Massachusetts-based startup Skreens TV is trying to solve the modern sports fan's dilemma: how to consume a smorgasbord of sports and fantasy stats, while maintaining the ability to play video games on a single TV screen at the same time, and controlling all of it with a single smart phone or tablet. The new device brings to the primary screen the utilities of second and third devices many viewers already utilize. “It may change the way the TV engages the family," says Judy Pagliuca, an early investor in the company and the wife of Celtics co-Owner Steve Pagliuca. “Right now people are watching with lots of devices and the community experience is being lost by attention to mobile devices." SkreensTV does this via five HDMI inputs that work with cable and satellite TV boxes, direct Internet access, video game consoles, streaming media devices, and open HTML5 apps. A single HDMI cable then connects to an HDTV. “It’s like having five TVs in one. You can resize and reposition each input,” explains Marc Todd, the device's creator and Skreens Entertainment Technologies Founder & CEO. He likens it to picture-in-picture with more options. Todd, the former CEO of video monitoring and testing company IneoQuest, designed the switcher after getting frustrated that he could not watch the Bruins, Celtics, and Patriots all at once while his children wanted to play Xbox on his living room TV. A team of 20 has been working for the past two and a half years to bring Todd’s vision to life.
ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES? Pagliuca, Managing Dir at the VC firm PagsGroup, says the device also has a future outside of the home. She notes the technology can be embedded on a chip in Smart TVs or potentially on new products from cable or satellite providers that partner with Skreens. She also sees the technology improving fan experiences at sporting events. "Currently the Celtics are not an investor, but any sports team might be interested in having their stadium TVs show multiple types of content," she said. "Season-ticket holders may want multiple types of content delivered to (in-venue) TVs or the team could deliver specialized content to the viewer at home." To fend off competition, Todd has patents pending that may protect his "secret sauce" in the small white box, which is not much bigger than some universal remotes. Skreens TV features a built-in processor, the five HDMI inputs, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, one Ethernet and two USB ports, optical audio out, plus built-in memory. It can download HTML 5 apps, pictures, or your own videos which you can stream. After downloading a free app to a smart device, the user is able to control which inputs are on TV as well as the size and shape of each input. Todd also claims the design allows for cascading, which may make the device attractive to sports bars who want to put numerous games on one large TV. For now, Skreens TV is going direct to consumers, kicking off its Indiegogo campaign today. The device is being sold for $499. Todd says the product release date has not been set, but he hopes to deliver devices to investors on the crowd-funding site by next football season. Gartner Research Dir of Consumer Technology Brian Blau said, "The main detractor is the price. I think that’s very expensive for a consumer product." But the analyst added that Skreens may hit paydirt by getting to market before anyone else or possibly getting acquired.
