Windows Phone Connects with Kinect

Microsoft have just released this video showing their Windows 7 phone connecting and interacting with the Kinect. If you ignore the over the top, stock photography brought to life performances of the actors this is a really interesting development. Continuing on the early 2011 trend of interaction between mobile and TV, the use of the phone as an extra controller opens the door to some interesting possibilities.

Say for example microsoft developed a television with the Kinect built in - bypassing the need for advertising to be served in-game through the XBox - that allowed advertisers to develop interactive television advertising that is effected and manipulated by the windows 7 phone. Very interesting.

Shazam and Syfy: The First Tagable Tv Show

Back in December I posted about Shazam's intention to invade the living room and produce tagable TV content. In a press release posted on their site 4 days ago, Shazam announced that they have teamed up with Syfy's Being Human to produce the first tagable TV show. Tagging the show gives viewers links to exclusive video and previews of upcoming episodes, access to exclusive playlists from the series, downloads and the chance to enter the ‘Being Human Shazam Sweepstakes’ at Syfy.com.

This project is a very definite sign of the TV beginning to use "the second screen" i.e tablet computers and smartphones, to make the formally passive exercise of TV an interactive one. Back in November I posted about the future of TV and how 2011 will / may be the year that the TV and internet merge and it seems, for now anyway, that it may be true.

iPad app that Synchs with your TV

ABC has released an iPad app that syncs with their new TV show, My Generation. It provides additional information on the show by listening to the TV and recognising which episode the viewer is watching.

It's yet another example of how the iPad and iPhone can be used to deepen the experience of watching TV.

More info here on the excellent PSFK. My post was heavily paraphrased from the same article.

Download the app here.

Google TV

Google TV is here. It looks great and it looks useful. But what does it mean for the 30 second TV ad?

Google Intel and Sony explore Apps for TV

Google have teamed up with Intel and Sony to explore a platform that allows TV to use web apps for games and social networking. It's based on the Android OS and should be a very interesting development
in taking the web experience off the small screen and into the living room.

Prepare to be more addicted to Twitter, Facebook etc. I wonder what the experience would be like if they threw in some 3D TV and augmented reality.

(via PSFK)