Watch Videos Together with Watchitoo
Watchitoo is a new site that lets you create virtual rooms, called "Shows," which you can stock with your favorite YouTube clips and photos. After you're done, you can invite other people into a Show, where you can watch video clips simultaneously while talking to each other through a webcam connection.
Keep in Touch
The idea for Watchitoo came to the site's founder and CEO Rony Zarom while he was traveling for work and looking for a better way to stay in touch with his family. He imagined a site where he could share photos and videos with his son while videochatting.
The site was in development for two years, and was created by teams in New York and Israel. "The challenge was in dealing with scalability in all fronts," says Zarom, who wanted the site to perform perfectly whether there were thousands or millions of users.
When Zarom uses Watchitoo, he first uploads photos he wants to share, then sends a link to his 14-year-old son. The two share a love of rock music, so Zarom uploads classic rock photos he's found. The link contains an authentication code, so if the Show is private, only authorized people can view it.
The site lets you store up to 400 photos in your free user account (a number that will likely change as the site matures, Zarom says), but you can't save video. Instead, you need to link to videos on YouTube, the only video sharing site that works with Watchitoo at the moment.
Beta Release
Today marks the beta 2.0 launch for Watchitoo, which means that it's now open to the public after a private trial period. For the launch, it's picking up a variety of enhanced features, including a privacy profile option, the ability to view real-time notifications on what friends are doing, conversation threads in messaging, one-on-one chats, and the ability to connect a Watchitoo account with Facebook and Twitter accounts.
While Watchitoo seems designed for personal use, Zarom has hopes that it will turn into a business tool, as well. Some of the site's early users include small film producers, he says, who use the sharing features to show video to clients, pausing and discussing the work as they go. He also thinks it would be a good way for soldiers stationed away from home to communicate with their loved ones.
The Next Step
When will Watchitoo finally leave beta? It's a question Zarom declines to answer. His team will work on refining the community experience based on findings from the public release, so that's the immediate goal. He hopes to have new features on the site soon, however. While you can only share videos and photos in a Show at the moment, he says the site will add the ability to share documents and Flash games in a month. Games will need to be coded with a Watchitoo API to work.
Time will tell whether or not people want a group viewing experience built around online video. As it, the lack of Hulu support sticks out: it's easier to imagine people watching full-length network programming together. The site's future might be brighter with small companies looking for an inexpensive videoconferencing option. Monetization isn't yet an issue, says Zarom, who's financed the entire site entirely through his own venture capital firm, Decima Ventures. Give Watchitoo a try and see if social video-watching appeals to you.
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