Augmented TV
No sooner to we write about the role of social TV in defining the role of the tablet, then Motorola goes and makes us look like we know what we're talking about.
The US handset-maker has a sideline in mobile video enablement called Medios - a legacy of the Moto set-top box business. Today it launched the Medios Xperience platform, which is designed to help media service providers to merge their video content with other web-based content and social networking tools.
The irony of mobile device use is that it's often at home, in front of the telly. While people may browse Wikipedia to find out more about a celebrity or event, a lot of the time they use their smartphones and tablets to share what they're watching with their friends and even interact with the TV programmes themselves, especially when their input is requested.
This creates many commercial opportunities. Not only is it another reason to own such a mobile device, it can add all kinds of incremental revenue to broadcasters as they find new ways to engage their audience. With some apps able to sync precisely with what's being watched, they could even revitalise the flagging TV ad industry.
The Medios Xperience platform is a cloud-based applications platform designed to help the merging of video content with other web-based features, such as supplementary content, games and social networking. Other features it assists with is web-based programme guides that can potentially also transform your mobile device into a remote control
"As our recent focus groups clearly demonstrate, consumers want to be able to personalize their TV-watching experience and want the greatest flexibility in where and when they watch content," said John Burke, SVP and GM of converged experiences at Motorola Mobility.
"Consumers expressed strong interest in being able to bookmark TV shows and movies and have improved video-on-demand searching to make it easier to find a particular program. Motorola's Medios Xperience platform delivers these enriched TV experiences across multiple screens in an easy-to-deploy, cost-effective manner."
The Medios portfolio has been around for at least a year, but Moto seems to be ramping it up right now. In April it launched the SocialTV Companion Service, designed specifically to make it easier to get into social TV. A typical social TV app had Foursquare-like ‘check-in' functionality around shows or events, and gives users access to a social networking experience around the event, often with Twitter at its core.
"Consumers are increasingly using companion devices to augment their entertainment experience," said Burke. "Our SocialTV Companion Service is leveraging the convergence of companion devices, community and entertainment to create a more enjoyable and personalized experience for the consumer, while giving the service provider the ability to monetize that experience."
The SocialTV Companion Service was developed in partnership with a company called Loyalize, which makes a white-label social TV platform. Here's a vid showing how Loyalize sees the opportunity for its potential customers.
