Hi all,
please find debrief after meeting with Joe.
XTV offices are unassuming, but well positioned close to silicon valley, but closer to companies such as Oracle than are primarily in the broadcast and media region. The office is actually in San Carlos, not Redwood.
Given that XTV have only been trading for just over 3 months, the office layout, whilst small had a very high tech feel about it. When i visited the teccies were busy installing cabling and screens. There was no over elaboration, and money is certainly not being wasted on luxury. XTV have an option for larger premises at an adjacent building when the expansion into sales and marketing gets into full swing.
So to go through some questions:
Why did microsoft allow xtv to keep the IP in their latest device :
Joe answered it was not Microsoft core business, and at present too small for Microsoft to be concerned. I feel as well that Microsoft also wished XTV success and made some concession to prevent the big A stepping in (i could be wrong here)
What is Joe doing to set xtv as the hardware provider of choice for Microsoft content - can the hardware only stream video of can you actually install apps on their devices as well?
The question here is not very relevant: Microsoft are not the customer, so there is no need for a hardware provider of choice. XTV are building (have built) an html5 platform that allows normal TV sets to act like computer screens/internet video - except the quality is all HD. There is no real question of APPS, Joe was quite adamant that they are not designing or plan to be involved in APPS.
The software they are running on their devices.Can it be installed on non XTV hardware ie old Xbox
Absolutely
How comprehensive is their dynamic text functionality in streaming video. EG can you insert URLs at different points in a broadcast that i could click and visit that webpage. does it split screen so i can visit a webpage, whilst still watching broadcast
Again there is a mix up in the question between Television and computer. The system is all dependent upon what the customer wants, it is extremely versatile - if that is what the customer wants then that system would be designed for that customer.
Example 1 (question posed to Joe)
If the customer was Comsec: (noted Joe already had an example) The broadcast would show normal operation - if you are Comsec user, your TV acts like a computer - but then suppose Comsec had customers that wanted to broadcast live or cached articles, (note not using the term streamed) then these would be menu driven by Comsec companies. So that you could simultaneously for example watch a live broadcast of an AGM whist still retaining the Comsec trading functionality on a split screen.
Example 2 (Joe built this live - it took 10 minutes -)
I posed a question : say for example Bunnings, they have rather naff video loops running on TVs in their shops. Joe pulled up the numerous 'how to do' videos from You-Tube, and transformed it to a menu driven TV. The next stage was that customer could then select which they wanted to view: (the selection methods are numerous), see this, then capture the QR code (or other code) and literally take the video away with them on smartphone.
What is happening here is that XTV are providing the hardware - i.e. the HDMI connector, but the customer, in this example Bunnings, puts out the content, from there own HQ or through a third party.
Its like building a website, but it isnt, its building a TV network with multiple channels.
It is actually easier than building a webpage.
How many fortune 1000 companies do they have as qualified leads?
Joe's answer to this is 'multiple' but this is not the whole story.
The primary customers are telcos and cable TV providers, they would be the on sellers to the multitude of companies. Some companies of course may wish to develop their own network away from the telcos.
Do they have periodic sales targets for the US Telco marketing team...? What are those targets in units moved, do they have regional breakdown.
Yes these will be published.
Regions have been identified - note the sales team is only just now being recruited and trained.
USA/Canada : AT&T / Direct TV
China / Hong Kong : (cannot recall which telco/cable service)
India : Reliance
Aus/NZ : Telstra and Fox?
Europe : Possible JV with German based telco.
Once the telcos and cable TV operators - Joe advised there would be 'massive adoption' at a far reduced entry price.
What is the status of the patent process - is this a barrier.
Joe very hot on patent subject, and advises that he has been staying ahead of the curve to avoid and potential barriers.
Is it possible for a company to have a screen outside premises and screen live media
This had already been set up. All that is required is a frosted glass window, and projector. Again by using a Q code reader the ''çustomer' can effectively buy off the screen, or take away video content on smartphone or tablet. This was actually up and running.
One last item: Joe had identified the 'mess' of trying to order and menu content - especially with the likes of You-Tube, and websites with channels. The XTV platform simply circumvents this with active menu functions - described as a contextual connection.
Revenue will start flowing within the next quarter. Joes first milestone will be to take XTV to 100m market cap within a year. With low entry point for customers, both private, corporate and adoptive, and high margins, ongoing royalties and subscriptions, this is not at all unlikely.
Joe stressed that no two customers were the same, and XTV would build a system that the customer wants.
To sum up:
Extremely elegant
Incredibly versitle
Genuinely innovative.
I was slotted in for an hour, but ended up 2 1/2 hours, quite a mind blowing experience to see such a concept just after birth.
cheers ports
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