InVisioneer

Dec 16, 2013

4 Comments TiVo co-founders Michael Ramsay and Jim Barton are about to release a new TV companion device that aims to combine video discovery and curation with smart TV functionality. Dave Zatz recently spotted an FCC filing  for the QPlay-branded device a few days ago, which suggests that the release is imminent. Zatz also found a bunch of other clues, and I’ve learned in the last few days that some of the services QPlay is working with include Netflix and Hulu Plus. Here’s what we know about QPlay: Advertisement QPlay has been developed by a San Jose-based company called InVisioneer . Ramsay is the company’s CEO and Barton is CTO and President. The company’s other hires include engineers from Apple, (s AAPL) Google (S GOOG) and Linden Lab. The company received a seed round of financing from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in September. Advertisement Here’s what InVisioneer says about itself : Advertisement “Our passion is innovative products that people love to use. In the past we disrupted industries to do what was right. We’re gearing up to do it again.” Advertisement I know, that’s not very specific. Here’s a bit more detail, courtesy of a job ad surfaced by Zatz : Advertisement “InVisioneer is building a product that sits at the nexus of exciting trends in video, mobile, and social.” Advertisement And here’s the company’s description on Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers’ website: Advertisement “We provide a better way to find and watch quality TV and internet video.” Advertisement The aforementioned FCC filing  adds some more details, thanks to a user manual included in the filing. The QPlay companion box connects to TVs through HDMI, but it comes without a remote control. Instead, users are told to use their iPad to set up Wifi for and interact with the device, suggesting that QPlay functions similarly to Chromecast. Advertisement However, there are also some key differences: Whereas Chromecast is primarily about letting users beam content to the TV screen from within a variety of third-party apps, QPlay instead focuses on curation through its own dedicated app. Essentially, QPlay will offer users apps for iOS devices to discover, collect, share and watch videos. Users will be able to make their own playlists of videos, share them with others through the service as well as Facebook (S FB) and Twitter (s TWTR), browse the playlists of their friends and apparently also rate playlists. Advertisement The big question is: Playlists of what? Zatz guessed last week that this is all about videos from YouTube, Vimeo (S IAC) and similar services — the low-hanging fruit that would be easy to get access to for InVisioneer. However, I have since learned that QPlay is more about premium video, and that the device will likely give consumers access to content from Netflix and Hulu Plus as well as possibly Amazon. (S AMZN) Advertisement Lots of details about QPlay are still unclear, but given the timing of the FCC filing, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see many of them revealed at the upcoming CES in Las Vegas next month. Advertisement