Social TV Heats Up
May 2010
TV viewers love to use Twitter and Facebook to update their status on what TV show’s they are watching, or to comment on movies they’ve seen. Many times, Hollywood only needs to turn to Twitter to see what consumers are saying about their movie and TV shows. In fact, two researchers from HP said that by using Twitter they can predict “with 97.3% accuracy” how a movie will perform in its first weekend in theaters. So it’s no surprise that the Social TV space is heating up.
In April 2010 during the NAB 2010 conference, Vloop, a subsidiary of video monitoring company IneoQuest, unveiled its social media TV platform also named “Vloop.” The service allows TV Operators to create interactive social platforms around TV shows and their media brands. Vloop is currently in beta, and executives said it will create applications for the iPhone and iPad, as well as for Yahoo Widgets.
Meanwhile, another Social TV company, tvChatter from Frog Design, works differently since it only uses Twitter. Consumers just need to download the tvChatter iPhone app, and log-in via Twitter to read updates and messages about their favorite TV shows. tvChatter creates a landing page for popular TV shows, so users just need to sign in, and select a show to begin reading tweets.
In May 2010, Comcast unveiled its own Social TV company called Tunerfish built using Comcast’s acquisition of Plaxo. Tunerfish imports the consumer’s friends from Twitter and Facebook and lets all the friends see what the others are watching. Although Tunerfish encourages users to go to its Website, the company will also allow third-party video sites like YouTube or Vevo to use its Social TV platform.
The main difference with Tunerfish is that users can earn “influence points” for posting messages, sharing video or commenting on friends’ posts. In the future, users will be able to redeem these points for unspecified rewards from Tunerfish. Essentially, Tunerfish combines the social media aspect of Twitter and Facebook with the location-check and badge system from foursquare.
Source: MRG, Inc., May 2010 IPTV Bulletin
Google TV Unveiled
May 2010
Google unveiled its TV strategy in May 2010 at its annual developer conference. During the keynote speech, Google executives showed off a demonstration of a “Google TV” interface with a Google “Android” phone being used as a remote control.
Although some of the demo experienced technical difficulties, the announcement received a lot of attention. However, the reactions to Google TV were rather mixed—some really loved the news and saw the potential, while others saw it as just another set-top box with its own set of limitations.
Google came out on stage with its partners: Best Buy, DISH Network, Intel, Logitech and Sony. Sony will put Google TV into devices like connected TVs, set-tops boxes and Blu-ray players. Intel is providing the Atom chipset, a powerful, but expensive chip that enables full Internet browsing with support for Adobe’s Flash. Logitech will make the set-top boxes with Google TV software, in addition to new input hardware like a Bluetooth keyboard and pointing device. Best Buy will facilitate the retail play for Google TV. And finally, DISH Network said they have been testing Google TV and would be using it to bring Web content to users of their Satellite TV service.
With these heavyweight partners, it seems that Google is serious about TV and can become a true disruptor. What about the timing? Google TV products from Sony and Logitech will be available in Fall 2010, just in time for both the Fall TV season and the holiday shopping season.
Source: MRG, Inc., May 2010 IPTV Bulletin
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