The Second Screen Invasion Is Upon Us

by

Content remains king, with television programming and mobile device interaction converging at a rapid pace. So-called “second screen” apps were everywhere at CES, integrating all sorts of functionality. And companies are clearly pumped. Heck, Cisco & Cox invited Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman in to witness the unveiling of their upcoming iPad app.

2ndscreensummit

In conjunction with CES festivities, I was invited to the 2nd Screen Summit — “a deep-dive into the latest business opportunities, creative case studies and technology innovations related to the creation of supplementary, synchronized and social TV content featuring speakers from Hollywood, Madison Avenue and Silicon Valley.” Given a tight schedule, I was only able to attend the keynote and a discussion of content discovery via the second screen… which quite frequently wandered well beyond the confines of a tablet device, once again reinforcing content consumption interconnectedness. And, with my somewhat irreverent style, I fired off several “second screen” tweets of my own from the sessions (reproduced below).

As I wrote in regards to the new DISH Exlporer app, it’s interesting to see agnostic solutions like NextGuide and Zeebox take on carrier or studio-specific offerings. As a TiVo aficionado, I frequently find myself in their app researching programming… yet have very little interest in sharing that experience online, where the Twitter buzz most frequently revolves around live TV. The conversation continues…

  • Exactly six people will educate me on the 2nd Screen today. pic.twitter.com/Ptd1TrUC
  • How quaint. An infographic. Made of paper. And THANK YOU event organizers for providing tables. Now about power… pic.twitter.com/vDP1TR6Y
  • NHL’s back and Xbox is already in the penalty box. pic.twitter.com/UGR0Pql9
  • The Verge’s @hamburger has joined me here at the 2nd Screen Summit. And we’re down to two chairs on stage. Anticipation builds?
  • A little embarrassed to be reading the *mobile* Verge website from a laptop with an editor sitting next to me. Doh.
  • Interesting. CBS Interactive interviewed by CNET… a CBS Interactive division. pic.twitter.com/CtN3cQzL
  • CBS: “Social conversations are happening with or without us.” True ‘dat.
  • CBS Connect 2nd screen app can identify where you are in which show and tailor the tablet experience accordingly. Spooky. Uses mic?
  • CBS Connect “audio fingerprint” provided by partner TVplus. http://www.tvplus.com
  • Good question from the crowd related to us viewers… who watch more than one network. With DVR, I don’t even know who produces what.
  • Next 2nd Screen session… Content discovery discussion featuring Comcast, DISH, TiVo, and @jtoeman. pic.twitter.com/VIQ6oUeP
  • To launch a 2nd screen app, you need a dark blazer and open collar. pic.twitter.com/LzQKXt8i
  • Toeman says we’re tired of grids.
  • DISH says two second screen use cases… in front of the TV and watching content on the go. Sling on!
  • TiVo Evan stresses their 2nd screen recommendations include over the top and linear television content. But so does NextGuide.
  • Moderator wants to know how 2nd screen apps can differentiate between individual and family. Comcast looking into voice recognition.
  • TiVo Evan wasn’t polled, but remember their CEO told the WSJ yesterday that voice control is a novelty.
  • TiVo Evan says a percent of viewers would be creeped out by individual profiles… even though they know who we are by what we watch.
  • TiVo Evan “won’t comment on product plans” – Yes, that’s the TiVo we know and love!
  • But he seems quite familiar with UltraViolet in the market…

6 thoughts on “The Second Screen Invasion Is Upon Us”

  1. “The Second Screen Invasion Is Upon Us”

    Here, I’ve fixed the error Chromebook forced upon you:

    The Second Screen Invasion Is Upon CES Since 3D Has Lost All Buzz In The Bubble.

    There. That wasn’t so hard with native apps.

  3. “And all the TVs are smart.”

    I asked my TV to walk the dog today, and instead of actually waking my dog, it proceeded to do yo-yo tricks instead.

    That’s not a ‘smart TV’. That’s a ‘snarky TV’. And snarky ≠ smart.

    “I could easily rerun this CES post from 2011 and my 2013 summary”

    I hear the big deal this year is to promote the social functions of TV on a non-primary screen. I’m sure that’s going to be a big hit in the real world. The publicity around mandatory cameras and facial recognition in new flat-panels is going to create a publicity buzz that will cause the mainstream public to become overwhelmed with giddy enthusiasm.

    Alternately, it could only prove to be a mild success like pets.com. No matter, I expect big things from this intuitive leap in what the public wants. Perhaps the biggest thing since chopped bread?

  4. “All the TVs are smart”

    True, and “smart” seems to have become a euphemism for “Confusing, poorly designed and overly cluttered.”

    Did you see Panasonic’s smart TV iPad app? It was a whole lot less “smart” (see above) but was still only demo ware.

  5. 3D is dead? Then why did all the new TVs support 3D? Why is LG handing out 3D glasses to everyone who enters their booth? 3D isn’t dead, it just isn’t news anymore.

  6. Ben, dead in the sense that it’s no longer the primary pitch to upgrade a set. And the banners weren’t plastered all over LVCC as they were in 2010. Interestingly, my new Panasonic touts its 3D capabilities but they don’t bother to include glasses. A few different ways to interpret that. (And I declined the 3D glasses every time they were offered. Well at Vizio suite, I did put them on for half a second so as to not disappoint the enthused rep.)

    Alan, I have the current app which isn’t too notable but didn’t see whatever new they were demo-ing. Hm. Did anyone cover it? Ben?

Comments are closed.