--Service Allows Users to Search for Programming on TV, Online and DVD
 Interactive TV and conditional access technology provider, NDS, contacted [itvt] Tuesday to let us know that it has extensively redesigned and relaunched LocateTV (http://www.locatetv.com), an online programming guide that it operates which allows users to search for programming on TV, the Web and DVD (note: according to Quantcast figures cited by the company, the site, which launched in October, 2007, reaches over a million people each month in the US and the UK). According to the company, the redesign--which it says took six months and "included several large rethinks along the way"--was focused on improving usability and on making the service's key features more prominent, and also involved the launch of a number of new features. In addition to allowing users to search information that is locally relevant to them (note: the service provides localized listings for the US, the UK and Ireland) about any TV show, movie or actor, the company says, the service now offers such features as:
- My Picks, which allows users to specify their favorite actors, new TV shows they want to watch, or movies they missed the first time around, and then receive emails reminding them when their picks are next showing (note: the emails are personalized to reflect the channel line-up, etc. of each user's TV provider).
- TV guides for specific genres, allowing users to, for example, see a schedule of comedy movies or sci-fi TV shows that will be available over the next two weeks.
- A personalized TV calendar that lists all user-selected TV shows in a day-by-day schedule for the next two weeks.
- A price comparison of TV and movie DVD's, as well as a "simple way" to purchase celebrity posters.
- Dynamically updated widgets that allow users to place on their Web sites, social networking profiles or blogs geo-targeted information about their chosen show, movie or celebrity.
LocateTV also leverages microblogging service, Twitter, by setting up Twitter accounts for shows and celebrities in order to keep fans apprised of upcoming TV appearances: a Twitter feed for Ashton Kutcher (@apluskTV), for example, currently has around 11,000 followers. In addition, earlier this year, the site launched a user registration function that allows users to save and share favorite shows: according to NDS, this feature "paves the way for exciting new developments in the area of social networking and recommendations."
-
Related Content on [itvt]
|
|
Recent News
Interactive TV Headlines Round-Up (I): Arris, Moxi, NDS, Audible Magic, Avail-TVN, NBC, Azuki, D-Link, BBC, BeeSmart, Blinkx, Brightcove
Interactive TV Headlines Round-Up (II): Cable Show's "Imagine Park," Ceton, Comcast, Skype, eBay, Entone, Foxtel, Xbox 360, IAB, Mass Relevance, Motorola, Nagra-OpenTV
Interactive TV Headlines Round-Up (III): NCM, Netflix, Ocean Blue, Peel, Perform, Roku, SeaChange, Avail-TVN, Tellabs, Shazam, E!, Billboard Awards
Interactive TV Headlines Round-Up (IV): Softel, Synacor, The CW, Interlude, Time Warner Cable, BlackArrow, Vutopia, HBO Go, Motorola, Turner, Funny or Die, TVplus, UIEvolution, CTVMA
Interactive TV Headlines Round-Up (I): ABC, IntoNow, Aereo, Alticast, AT&T, Xbox, BBC, Olympics, BT Vision, CableNET, Cablevision, CBC, never.no, NeuLion, LaunchFire
Interactive TV Headlines Round-Up (III): Ensequence, FameUp.TV, Foxconn, Apple, Hillcrest Labs, Michael Kiwanuka, FanCake, LG Electronics, Google TV, John Mayer, LookeeTV, Netflix, Twentieth Century Fox
Interactive TV Headlines Round-Up (IV): Nuance, Samsung, ONO, TiVo, Orange TVCheck, PlayJam, Youda Games, RayV, Realtor.com, Cox, Rentrak, SnagFilms
|
|
