already widgets for Amazon, eBay, Gmail, Hotmail, CraigsList and AOL, with more to come.
VeohTV has launched in beta, which will be limited in its early stages. You can sign up via the link below, and PRAISE BE, it works on Macs as well as PCs.
VeohTV website
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