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Audio and video search engine Blinkx yesterday introduced a new service that allows its users to sync video blogs and podcasts with portable devices.
The company said Blinkx.tv To Go lets users search for specific video content online and sync it with one click to their iTunes or personal video player software, regardless of its original format.
"Blinkx.tv To Go empowers Internet users to customize not only what video content they receive, but also how and when they view it," said Blinkx founder and CTO Suranga Chandratillake.
Betting on Video Blogging
Blinkx said video blogging, or vblogging, has exploded on the Internet over the past few months, suggesting that many consumers are eager for an alternative to commercial broadcasts.
A vblog is a weblog that uses video as its primary presentation format. Vblogs are usually accompanied by text, image and additional meta data to provide a context or overview for the video. Sites like vBlog Central are attempting to cash in on the trend with how-tos and hosting.
Blinkx.tv To Go lets users enter a search of video blogs, and with one click, either upload specific results to their iPod or portable video player, or save the search as a "channel." Blinkx said the search is then automatically and perpetually updated and fed to their devices, where it can then be viewed as a single media stream. Blinkx takes care of all the formatting, regardless of the original file type.
"We wanted to make the experience of finding compelling multimedia and making it portable, as efficient and easy as possible," Chandratillake said. "Our vision of IPTV combines the interactive, customizable experience of the Internet, with the simple, seamless way we watch TV, and now we've made it portable."
Seeking Early Adopters
Blinkx said independent video blog content is not widely available at traditional download sites. With its new service, blinkx boasts it is throwing open the doors to a wide variety of new, user-generated video and making it fully searchable and portable with "one quick click."
For example, skiing fanatics can enter a search on "moguls" or "iron cross," and with one click, save their favorite footage from the results to their iTunes or portable video player library.
Alternatively, users can save the search as a feed which would continually and automatically submit relevant video to their library, for viewing at their convenience -- whenever and wherever they chose to watch it.
A Strategic Opportunity
Blogging expert B.L. Ochman, president of WhatsNextOnline.com, told MacNewsWorld that blinkx is leveraging a strategic opportunity with vblogs.
"There's so much happening in the video blog arena," Ochman said. "Blinkx is smart to be in this space at this point. This service is going to help them make a name for themselves in this market."
While not as popular as traditional blogging, Ochman nonetheless expects to see some creative works show up in the world of vblogs.
"It's pretty clear at this point that what we want to see on TV and in movie theaters is not being presented to us," Ochman said. "There is a huge opportunity now for people who make projects that are clever to build an audience for them on the Internet."
