Coming to Spain soon will be a new IPTV platform called Woomi. It aims to make streaming movies and television shows as simple as channel hopping. At first it will be available as an app for Samsung’s Internet@TV and Smart TV televisions, which Future Lifestyle are great fans of. Woomi corrals a diverse collection of content channels for easy browsing and uses metadata for dynamic, intelligent searching.The founder Ian Valentine has said. ‘Woomi is the engine that enables a wide variety of content providers to stream directly to your TV. Small film labels and content owners that don’t have the resources to develop their own apps (as well as larger brands that don’t feel a need too) will use Woomi. We make it very easy for them to build a business. For viewers this means a broad selection of free and low-cost PPV TV shows and movies available with just a few clicks of the TV remote control.’
The company says it is currently in advanced discussions with other portal owners to take the service. One TV maker which has signed up is Vestel, the largest OEM supplier of TVs in Europe. Vestel is responsible for manufacturing screens and set-top boxes for a wide range of household brands including Alba, Grundig and Bush. Vestel product manager Chris Jones told HCC that Woomi would be included on its upcoming connected TV models. Vestel is partnering with Yahoo to usher in a new Yahoo Connected TV platform to more than 40 countries this year. In addition to Woomi, these sets will also include Facebook, Twitter, Sky News and Ebay apps.
So what’s Woomi have to offer?
Woomi may not be the place to go for the latest blockbuster movie releases, but the service does offer a diverse range of content for those with more eclectic tastes: EZ Takes offers long-forgotten horror movies, foreign material and animation; Disclose.tv is dedicated to weird WTF news; Box Office 365 offers classic TV shows, including cult favourite The Prisoner, while Sail TV specialises in nautical programmes. TV rentals start at 99p, with most films pegged at £1.99. All content is standard-definition, but quality varies. Some providers offer so-called HQ streams with higher bitrates. These have the potential of approaching DVD clarity. 'It’s entirely up to the content provider at what quality level they intend to stream,' says Valentine.
One aspect of the Woomi service which is compelling is its cross-channel recommendations. For example, choose to rent (for 24 hours) the 1939 animated version of Gulliver’s Travels and in the main menu’s recommendation bar you’ll be given the option of watching the trailer for Jack Black’s recent remake.
As the year progresses we will see the lines between the TV and the internet blur even more. More and more flat screens have the capability to surf the internet (although not always easy with the remote) and as bandwidth gets larger we will still increase in service like this. We say bring it on!!!.......the days of the satellite dish may be drawing to a close.........
