"Will the click of a mouse bring TV to its knees?
Faster broadband connections, greater availability of programmes and films on the web and the arrival of video search engines look set to unleash a viewing revolution.
JUST WHEN you thought you could head for the hills with your Freeview box, television seems set to completely change again.
We are no longer talking about extra channels, however. The idea of rival packages will be painfully passé. What is now on the horizon is the chance to watch any programme or film, whenever you like, most likely at no charge.
Welcome to the world of internet television. Whether you want vintage episodes of The Tube or the original print of The Man Who Knew Too Much or Friday night's EastEnders, it will never be more than a few clicks away.
Last week, there were two more signs that these delights could soon be upon us, both in announcements from companies that are far from being household names. The first came from Tioti, or Tape It Off the Internet, a London and Seattle-based venture aiming to provide a searchable database of all television programmes and films on the net. Having been trialling to 16,000 early adopters for the past few months, it is committed to a full launch in June.
Then it emerged that Blinkx, a more general video search engine, is to demerge from its Cambridge-based parent, technology firm Autonomy, and seek a listing on the alternative investment market next month. See my take on them here.
With video searching far more difficult than text searching because of the lack of words for the program to latch on to, Blinkx is reckoned to be as close as anybody to making it work, including Google.
If there is finally a buzz around companies offering video search methods, it is because the content is finally arriving online in a big way. Pirated versions of the latest Hollywood blockbusters or hit shows might have been available online for a number of years, but average broadband speeds are now such that big media is finally wading in...."
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