LOS ANGELES—It's often been said that the adult entertainment industry drives technology. That maxim certainly rang true in the 1980s when porn helped usher in the home video revolution, and it was driven home in the late-'90s and early aughts when porn companies embraced video-on-demand at its inception to bring adult entertainment a brand-new distribution platform.
The adult industry continues to innovate, and perhaps the most progressive product to come down the pike in recent years is the all-new iPorn. Under new ownership, the site aims to do for porn what iTunes did for music.
If you think that's a bold proclamation all you have to do is check out iPorn.com. AVN was privy to an exclusive demo of the site and its game-changing technology, and we were blown away by its user-friendly design, utter ease of use and the proprietary technology "under the hood."
The new iPorn team is backed by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs with past successes in mobile media and content delivery along with a few familiar faces from the adult industry—including AVN Award-winning director Joshua (of skinworXXX and Rock Star Entertainment fame) and Jim Crawford of SoCal Licensing, who will exclusively be handling all content licensing.
iPorn uses proprietary technology to optimize adult content that's purchased via its revolutionary VOD platform. Through its proprietary encoder, iPorn users receive a bit-for-bit version of the movie that's identical to the master—one file is optimized for every platform and device. The technology supports full 1080p high-definition on devices that support it as well as high-bit streaming capabilities. Additionally, the iPorn.com site itself is coded in dynamic HTML 5 in order to give users a custom experience no matter what kind of device they use to access the site.
So what's the big deal? How does this all work for consumers, and what differentiates it from any other VOD site out there? The short answer, and one of the site's biggest selling points, is that no other service with premium adult content offers compatibility with Apple's iOS at the same level or ease of use as iPorn.
Upon purchasing an adult movie from iPorn the user receives a download link via email. Once the movie is downloaded and clicked, it opens in iTunes under the dynamically created genre "XXX," where all other future adult purchases will reside. iTunes treats the file like any other purchase—the box cover and all the adult title's metadata (clickable links to the studio, niche, performers, etc.) is there too, making the experience exactly like purchasing any mainstream movie from the iTunes Store directly. From there, the video is accessible via mobile, tablet or desktop. Users also have the option to rent movies, gaining immediate access to a stream from any device.
On iOS mobile devices iPorn purchases can be accessed through Apple's built-in stock video app on iPhone or iPad just like one would access any other previously purchased video content from iTunes. Users also can access their purchased and synced videos through the optimized iPorn.com site on any mobile device.
The "XXX" genre automatically created by iPorn upon the user's first purchase can be controlled easily through Apple's parental controls. This gives parents the ability to restrict access to their adult content on any device.
“In addition to being optimized across all platforms, the technology and brand being introduced today happens to be the best iOS experience that the adult industry has to offer,” Joshua told AVN. "This is a revolutionary product. It gives you an experience on mobile devices, especially iOS, unlike anything you have experienced."
Most of the influential U.S. and European studios currently are vying for prime placement on the platform. Joshua said he expects iPorn to launch with more than 1,000 titles that the user can either purchase to own or stream—all movies on the service will be available for either downloading or streaming, and users can even download or stream individual scenes too.
"One file will play on every single mobile and tablet platform, as well as Mac, PC, Apple TV, Google TV, Roku—you name it," Joshua said. "This is the technology and the site that both fans and producers people have been waiting for for years. You get Blu-ray quality, dot-for-dot pixel accuracy to the master, at a file size that's excellent for downloading or streaming. iPorn is the future of our business, and I think a way to save our business as well."
Joshua said that he expects iPorn Beta to launch soon, with a full launch slated for spring.
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