Did you know that 36,000 hours of videos are being uploaded on the web everyday?
With so much of noise, you need a signaling mechanism – and social recommendation (i.e. videos recommended by your social network) serves as a great filter.
Althea Systems, Bangalore based startup has launched Shufflr.tv (AIR app) that lets you discover, view, share & collect videos from all over the web.
Shufflr’s video sieve sifts through millions of videos on the web and picks videos that are relevant to you based on your profile, preferences and viewing history.
The social video feed makes it convenient to see what your friends have been watching without them having to send you links to videos they stumble across. You can also see what’s currently trending on the web with a Buzz feed right in your home screen.
In order to bring the the social recommendations from your friends, you need to connect the Shuffl’r AIR application with your social network (supports Facebook/Twitter).
The product is nicely done (great scrolling effect), but being an AIR app – its quite bulky to use (where is the close button?).
The Big Big Validation
Yesterday, Youtube announced an experiment called Leanback, that will run videos based on your preferences as well as social recommendations.
The fact that Youtube is launching a similar service is a great validation for Shufflr team (and a threat too), though the good news is that the startup has already raised $3mn from institutional investors (which means they can focus on marketing/product development).
Moreover, Shufflr brings videos recommended by your friends from around the www – i.e. youtube, blip.tv, metacafe etc.
At the core, the company has build ShuffleFeed video discovery platform ( shufflefeed) that enables video apps on websites, facebook, notebooks, phones, tablets, televisions etc.
Publishers can also leverage this API to enhance their existing offerings with video feeds from ShuffleFeed. Apps using the ShuffleFeed platform allow users to seamlessly shift from one device to the next and continue where they left off. Users also benefit from the fact that content from various publishers is homogenously integrated into the system and are not independent silos, thus enabling seamless search, recommendations and video associations across video sites.
And shufflr.tv just happens to be the first product built on top of the platform.
Do give the product a spin and share your review. Like we said earlier, people need ‘something to kill time‘ and Shufflr promises that.
On a funny note, it felt good to see such a web2.0 name, especially after the recessionary blues.
