There's a ton of great video on the Web, but unless you know exactly what you're looking for, it's difficult to find new and interesting content to watch. It's also tough to recreate a TV-like experience of getting good content delivered to you without much effort. Podly.tv aims to change all of that.
The Austin-based startup has developed a site that aggregates some of the best video (and audio) content across the Web, and offers it up in an interface reminiscent of a cable or satellite TV channel guide. Sources include big sites like CNN, CNET, and the New York Times, as well as a variety of smaller sites. Thanks to the guide interface, you can easily browse videos across several sources at once. The site also breaks down its content selection into several categories, including news, places, and people.
In addition to the collection of preselected channels, Podly also allows you to construct your own custom video channels using its search engine -- which are automatically populated with Web content. Podly spent three years developing the core technology behind the site that's responsible for sifting out useful video content from the large amount of junk out there.
The current design of the site is still a bit rudimentary, but it's easy to see how useful it could be for anyone who watches video online. With a slicker interface, and more video sources, Podly could be poised to take on other video giants like Hulu.
According to Podly.tv CEO and cofounder David Stafford, the site is also being developed for use on televisions. The guide interface was developed with the Apple TV's six-button remote in mind.
He also wants to get Podly.tv on as many Web-enabled televisions as possible. The company is also making a free API available to give developers access to its channels. Not surprisingly, Stafford is also very excited about the announcement of Google TV, and sees it as the perfect platform for Podly.
Podly.tv's founders have funded the company themselves. You can check Podly out for yourself via this test site for VentureBeat readers.