HP India Launches “Personalized Video” application [Leanback Experience]

HP Labs India has announced the public beta release of its “Personalized Video” application. The application helps users personalize their online video experience through user generated channels. Users can create channels on topics of their choice and the application will deliver multiple videos by matching the keywords and video metadata [read: Review: YouTube Leanback (TV Like Experience)]

The beta application is currently available for free download at http://www.personalized-video.com/

With this application, users can:

• Personalize and create channels: Users can create channels of their choice by providing topics/keywords.  The application will also learn the user’s preferences via an in-application rating mechanism and adapt to the user’s preferences.
• Enjoy continuous viewing experience: Users can view a continuous stream of videos without having to start each video individually. This reduces decision points for the user and decreases the thought and effort involved in selecting the next video.
• Annotate videos: An annotation option allows users to mark certain positions in the timeline of a video for reference and future viewing.
• Find web pages related to videos being watched: At the click of a button, the application will search and find web pages with keywords matching that of the video being watched.
• Share videos with friends:  Users can share videos they like with friends on Facebook and Twitter.
• Most importantly, the application also allows for the creation of a special channel that can be used by third parties to push video content to a user based on viewing habits and location. For example, movie studios can push trailers of upcoming movies in a particular location or businesses can push product videos to users based on their viewing habits.
• The application has a “suggestions” channel where videos are recommended based on the user click-troughs in the user defined channels.

An experience like this will have a higher relevance factor when integrated with one’s social connections (show me what my friends recommend), and that’s what Bangalore startup, Shufflr does.

An interesting play, but if you look at HP’s DreamScreen in India, the story is far from being successful. Do you think HP is good at marketing non-PC consumer products?

Recommended Read: Why Social Curation is Important for the Online Video Industry.