It’s been some time since we’ve covered a mashup — which have started to seem like a short-lasted craze — so it’s time to bring the fun back. At Mashup Camp last week in San Francisco, the best mashup award was won by not some crazy, completely useless Google Maps-geodata play, but an online video mashup called Chime.TV by software developer Taylor McKnight (also creator of The Hype Machine.)
Chime.TV is an interesting play on online video which promises to ‘create a TV-like experience within your browser.’ Currently providing over 20 premium channels which range from ‘Science & Nature’ to ‘Video Blogs’ and ‘Documentaries,’ Chime.TV gathers–rather mashes up–video content from the various online video sites (prominently YouTube and Google Video) and provides a super-quick, easy, available-on-click interface to watch it.
Chime.TV, unlike various plays on online video, provides a complete experience for online video — all within a single interface. From the various options available while playing video include the ability to go full-screen, change aspect ratio, adjust color (that’s right!), and zoom-in to the video. Also, Chime.TV has sections for your favourite channels, your own channels, and your friends’ channels. Judging from the overall interface, there’s no doubt a lot of effort has been put into simulating an on-demand TV-like experience.
Admittedly, I’ve been using Chime.TV in the past week for those quick food-breaks, replacing those moments where I’d be watching something on Discovery Channel or the news. Whether you use Chime.TV as a total TV-replacement, a simple way to access various video sites, or as a guide for quality video content, there’s no doubt that it provides content for whatever your taste might be. For myself, an occasional documentary, some quality indie music, or a mind-boggling TedTalk does the trick. 
