For as long as there have been battles, there has been the ‘telling of the tale'. For the Vikings, it was mead and roast pig around wooden tables while the stories would grow bigger and wilder with each telling. These days, forensically accurate uploads of gaming sequences are the method of choice.
KitGuru speaks with Hauppauge's VP for Sales and Marketing, Yehia Oweiss, about his company's latest push into the gamer market.
Hauppauge is now a regular feature at major events like GamesCom and this piqued our interest, but its roots are elsewhere. We started off by asking Yehia to give us a quick background on his company.
“Founded in 1992, Hauppauge originally manufactured mainboards for Intel”, explained Yehia. “But we soon moved our focus to TV cards and video capture hardware”.
So what's the full extent of Hauppauge's range these days?
“Well, through Hauppauge Computer Works, PCTV Systems and Hauppauge Digital Europe, we design and deliver a number of digital video products”, said Yehia. “Our three main video solutions focuses on digital video streaming, high definition video capture for the gaming market, and live digital TV receivers for mobile and tablet devices such as the iPhone and iPad”.
You mentioned gaming in there Yehia, that seems to be a departure from pure TV and video. What's that all about?
“Our high definition video capture products are designed for gamers, developed from their feedback to us”, he explained. “Hauppauge is now dedicated to this market and events like GamesCom help us stay connected with our key customers”.
What products specifically?
“At GamesCom 2012, we launched the HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition”, said Yehia. “This is a dedicated gaming capture product”. .
“Every gamer we have spoken with has been really excited by this new development”, he told KitGuru. “It is very easy to install, has HDMI connectivity with pass through at 1080p and the capture quality is stunning”. .
“Whatever you see in your gameplay, can be recorded and played back with no delay”, he said. “Making output to YouTube both simple and gratifying”. .
So how big is the market for HD video capture and playback? Yehia had the data on hand to answer that question. .
“A recent Neilsen report stated that Brits now watch 18,000 years’ worth of online video a month”. We assume that's not ‘each'.
Yehia continued, “So video touches all of us and Hauppauge is best placed in terms of its video expertise to offer HD video on all platforms – whether that's a mobile phone, tablet TV or any other computer-driven device”. .
“While our focus here is on gamers, we also have products designed for organisations that want to stream high definition video across the web”, he said. “Perfect for broadcasting live events over the internet”. .
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KitGuru says: Speaking with Yehia, he seems confident that the future is all about increased participation in video streaming and that Hauppauge offers a high quality, affordable solution to enable that to happen. The promise seems to be ‘Broadcast quality video in an easy to use, consumer-friendly solution'. Just what the Vikings were looking for, surely.