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The Engadget Interview: CEO Frederic Rose explains Technicolor's Qeo connection
When even your fellow tech editors ask "Why are you interviewing Technicolor?", you know there's a wide disconnect between the perception of a company and what it actually does. But the firm best known for saturating hues into early films like the Wizard of Oz has branched into a wide range of technical niches that only loosely connect with its original pursuit, thanks to the company's acquisition by Thomson. Products now include set-top boxes, home networking, mobile TV and a huge portfolio of technical patents -- the company controls licensing of the MP3 codec, for instance. It's now trying to address a problem that's plagued the gadget industry for quite awhile now: how to get devices from disparate ecosystems working together to make gadget-using connected and seamless. To that end, Technicolor has developed Qeo, a software system designed to allow TVs, handheld devices, intercom systems and appliances to all have one big confab. The company's CEO, Frederic Rose, took the time to explain how it works, and we went eyes-on in another video to show how a connected home using the technology might work. Considering that it shows devices using a variety of standards and operating systems all working to serve you, it's pretty impressive -- go after the break to check them both out.
Technicolor's Qeo software aims to let connected devices speak the same lingo
The idea of the "internet of things" is fine and well, but when was the last time your smartphone had a chat with the fridge? Technicolor is aiming to solve those communication breakdowns with Qeo, a software system to bridge connected devices of all types and brands. While you may be thinking, "Technicolor? That company at the end of the movie credits?" it turns out that the post-production outfit also does items like set-top boxes and DSLR routers through its acquisition of Thomson. Qeo will allow those types of devices, along with smartphones, computers, tablets and even "dumb" systems like intercoms or appliances to all communicate, regardless of the OS or protocol used by each. That'll create scenarios where your doorbell can notify your smartphone that someone's waiting to be let in, or allow you to switch a video call from your Android tablet to a Qeo-enabled TV screen, according to Technicolor -- providing the right manufacturers, software developers or network operators are using the protocol, of course. Fortunately, the company claims that it's already signed up a bevy of companies in all those categories, meaning a device-agnostic connected home may be soon within your grasp. You can check the PR after the jump for now, but we'll have even more details soon in glorious, er, Technicolor, so stay tuned.
