Yahoo! Premieres IntoNow 3.0 to Get More from the TV

RMN Digital | July 31, 2012 | Americas, Consumer, Corporate, Entertainment, Masses, Regions, Social, Social Media, Strategy, TVs, Cameras | No Comments

In the current digital convergence market, the traditional “idiot box” (television) is fast embracing technology to meet the increasing demand from today’s digitally connected consumers.

To leverage this emerging opportunity in the convergence marketplace, top tech and media companies are rolling out cutting-edge solutions to attract consumers. Digital media company Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) is one of them.

Today, July 31, the company unveiled the next evolution of IntoNow from Yahoo! that delivers an engaging way for people to capture, communicate and discover television content.

[ Also Read: TV to Consumer: Look, I’m Changing Now ]

In an era where 80 percent of people watching TV now have mobile or tablet devices in-hand, IntoNow 3.0 gives fans entirely new ways to share moments on TV, learn more about what they’re watching and engage with friends, social networks and the broader IntoNow community, says the company.

For the Summer Games, IntoNow – a second screen TV experience – gives fans the ability to enjoy up to the minute synchronized content featuring medal counts, images from the games, schedules and athlete bios automatically synchronized with the Summer Games on the TV along with additional social experiences, including Twitter content from personalities at the games, and trivia. (Read: How Yahoo! Plans to Cover London Olympic Games)

In a related development, CrowdOptic, a maker of crowd-driven mobile applications, has announced that the company is testing new features for TV viewers using the Yahoo! Connected TV platform.

The integration of CrowdOptic live event technology with Yahoo! Connected TV will create an interactive broadcast experience that engages fans at home by connecting them with real-time eyewitness accounts during live sports, entertainment and news events. (Read: CrowdOptic to Connect Fans at Live Events to TV Viewers)

[ Also Read: Which TV Show Do You Want to Watch on the Web? ]

“iOS devices are pervasive in our living rooms, and second screen behavior is now commonplace. IntoNow wanted to up the ante and give people a whole new experience,” said Adam Cahan, founder of IntoNow and vice president of Product, Yahoo!.

“We’re the first to offer some major technological innovations – like the ability to capture and share moments that happened seconds ago on TV or automatically identify songs playing in the background – all of which gives people watching TV with IntoNow 3.0 a unique, interactive experience.”

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IntoNow 3.0 from Yahoo! has been rebuilt and re-designed around three new features:

TV and Music Sync: Taps into what people are watching to surface the most relevant content, including personalities, sports teams, songs, polls, or trivia, as it’s happening on TV. Music Sync is claimed to be the first technology to automatically identify “what’s that song?” playing during a show – whether a live performance, featured song or even background music. Songs surfaced by Music Sync can be one-click purchased through iTunes or people can view the music video on YouTube.
CapIt: Delivers technology that gives people the ability to capture and caption “did you see that?” TV moments like a breaking news story, a red carpet dazzler or even a funny scene. Simply tap a button and this iOS exclusive app will instantly synchronize and deliver still images of the program that is shown on TV. People can then select the image they want, add a caption, and share with friends on Facebook, Twitter or IntoNow.
Group Chat: Instantly create private conversations with friends within the IntoNow app, form groups for a particular TV event; or set-up a recurring conversation to talk about favorite shows as the season progresses.

IntoNow 3.0 uses patented SoundPrint technology to automatically identify live or previously aired television content spanning more than 2.7 million airings. Over 160 U.S. TV channels are currently being indexed live, creating a rich database to build video discovery and programming experiences, reveals Yahoo!.

The IntoNow 3.0 App is available for free from the App Store on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch or at www.iTunes.com/appstore/.