Embedding vTap gives consumers another reason to choose your Internet-connected
device over the competition

Online and offline retail shelves are chock full of Internet-connected devices. Once only accessed by PCs, consumers can now get online using everything from broadband mobile phones and PDAs to portable game consoles and full-blown digital media receivers and media centers.

As consumer device manufacturers and marketers already know, continued survival depends on adding usefulness to each successive model. The more it can do, the cooler it is. And web video service is at or near the top of the functionality wishlist. Consumers want to use it. Manufacturers are eager to offer it. But there’s just one problem. Well, actually there are two.

The demand for web video is high, but technology limitations have held device manufacturers back
Most of the devices mentioned above do not use a full QWERTY keyboard for text entry for search. And many do not have the navigational capabilities that make it easy to view and select search results. So although the Internet is home to hundreds of millions of web video assets, there is no easy way for users to find the exact one they are looking for. This has been a major obstacle to widespread web video viewing via any device other than the PC.

Next is the issue of format. A web video may be encoded in any one of a number of digital formats. Unless a device supports the format, the video won’t play. Imagine going through the tedious process of finding the right video and then not being able to view it. Given the fickle nature of today’s consumer, it’s no wonder manufacturers have shied away from adding web video access to devices. They’re understandably afraid of disappointing customers. After all, once disappointed, it’s very difficult to convince them to buy the same brand of device again.

That was then, vTap is now
vTap solves both the discovery and format problems that have plagued manufacturers and prevented the embedding of web video access in Internet-connected consumer devices.

Veveo has created a quick and easy web video solution that enables users to search, browse and view the web video they’re looking for with very little effort. That’s because there’s no need to enter full words or sentences to tell vTap what you’re looking for. A few characters is all it takes. This makes it super easy to search the Internet for any video on any device; even one as limited as a TV remote. Equally important, vTtap’s sophisticated algorithms arrange results and allow devices to display them in a way that makes it easy to browse and select the desired asset.

vTap can also learn from experience. Every time a user searches for a video, the system can remember his/her preferences and then apply them to subsequent queries. After awhile, vTap seems to read your mind. vTap effectively solves the format problem as well.

How it works
The key to the power of vTap is the Veveo Search Complex, that is hosted by Veveo. Using advanced proprietary web-crawling techniques and algorithms, the web is crawled with specific focus on identifying links to the videos embedded in web pages. Only the most relevant metadata corresponding to the videos is identified from the web pages containing these videos. This metadata is then correlated with relevant metadata from other sources. The metadata and relevance metrics associated the web videos are then used to create a web video search index that is used by our unique proprietary search algorithms that employ new-to-the-world computer science techniques and complex mathematical concepts.

The device component of vTap consists of a thin-client that’s easy to embed in internet-connected devices during manufacturing. The thin-client relays the user’s queries back to the Veveo Search Complex. The Search Complex uses the sophisticated set of algorithms mentioned above to search, pull and organize the results before sending them back to the thin-client which then converts them for display. If a client-less solution is desired, then a JavaScript based solution can be provided for devices supporting a JavaScript enabled browser.

In addition to helping users discover the web videos of their interest, the Veveo Search Complex also ensures the device requesting the video receives it in a format that is compatible with that device.

Integrating vTap into your internet connected products is simple. And the results — a serious competitive advantage — is well worth consideration.

Ask for an in-person demo today
Of course, the fastest way to understand how vTap can add web video services to your device is with your own, in-person demo. Email sales@veveo.net to set yours up today.

Custom Solutions
In addition to vTap, Veveo can create a custom discovery solution that enables consumers to easily search and browse the content accessible from your products, such as music, news, local content, etc. Contact us at sales@veveo.net to discuss.

Try vTap now