hubee

Agile, innovative and responsive...

It is not always easy to explain in a few simple words the great upheavals that we are witnessing during this audiovisual revolution towards an all-digital industry. This makes it all the more difficult to describe in a nutshell what our role is today, let alone what it may be tomorrow.

Hubee's role is new and decidedly specific. We will attempt here to better define it, in the hope of outlining more clearly what it will be tomorrow as it is succumbs to an unprecedented surge of technological changes, an unbridled increase in new screens and media devices and the convergence of television and the web, video and interactivity.

Our vision of the future is based, therefore, on a few strong convictions drawn from our experience and our pragmatic understanding of digital media and the way in which they are used. This vision shapes a constantly evolving, original method of organisation and leads us to bank on new activities which, in turn, forces us to predict our role of tomorrow so as to place ourselves in the best position.

Designer of user experiences

The starting point - our role today - is therefore to design, integrate and develop technological solutions to help providers of digital services or content with a strong video element to distribute their product offering to new digital fields and the ever-increasing array of new screens (computers, televisions, tablets, smart phones, set-top boxes, game consoles).

This requires a subtle blend of creativity, user interface ergonomics, familiarity with usages, continuous innovation, not to mention a great deal of technological expertise.

The positioning, culture and organisation of Hubee is closely linked with an environment, which is particularly complex and changeable. We adapt every day to meet challenges in terms of innovation and expertise that result from the advent and accelerated renewal of new technology, new players and new screens,

A complex and turbulent environment

The ways of consuming media, most particularly television, are changing and will be increasingly influenced by the trends and uses upon which we are relying to build our future...

On-demand

Readers, listeners and TV viewers want to "consume" content when they want, wherever they are and however they want; which is to say, they want to instantly access information or watch the film of their choice, without having the media dictate to them. The growth in video on demand and catch-up TV already largely confirms this underlying trend.

Multi-screen

The same content must be accessible on several screen types (computer, television, portable devices) in order to ensure its availability, and this across the maximum number of digital territories if it is to stand a chance of surviving and being seen. The increase in screens will also lead to more viewing. Each member of the same family, will be able to access as they please, perhaps at the same moment in time, the content which best suits them. The screens will complement each other, interacting together. Tablets and smart phones for example will become powerful remote controls, controlling televisions ever more intelligently. These screens - portable by nature but often used in the home - will serve as secondary screens to provide all the interaction necessary for new audiovisual programmes (programme information, option to make comments, possibility to enhance the viewer experience among friends or with the channel, real time voting and opinions, impulse purchasing of objects featured in a film or a show).

Hyper connection

In the next ten years all that can be connected will be. Not only screens but also domestic appliances, objects, cars, clothes, accessories, and certain other products... All in order to exchange data and interact among themselves and with the consumer. And that which cannot be connected directly will integrate intelligent components (RFID chip, 3D barcode, etc.) so as to prolong the experience and offer additional information, an augmented reality. We will witness a gentle blend of the real and the virtual worlds. Books, magazines and articles will automatically be enriched and the experience heightened by way of virtual applications or informational websites. Hyper-connection will truly mark the advent of clicks & mortar.

Access is king !

This permanent connection of people and objects, an immediate and permanent access to thousands of services, databases and content is creating an era of immediacy. Not being able to access what we want, wherever we are, will soon be incomprehensible and intolerable for “consum'actors”, who will want it "all and right away"! Access to information, a programme or a resource will be more important than owning it. Streaming will take precedence over downloading. This phenomenon can already be seen in the areas of video on demand and film content piracy. It will be soon be the case for e-commerce.

Anywhere, anytime & any device

In general, consuming media and films will become increasingly customised and immediate as it is contextualised: right now (I want to find out more, right where I am, at the moment I think about it) or on the go (while travelling, in transit or to fill downtime). It will also be eminently shared (social networks, recommendations, other consumers’ opinions) and synchronised with our networks in certain cases.

Find your way around the hyperchoice !

In the digital content era, the consumer is drowning under a mass of content never before seen in the history of mankind. We have never published, produced, broadcast or created as many books, films, videos or other audiovisual programming. This media production is exponential and still accelerating. Theoretically, several hundred television channels are accessible, more than 67,000 books are published each year in France, over 8,000 films are available on certain VOD platforms and several million songs are available for purchase on iTunes, while hundreds of hours of audiovisual programmes are available on catch-up TV on the Freebox, not counting the hundreds of programmes broadcast live each day by the channels. As far as YouTube is concerned, more than 250,000 videos are uploaded every day and the site claims that more than 700 billion videos were watched in 2010! Selecting, searching, identifying and choosing what we want to watch or listen to at any given moment is a challenge only paralleled by the incredible overabundance of what the media offer.

Access to this ocean of content will impose new marketing and editorial rules. The power of the media brands and brand image of major publishers are just a small part of the possible solutions. The technologies that we will have to invent, integrate or develop will naturally focus on customisation with profiling using avatars or smart user accounts (accounts that is...not users ;-)), and search and recommendation engines. Implementing smart intelligent systems that learn about what we consume and that take account of our tastes will be essential. Contextual editorial marketing will have to progress in order to offer the right content at the right time to those who need it most. Intuitive user interfaces, as well as ensuring that each search and navigation experience is optimised for each screen, will be crucial elements in the success of service providers. Creativity, innovation and technology are key ingredients in the development of effective and profitable editorial offerings in the digital media world. And this, more than ever...

To be or not to be Interactive 

We are convinced that video will increasingly be used on the Web. Cisco forecasts that in 2015 more than 70% of internet traffic will be videos. Aside from what will be flowing through the high-speed networks, those websites or applications that do not incorporate a video component will be visited less, if at all.
In contrast, video is becoming increasingly interactive. Not only so that we can navigate through vast programme catalogues in order to make our selection, but also within programme streaming itself. Videos will be clickable and will incorporate more and more metadata, providing access to other content or services.
Articles featuring in a film (product placement) will be tagged so that they may be purchased at the end of viewing. Programmes on social issues, talk shows, literary programmes will enable a viewer, even within the very video, to buy the show or book or even learn more about the subject under discussion with just one click on the remote control. It is the heralded advent of e-commerce.

Moving forward with the future

All these trends are important areas in which we are already working, both in experimental and concrete terms, on behalf of major corporate clients or leading brands.

Our engineers and developers dedicate 20% of their time to R&D, to training and testing personal projects which can (and must) produce results for new applications or enhance our clients' services.
The convergence of all these new digital usages and the technological, ergonomic and business challenges facing us are exciting and particularly stimulating in a sector where few players can lay claim to the level of expertise that Hubee possesses.

Continuing to innovate, creating powerful experiences, designing better thought-out services adapted to meet the requirements of new consumers, and developing technological solutions to make the complex nature of all these systems more transparent – regardless of what type of screen… All of this represents the true mission of Hubee.