It has been possible for a while now to download an iPhone app and using it as remote control for your TV. Examples include Apple TV themselves and Boxee.
These remotes are however slightly different to the remote control we know and love (or hate when it has slipped down the side of the sofa, or the kids have taken the batteries…because they needed them for one of their toys!). The Boxee iPhone app provides a ‘pointer’ mechanism, in that you can track your finger across the iPhone screen and it will direct the movement of a spot cursor on your TV. A nice gimmick you say and perhaps you are right, however one of the main reasons why these companies developed and launched these remote control apps is because it provided an easier way to input text into the search function or sign up function on the TV….have you every tried to type in a long phrase, or your email address using just the remote control…?!
Today, Comcast Labs announced their prototype for a new generation of remote control…the Xfinity remote. It works on the iPad and any other IP enabled devices.
If you want to read the whole article, you can thanks to those great guys over at Interactive TV Today.
So why is this an exciting new development? I believe this could set the scene for a number of new developments in the connected home that will become the catalyst we have needed, to understand what the future holds for our 3 favorite buzz words right now – ConnectedTV, SocialTV and the 2 Screen experience…
This is the video from Comcast Labs which demos the Xfinity remote. Read below the video for first thoughts on what opportunities this could have on the digital home of the future…
Heres why:
1. A remote control that is an app on my iPad / netbook / laptop / iPhone gives context between the content I am watching on the big screen, and other IP enabled services.
2. You will be able to use this app to browse and search through an EPG to find broadcast (linear) and video on demand content.
3. You can choose what content to watch on your big screen directly from the app…a simple touch of the finger will change the channel on your TV.
4. The app could use the content you have chosen to watch on the big screen as context for other related content on your ipad that you might like to snack on. It could become the ultimate tv companion e.g. see other content that relates to what you are watching, or help answer any questions you have relating to what you are watching (think tellylinks.com), join conversations about the content, add comments about the content and share with others, rate and recommend the content to others, buy the suit that the actor is wearing…all directly on your ipad app.
5. You can integrate social networks directly into the interface of the app so you can share and interact with others, whilst also getting recommendations from your friends, or choose to listen to a different commentary on a live broadcast event from one of your favorite social tv presenters.
6. Participative TV shows could have a new kind of format, with a new kind of audience.
7. Advertisers and Sponsors would have a new highly targeted and more personalised format that puts them directly in front of your eyeballs for the duration of the programme / film you are watching…and we wont mind so much because it will have context with what I am watching, but without the intrusion.
8. tCommerce could have a platform for enabling the easiest way for you to complete transactions.
9. You could see and choose which match to watch at Wimbledon ie. tapping into the red button services that broadcasters such as the BBC offer at big events.
Have you come across any other IP based remote control applications?
What other uses and consumer behaviours could these applications drive in the home, on the fingertips of your average coach potato?
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YouTube envisions future of television viewing – William Cooper at informitv.com with more brilliant insight
If you aren’t a lucky recipient of Cooper’s emails, you can sign up for free here.
He’s simply one of the smartest guys in the Social TV and TV 2.0 landscape and always connects the dots in a brilliant fashion.
YouTube envisions future of television viewing – 18 April 2010
It is just five years since the first video was uploaded on YouTube by one of its founders. Now over 24 hours of video a minute are uploaded to the site and it receives over a billion views a day. YouTube has its sights set on turning a few minutes a day watching videos on the web to something more like the hours a day we generally spend watching television. That vision could become a reality once televisions are routinely connected to the internet.
“People think about the world of TV and the world of online video as being different ways to distribute video,” said Chad Hurley, the co-founder of YouTube, in an interview with the Telegraph newspaper. “But what happens when every TV is connected to wi-fi with a browser?”
“That is what we envision. Instead of this world of online video and this world of TV there is just one world,” he said. “There won’t be a difference in the future.”
“The iPad — is that a phone or a computer?” he questioned. “If I put it on my wall is it a TV? People continue to try to throw things in the buckets when really these are all going to be different-sized devices with a connection to the internet.”
Read full article here
ps: I am about to get my connected TV next week here in Holland. Fresh off the shelves a Samsung with Internet@TV so will be running some tests and shooting video next month. For Dutch readers, yes, there are Dutch Apps already developed. Eerste Nederlandse widgets op Samsung-tv’s
Tweet]]>The following quotes are taken from ConnectedTVSummit and they do point out to a major shift in hardware which is followed by software/applications that will transform the industry and experience:
Global revenues for connected TVs will reach $29 billion in 2011, accounting for 58% of global revenues for Internet TV equipment that year. 12.5% of 2010 global TVs shipped will have connectivity, rising to 30% in 2011.
IMS Research, January 2010Our research shows that within five years nearly all broadband households will own at least one web-enabled CE media device.The implications of this across the digital entertainment industry will be huge.”
Norm Bogen, In-Stat analyst, January 2010Game consoles already have the lead in this segment, which can mostly be attributed to gamer demographics . I think that even gamers will switch to accessing Internet video mostly on the TV in order to have a one-stop access point to the different content libraries. Having one programme guide is much easier to navigate then searching independently on different devices.”
Rebecca Kurlak, IMS Research consumer electronics analyst, January 2010Worldwide shipments of web-enabled stationary CE devices will grow more than seven-fold from their 2009 levels to over 230 million by 2013. There will be over one-half billion web-enabled CE devices in operation worldwide by 2013.
In-Stat, January 2010CE device manufacturers will be able to enjoy revenue shares on content, which could be as high as 50%.
Rebecca Kurlak, IMS Research consumer electronics analyst, January 2010
When having a look at the timing of the quotes with regard to the evolution, the future of all this is closely. Also other institutions/articles point out to a first real shift in 2010 and 2011 where adoption and diffusion will reach a substantial figure.
Other interesting and positive quotes can be found in this recent analysis and article by Bloomberg:
It’s no longer a bridge too far for the average user,” said Michael Powell, a former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission who now runs a media consulting firm. Using TVs to connect to the Internet “is a very natural extension of what they’ve already embraced in their technological life.
The difference now is new Internet televisions won’t require separate boxes, software and setup, says Steve Perlman, the founder of WebTV. The TV will already be connected to the Web, and consumers will get everything they need through that.
It is going to happen — it’s inevitable,” Perlman said. “We’re going to see a general movement toward having all of your content that is available through the Internet.
The fact is, it appears that the next generation of Internet-connected TV’s are going to come out faster than most anticipated, and this means that the need for Set Top Boxes (STB’s) will eventually reduce and even possibly phase out in the future. This is certainly a real game changer and lowers the perceive risks and complexity of the end consumers.
Perlman’s quote that we’ll see a general movement towards having all the content available through the Web is a positive outlook and simultaneously a challenge in not simply transferring media from device to device and not having a thorough look at the device, usage/purpose of device in relation to the needs and consumption of consumers.
This challenge was also pointed out in the Android TV article.
The industry is ready for it, most definately, what about the end-consumers?
Do you think there will be a fast adoption and usage? How will the collective experience of watching passive TV be impacted by elements of individual social interaction such as Twitter and Facebook via tv widgets and apps? Or will it?
Forty years ago, the brilliant Canadian media theorist Marshall Mcluhan, the “patron saint” of Wired magazine, (who brought us Electronic Interdependence, The Global Village and The Medium is the Massage) metaphorically considered the TV to be an ‘electronic’ hearth – a collective centralized event for the family on the cusp of it’s appearance in the home 50 years ago. By the end of the millenium, TV’s peppered houses and became a more individual experience. In the USA, the average house now has 2.24 TV’s and 66 per cent of households have three or more TV’s.
Will the TV continue to evolve as an individual device in a new ‘TV Everywhere’ world? And just become part of a matrix of interactive devices available to each individual?
And how will Google fit into the picture? The world’s largest brand is certainly heading for the space. They are not issuing any formal statements on their future in this landscape, but look at what they want in their new hires – http://bit.ly/gootv.
We think that Google TV and Sony along with their other partners at Intel and Logitech could also play a large part in this new landscape.
Tweet]]>The two questions that need to be asked and answered, correctly pointed out by Wired also, are the following two:
* What is the point of some of the services that are being offered through the Android TV.
* Web-TV is the future, but simply replacing a screen (laptop for TV) is not the way to go.
With regard to the first question, I think it’s a matter of comfort, new/enhanced experiences made possible by the TV screen instead of the laptop screen.
Video calling with Skype on your TV is the same kind of starting point in finding a solution for a need.
The real challenge is the control part. For services on the Android TV, a keyboard is needed, the perceived risks or transition risks can be too high for many, willing to make the trade off between a better/new experience (Web TV) and a known device/process (Laptop). Why choose for a TV+Keyboard when there is the much used laptop?
This challenge relates to the second question, a replacement of screen is not the the long-term sustainable solution, from the user point of view it adds only a new device for the same needs, which could complicate usage or offer too much choice.
Researches have pointed out to the fact of multitasking during the (passive) TV experience. The new TV experience is dynamic, reciprocal and certainly not passive, but combining the laptop and TV in media consumption without the burdens/difficulties of usage, can be a relevant middle-way to change TV behavior without being too disruptive.
From an application point of view, the Android TV will be interesting if the portfolio of applications is broad. Will this be a chicken-egg scenario?
People of Lava can tap in two applications sources, their own and of course the Open Source Android platform. Their own app store can be relatively extensive, but real power of such a device -and future Android TV devices- will be reflected by the community efforts/applications.
Below you’ll find specifications and a couple of images which can be found on the People of Lava website:
Scandinavia – Window to the World
TV, Internet, Multimedia, Internet and Social Media – all interconnected.
Finally, it´s here.
The Android(TM)-based (or Google TV as some call it) television from People of Lava.
Watch TV, chat with your friends, play Youtube-clips, surf the net.
This is your window to the world!
Apps, apps, apps!…
Out-of the box – your Scandinavia Window to the World comes pre-loaded with your favorite applications. YouTube, Google Maps, Weather, Time, Calendar and Internet Browser! But this is just the start. From the Lava App Store new applications will become available, both free and payed! From the start there’s Facebook, Twitter, E-mail and more!
Surf the net
Your Scandinavia Television has a built-in web-browser, based on Webkit (the foundation of many current web-browsers. So surf the web like you are used to!
Facebook(TM)
We all love it, don’t we? Facebook! Your Scandinavia MediaTV has Facebook, ready to go! Read more about Facebook here http://www.facebook.com.
Youtube(TM)
Youtube, yet another brilliant platform from Google. Watch your favorite clips, and let your video-world come alive!
Google Maps(TM)
No further introduction required. Google Maps from Google is just the best way to map your trip, check how close that hotel is to the beach, or just zoom in on your own house!
Why use a separate computer for your emails? With the build-in mail program, use your Scandinavia to check your emails!
Twitter(TM)
Another great application with no further introduction required. Your Scandinavia television comes with Twitter available. Read more here http://twitter.com/.
Open Source
The Scandinavia television from People of Lava is based on Google’s operating-system Android(TM). Read more here http://www.android.com. This is a small, efficient, fast, power-saving operating-system. And it´s “Open Source”, which means that 1000’s and 1000’s enthusiastic skilled developers around the world will make “apps” (applications) for the TV. Apps that you can download and install! And so will we – So expect a continuous flow of new cool apps to give you even more to view through your window!
Keyboard
+ Wireless keyboard with pointer/mouse, in the box
Your window
Finally, it´s all about you. Your time, your content, your friends.
Your window to the world.
Welcome!
Overall, what do you think of the Android TV?
What do you think the primary challenges will be in order to set off the adoption and usage of such a TV?
Tweet]]>Personally, I have always had issues with watching video on mobile devices – not that I am blind, I can actually see well. But I just don’t enjoy the experience. Interactive TV on an iPad (24.3 cm × 19.0 cm × 1.3 cm) will certainly be more enjoyable and feasible for most consumers.
Will this be a one screen or two screen play? Or both?
“Part of the idea is that mobile devices are easier and more appealing to play with while watching TV than laptop or desktop computers — but the tablet will hit the sweet spot in between.” reports Ad Age, so let’s wait and see.
MTV Developing ‘Co-Viewing’ Apps for the iPad
Magazines and newspapers aren’t the only media eying big benefits upon the iPad’s arrival: TV is poised to use the device in new ways, including creating interactive, social apps designed to be used while watching live programming.
MTV Networks, for example, is developing a “co-browsing app meant to be used while watching live TV,” said one executive familiar with MTV’s iPad plans. “This means the iPad could be the appendage that makes interactive TV a reality.”
Kristin Frank, general manager of MTV and VH1 Digital, said MTV is focusing on two approaches to its apps, whether for mobile or the iPad: co-viewing apps that capture the social-media chatter around TV and awards shows and apps for video on the go. IPad apps for “Beavis and Butt-Head,” “MTV News” and “VH1 To Go” are all due in April, she said.
“Fifty-nine percent of people are multitasking when watching TV — that’s something we’ve always known,” said Ms. Frank, referring to recent Nielsen data quantifying a longstanding observation. “This is the next evolution.”
Mobile phone apps to run on the iPhone and Android devices remain MTV’s priority for 2010, Ms. Frank noted, but the iPad apps under construction are a reminder that TV is not about to sit the tablet out.
Tweet]]>View more presentations from Richard Kastelein.
I wrote it on the train on the way down… I actually forgot half of it and kind of made it all up again once I got up there. I had two minutes to pitch… in front of about 200 of Holland’s tech community who voted by SMS.
Tweet]]>My name is Richard Kastelein, I am a Canadian of Dutch heritage and am currently working a Chief Strategy officer for a startup in Groningen called Worldticketshop as well as building a creative and innovation agency called Agora Media Group in London.
How many of you have young children out there?
In five years, your children and mine will laugh at the old days when certain programs were available only at certain times. We will too.
On demand TV is just part of the great change we are going to see in the future… where media will be ubiquitous, and will no longer be the passive experience we now see today.
It’s called TV Everywhere.
I am going to go through four quick points.
1. Production. The rise of User Generated Content has already and greatly shifted the Internet landscape and will do the same for TV. Merged media will be everywhere, video, audio, photography, 3D and more.
2. Delivery – Entertainment will be available in the cloud – everywhere, on demand and available to anyone, anywhere.
3. Consumption – This will be profoundly changed due to the future convergence of the Web and TV, where web widgets become part of the TV experience and viewing culture will be radically changed due to the inclusion of recommendation engines which will offer true reflection of consumer needs and wants.
4. And lastly, Monetization. Last year, it was noted by MTV here that content companies are now driven by control of Intellectual Property. And that has too and will change. Business models will change. I call it tCommerce and it will also be a paradigm shift for the TV industry. Last year MTV also mentioned that new business models will need to come into place. We feel that affiliation models will rise – profit sharing rather than profit hoarding. The ability to shop on TV will be seamless and simple allowing for revenue sharing between the broadcasters and advertisers.
Already new players in the social tv space are building API’s and SDK’s to allow developers to make the shift from iPhone and Facebook to new models on TV. Yahoo Connected has an Open API, Europe ‘s HBBTV will likely be Open Source software as it’s based largely on Open IPTV and even BBC’s Canvas in the UK is pushing towards open standards.
I will wrap this up by saying that it’s my feeling that this could be the next ‘bubble’ in the market as TV is going be decentralized and it will, in the future, be owned by the audience in many ways. Unlike TV today…. Such as in the USA, where the networks are publically owned and contracting – with no sign of growth in the future.
Thanks for your time and feel free to contact me at the borrel if you are interested in chatting further. We are working on building products for this new space.
by Richard G. Kastelein
If we all thought the Facebook and Twitter social media growth phenomena were extraordinary, wait until Social TV hits your screens.
And it’s not as far away as you think — not only with the logical IPTV market, but also terrestrial TV. I recently attended the International Broadcast Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam, which bills itself as ’The content creation management delivery experience’. IBC2008 attracted 49,000+ visitors and 1,300+ exhibitors from more than 130 countries. This year is expected to be bigger. Last year, I was part of a team exhibiting at MIPTV in Cannes, and was expecting something a bit similar… but this was almost all about hardware and software and less about the actual formats and programs. However, this was not a disappointment. For embedded in the show there were some jewels… which have profoundly altered my view of Social Media, the future and the implication of reach that will touch billions not millions.
One diamond-in-the-rough was Israeli-based Orca Interactive (link), who was pitching their Social TV product, which was still in Proof of Concept (POC) and this was their first showing to the general public. Orca specializes in IPTV middleware and applications. But they are aggressively moving into social TV. I spoke to CTO Ofer Weintraub (Ph.D.) on their strategy and the nuts and bolts of the technology on offer.
“This is truly social TV — there is nobody on the market with similar offerings,” said Weintraub. He added there is an SDK (Software Development Kit) available now for select partners, but they certainly would not rule out an open API in the future.
And there is tight integration at the database level with website Trustedopinion.com. I discussed the integration with TO founder and CEO Shahar Smirin — whose site topped a million users recently.
“It’s a natural fit,” said Smirin, who then went on to show his web product and how he’s built a viral invite and social ’consolidation’ framework focussed on opinion where one can pile everyone (all your friends, imported/invited) from most major social media sites and really focus on what your friends think about entertainment (mainly movies and theatre for now).
There is synergy between Orca and TO, but let’s now look at Orca. And why this marriage could take social media truly to the masses via IPTV.
One thing to note… Orca Interactive is owned by France Telecom and the 2008 M&A has positioned this duo to take Social TV to a mass global audience. The acquisition last year means that they are well positioned near the ear of one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators and proprietor of the multinational Orange brand. Orange has a base of almost 200 million customers in 30 countries.
There’s nothing overly extraordinary in the makeup of the product — it’s nothing that Internet social media buffs have not seen before. But for TV users, this is going to revolutionize the way they watch TV… from being a passive, solitary, experience into an active, community one.
Here below, you can see recommendations from your friends on a particular movie or program. You can see related VOD products. You can rate it yourself, you can recommend it to a friend, you can see further information and you can send it as a gift to another person (purchased shows are good for 48 hours).
Here you can see your friends’ profiles, chat with them, send them a gift, see their recommends or send them a message.
Here you can send a gift to one or more friends.
And remember, this will all be integrated with your monthly billing. There will be no need for pulling out a credit card and security issues, there will be no need for digging deep to remember your Paypal password. No, the bill arrives like any other or is likely debited from your bank account automatically these days.
One can also set their mood — and then recommendations will be laid out according to complex algorithms and data mining based on your friends and your own data and viewing habits.
As Facebook revolutionized the way advertisers can niche-target their online demographics, Social TV will profoundly change the ad agencies and marketing departments will offer their wares in the television realm. Neilson ratings seem vague, less targetable and will likely become obsolete in TV 2.0.
Equally as interesting, but taking a different tack, is another gem called NDS (link), partially owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, which has a reach to over 107 million pay-TV subscribers worldwide. Their latest product, Social TV was also in POC stage and looks a lot more like ’widgetized’ TV rather than a singular network.
Their model is quite different, but also appealing and unique for a number of reasons. One being it lends itself more to an iPhone app store scenario, with plans for an open API, which positions it well for social media developers and long tail monetization of the social TV landscape. But monetization or not will be decided by the operators not NDS. It also has impeccable design with a beautiful interface.
Obtaining details was a bit sketchy due to their PR person being in meetings and there was, understandably, some hesitancy in getting anyone to go on the record.
However, one of the demo managers did talk to me about some interesting API integration potential with Flickr for instance. If you see something interesting on TV you can be simply one click away from viewing images of that place, object or person. Conceivably the same could be done with the Youtube API in the video space or even Lastfm for music for that matter.
Social networking is also alive and well on Verizon’s FiOS TV and new features are being added such as Facebook and Twitter Widgets. The new Widget Bazaar applications marketplace is located within FiOS TV’s Interactive Media Guide.
Verizon has worked with social media innovators Facebook Connect, Twitter, ESPN, Veoh, blip.tv, and Dailymotion to create a converged Internet-to-television experience that lets FiOS TV subscribers connect with others while watching TV, plus search and view a variety of online, personal PC-based videos on their television screens. Verizon also plans an open development platform (SDK) to permit developers to write interactive FiOS TV applications that will be available through the Widget Bazaar.
Customers are saying they love the new “social TV” Widgets, but they want more. They want to send Tweets, not just look at them. They want to create their own unique Facebook status messages.
According to Shawn Strickland, vice president, marketing for Verizon Telecom, Verizon is working with some popular companies on the Web to create the foundation for a high-quality, engaging Internet-to-TV experience.
A recent report by The Nielsen Company found that there are 87 percent more online social media users now than in 2003, with 883 percent more time devoted to social media sites. Also, the number of American users frequenting online video destinations has also increased by 339 percent since 2003.
Subscribers can Tweet about the TV show they are watching or search and follow their friends’ Tweets. Viewers can also update their Facebook status with their own messages. All of this is simply done via the FiOS TV remote control and an onscreen keyboard.
The Verizon At Home blog for the latest on the Widget Bazaar application marketplace.
A Belgian company called Zappware also launched social networking features for its “iView Core” services suite at IBC09. And they had a demo showing how the add-on allows the viewer to connect with friends and family to:
- see what they are watching on their TVs
- exchange favourite lists of TV programmes and VOD movies
- recommend TV programmes or VOD movies to one another
- send VOD movie gifts to their friends
- lock their TV screens onto one another and watch the same content
Koen Swings, CTO & Managing Partner Zappware:
“Social networking has been a buzz word in the past few years, in particular on the internet. With these extensions to our EPG, VOD and PVR products, we now extend social networking from the PC domain to the TV domain, because we are convinced that there is no better environment for sharing TV experiences than the TV itself. In a world, in which people are continuously seeking to connect and in which consumers are willing to embrace new technologies that allow them to connect better and more often, these social networking features on TV will be highly appreciated by viewers. Operators that include these features in their iDTV offering, will be able to offer their subscribers a cross-platform social networking experience, hence adding value to their triple or quadruple play offer and resulting in increased subscriber loyalty.”
So at the end of the day, this is a win, win, win for all — TV stations get better data on their viewers and offer convergence with web ideas and sites, viewers get interactive community-oriented, social television and can make interesting viewing choices based on mood and network of friends, web-based community and social media sites can make more headway into IPTV and broadcast TV, still the Tour de Force of media, and entrepreneurs and developers find a new medium to develop and monetize via new, open-source-philosophy-driven API and SDK environs.
Richard Kastelein, a social media strategist and publisher, is CEO of new startup, Agora Media Group LLC (link), a new creative and innovation agency based in London, UK. Kastelein has been building online communities for over a decade and is an Open Source evangelist. He’s an adept team player – a publisher, writer, photographer, marketing director, web developer and graphic designer with more than 20 years experience in the development and operation of newspapers, magazines, web media and marketing of multinational, companies in international settings.
Tweet]]>Watching TV becomes interactive, from a passive modus, you are now able to interact in real-time with other watchers who happen to consume the same content at that time.
Right now TV and Twitter are two major activities, TV is being consumed more and more in combination with other activities like Internet, radio and so on. Combining these two is bound to trigger interest from users, companies and the market in understanding the converging phenomenon and how users will intertwine the two.
At this point, some of the channels which can be watched on Chitter.tv are: MTV, Fox News, Sky News, Bloomberg, but also channels like Classic.fm TV, RaiNews, RTL-Z, Humor-TV and AT5.
Depending on your interest it certainly has its charms to engage with current watchers and talk about the live seen content, it feels odd, but that has to grow on you.
This is just a beta version, but many features can be thought up which will add value and experience to Chitter.tv, probably initial experiences and opinions are awaited till further development is undertaken.
It’s not possible to scroll down the list of tweets or directly interact with another user. From a commercial point of view all kinds of interactive commerce can be implemented to convert impulses and enthausiasts.
Interesting to see where this will head to, the perceived risk is low, so many will at least test this, how many will experience this as a added-value service and convergence?
What’s your opinion?