Flipps (formerly iMediaShare) is a mobile media discovery and control technology developed by Flipps Media. It is the first technology to deliver over-the-top video to the connected TV via existing hardware by streaming directly from the cloud. The iOS and Android application transforms a mobile device into a handheld remote that controls TV playback and allows multi-tasking while streaming with no additional hardware or set-up. With the Flipps mobile application users can browse a channel catalogue of movies, music videos, sports, news, and other video. The app partners with publishers to provide viewers diverse content and expand publishers’ reach to virtually any connected TV in the world.
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The application launched in 2012 and has received funding from Tim Draper, Earlybird Venture Capital, Hasan Aslanoba, LAUNCHub and Teres Capital. It has been awarded LISTnet’s LISA Award 2010 Top Product Winner and has won the Home Networking Award by Connected World.TV.
Developed for iOS and Android devices, Flipps is available in a Lite version that is supported by mobile and video ads, and an HD version that features more channels in HD and no banner ads.
History
Flipps was originally launched as “iMediaShare” in 2012 by founders Kostadin Jordanov and Metodi Filipov, but its development started a year and a half before. The application realized the idea of providing an effortless way for content discovery and streaming. The technology was meanwhile patented and submitted to major mobile app stores, like iTunes and Google Play, where its popularity grew quickly. The app reached more than 200 000 downloads during the first two months after launching. In January 2013 it topped the charts in the Amazon Appstore as the Number 1 downloaded app, where it retained the title for some time against other popular apps. In the spring of 2013 the company announced reaching 1,000,000 monthly active users and over 7,000,000 downloads in total. By September 8, 2014 the mobile app had been downloaded more than 10,000,000 times.
In August 2013 “iMediaShare” completed its rebranding and the company was renamed to “Flipps.” The name was associated with the verb “flip” and was related to the act of flipping content from one screen to another.
Essential credit for Flipps development went to startup investment fund LAUNCHub, founded in 2012, as well as local and foreign-based business angels, including investment company Teres Capital. Flipps was among the first companies selected to receive funding of EUR 200,000. At that stage, the Flipps company value was estimated at slightly less than $3 million. On October 9, 2013 the company announced a personal investment from Tim Draper, founder and managing director of Silicon Valley venture capital firm, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and one of the investors behind Hotmail, Digidesign, Baidu, Skype, and Tesla. In April 2014 Flipps raised $2.4 million from European venture investment fund Earlybird Venture Capital and existing investors including Tim Draper. Flipps stated its intention to use the investment to build on its rapidly growing business in the US and Europe while expanding its ever-growing library of premium content.
Technology
The cloud-based mobile app uses its technology to allow content-sharing across various platforms and devices. Its key features include HD and 3D video delivery optimised in real time, delivery of on-demand video content to any TV set, and seamless integration with a multiple range of devices, connected in the same network - TVs, game consoles, Blu-ray players, audio systems and media boxes.
Videos delivered via Flipps technology are streamed directly from the cloud to the selected device without any side-loading of content, downloading of TV apps, or connecting cables. The video asset is kept at its original location without creating any copies on external systems thus reducing the assets’ management complexity.
Device support
Flipps works with more than 250 million connected TVs and is compatible with more than 5,000 manufacturer models:
Video content library
Flipps' intuitive mobile interface provides easy discovery of movies, music videos and more on smartphone or tablet and streaming to any nearby connected TV. Its content library consists of over 100 channels, including movies, music videos, kids shows, web-based TV shows, comedy, news broadcasts, educational programming, health and fitness videos, business news, sports highlights, automotive features, fashion, and technology vlogs. It offers additional content from Film Chest, Osiris Entertainment, Wibi movies, Break, QVC, Sharecare, The Valley Girl Show, Washington Post, Wild TV, France 24, AIRTV, Complex Media, Deutsche Welle, Buzz60, Viewster, Roxy Bar, Rhapsody, Music & The Spoken Word, Toon Goggles, and batteryPOP.