About iG Internet Portal

Part of the BrasilTelecom group of companies, iG is the most trafficked Internet portal in and from Brazil, present in nearly 1500 cities and growing on a run rate of around 15000 new email accounts per day. Originally a free-dialup ISP in 2000, iG is shifting to become a major broadband internet access provider and content destination, facing strong competitors such as Terra, Globo and UOL. iG’s is in its way to create a set of online services which will surround and retain broadband users in its domains. These services include photo album, enhanced email, personal media center (with personal video library) and more.

iG and LabOne

LabOne is helping iG’s to create its own multimedia center which heavily focused on broadband users and experiences. LabOne first delivered iG Desktop, a comprehensive digital media application including a feature-rich photo album, which allows iG users to collect, manage and trade pictures and videos. Winning iG’s trust was not easy, and LabOne had to beat out other and less expensive digital media companies, while focusing in convincing iG that it should focus on its own core businesses rather than software development and rapid deployment integration. That was particularly daunting given iG’s strong tradition of self-development through its very resourceful IT department.

LabOne Brings Video Blogging to iG

iG broadband subscribers are currently able to upload video content onto a personal area within the portal - My MegaPlayer – also developed and maintained by LabOne. iG has lead the industry in Brazil with this approach (through development of iG Desktop, the client software that enable users to send videos to other users much in the same way it happens with similar Photo Album software).

In summary iG is the first portal using Media-iBox for more than audio and video content management. LabOne started as “multimedia solution provider” but soon iG realized that the “platform + LabOne’s professional services” could do much more. Each new interactive application (as the photo album, audio blogging, etc) is designed to run over LabOne’s Media-iBox, saving iG considerable time and money in upgrading and maintaining its unique media systems. The relationship is healthy and there is reason to expect the relationship to grow in size and complexity.

Here are some screenshots from the delivered applications:

iG Photo Album online application – enabling users to easily build personal photo album and share with family, co-workers and friends.

An interactive multimedia portal where users can watch and upload videos with advanced, and yet easy-to-use content management and manipulation

iG Desktop provides user friendly tools to manage and manipulate photos and videos before publishing to the personal site areas. Being a full-fledged digital content publisher is just a few clicks away.