Yahoo buys IntoNow – social TV technology
Yahoo has bolstered its mobile and connected TV offering with the purchase of IntoNow, whose mobile platform only went live in January, and is led by Adam Cahan, a former executive at Google and Viacom’s MTV.
IntoNow has built a database that allows users to point an iPhone, iTouch or iPad at a TV screen or laptop, and use the app to send information about what they are watching to friends via Facebook or a Twitter feed. The application is also integrated with iTunes and Netflix.
The system has an impressive database that enables it to recognise five years’ worth of episodes across 130 networks.
Beyond that – given it is based on audio signals – it can also be set up to recognize particular advertisements, and this is currently powering a deal with Pepsi. There, users that point at the screen when watching a particular Major League Baseball-themed spot can have a barcode sent back to their devices. They can take it to a retailer and get a free Pepsi Max bottle.
It is understood that IntoNow plans a three-pronged revenue model: from the tagging that underpins the Pepsi deal; placing advertising in the app that users need to operate it; and licensing its technology.
Yahoo senior vice president Bill Shaughnessy stated that the technology offers opportunities “especially in regards to our video content, search, mobile and connected TV experiences.”
“Relying on social channels as a means for discovering content – whether it’s on a PC, mobile device, or TV – is rapidly on the rise,” he added.
Janko Roettgers on Gigacom comments: “Yahoo’s widget platform has been losing steam lately, with companies like Vizio, Sony and Samsung looking to Google TV to future-proof their TV sets. However, Yahoo introduced an interesting new feature for its TV widgets back in January.
Dubbed “broadcast interactivity”, the feature allows Yahoo to deliver complementary information based on the content you’re currently watching. For example, viewers of a car commercial can learn additional facts about the car or find a local dealer. Yahoo does this by utilizing audio fingerprinting, much in the same way that IntoNow listens to the audio of a show to identify it.
The problem is: Much of this content doesn’t make sense as a widget displayed on top of the TV show you’re watching. However, it’s perfect for a two-screen experience. Yahoo could have built an iPad companion for its Connected TV platform. Instead, it decided to leapfrog the competition and buy a solution that’s proven to work.”
See further explanation of the technology from this January launch article on MobileBeat.