New IPTV Player Introduces Innovative Online Television Concept

August 23, 2007; 03:04 AM

FreeTube, a new player in the IPTV sector, has emerged offering a variety of free Internet Television Channels using IP streaming technology. The website which boasts more then 500 channels presently, has been cited as a social and technological experiment. The website purports to offer a vast and diverse mixture of channels, individually separated in to eleven distinct categories based on their programming and content. According to FreeTube's help section, all that is needed is a modern web browser and several 'common plugins' in order to watch many of the television streams. Interestingly, the website offers many independent television channels each with their own seemingly unique and niche based programming in close similarity to regular cable television packages, which feature a few commercial channels mixed with a selection of lower popularity niche channels. In the cable industry this is referred to as a big-for-small package, whereby smaller channels are utilized to fill up the majority of the channels offered to the user. However in the case of FreeTube, many of the channels actually have watchable programming including an assortment of documentary and movie channels all offered in live streaming picture.

Even more interesting was FreeTube's newly and recently unveiled Television Spy, aptly named FreeTube Spy, which lets viewers have an inside look at what channels are being watched in real-time on the IPTV monolith. Interesting details pertaining about each viewer are displayed showing their country of origin, web browser and of course the channel they are watching currently. Even more entertaining, is being able to join in and watch those literal channels at any time.

From our review, FreeTube (Freetube.us.tc) appears to be emulating a cable and satellite television system only they are using a relatively light-weight business model featuring sparse ads throughout the site to fund their operations. Asides from their operations, FreeTube makes generous usage of technology to power and run its site with what appeared to be many Web 2.0 features, including a television cloud tag of watched channels, user customizable favourites, and AJAX technology.

In the increasingly competitive video and IPTV industry, FreeTube is a breath of fresh air offering the more cash-strapped individuals to pinch pennies and watch channels not otherwise offered to them because of geographical restrictions, or expensive distribution costs. It will be interesting to see how FreeTube continues to offer a free service with competitors like Skype founder's Joost or Microsoft's inevitable unveiling of its own proprietary live video platform.