ConnecTV adds SocialTV Timeline for mobile, puts chats with stars on a second screen

Posted on 25/01/2013 by Jon Fingas

ConnecTV represents traditional TV producers' attempt at second screen content, and having that official blessing carries certain perks. Witness the platform's newly added SocialTV Timeline for mobile devices: the real-time, synced content feed provides not just expandable info, news and polls in line with ongoing fan conversations, but live chats with TV and sports personas during key shows and events. The SocialTV Timeline isn't limited to the avaialble iOS or web apps, either; there's support for syndicating it through other companies' mobile software and sites. The core ConnecTV apps remain free (if ad-supported), so those who've had an inclination to chat with an actor or NFL veteran just need to visit the relevant links to get started.

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ConnecTV Unveils New SocialTV Timeline[TM] for Mobile Devices

Fans chat in real time with TV and sports stars in new format that syncs with TV

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ConnecTV, the social TV network for television fans, today announced a unique new SocialTV Timeline that dynamically syncs on your mobile devices to whatever show you're watching, and offers a stream of integrated news, bios, special info, polls, and celebrity tweets. ConnecTV's SocialTV Timeline also puts front and center "guest star" chat with stars from hit programs "Pretty Little Liars," "Dancing With the Stars," and "X-Factor," as well as Super Bowl and Heisman Trophy-winning sports celebrities.

Just tap on any content unit in ConnecTV's "SocialTV Timeline" and it immediately springs to life, expanding to offer news, polls, play-by-play sports and more. Share with friends, sign up for upcoming show alerts, create a ConnecTV viewing party or chat with stars and other fans - all with one touch. Fans can access ConnecTV's new features free on smart phones, tablets and computers by downloading the ConnecTV app in the iTunes Store or at ConnecTV.com. The new SocialTV Timeline is also available for syndication by third parties as a simple module that works in smart phone and tablet applications as well as on web pages, allowing users anywhere to sync to TV across more than 400 channels.

The SocialTV Timeline showcases TV and sports stars as well as Internet celebrities chatting with fans in real time as they watch their favorite shows and games or in ConnecTV's Watercooler. Among the "guest stars" showcased in ConnecTV chat: Keegan Allen of ABC Family's "Pretty Little Liars," Val Chmerkovskiy of ABC's "Dancing With The Stars: All-Stars," Apollo Nida of Bravo's "Real Housewives of Atlanta," Beilee Madison co-star of Billy Crystal's "Parental Guidance," Chris Rene of Fox's "X-Factor," Super Bowl XXXIV champion and St. Louis Rams tight end Roland Williams, Heisman Trophy winner and legendary Oakland Raider Tim Brown and Internet celebrity Michael Buckley.

"ConnecTV is primarily focused on a great user experience that enhances television viewing - rather than distracting you from the ten foot experience by pulling your focus in dozens of different directions," said ConnecTV Co-Founder Ian Aaron. "By giving our million users - and growing fast - a companion experience to television programming and marketing that they can act on with one touch, ConnecTV leads the way in fast-forwarding television into a truly social and interactive medium."

"All the play-by-play action on the field now comes to life in real time on ConnecTV with a stream of deep stats, player bios, news and more," said former Oakland Raider Tim Brown, who chats with fans on ConnecTV. "Joining the conversation with my super sofa warriors or sports bar titans is the most fun way to watch every game."

The SocialTV Timeline launch follows the announcement of ConnecTV's AdSync Network, which enables "view-sers" to act immediately on relevant television ads and promotions by tapping on synchronized companion ads on their second screen devices: Buy now, get a special promotional offer, watch additional product videos, find the closest store or enter a contest. SocialTV Timeline and the TV AdSync Network comprise the core of ConnecTV's new social television platform that syncs with every show across more than 400 national channels, local stations and regional sports networks.

The new suite of ConnecTV features launches with an innovative graphical design that showcases the conversation around your favorite shows as well as a one-touch social integration that instantly connects viewers with their friends and followers throughout the social sphere. The design mission: To make TV more engaging, more compelling and more fun.

Consistent with the new design's focus on driving the conversation around television, ConnecTV showcases its "Watercooler" initiative launched over the summer. Watercooler features national and local celebrities in sports, news, and entertainment chatting about the day's top news on TV. The Watercooler premiered on ConnecTV around the 2012 London Games with Olympic Gold Medalists Bruce Jenner, Greg Louganis, Aaron Peirsol, Amanda Beard, and Clyde Drexler, and has continued through the new year with pop culture icon Michael Buckley sparking social media conversation around tent-pole programming such as the Golden Globes, "Dancing with the Stars" and "Vampire Diaries."

ConnecTV's new mobile interface is designed as a stream of dynamic cells, which, when touched, instantly expand to provide users with more in-depth information and real-time interactive functionality, including purchasing capabilities, in-depth and play-by-play sports statistics, relevant user polls, and connected social media - as well as enabling chat that is synchronized with the show you are watching.

The free ConnecTV app offers companion programming content and social interactivity elements that sync with any program from any TV source: cable, satellite and IPTV - live or time-shifted. ConnecTV uses a proprietary combination of content-recognition algorithms, closed caption data and a diverse mix of content meta-data to drive the accuracy, relevancy and speed of synchronization with broadcast programming - along with a tight technical integration into leading social media networks including Facebook and Twitter.

ConnecTV's new platform syndication opportunity for SocialTV Timeline and the AdSync Network launches with the top broadcast media companies' television stations across America: Belo Corp., Cox Media Group, E.W. Scripps Co., Gannett Broadcasting, Hearst Television Inc., Media General Inc., Meredith Corp., Post-Newsweek Stations, Raycom Media and Schurz Communications.

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Tablets, HD

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Source: App Store, ConnecTV

Netflix and YouTube’s DIAL promises to be open alternative to AirPlay

Posted on 24/01/2013 by Nicole Lee

It's already clear that most of us prefer watching Netflix on TV rather than on our PCs or tablets, but it appears the subscription video pioneer isn't content with just direct streaming. As we learned at CES 2013, Netflix is currently in cahoots with YouTube to build out a multiscreen initiative called DIAL (which stands for "discovery and launch") that could provide real competition for Apple's AirPlay. It works in essentially the same way -- DIAL lets you play streaming video on compatible TVs without having to launch the app first -- but there are a few key differences. Unlike AirPlay, DIAL lets you launch apps, even web apps, on the TV -- if it's a Smart TV, you'll even be redirected to download an appropriate app from its app store. However, it can't send URLs to the TV and mirror displays like AirPlay can, supposedly to avoid protocol conflicts as it builds its network of partnerships.

And that's where DIAL's growing momentum comes in. According to GigaOm, DIAL is an open protocol, which gives it massive dev and OEM appeal. All Google TV boxes already have it, while Sony, Samsung and LG are reportedly very interested. Scott Mirer, director of product management at Netflix, said the latter two have already incorporated it in some 2012 TVs, with more coming in the future. More important is the support from app devs and content providers -- BBC, Hulu, Pandora and Flingo have already signed up to take part in the effort, with Chrome purportedly working on DIAL compatibility for browser-to-TV page-flinging. On the whole, it's a promising path for not just Netflix and YouTube, which have previously only released relatively limited remote control applications, but the second screen movement in general.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD

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Source: GigaOm

The state of the second screen: Will TV companion apps proliferate or dwindle?

Posted on 11/01/2013 by Alexis Santos

If you let the rows of 3D and 4k displays lining the halls of CES paint a picture of the future of television, you'd be missing a vital component. Tucked away inside a pair of ballrooms on Sin City's famous Strip, representatives from television networks, software companies, cable providers and advertising firms held a powwow dubbed the Second Screen Summit to talk shop and discuss the fate of such experiences after a very busy 2012.

Over the past year, companies ranging from AT&T to Nintendo created a wave of experiences to complement TV content. Even the 2012 Summer Olympics received the second screen treatment with its very own Android and iOS apps, which let users catch live streams of events, access stats and more from the comfort of their couches. With so many solutions on the market, it's not entirely clear who will come out on top, or if there's room on the second screen for these myriad apps to coexist.

Continue reading The state of the second screen: Will TV companion apps proliferate or dwindle?

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Netflix previews family profiles, shows off Super HD and 3D streaming at CES 2013

Posted on 10/01/2013 by Richard Lawler

The current leader in subscription video streaming is Netflix, and today at its Las Vegas hotel suite we saw some of the technology it's planning to stay a step ahead of the competition this year. First up was one of the most widely requested features -- the ability to set up individual profiles for different family members, complete with their own queues and recommendations. The profiles can be set up on device or on the Netflix site, with toggles for a preference to its Just for Kids menu UI, as well as asking a bit about your preferred movies to seed initial recommendations.

We also got an eyeful of the new "Super HD" 1080p streaming, and although network issues kept us from getting a true gauge of the quality, we did confirm that the new max bitrates are well above the old "X-High" standards. Another thing we confirmed? That Cablevision and Google Fiber aren't the only US ISPs on its Open Connect list -- check the site to see if yours is.There was also a screen in the Samsung booth showing "early results" of their combined work on 4K video, but since it wasn't actually streaming there's not much to see.

Netflix was even showing off 3D streaming, and although we weren't able to confirm the type of compression being used (top/bottom, side by side or something else) we did watch it and it was mostly clear with only a few hints of ghosting. There are apparently several dozen 3D titles available to start, although customer reaction may dictate when/if more are added. The second screen experience we've seen on the PS3 was also shown working with Samsung TVs, in much the same manner. One thing that could make it better however, is the DIAL multiscreen initiative it's pushing with YouTube. If picked up as a standard, it would let you automatically launch these streaming services on a mobile device, and make them start playing on compatible TVs without having to launch the app on the TV first.

Not enough good news? Netflix also announced a launch date for another original series, Hemlock Grove, which hits April 19th (trailer after the break), and dropped the news that we'll be getting 14 new eps of Arrested Development in May. We expect to hear a bit more about all of that later in 2013, but if you want a preview of the features we saw then just check out the gallery.

Gallery: Netflix profiles, SuperHD hands-on

Continue reading Netflix previews family profiles, shows off Super HD and 3D streaming at CES 2013

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: Netflix (Twitter)

Slingboxes get My Media syncing to USB, Companion iPad app for at-home viewing

Posted on 08/01/2013 by Jon Fingas

The Slingbox news hasn't stopped just because Dish made its big splash. An update to the Slingbox 500 at first, and the 350 later this year, adds a local My Media sync component that lets Android or iOS users offload photos or videos to a USB drive attached to the Slingbox -- they just have to stream their content instead of chewing up their mobile device storage. Both Slingbox 350 and 500 owners are also promised the new Slingbox Companion app you see above. As long as they're toting at least an iPad 2, they can find shows, share their tastes through social networks and use their tablet as a remote without the usual live video of the SlingPlayer app. My Media is arriving first, both as a firmware update and a new SlingPlayer release, in the weeks ahead. Would-be Companion users will need to wait until the app hits iPads in the spring.

Continue reading Slingboxes get My Media syncing to USB, Companion iPad app for at-home viewing

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD

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Source: Slingbox

Sharp announces second screen support on iOS and Android for its SmartCentral HDTVs

Posted on 07/01/2013 by Daniel Cooper

We're here at Sharp's CES 2013 press conference, that it'll release a SmartCentral second screen and remote control app for its Aquos TVs. The service will offer split-screen TV and web browsing support, and users will be able to "flick" photos and videos from their mobile device to the TV, presumably in a similar manner to Sony's Throw. The company is also announcing support for Netflix's second-screen control, previously seen on the PlayStation 3 and a wallpaper mode that'll help your HDTV blend into your wall covering.

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Tablets, HD

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Dish Explorer for iPad steers Hopper DVRs, tells TV watchers what’s trending

Posted on 06/01/2013 by Jon Fingas

Dish was quick to take advantage of its Sling Media integration with remote live TV, but it hasn't put as much of an emphasis on what happens when we're still sitting comfortably in our living rooms. It's filling that hole with the launch of its Explorer app for the iPad. Viewers with a Hopper DVR can control their set-top box directly from the tablet, as you'd expect, but they'll also get a companion to whatever they're watching, whether it's live or recorded. Explorer catches the buzz around a show on Facebook and Twitter, including rankings if you'd like to see what shows are the hottest; it also builds in Thuuz sports stats and ratings to identify what's likely to be the big game for the day, even as it's happening. The app doesn't officially reach the App Store until Monday, and there's no word of an Android port, but we'll be sure to share our first-hand experiences as soon as possible.

Continue reading Dish Explorer for iPad steers Hopper DVRs, tells TV watchers what's trending

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Tablets, HD

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Source: Dish

CBS Connect endows NCIS, CSI and Hawaii Five-O with second screen interactivity for iPad

Posted on 04/01/2013 by Zachary Lutz

For times when soaking in a bevy of crime-related shows simply isn't enough stimuli, CBS is now ready to amp up your viewing experience with its second screen app for the iPad. Known as CBS Connect, it allows fans to engage one another via social networking and view exclusive content from their favorite shows. The app also features the ability to identify what viewers are watching -- be it live, on demand or from your DVR -- and then tailor the second screen experience to sync with the program. For the moment, CBS Connect is built to engage fans of NCIS: Los Angeles, CSI and Hawaii Five-O, but if crime dramas aren't your thing, the network promises that other shows will soon find their way into the mix. In the meantime, you'll find the full PR after the break.

Continue reading CBS Connect endows NCIS, CSI and Hawaii Five-O with second screen interactivity for iPad

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Software, HD

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Source: CBS Connect (App Store)

BBC’s first companion app brings Antiques Roadshow quizzes to Android, iOS

Posted on 04/01/2013 by Richard Lawler

Over in the UK TV interaction has a wider history thanks to Red Button services, and the BBC is finally coming through on its promise to join that experience with the internet as it launches its first companion app on iOS and Android. Previously tested in beta with Frozen Planet and Secret Fortune airings, these apps let Antiques Roadshow viewers compete against others -- whether in the same room or across the country -- as they try to guess the value of items displayed on the show. Will that be exciting enough to pull viewers away from whatever the UK equivalent of Sons of Anarchy or The Walking Dead is? Maybe not, but a Red Button version launched last fall netted 1.5 million users right off the bat, and the Beeb expects to build on that more by moving to mobile devices.

The internet-to-TV hookup even goes both ways, as we experienced in our demonstration of Connected Red Button services on TiVo last month and viewers experienced during the Olympics, so we'd expect to see even more interaction launching soon. The apps will be available later today for use with the new episode airing on the 6th. Can't wait that long for your antiquing fix? Thanks to embedded audio watermarks syncing everything up, they will also work with last week's episode (and future ones going forward) viewed on iPlayer or home recordings.

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Tablets, Software, HD, Mobile

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Source: BBC

Editorial: The most exciting Xbox SmartGlass application isn’t what you’d think

Posted on 23/10/2012 by Ben Gilbert

In Microsoft's ongoing battle to alter your association between "Xbox" and "Video Games," SmartGlass is its latest volley. Employing your favorite mobile device -- Windows Phone 7.5/8, Android, and iOS devices are all supported -- SmartGlass enables you to control your Dashboard experience, explore the web, input text, and much more. But what Microsoft's really banking on is its "second screen" functionality, essentially enabling another layer of interactivity with video, music, games, and the Xbox 360's other, less ballyhooed service: sports.

It's this final layer that I found most enticing during a recent hands-on meeting with Microsoft. Could sports be the "killer app" that MS needs to get SmartGlass out of its tiny niche and into the hands of the masses? I think so.

Gallery: Xbox SmartGlass (NBA Game Time)