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Pando branches out into video streaming

Nick

Nick

  • Updated:

Pando logoThe P2P file sending network Pando has announced that it is to venture into video streaming for the first time. The service will be aimed at pay-per-view video publishers such as those on iTunes and will enable users to watch the videos in real-time whilst they download the file to their hard drive. Users will need to have the Pando client installed first.

According to NewTeeVee, the service will be very economical working out at around half a cent for every gigabyte downloaded. Pando doesn’t expect to make a huge profit from this but hopes that it will provide a base on which to build something more lucrative. Blip.tv, Revver, and Next New Networks have already made agreements with Pando to incorporate the service.

This is definitely a smart move by Pando. Whenever you subscribe to a Web video series such as Blip.tv through iTunes, it is the video creators themselves or Blip.tv who pay for the bandwidth costs. What Pando have done is effectively allow publishers and video creators to ‘outsource’ these costs to Pando and its users. As Pando Levitan told The Next Net:

We are trying to disrupt the entire downloadable media space. People should be able to download higher quality videos, like HD, and easily share them. With iTunes, the quality of many of the podcasts is poor and it is very difficult to share.

However, Pando Co-founder Yaron Samid is keen to stress that this service is not supposed to compete with, but rather complement, iTunes.

Let’s be clear: Pando is trying to bypass the iTunes music store/download service, but once you get the videos onto your desktop it allows you to store and manage them on your iTunes desktop software. You cannot go to the iTunes store and download via Pando. You have to go directly to the original content distributor’s site or to Pando’s site.

Whatever the results, this is definitely good news for video content producers everywhere. By the way, you can keep up with the latest Pando developments on this story on their blog.

Nick

Nick

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