With the recent caps put in place by ISPs like Comcast, some people are saying that the future of Internet video is not downloads, but streaming. If that comes to pass, a site like the newly launched Invision.tv could become an invaluable resource for searching through the wide variety of online video available on today’s web.
Here’s the pitch: Why just go to YouTube to find a video when you can search nearly all online video sites instead? With Invision.tv’s online guide, you have a one-stop-shop for searching online video from all over the web. Videos can be sorted by channel or category as you browse through their video guide. Here, you’ll find everything from user-gen content like that found on YouTube and MySpace to professional-produced videos from the likes of CNet, Hulu, Comedy Central, Funny or Die, CNBNC, Discovery Channel, Food Network, ESPN, HGTV, ABC, and more
You can watch videos right on the site in their own custom interface which is consistent no matter which site’s video you are viewing. You can also click through to visit the original web site, if desired. When you’re finished viewing, you can share videos with friends and leave comments and recommendations – an experience common to most internet video sharing sites. As you’re watching a video, you can continue browsing for more videos while keeing the current video playing in the right sidebar.
You can also customize Invision.tv so it matches your interests. Like YouTube, you can subscribe to channels and create playlists, but Invision.tv lets you embed those playlists on your own web site or blog. However, what’s different about this site compared to many other video portals is that, behind-the-scenes, their recommendation engine is scouring the site to find new video choices to present to you which match up with the type of content you find interesting. Here at RWW, we like recommendation engines so we’re looking forward to giving this one a test drive.
