‘Madman’ or pioneer for social TV?

The Urban Dictionary’s definition of zeebox is “a drug infested overflow of the mind and a representation of a madman’s inner most mental desire to manipulate the viewer and make you feel and think that you yourself are going or are already insane.” Man…!

We saw “the blueprint for future social TV innovations” (New Media Age quote) on Tuesday. Anthony Rose, founder of zeebox, popped in to let some of the MediaTel team play with his new product. Rose – who was on a panel at our Connected TV Experience last week – played a lead role in the successful relaunch of the BBC iPlayer and went on to become chief technology officer of Project Canvas, which has become YouView, but left at the end of 2010.

Rose can appear a tiny bit mad professor, bit wild-haired geek, but he’s clearly a smart man and this is really interesting stuff. Whether zeebox becomes a pioneer for social TV or mops it up is too early to say. But call him for a demo!

Primarily it is an app with an attractive user interface on the iPad (iPhone by Christmas), or it can be used online. Rose believes that connected TV apps are going to encounter ownership and political challenges over time, whereas the tablet offers “freedom” as no deals are needed with the CE or retail world.

At its best, you can use this as a remote, linked to a connected TV. Users can find TV content based on what their friends are watching or what’s trending on Twitter; or interact with their friends during a show in real time, get instant information about actors or the topic of the programme they are watching, and buy products that they see advertised on live TV. The app ‘guide’ shows you previous, current and next programmes on a channel.

Zeebox taps in to the “conversations happening in parallel” to TV shows, Rose said.

It can also – and this could become a really interesting bit too – cross-reference tags from TV conversations, recognise advertisements and collect audience analytics.

Rose sees affiliate purchases as an early revenue stream, with advertising to follow. The app is free. He doesn’t know yet whether zeebox will be working with YouView, but one senses that YouView will probably want to do its own thing in this area.

Here’s what some of the MediaTel team thought. They are all under 35(ish) and Facebook users unless otherwise stated!

• Loved the way you see what your friends are watching and can chat with them about it. Liked the social networking part that makes it easy to see Twitter discussions and join in too.

• Take up will be curtailed by Sky/Virgin restrictions… people aren’t used to turning these off

• zeebox is right to use the web as it is, to control the TV. Don’t bring web to the TV, use the web to control the TV.

• I want my TV screen to be just that, a screen… a lovely big screen with nothing but broadcast (linear or non-linear) on it. I want my full EPG functionality (with PVR and VoD) on my tablet, I have never wanted this functionality on screen. The only reason it is, currently, is because of the limitations of the remote… as I see it.

• Adds a different dimension to the ordinary TV viewing experience, but… while it is restricted to only Freeview channels, you will not be able to talk about TV programming that is on other Sky channels. If sport is going to generate the best social experience, pity that Sky Sports isn’t able to be included in the conversation

• Although in its infancy, I can see zeebox going very far, all that is needed is promotion.

• Very user-friendly, nicely styled EPG. Most interesting aspect, for me as a 37 year old not interested in Facebook connection, is available information related to viewing – having a tool to hand to show suggested related viewing, relevant Wiki info, Twitter hashtags etc is great.

• A clever and considered application. They’ve nailed the essentials, and recognised the direction a viewer would probably like to go in. As Anthony says, it’s early days, so with this framework in place they’re able to expand towards where the grass is greenest in a modular fashion.

• Perfect way to pass the time during live TV ads. Ouch!