“Second Screen” apps with the Connect SDK

“Smart TVs” much less interactive than computers
- one set of preferences per app (typically)
- Search is laborious
- No e-mail/tweet from friend that knows you
“Smart TV” interfaces are clunky at best
Most people in front of a TV have a mobile device nearby

Half a dozen Android or iOS libraries required

Setup takes a day, not an hour, unless you’re already familiar with Android development / iOS development.

Testing: buy hardware for any platform you really care about. Only emulator is webOS TV, and that appears to be buggy.

iOS, Android, or Cordova for both.

No announced plan for Windows Phone nor web app (Firefox OS, ChromeOS)

8 platforms: LG webOS, Chromecast, Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV, LG Smart TV ’13, LG Smart TV ’12, DIAL

23 features: Apps, Media, System Controls, TV Controls

Compatibility matrix

Broad support for

Other features may not be available on users' devices.

Game using mobile as tilt controller, e.g. Wii game (TV-centric)
Progress through sequence of videos on tablet, optionally displaying on TV e.g. Reading Bear (mobile-centric)
Run web server on phone, display photos on TV, e.g. Zap Photoshare (mobile-centric)
Multiplayer real-time strategy, displaying player-private info on mobile (joint)
Collaborative editing, e.g. Subethaedit, Etherpad (joint)

TV apps needn’t depend on awkward TV UI.

Don’t need a large phone to view photos or videos, if you can throw them up on a large display.

Avoid logging in to TV

UI can be good while UX is poor.

[ask who’s on local Wi-Fi] Must be on same Wi-Fi network: Ok for home, work, close friends. Poor for Meetup, meeting at clients.

FireTV & DIAL TVs can only “Launch My app” & beam YouTube. Easy to exclude from list, but leaves user frustrated.

Some games are much easier if you can always glance at the map

This might be the tipping point where users expect devices to work together (like VCRs and TVs did)
Or maybe it won’t catch on, and companies will re-impose their walled gardens

Underlying Technologies #