Zattoo Blog
… and here’s Ann Arbor celebrating the big moment
Posted 9 Octubre 2007 by helen in Announcements, Community
As a truly global company we've got offices on two continents: a US office in Ann Arbor, near the University of Michigan, headed by Sugih (co-founder, CTO, Chairman, professor of computer science at U of M, fifth from the right), and a Swiss office in Zurich, Switzerland, headed by Beat (co-founder, CEO, President, nothing else).
The techies (see above) are based in Ann Arbor, while the business people (see entry below, clearly distinguishable by their sophisticated clothing) sit in Zurich. Well, okay, the only thing that distinguishes us in Zurich from our better half in Ann Arbor is our higher women to men ratio. (Ann Arbor might point out some additional differences to do with analytical thinking, BUT DON'T LISTEN TO THEM.)
By the way, the above photo was taken at last Friday's beer-thirty event, in commemoration (nice word, Helen) of our 1-million user milestone.
Zattoo - Bringing you TV for the next generation.
1 million users!!!!!
Posted 4 Octubre 2007 by helen in Announcements, Community
This is the Zurich team celebrating. We still look a little dazed, which is only partly due to the Prosecco we'd been downing sipping. Ok, it's only part of the Zurich team. Some vital members are missing because they were actually working when the big moment arrived. Sugih, our co-founder slash Chairman slash CTO, was in Ann Arbor with the rest of the US team (am working on getting their photo up as well), Beat, co-founder slash CEO slash President, was on the road in the UK, Francesco, marketing wiz, dito, Thomas, head of business operations (whatever that is - all I know is that it's important), was on a secret mission in Zurich.
Back to the major moment. At 5:09 pm sharp the total user number jumped from 999,999 to 1,000,000. Pop went the bottles and the run on the tortilla chips began. We tried to persuade Fredy, most senior member of staff present, to make a speech, but he somehow weasled out of it. It all eventually ended in a cheerful blur on a very uplifting note. To be honest, it's a great feeling to know that 1 million people are now using Zattoo. Thanks for believing in us!
Zattoo - Now working on the next million.
Belgium - You’re next!
Posted 26 Septiembre 2007 by helen in Announcements, Beer, Bélgica
To launch – or not to launch. Futile question, really. As fairly simple people (apart from an exception or two whom I am NOT going to mention now) we’re not really into the pondering of deep questions. If we can launch we will. Belgium was on our list of immensely cuddleable launchable countries for a while and has now made it to top position.
I can just hear all you Italians, Austrians and French crying out „Why them? Why not us?“ Well, there IS Belgium’s great beer and chocolate - which according to some very smart sources, which we all agree with over here but I can’t disclose, women actually need. Additionally, we also happen to have a great start lineup for you gals and guys over there. There’s VIJFtv and VT4 for the Flemish and La Une and La Deux for the French-speaking part. Add to that an ecletic mix of international news and entertainment channels for global minds, the homesick, and foreign language crammers – Al Jazeera English, Deutsche Welle, France 24 English, Luxe TV, SF info, Sumo TV, The Poker Channel, and TVP Polonia – and you’ve got Smörebröd a nice mix of online info-tainment to get you hooked going. Download now!
Zattoo – We care. For Belgians and other sorts of people.
Flips, tricks, and more new channels
Posted 20 Septiembre 2007 by helen in Announcements, Channels, Suiza
NOT FOR BORING OLD FOGIES.
Zattoo goes freestyle! This weekend, we’ll stream the wildest jumps, the craziest flips and the riskiest tricks of Europe’s biggest freestyle sports event, freestyle.ch. Watch the world’s best snowboarders, freeskiers, FMXers and skateboarders in competition live on your computer. Here’s your tune-in timetable:
Saturday:
21:30-23:00
The Ultimate Crossover Session (Snowboard, Freeski, FMX, Skateboard)
Sunday
14:00-18:00
Finals and Superfinals
freestyle.ch on Zattoo is cool live action – for free on your PC.
ABUNDANCE IS NOT A SIN.
At least not in our book. That’s why we’ve added even more goodies to our channels list. There’s StarTV and GIGA for movie and lifestyle buffs and TeleZüri for all the Gilli fans out there. arte (in German) helps you cure an overdose of entertainment with a shot of culture – which could also be said for 3sat. SUMO.tv gives you the best of video content online, and game-tv is for those who consider computers and consoles to be their better half. And KI.KA - this one’s especially for Amélie, but we figured that we could also make other kids happy this way.
All of which brings us to a current total of 56 channels for the Swiss lineup. We’re now working on the next 50 ...
Zattoo - Live wild. Live free. Watch TV on your PC.
These boots just keep on walking…
Posted 17 Septiembre 2007 by helen in Announcements, Channels, Community
... Or: Of countries and channels
Hola to all current and waitlisted Zattoo users out there! Thanks to all of you for your remarks, suggestions, for your incredibly encouraging praise and also for your critical remarks. The praise makes us soar high and keeps us going, the criticism pulls us back to the ground and drives us to give you a better Zattoo.
Apart from the many comments you also have many questions, especially on when we plan to launch in other countries and on what’s going to happen with the channel offering. So here’s a quick update on things:
Next on the list of countries to be Zattoo-ified are Belgium, Austria („WE HEAR YOU, LINSE!“), and France. In most other European countries we’re in discussion with the broadcasters - in some more intensely than in others. We’ve stopped announcing launch dates ahead of time because we had to learn the hard way that things never go as planned when there are two parties or more involved (a variation of Murphy’s Law).
While we’re mainly focusing on Europe this year, the rest of the world is not completely off our map. We’re also talking to broadcasters in the US („Stand by, Josephine!“) and in some Asian countries and hope to also move forward in South America very soon (this for Betty in Paraguay).
We’re collecting all your channel requests and will certainly try to fulfill as many of them as possible, though you may need to be a little patient with us. We’re reluctant to communicate starting dates for new channels before we don't hold the rights for them in our very own hands. This means that we can’t tell you exactly when this or that channel will be available. But you can be sure that the channels that are hot on your list are also hot on ours ...
One last thing: if you’ve got technical questions, it might be best to address them to support@zattoo.com (for Germany there’s a separate support email address: support.de@zattoo.com).
Cheerio from the guys and gals at Zattoo!
Zattoo - It's a TV world. Let's enjoy it. Wherever, whenever, whatever.
Voll krass: Wir sind live für ganz Deutschland!
Posted 13 Septiembre 2007 by helen in Announcements, Alemania
Draussen mags grau sein*, aber unsere Herzen sind froh: wir haben endlich geschafft, worauf wir lange hingearbeitet haben: wir sind in Deutschland für alle User da! Deshalb listen wir hier gleich mal einige gute Gründe auf, wieso auch du Zattoo brauchst:
1. Selbstverwirklichung. Ausgelatschter Begriff aus den 80er Jahren, der gerade wieder Retro-Auferstehung feiert. Im Zusammenhang mit Zattoo bedeutet das: DU BESTIMMST DEINEN TV-KONSUM – was, wann und wo du willst. Beim Emailen, beim Chatten, beim Musik-Download ...
2. Zattoo tut gut. Wir sind keimfrei, bleifrei, virenfrei.
3. Es kostet nix.
4. Chef: Dein Chef mag Zattoo nicht. Es lenkt dich nämlich von der Arbeit ab. Deshalb solltest du Zattoo immer nie im Büro auf deinem PC laufen lassen.
5. Bier: Wir wissen zwar noch nicht genau, was Bier mit Zattoo zu tun hat, aber sie passen dennoch ganz gut zusammen. **
6. (Du brauchst tatsächlich noch einen Grund? Na schön.) Zattoo ist schlichtwegs geil. Finden nicht nur wir, sondern auch unsere über 800'000 anderen User, die bereits via Zattoo TV schauen.
Also nix wie ran: Hol dir hier gratis deinen „Zattoo Player“, um fernzusehen – wann und wo du willst: www.zattoo.com/download .
Zattoo – We’re out to conquer the world, one little step at a time.
* Jedenfalls hier in Zürich
** Francesco: die nächsten fünf Blogeinträge sind garantiert bierfrei. I promise.
Durchs Hintertürchen rein…
Posted 7 Septiembre 2007 by helen in Announcements, Alemania
Die Gerüchte sind wahr: wir sind klammheimlich in Deutschland eingewandert. Seit einer Woche gibt’s Zattoo für vorregistrierte User exklusiv mit 18 Kanälen in einer Beta-Version. Es ist jetzt aber nicht so, dass wir Schiss hätten, uns so ganz offen euch Deutschen zu stellen (dem schweizerischen Teil der Firma könnte man das ja noch vorwerfen – mier Schwiizer händ, so seit mer, jo en sogenanntä Dütschland-Komplex – aber ein ganzer Haufen unserer
Guys tüftelt in Ann Arbor/USA an stetig neuen Sachen und die sind garantiert weniger leicht einzuschüchtern), aber Deutschland ist für uns bis anhin der grösste Markt, und da wollen wir doch sicher sein, dass wir es möglichst richtig machen. Deshalb ganz herzlichen Dank an Martin, Dieter, Jens, Oliver, Vincent und alle andern, die den Player runtergeladen, getestet und darüber gebloggt haben. You rock, guys!
Das heisst aber überhaupt nicht, dass Zattoo dem guten Rest verwehrt bleibt. Falls jemand, der noch nicht zattoo-iert ist, auch Lust auf Zattoo hat, kann er oder sie sich auf www.zattoo.com/register auf die Warteliste eintragen. Wir senden jeden Tag neue Invites raus, allzu lange muss man also nicht Däumchen drehen.
Ach übrigens, noch kurz was zum Kanalangebot: wir sind immer noch volle Pulle dabei, über die Rechte zu weiteren Kanälen zu verhandeln. Mit einigen schauts schon sehr gut aus, bei anderen sind wir ungefähr bei Halbzeit, und bei anderen wiederum ... na ja, da polieren wir immer noch die Schuhe vorm Spiel. Aber: wir bleiben dran. Und garantieren, dass wir immer wieder neue Kanäle aufschalten werden. In der Schweiz sind wir schliesslich auch vor Urzeiten im Juni 2006 mit vier Kanälen gestartet. Jetzt sinds 49.
Zattoo - Als der TV laufen lernte.
The Rrright Stuff
Posted 28 Agosto 2007 by helen in Announcements, Community
Yup, we are on the way to conquer the world launch in other countries, but it’s not a box of chocolates. Which means that Portugal (for you, Jorge) and Italy (for Carlo and Hefe) and many other countries in Europe, America and Asia are on our map. However, it takes a lot of legwork (read: flight miles and sizzling phone lines) to collect the necessary rights to transmit the channels. Fact is that as good guys (and chicks), who plan to stay around for a while and not get slapped with a million dollar lawsuit for operating illegally, we diligently acquire the rights in each separate country. Unlike the fast food world, the media world doesn’t operate on a global basis, so if we acquire the rights to carry a French TV channel in Switzerland, say, we don’t automatically get the right to carry it also in France or Germany.
All of this doesn’t make us piss in our pants deter us, of course. Chance actually is that we’re talking to a broadcaster somewhere right now, as you are reading this. So stay tuned for more channels in Z-countries and a launch in countries that haven’t been zattoed yet. And, as always: a big thank-you for your interest and support!
Menos fiesta, más servicio…
Posted 24 Agosto 2007 by helen in Announcements, España
Estamos tomando vuestros comentarios muy en serio y como han podido comprobar, durante los últimos días hemos lanzado una nueva versión del reproductor. Hemos ampliado, además, nuestra infraestructura, con el fin de poder dar respuesta al número creciente de usuarios de nuestro servicio, así como para preparar el sistema para la inclusión de nuevos canales. Nuestro equipo está trabajando duramente para eliminar posibles “bugs” en la nueva versión, convencidos de poder mejorar aún más la calidad de las imágenes. Mientras tanto, les agradecemos sus comentarios y su paciencia. Stay tuned!
De juerga en Madrid
Posted 4 Julio 2007 by francesco in Announcements, Community, España
Sugih (co-fundador, presidente y CTO), Daniel (responsable para España) y yo estaremos en Madrid, mañana jueves, día 5 de julio de 2007. Durante el día daremos una rueda de prensa y en la noche iremos de copas y tapas para celebrar un poco.
Todos los 124'438 usuarios de Zattoo en España estáis cordialmente invitados a acompañarnos. Estaremos en el bar Viva Madrid a partir de las 20:00. No podemos ofrecer más que responder a vuestras preguntas, escuchar vuestras ideas e... invitaros a una cerveza. Pero nos encantaría conocer personalmente muchos de vosotros!
