[Josh] Of all the things I saw yesterday, one of the most interested was Akimbo. The CEO is an old colleague of mine, Josh Goldman, and I had almost written the company off since it was (a couple of years ago) trying to sell a separate set-top box that downloaded content from the Net.
The current strategy is working far better. Akimbo has collected content from 200 sources -- networks programs, oddball stuff, and with help from MovieLink, recent Hollywood movies. This is your basic collection of nearly everything on the Net you'd like to see on your TV, except for user-generated content -- and I'm sure that's coming.
Then they go out to IVD platforms and say "hey, why not license our complete content collection." If the company is Sony, they may respond "no thanks, we'll do that ourselves." But if it's somebody a little less connected (or a little more in a hurry), they see Akimbo as far preferable to making their own deals with 200 content companies.
So far Akimbo is on an RCA standalone set-top box that does downloads and the AT&T Homezone service. It wouldn't surprise me if they make deals with Digeo and many of the other players entering this market. If you can't make your own portal, come to Josh Goldman.
I should mention they support one other product that's pretty interesting in its own right. SanDisk announced a new product called USBTV. It's a weeny little thing that comes in three parts. One plugs into your PC's USB port like a thumb drive with a weight problem. The second is an adapter that plugs into your TV. The third is a remote. You plug the USB part into your PC and copy over some content, including unprotected videos or Akimbo files. Then you plug the USB into the TV adapter and view the content using the remote. Slick as can be - and yet another way to do the Internet Video Device thing.
Back to the show . . .
Technorati tags: Bernoff, Forrester, Internet video, Akimbo, USBTV
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