16 Jul 2008 07:00
blinkx Partners with Digital Media Pioneer Elo Company to Launch blinkx Brasil, Online Television for Latin American Audiences Around the World
Joint venture will offer the latest in Brazilian music, film, sports and special interest content over broadband to computers everywhere
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. - JULY 16, 2008 - blinkx, the world's largest and most advanced video search engine, today announced an online television venture with digital media pioneer Elo Company to deliver high-quality entertainment, including films, music videos and special interest channels, to audiences around the world.
The initiative, blinkx Brasil, will deliver Elo's library of premium content through blinkx's ground-breaking broadband television (BBTV) technology. The beta version of blinkx Brasil is a small download (0.5 MB) that will be available free of charge at www.blinkx.com and www.eloaudiovisual.com/elo.
blinkx Brasil will debut in beta in conjunction with the 10th anniversary party of Deckdisc, one of Brazil's leading independent record companies, in Rio de Janeiro. At the time of launch, it will offer the best in Brazilian music, film (including new releases), sports, food and fashion. blinkx and Elo will also be adding features, such as transcripts of the audio track, channels and more premium video content to the blinkx Brasil offering in coming months.
While watching the Elo Cinema Latino or Elo Gourmet channel on blinkx Brasil, viewers will have a variety of useful features - never possible before - right at their fingertips, including background information on the program. In addition, users can opt to sit back and watch all programming in full-screen, on-demand and in TV-quality.
"The Latin American market is one of the most exciting and fast-growing in the Internet industry," said Suranga Chandratillake, founder and CEO of blinkx. "There are more than 15 million people watching online video in Brazil alone, and we're thrilled to be partnering with one of the world's leaders in digital media to bring TV-quality, premium entertainment to audiences everywhere."
"Elo has been a pioneer in digital media in Brazil and is very proud to partner with blinkx. We believe this will be a great opportunity for producers, users and advertisers: producers will now be able to show their content to a significant audience in a market with limited traditional windows, and users will be able to watch a great variety of content with the best of TV combined with all the interactivity of the Internet," said Ruben Feffer, founder of Elo Company. "Brands will also want to communicate with their audience in an innovative and efficient way. blinkx brings to video what Google brought to text on the Internet. The possibilities are unlimited."
blinkx Brasil is a significant advance in online television that leverages blinkx's patented speech and visual recognition technology to simultaneously deliver a high-quality viewing experience over the Internet, and link it to the universe of information on the Web, adding dimension and context to the viewer's experience.
With hybrid peer-to-peer streaming and a simple, point-and-click channel interface, blinkx Brasil delivers online television that is full-screen, TV-quality and truly immersed in the Internet. Until now, Web video has simply used the Internet as a new distribution mechanism, failing to exploit its true potential. By fusing TV and other video with the Web, blinkx Brasil enables users to instantly browse or interact with online sources related to what they are watching, whether it's Google, Wikipedia, or other Web sites offering relevant information.
About blinkx
blinkx plc (LSE AIM: BLNX) is the world's largest and most advanced video search engine. Today, blinkx has indexed more than 26 million hours of audio, video, viral and TV content, and made it fully searchable and available on demand. blinkx's founders set out to solve a significant challenge - as TV and user-generated content on the Web explode, keyword-based search technologies only scratch the surface. blinkx's patented search technologies listen to - and even see - the Web, helping users enjoy a breadth and accuracy of search results not available elsewhere. In addition, blinkx powers the video search for many of the world's most frequented sites. blinkx is based in San Francisco and London. More information is available at www.blinkx.com.
About Elo Company
Elo Company is a pioneer in distribution of audiovisual content for different means of communication, creating channels for digital media and developing communication strategies for these new media. Elo distributes short and feature films, documentaries, music videos and fashion shows (Until May 2008, it will have more than 400 titles). The company has also created and now maintains channels for digital media such as Brazilian Music, Brazilian Hits and Elo Cinema Latino and is responsible for brand communication for new entertainment media (branded channels creation, ad sales at new platforms, among other products). www.eloaudiovisual.com/elo
Press Contacts for blinkx:
Tim Turpin
Sparkpr
+1 (415) 321 1894
tim.turpin@sparkpr.com
Clare Gayner
Bite Communications
+44 (0)20 8834 3454
clare.gayner@bitepr.com
NOMAD for blinkx
Charles Lytle
Citi
Press Contact for Elo Company:
Sabrina Nudeliman
Co-founder and Director
+55 11 3023 0173
sabrina@eloaudiovisual.com