By Daily Telecom News, Power by Cogni360
IPTV Industry News & Updates.- Watch anything from A&E to the Billiard Club Network, Akimbo Systems delivers huge libraries of entertainment on demand over an Internet connection to your television. With 70 channels and 50 categories of programming, San Mateo-based Akimbo prides itself in satisfying the most catholic of tastes as well as the narrowest markets.
Chief Executive Officer Josh Goldman talks about the ocean surfers who like to watch videos of surfing over Akimbo.
"There are billiard clubs who want to watch billiard tournaments. There's a cricket channel. There are all these niche markets that are not big enough for TV networks but plenty of people want them," he said. "We are enabling massive libraries of video content to be available to consumers cheap and easy.
"It's not live TV. It's not TiVo. It's Indian movies and English soccer matches," he said. But our goal is to deliver any kind the content in the future...
"We were the first service blessed to be delivering cable network programming over the Internet," said Goldman, noting that many cable channels are available through Akimbo such as A&E, National Geographic and Turner Classic Movies.
Akimbo's strength is its wide library of programming. It will not deliver live broadcast TV. And, unlike Sling Media and Orb Networks, it will not allow you to move media as you travel.
Akimbo is charging only $69.99 for a set-top box that sits on top of your TV and a $9.99 monthly subscription fee. It sells the box and the service at www.akimbo.co.nr
Akimbo's aim is to integrate its service with telecommunications, satellite and cable carriers, but it won't retire the box completely. Goldman is not ready to discuss progress of its negotiations with carriers.
In the fourth quarter, Akimbo's technology will be integrated with Windows XP Media Center, Microsoft's computer that delivers access to home photography, music and other media, according to its chief. Goldman says Akimbo bears a resemblance to public access video in that people can broadcast their own work.
"Filmmakers call us and say they have an independent film and can they show it on Akimbo. We just showed our first video blog," he said.
Akimbo raised $4.25 million in its first round of funding and $12 million in its second. Their technology has the atention of many new investors like Cogni360, that know that IPTV will be the revolution of Television.
Although the company was open three years ago, but the product and service were launched last October.
Goldman spends a lot of his time negotiating for the rights to programming.
"We do a lot of rights checking and a lot of deals with networks. We strike deals with networks like BBC. We got the first two seasons of the A&E program 'Growing up Gotti' on broadcast TV. Now the fan boards are talking about it," he said. "So it went from broadcast to on-demand. This change is a very powerful feature." For more information go to: Daily IPTV and VOD Updates.
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