Digital video is on the rise…and U.S. audiences are demanding content whenever and wherever they want it. By bringing a new platform technology to market, companies like Orange County-based start-up DeskSite are revolutionizing the way viewers consume their favorite sports video content.
Most technologists will agree the concept of an “app” came long before Steve Jobs was around, since applications are as old as punch card programming. However, we can thank Jobs for bringing the word “app” to the forefront of mainstream consumer attention through his cornucopia of “There’s an App for That” campaigns. Nearly a decade later, apps have become so commonplace, most of us can’t even imagine a world without them! With apps like Shazaam that can tell you the artist and title of any song, or Maps that can guide you to any destination, the landscape of our digital experience has been dramatically enriched through technological innovation.
But what about an app designed for “Big Screen” devices, such as tablets, laptops or desktops instead of smartphones? What about an app you can use to watch hours upon hours of exclusive HD-video content directly from desktop or laptop rather than streaming videos from websites? DeskSite has picked up where Jobs left off and is redefining how mainstream consumers will process an “app” – from exclusively associating apps with small screen devices like smartphones, to understanding their place on larger screen devices like home computers and smart T.V.’s.
DeskSite uses a carefully-crafted brand of thick-client technology to enhance the viewing experience of online sports video content. Acting as a DVR for the Internet, your DeskSite will automatically download and store HD-videos from your favorite sports team directly to your hard drive when you’re connected to the Internet, notifying you with a “You’ve Got Videos” AOL-type audio alert upon completion. Once the videos have been downloaded to your big screen device, viewers can watch your favorite sports content whether online or off. With a personal DeskSite, sports fans can even have a laptop or tablet connected to an airport Wi-Fi connection downloading up to the minute videos in the background while waiting for their flight to take off, and then catch up on exclusive HD sports video content with no buffering and zero delays on the plane – where airplane Wi-Fi speeds would never support streaming of HD content.
DeskSite also brings value to the out-of-market super fan. NFL teams typically broadcast hours of highly produced television content to their local area market. But a lover of the New England Patriots, who doesn't live within the 75-mile wide Boston area broadcast radius, is likely missing out on Patriots-produced T.V. shows - unless he or she has installed a Patriots DeskSite. Each week, the DeskSite will bring these television shows from Boston to anywhere in the world, placing them on fans' desktops for playback at their leisure.
Over the last couple of years, founder and CEO Richard Gillam has turned this simple concept into a scalable solution for a new kind of online video entertainment network. Starting with the most popular entertainment brand in America, the National Football League, DeskSite has partnered with more than a dozen of the most valuable NFL teams and plans to expand into other major sports leagues and entertainment brands in 2015.
So if you’re an out of market fan, or sick and tired of buffering and streaming delays, or simply want to access brand new exclusive sports content from your favorite team, just remember, there’s an app for that…
Tech in Motion Orange County hosted author Steven Spear, Engineering Manager at Desksite, at one of their Drinks & Demos events. For more information about seeing companies like Desksite at Ocean County events, please join the group.