Interactive TV Watch and Tweet, Check out Facebook
UncategorizedVerizon Wireless is forging the way in interactive TV experiences, adding an element of sociability to the TV viewing experience. FiOS TV, Verizon’s fiber optic television service that reaches over two million viewers, now offers a whole new level of viewing that involves downloading widgets—essentially programs for your TV. These widgets will include tools that enable users to Tweet about what they are watching, update their Facebook status, and check out feeds from friends.
The Facebook and Twitter widgets are merely one part of what Verizon Communications dubs a “Widget Bazaar,” a whole collection of programs that offer interaction, information, and other tools that are different from what you would normally expect when you are channel surfing. Think apps for your TV.
Widgets are nothing new for Fios TV. First, they were simple mini-programs that allowed viewers to check the weather or see a news headline marquee. The idea of expanding these widgets to provide interaction came when the widget territory grew to cover popular TV shows, local viewing, and other real-time events.
The Facebook and Twitter widgets will, no doubt, be among the most popular of Fios’s Widget Bazaar. However, they are still in a their infantile stages. In fact, the Twitter widget is more helpful as a Twitter reader than an actually tweet tool. If you want to tweet about what you’re watching, you better bring your laptop or mobile phone when you watch TV. As viewers tweet about a particular program or channel, tweets feed into the split screen, giving you a running commentary as you watch. Currently, the Twitter feed displays tweets from anyone on Twitter, not your specific network.
The Facebook widget functions in a different way. Users may still watch programs and simultaneously access Facebook using the split screen function, but the Facebook interface does allow users to update their status, only to announce what they’re watching on TV. The most useful aspect of the Facebook widget is the ability to view photos and other information from friends’ accounts.
Where does one draw the line between PC and TV? Verizon’s vice president of video solutions, Shawn Strickland explained, “We are not trying to re-create the PC experience on the TV. We’re trying to enhance the TV viewing experience. After all, you get on Facebook to interact, but you watch TV to just veg, right? “Viewers don’t want to take time out from their TV,” he went on to clarify, “but we are trying to bring these social-networking applications to the mass market in a way that enhances their TV experience.” Verizon is trying to preserve the purpose of the TV, but add to it the fun and interactive nature of social networking.
Thursday, July 16th, 2009 at 11:58 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.