Are the founders of Rdio prepping a Netflix competitor? GigaOm reports that Janus Friis with Niklas Zennström have pulled together a tech-savvy team for the launch of Vdio, which looks as though it will offer access to TV and movie content like Breaking Bad and A Few Good Men.
Vdio.com currently includes the tagline "Are you watching?" atop scenes from TV shows like Justified and Mad Men and movies like A Clockwork Orange. There's the option to "Login using Facebook" (click below for larger image), but in the U.S., connecting your account produces a message that says Vdio is "currently available in the UK only." According to GigaOm, those in the U.K. get a message the says the service is "coming soon."
Friis and Zennström are also behind KaZaA, Joost, and Skype, which formally became a division of Microsoft last week.
The service also has a rather sparse Facebook page; the @vdio Twitter feed is occupied by someone who has not updated since 2009, with the simple message: "Vacations." GigaOm did a little digging, however, and found that Vdio was registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in 2009 by Pulser Music Services, Inc., which was behind the launch of Rdio.
The blog also contends that the project has remained secret by using the name Project WBS, which according to SEC filings, is associated with many tech luminaries who also have connections to Rdio and Skype.
GigaOm didn't have any details on Vdio's features, though writer Janko Roettgers speculated that it will be a subscription service. "Fris and Zennstrom wouldn't align Vdio closely with Rdio if the offerings weren't somewhat similar, and they wouldn't secretly work on a project like this if it was just another VOD rental property," he wrote.
Earlier this month, Rdio launched the first ever free, on-demand music offering featuring zero ads. The free service doesn't offer unlimited streaming; a meter at the top of each user's page indicates how much free listening time remains. This amount is dynamic, and will be based on each user's personal use.
At Facebook's f8 conference, Rdio was also among the various music companies to introduce an app that lets people connect their Rdio listening experience to Facebook's news feed.
Netflix, meanwhile, has had a rough couple of months, emerging recently from the PR nightmare that was Qwikster. Amidst price hikes, the company announced plans to separate its DVD rental and streaming services into two different services—Netflix for streaming and Qwikster for DVDs. The backlash was intense, however, and Netflix recently abandoned plans for the split. Now its focus is on building up its streaming content; the company recently announced deals with DreamWorks, AMC Networks, and The CW. For more, see Netflix Ditches Qwikster: What You Need to Know.