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In the past few years, streaming services have slowly taken the place of cable and satelite companies for many users. When YouTube TV debuted in our area, I was quick to cut the cord and I’ve not looked back since. While I don’t save a ton of money over the older, more-classic models of media consumption, I do love the portability and on-demand nature of streaming media. It would seem the industry as a whole sees this potential and it hasn’t taken long for the big shift to streaming television services to happen.
A few years ago, there weren’t too many options. Today, there are a dizzying array of streaming content providers like Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Peacock, YouTube, and Quibi just to name a few. There isn’t one clear winner with all the content and users are generally forced to adopt a combination of services to watch all the shows and movies they’d like to see. I know I have a variation of free/subsidized/paid accounts with all those providers I listed above, so it can get a little confusing jumping between all of them to watch what I’m looking for.
‘Kaleidoscope’ could bring media organization to Chrome
Spotted by Chrome Story, a new project simply called ‘Kaleidoscope’ is in the works and already semi-available in the Canary Channel. It isn’t fully functional, but from what is already in place, we can get a pretty good idea of what ‘Kaleidoscope’ will do once it is fully fleshed out.
From the looks of what Dinsan was able to get running, we’re seeing a simple grid of streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ already in the options of services. What other services will become available isn’t quite clear at this point, but it would stand to reason that any of these streaming providers that have a web portal would be in play, here. Ostensibly, after choosing the providers you’d like to sign into and access from this new hub, you’ll be done with the setup process and it looks like suggested content will be available in new tab pages.
The benefits here could be big for consumers and streaming companies alike. For companies like Netflix or Disney+, the inclusion in new tab pages via suggested content could draw in viewers that weren’t previously interested. For viewers, having a single place to browse shows or movies could make for a much simpler experience across the board, across devices (this is all in Chrome, after all). Shows and movies move around between streaming services at will, so its anyone’s guess where a particular episode or movie is living at any given time. With ‘Kaleidoscope’, it could become far easier to just search for the show or movie you want and click play. After all, if you are subscribed to a few of these services, you likely don’t care where exactly you are streaming it from, right?
Development on this service just began in August from the looks of things, so don’t expect this to show up anytime soon. If/when ‘Kaleidoscope’ does become a part of the Google Chrome experience, I think it could be a fantastic feature that I know I’d be very inclined to take advantage of.
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