Video search company blinkx has entered the crowded broadband video market with the launch of BBTV, based on a hybrid peer-to-peer streaming platform that competes with the likes of Joost and Babelgum. Claiming to be the future of online television, it aims to differentiate its service through speech recognition technology that will allow users to click on words in a transcript to search the web for relevant information.
Blinkx BBTV claims it does not just deliver video over the internet but immersing it in the world of the web.
“Broadband internet connections are fast enough today that with the right technology, it’s possible to deliver an experience that’s equal in quality to television,” said Suranga Chandratillake, the founder and chief executive of blinkx. “BBTV delivers television over the internet, but it also fuses that TV with the wealth of information on the web, rather than appearing as just another layer floating above it.”
Using blinkx video indexing technology, BBTV claims to create a transcript of programmes, allowing users to navigate by keyword search and simply click on a word to access background information. The service will also be integrated with the blinkx AdHoc contextual advertising system.
Using a hybrid peer-to-peer streaming approach, as pioneered by Joost and Babelgum, blinkx BBTV requires a download application. Unlike those services, it has chosen to protect programming using Microsoft digital rights management technologies.
The company says it will continue to add programming to the platform, as well as working with rights holders to power similar experiences for partner media and entertainment sites looking for new ways to connect with their viewers.