So it's that time of year to sit down with the mulled wine and hand out the TV on IP's least prestigious (and possibly only) awards.
Newcomer of the Year - amongst the nominations are Youtube, Youtube and Youtube. And the winner is.. Youtube . The phenomenon swept all before it and achieved a buy out that Mark Cuban would be proud of.
Technology of the Year (if you have a networking degree) - goes to the wonderful Slingbox; if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then competition will hot up as others join Sony and Phillips in this soon to be crowded marketplace. However, clever lcensing deals should see Slingmedia through as they begin to be the software of choice for watching your home TV on your mobile.
Technology of the Year (for mere mortals) - the Telewest TV Drive (based on a Scientific Atlanta STB) - apart from instant file downloads to portable devices and access to web channels (oh and mobile programming) it's almost the perfect machine for tv addicts. I’m not allowed to vote for the Amino 125i, otherwise this itchy little box would have made the grade.
Service of the Year - goes to the nice people at Brightcove that keep giving things away for free.. Bless em'
The Don't Hold Your Breath Award - goes to Microsoft IPTV; talk about making a mountain out of a molehill… They should have come and talked to Narrowstep four years ago.
Trend of the Year - mashing, expect more video mashing with the likes of the Venice Project and the closer integration of video into Microsoft Vista, pop ino Second Life and watch your favourite movie – about other characters in Second Life.
Person of the Year – Gabriele Grest of Digital Magics, who seems to be on the same speaking forums as me persistently and is indefatigable in his promotion of his company's user contribution video technology, which is very neat.
The Where Are They Now Award – goes to theplatform, who seem to have disappeared without trace since their acquisition by Comcast.
Smart Acquisition of the Year Award – goes to Tiscali, who appeared from years of internal confusion to pick up Video Networks, the parent company of Home Choice and the real pioneer in this market. The jury’s out, but this was one of the few moves Tiscali could have made if they were serious about being a player in the UK in the future.
The ‘So What ?’ Award – goes to BT and their pretty pointless VoD service with Freeview thrown in if you’re in the right part of the country. I’ll stick with the video shop, thanks..
The 'We Don't Care Because We're The BBC' Award goes, yes, you guessed it again, to the BBC for trying to use their subsidised arses to muscle in on everyone else's livelihood.
Dumb move of the year - all of that invesment in non-IP based VoD systems, Deutsche Telekom seem to have particularly come a cropper but it’s amazing how many major cablecos haven’t realised that switched IP is the way forward.
The 'Teenagers and Sex' Award - goes to online TV advertising, which everyone is talking about but very few are actually doing. Bring it on...
The Party Pooper Award goes to the EU for their ludicrous Television Without (sic) Frontiers legslation.
Next up, and my final post for 2006 will be The IP Almanac, predicting the trends to come in 2007 and beyond.
Happy Christmas !
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