Veodia buys video software startup ScreenToaster, whose Web browser-based application lets consumers "burn" or capture Web screens with audio for playback through Adobe Flash media players. Veodia is competing with Google, Cisco and several other vendors offering video capabilities for the Internet.
Veodia, which makes Web video software that lets business
workers communicate with each other through a Web browser, June 19
said it has purchased screen capture specialist ScreenToaster.
ScreenToaster's Web software lets consumers capture their
screen activity and share it as video with audio on blogs or Websites through Adobe
Flash players. While originally geared for consumers, this such capability is something customers told Veodia CEO Guillaume
Cohen they wanted from his company.
Currently, customers use Veodia software to add video capabilities
to learning management systems, or in collaboration platforms such as Cisco
WebEx Connect or Jive ClearSpace. Employees capture videos from cameras or
upload existing video content to their computers or mobile phones and share them securely with colleagues.
The ScreenToaster software lets users record computer
screen activity to share tutorials, product demos, or document reviews.
Cohen envisions employees could click a ScreenToaster button to record
a document on
his screen, describe the document with his voice and e-mail the session
to colleagues
for peer review.
Cohen declined to discuss the purchase price, but told
eWEEK in an interview that ScreenToaster will give Veodia an entry into the consumer
space his 10-employee company hasn't had before. Cohen added that the ease with
which ScreenToaster's browser-based technology worked was a perfect match for
Veodia's customers. Like Veodia, ScreenToaster software does not require any
download or installation.
Cohen said ScreenToaster has seen a 40 percent
month-to-month average growth in its user base since its launch only six months
ago by co-founders Marco Fucci and Elie Curetti.
Veodia expects to announce consumer service offerings geared
around ScreenToaster later this year, though Cohen was circumspect as to the
specifics, adding "we expect it to be very viral and based on this technology, but used a different way."
Video is a major driver of enterprise collaboration
platforms, offering knowledge workers an efficient means of getting across corporate
messages. Google inserted Web video functionality into its Google Apps Premier Edition suite last
September.
Cisco Systems also banks greatly on Internet video; the company makes infrastructure to underpin and facilitate the increasing use of
Internet video in corporate offices.
But both Cisco and Veodia realize the untapped potential
in offering consumer-oriented video products. Veodia's buy of ScreenToaster
attests to this. Cisco made headlines in March for
acquiring Pure Digital, purveyor of the popular, easy-to-use Flip video camera
line, for $600 million.
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