Flingo.tv

As covered by GigaOM, two .tv’s that showed new products are Flingo and Simple.tv.

Flingo, headquartered in San Francisco, launched in late 2008 as a way for sending online video to internet-connected TVs (including sets from LG, Samsung and Vizio). They launched a new product at CES, called SyncApps, which they claim allows users to share easily on Facebook and Twitter, while allowing social content from broadcasters, like polls and updates, to be sent to the user’s TV screen. There have announced a number of really exciting features, including an API that enables developers to create application that use SyncApps to hook into their system. This looks like the next phase of social television and we can’t wait to see where this goes.

Another .tv that emerged from CES is Simple.tv, a set-top device that lets you stream live and recorded TV content to supported mobile devices – including the iPad.  Simple.tv announced availability for Spring 2012 and are taking reservations for their device on their website. Simple.tv also announced a premium subscription package will be available  that will include an enhanced program guide, automatic recording and streaming to a set number of connected devices.

Simple.tv

These are pretty exciting uses of technology for online video – it looks like the future is really here!

We’re also looking forward to exploring great new features that are being implemented in cameras – like Wi-Fi and 3D – that will help take online video up to the next level.

One of the big events of this year’s CES was the International Academy of Web Television Awards. This is an organization that promotes and celebrates online video and the amazing creators behind them. The awards were given out on January 12^th and you can watch the stream of the ceremony here.  We were really excited to see one of our advocates, Brad Powell’s webshow, DadLabs, win Best Educational Web Series – Congratulations Brad!

Once again, the Consumer Electronics Show was an exciting kick-off to the year and we’re looking forward to seeing all of these products in use during 2012!

What you might not be aware of, though, is that there are more than a few .tv sites that you can tune in to get event previews or coverage from throughout the weekend. Here’s just a sample of that:

Gord from GeekBeat.tv has a round-up of news from earlier this week covering what’s known about some of the forthcoming announcements, from a Netflix button on every remote to the upcoming Blu-ray release of the Star Wars saga.

Ustream.tv collects the brand channels for the companies that will be live-streaming product unveilings and other good stuff from the show floor.

Twit.tv will be covering the conference from a stage in the convention center and will also have people roaming around with cameras capturing the action. You can see their (tentative) schedule there.

You can tune in to GamerLive.tv’s CES 2011 category to find gaming-related news that they’ve already published and, presumably, also whatever else comes out of the event itself.

TubeFilter.tv will be hosting a panel featuring some YouTube superstars, asking them what works for them in terms of drawing an audience and creating engaging content for their audience.

I’m sure that’s just a small percentage of the .tv sites that will be represented at CES this year but shows how the people behind them are wired into the latest and greatest in the technology world and use .tv to express that.

1) I recently picked up both a Flip ultraHD and a Kodak Zi8 to see which one I liked better.  I’ve only played with them for a few minutes each, and I think they each have their pros and cons. I love the fact that Flip now has a battery pack that can be swapped out for 2 AA batteries and I love the larger size and screen of the Kodak (miniaturization isn’t great for those of us with big hands). I’m taking both to CES to do some on-the-floor filming, so I’ll have more of an opinion later in the week. I’ll try to shoot some side by side videos too and post them next week.

2) I requested an invite to the “It Won’t Stay in Vegas” party on January 8th at CES – I’ve read that it’s a great event for bloggers to get together and exchange war stories and notes. There are a few attendees who I follow regularly, so I’m sure it will be a surreal experience meeting them ‘offline’. I’m definitely going to try and meet the legendary Robert Scoble and hopefully Jason Toon as well – the product descriptions at Woot.com always make me laugh.

3) Any advice or suggestions for a decent powered microphone for my Kodak Zi8? I wanted a unidirectional one to supplement the built-in mike, but couldn’t find one at Best Buy (my go-to store) or other local electronics stores. I have a hard time justifying buying a $600 microphone for a $180 camcorder, so an entry-level microphone would be preferred.

Finally, I’ll leave you with a couple of interesting .tv sites covering CES:

Ustream.tv will be broadcasting live from CES

Boxee.tv talks about going to CES

Like Boxee, I also recommend reading Jeremy Toeman’s guidelines for working CES . I had the pleasure of meeting Jeremy in 2009 and he’s a great guy – although I’m probably biased because at one point we were finishing each other’s jokes.