The video-on-demand website Qiyi.com – which is owned by search giant Baidu – now has a brand-new desktop app for Windows PCs. It underlines how the site has ambitions similar to the US service, Hulu, in being the go-to source for full episodes of licensed TV and movie content.
The Qiyi app has a layout familiar from the main website, where users can also stream videos in their browser, except that it’s darker and has more visual elements. The main categories of video content in the app are: movies, TV series, cartoons, documentaries, arts and literature, music, entertainment, and travel. The football section, which is so prominent on the website, is missing from the app.
The app allows Qiyi to push ahead with how it wants to present its content without being held back by the web-browser, which is especially important in a country which still loves to use the ancient IE6 browser to get online. It also allows Baidu to save bandwidth by using peer-to-peer technology, in a similar manner to Skype’s network.
Youku vs Baidu
Youku.com seems to be the most direct competition for Qiyi, with Youku’s deepening investments in buying copyrighted popular Chinese, Korean, and American content, as evidenced by its deal last week with Warner Bros for 400+ titles. PPStream, which is gradually shifting away from its roots in piracy, is another contendor – not least because they’ve had a very popular PC app for years already.
Qiyi now has apps for iPhone, iPad, Android phones, Android tablets, Symbian 3, and even Bada – being joined by this new PC variant. You can try out their new PC app here, but take note that its content streams are geo-restricted to inside China only.
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