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IntoNow Listens to Your TV to ID What You're Watching, Can Tell Your Friends

by Terrence O'Brien on January 31, 2011 at 01:05 PM

IntoNow
A number of Foursquare-esque, TV-centric social networks have sprung up recently, asking you to "check-in" while watching your favorite programs. But while services like Philo simply clog up your Twitter feed with messages like "Bobby is watching '30 Rock'," 'IntoNow' offers a unique gimmick that has it pulling ahead of the pack. The new iOS app integrates 'Shazam'-like functionality that can identify television shows simply by listening to a snippet of dialog or a theme song. The app compares the audio snippets to an archive of five years' worth of television broadcasts (including live broadcasts), and worked surprisingly well in our quick tests. Once a show has been identified, 'IntoNow' lets you quickly announce to the world what you're watching. Unlike its competitors, though, 'IntoNow' doesn't want to be a platform for conversations. Instead, it's simply a way to tell your friends what you're watching, and to see what your friends are "into now." But that raises an important question: who cares? The tech used to identify TV shows is certainly interesting, but does anyone really want to know if their friends are watching "The Biggest Loser"?

'IntoNow' is currently only available for iOS devices, but the company plans to port its app and SoundPrint technology (used for identifying shows) to Android and Web-connected TVs. And the company has ambitions beyond simple social networking. IntoNow hopes eventually to figure out a way to use check-ins as a way to provide viewership stats and valuable advertising information to content providers.

IntoNow App for iPhone


Tags: apps, intonow, ios, iphone, media, shazam, social networking, SocialNetworking, soundprint, top, tv

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