T-Systems, Convera Offer Video Search, Delivery

Networking player T-Systems and search specialist Convera have developed a new system to search, view, order and deliver video clips online.

Dubbed FootageBox, the offering will help owners of film archives better market their content to TV stations, independent producers and advertising agencies. Its first customer is the Maro Polo Archive, which has more than 3,000 hours of nature film and documentaries.

Spokesmen for T-Systems, unit of Deutsche Telekom , and Convera, were not immediately available to discuss pricing and availability.

“Ultimately FootageBox will create additional revenue streams for both small and large players in the media industry by providing access to ‘hidden treasures’ that would otherwise be unavailable to a large number of interested parties,” the companies said in a statement.

FootageBox relies on Convera’s RetrievalWare for its content search and management abilities. The tool automatically indexes every sequence of a film to enable a rapid and highly targeted method of retrieving and delivering video footage.

Its ability to apply concepts to search words means that, in the case of Marco Polo Archive, animal names can be easily retrieved on an international basis as the system automatically searches for the associated English, Latin and German version of the name.

The concept search functionality also provides users with the ability to start with a frame from one film and search for similar scenes in other films, said Convera, which is based in Vienna, Va.

For its part, T-Systems provides the high definition television satellite network needed to speed images. The Convera deal comes a week after T-Systems inked a deal to jointly develop digital content delivery systems with elctronics giant Sony.

As networks improve and users adopt broadband connections technology vendors are readying for an anticipated uptick in demand for audio and video files. In addition to Convera, search firm Singing Fish and others are trying to stake out a position in the emerging market.

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