Social media isn’t going anywhere, it permeates most aspects of our lives. there are social networks/services based around your fitness routines, shopping habits, and services like GetGlue are moving the social media realm into your television viewing. GetGlue allows users to use GetGlue.com (or an app for nearly any mobile platforms) to check-in to any media they’re consuming, most notably television shows or movies. It’s essentially Foursquare for media consumption. Now Yahoo! is getting into the same game, creating their own movie/TV check-in social network. IntoNow allows users to check in and share exactly what their watching with all of there friends, with one key difference.
While checking in on GetGlue is a painless process, it does require navigating through a few different menu screens and is a bit clunky. IntoNow looks to eliminate that clunkiness by using your device’s microphone. The IntoNow app (available for iOS & Android devices) listens to the whatever show or movie you’re watching and recognizes the exact movie or even the episode of the show and ‘checks’ you in. But it’s not just a check in service, IntoNow is looking to change the way you watch television.
When you ‘check in’ to a show, you’re presented with all the information you’d ever want to see. If you check into a sitcom, you may see selected tweets from stars of the show. Check into the football game and you’ll be presented with the stats for the game so you can track your team. You’re also able to join a conversation with other IntoNow users by posting and replying to comments. In addition (like any good social app), you’re able to share your check-ins on Facebook and Twitter directly within the app.
The app uses the SoundPrint platform to identify the media you’re watching. SoundPrint uses 4-12 second audio samples and attempts to match them with its database. That database consists of 266 years worth of previously aired shows and 1430 channels worth of live television audio prints. SoundPrint uses a series of algorithms to identify the show, and it’s really freaky how accurate it is.
After downloading the app for my iPad I began to try and stump the database, it wasn’t easy. Everything I tried from network sitcoms to live sporting events was recognized within seconds. I even tried older shows on my HTPC like The Wonder Years and Star Trek: The Next Generation, the app handled them no problem. I was only able to stump it with two shows, Playmakers (A ESPN drama series that was cancelled after one season) and a BBC trivia show. It’s almost scary how accurate this service is, but it’s as cool as it is scary.
Will IntoNow usher in a new era of television viewing? That still remains to be seen. The service is owned by Yahoo!, which hasn’t been the greatest place for innovation as of late. But IntoNow could change that trend. It’s an incredibly fun service that I’ve found myself using more than i Ever used GetGlue, simply because it gives me more. If you have an Android of iOS device and you’re a big TV viewer, the IntoNow app is worth a look.
