pluggd in

Yesterday, Pluggd and CNet unveiled our HearHere search capability over a sampling of popular ZDnet shows.

It’s exciting, because this is the first time people are able to search within media using a heatmap experience.

Before this, users had two choices: full meal deal or get up from the table.
Now they can find and snack on the tasty chunks they are looking for.

Try it out for yourself by doing a search for “iPhone” or “Apple” on this episode:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=5411

Check out what some folks are saying about the HearHere release:

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/venture/archives/117373.asp
http://venturebeat.com/2007/06/29/pluggd-begins-delivery-of-better-audio-search/
http://mashable.com/2007/06/29/pluggd-launches-audio-search-player-on-cnet/

More to come!

We’re excited to be mentioned in a story in the Economist today about
speech recognition. The article does a good job of surveying the space, but
what really makes Pluggd different (and speech reco useful for video search)
is the chunking technology we’ve developed (read more about chunks).

It’s great to see the company getting highlighted this way in such an
outstanding publication.

- Alex Castro

Google’s uber search across text, images and now video has a lot of people talking, including the New York Times. But the enthusiasm ignores how people really use search.

Searching includes not only finding results, but also figuring out which results you want. Google’s text search does a good job of highlighting a web page to help you determine which results fit your needs. People then “ping-pong” back and forth between search results and web pages to find what they’re looking for. This works because most of us can scan text very quickly.

Applying this experience to video is a disaster. You shouldn’t have to spend 3 minutes (the average length of a YouTube clip) watching a video to see if it is the one you want. In our research we’ve found the median viewing (or listening) time for a show is less than 10 seconds; when people don’t see what they want, they move on. So if you’re looking for a gem that is buried a minute into the show, forget it. It just doesn’t get found.

At Pluggd, we chunk audio and video. What’s a chunk? The part you want. We are the only ones that let you jump right to the tasty chunk you are looking for. A three minute video can feel like an eternity, which is why so many people bail in that first 10 seconds. We just don’t think you should have to sit around and wait for the good parts.

Pluggd is on a mission to chunk all video and audio for bite-sized consumption. More to come.

- Alex Castro

Today, Pluggd was awarded with a spot on the AlwaysOn Media Top 100 list. This is an awesome honor!!! Here’s a little bit about the list:

AO Media 100 is a power list of the top private digital media companies. Pluggd was handpicked by the AO Media editorial team based on a set of five criteria–innovation, market potential, customer adoption, media buzz and investor value creation.

Read more about the top 100 here

We’d like to thank Tony Perkins, Ryan Brenner, and the AO team for including us on this high power list!

_drew

Alex Castro and Cornelius Willis were hanging out with the folks over at Wired today.

They answered some reader questions, check it out!

If you have any questions that weren’t answered you can always hit us up at support (at) pluggd.com

_drew

Blogged with Flock

Yep, check it out y’all. New episodes of the ESPN Sportscenter podcast are searchable using the Pluggd “HearHere” technology. This badboy is going to be available sitewide so soon it keeps me awake at night thinking about all of the podcasts I’ll be searching through.

Like the Patriots? Fire up the player and search for them. You will not only find specific mentions of the Patriots, but any terms that have to do with them. You’ll get returns like “Branch”, “Tom Brady”, and even the team that the Patriots played this week.

It’s freaking hot, go check it out for yourself!

http://www.pluggd.com/demo

-drew

digg this

UPDATE: What podcast will you search on and what will you search for?

Blogged with Flock

Pluggd’s HearHere allows people to jump to the exact position in audio or video, such as podcasts and video casts, where there is something they want to hear. People have come to expect this instant return with web pages, but up until now audio and video have failed to deliver the same searchability. Now, you will no longer have to listen to five minutes of an NPR podcast before you reach the topic you care about. HearHere changes everything.

Check out the video of Alex and JT’s DEMOfall ‘06 presentation from San Diego this week. And while you’re there, check out some of the other awesome new stuff out there!!!

http://www.demo.com/demonstrators/demo2006fall/79916.php

_drew olanoff