Yahoo! Go TV
So, Yahoo! acquires Meedio, re-brands it to “Yahoo! Go on your TV” and offers it for free.
From what I can tell, this free version is far more equipped than the existing free version of Meedio and is pretty much the existing pro version. Screenshots here.
So, what’s the significance of this in the greater universe?
Well, IPTV needs to move to the next level and this is a tiny little step in that direction.
What’s the end game for IPTV? IPTV is, at a minimum, the regular TV experience being delivered via the internet. However, in reality IPTV must include interactive content and PVR capability . . . or in other words, the internet experience on your TV.
At this stage Yahoo! Go for your TV is a slightly modified version of Meedio Pro – nothing major. The impact comes when Yahoo! starts to deliver real content through it.
Think about all of these recent moves by ABC, CBS, iTunes, Google etc to deliver television content. It’s all nice and dandy to be able to watch it all on your computer, but imagine having these shows (and movies) built in to your TV. Imagine having a menu on your TV where you, via an IR remote control, choose what to download and watch, what news to read, what social sites to participate in etc.
A friend of mine raised an interesting point today. His view is that people who are tech savvy enough to set up a HTPC, are also savvy enough to download TV content via bit torrent and as such are unlikely to buy TV shows via Yahoo! Go.
I totally agree with him. So, where’s the market?
In order for IPTV to really succeed, it needs to be integrated into appliance devices such as TIVO, digital set top boxes etc.
Yahoo! Go on your TV will be a great geek toy and will hopefully demonstrate to a greater audience how digital media on a television can work and be viable.
I might go and trial it on my HTPC.
-dg
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