Internet entrepreneurs Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis—inventors of both the Kazaa file-sharing system and Skype voice network—will launch their latest venture, an online video distribution platform rivalling YouTube, next month.
Codenamed The Venice Project, the venture—which seeks to combine "the best elements of the TV experience with the most powerful internet technologies" is currently in test-mode. "We're talking to owners of high-quality TV content everywhere," say Zennström and Friis. The venture will "redefine the way people think about television", say the pair.
In his blog Friis says Venice is still in "limited beta and God knows there is a lot of bugs to be ironed out and plenty of missing features". He goes on: "We are trying to bring together the best of TV with the best of the internet.
"We think TV is one of the most powerful, engaging mass medias of all time. People love TV, but they also hate TV. They love the (sometimes…) amazing storytelling, the richness, the quality itself. But they hate the linearness, the lack of choice, the lack of basic things like being able to search.
"And wholly missing is everything that we are now accustomed to from the internet: tagging, recommendations, choice, and so on. TV is 507 channels and nothing on and we want to help change that! Stay tuned … and no, it won't be called the Venice Project forever
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The Venice Project will be unveiled at the Future of Television conference in New York on November 16th.
Codenamed The Venice Project, the venture—which seeks to combine "the best elements of the TV experience with the most powerful internet technologies" is currently in test-mode. "We're talking to owners of high-quality TV content everywhere," say Zennström and Friis. The venture will "redefine the way people think about television", say the pair.
In his blog Friis says Venice is still in "limited beta and God knows there is a lot of bugs to be ironed out and plenty of missing features". He goes on: "We are trying to bring together the best of TV with the best of the internet.
"We think TV is one of the most powerful, engaging mass medias of all time. People love TV, but they also hate TV. They love the (sometimes…) amazing storytelling, the richness, the quality itself. But they hate the linearness, the lack of choice, the lack of basic things like being able to search.
"And wholly missing is everything that we are now accustomed to from the internet: tagging, recommendations, choice, and so on. TV is 507 channels and nothing on and we want to help change that! Stay tuned … and no, it won't be called the Venice Project forever
"The Venice Project will be unveiled at the Future of Television conference in New York on November 16th.