IntoNow - The Amazing App I Overlooked

As a technology news writer I do my best to stay on top of the technology news using a myriad of platforms, services, and tools. Soon after I started, I soon realized it was impossible to keep up with and know about everything that was changing, launching, or merging. Even still; I try.

On January 31, 2011 a startup called IntoNow launched their revolutionary new iPhone app. I missed this news, but did learn of the company later on when Yahoo! purchased it in April for about $20 million; not bad for having just launched their first product only three months prior. Even at this time I didn't pay much attention because of the issues at Yahoo! and other news that overpowered it.

Then, at the end of July, IntoNow for Android was released upon the world. I would see this news story and pause for a moment to see what the service was all about. It was another TV check-in app like Miso, Clicker, and Philo. So I thought! The rate of information flowing through my brain allowed me only a few moments to scan the service's hompage and nothing jumped out at me that would differentiate it from the other social entertainment services like it.

Just a couple weeks ago I learned that the iPad had it's own version now. What did this app do? I said to myself... it must be more than a simple check-in service to account for this rapid expansion! Finally I grabed my Android phone and install it. WOW! IntoNow can listen to what is on TV and identify the show or movie you are watching. Consider it the Shazam of video.

This product is pure genius on a technology and consumer level. The proprietary technology (covered by patent 7,516,074) is called SoundPrint and has an index of over 2.6 million videos. That is more than 140 million minutes of aired shows that is constantly updated. In just seconds it listens to the show to identify what it is, and if it is a TV show, what season and episode you are watching. Because of the algorithmic speed the app has no problem identifying first run shows that are being indexed at the same time you are querying them. They have data for anything that has aired on television in the last 5 years.

On the consumer side IntoNow bridges the gap that other check-in services struggle with. The biggest obstacle to checking-in to a broadcast is searching for the show,movie, or event and, in many cases, creating the entry yourself. Miso is making progress by partnering with AT&T U-verse and DirecTV for faster check-ins, but nothing beats Yahoo! and IntoNow. Social sharing, stats, and information all accompany the iPad version as seen in the below video. The other platform versions also have excellent features to go along with the mind boggling video identification magic show.

Download IntoNow for Android or iOS today and let me know what you think in the comments. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

TV and Movie Check-in Services (Miso, Clicker, Philo)

Do you use movie and TV check-in services? I had been religiously for months. Checking into every movie, TV show (and episode), even adding new content entries for Miso to help them expand! It was fun sharing them on Twitter and Facebook to let people know what I was watching. Some friends even commented, but none ever signed up on the site. I was a lone wolf. Such is the life of a earlier adopter.

What was I being social for? None of my friends ever signed up or came to any of these sites. Clicker had a bit more "socialness" due to their heavy, and automated, Facebook integration brought to you by Instant Personalization. Philo was more social than Miso and Clicker because it is set up well for live TV with schedules and channels so that you can interact with others while the show was going on.

I had thought at a minimum one of these would be a good history of what I had watched, but found my Netflix account offered the same and of course is much more stable (not a start-up company). Putting so much time into a new service can hurt when it goes under or when it is bought and closed by another larger player. I have become used to that and it is an acceptable risk.

Therefore, after finding minimal value for myself, I stopped updating or checking in to these websites and/or mobile applications. I still keep an eye on them because I love the idea and there is a future for it. My hope is that one of these will be gobbled up and integrated into a current larger service. One day a new service will take down the giants, like the giants of today took down others, but for today you need to be with Facebook, Twitter, and somewhat Google to get a large enough audience to make something truly social.

Some forward thinking: These sites are very specific services and the challenge is great to get a users to use many different services, websites, and mobile applications for each social thing (movies, food, check-ins, etc.) The company that gets them all under one roof integrated with each other wins. I am talking about the larger user base, this scattered format is ok for the techies. Even if some of these sites do not survive in their current form we can not overlook their contribution and innovation; they drive the web forward every day. Startups and risk are needed; don't ever be discouraged by the big dogs on the porch!

Predications: Miso will be formally bought and merged with Google; Google Ventures gives them a lot of funding. Clicker may stay where it is, Facebook gets good data and Clicker gets good traffic, but a purchase of Clicker by Facebook could be possible down the road. Philo will keep going until the money runs out or they are bought by another TV/movie check-in service. (Update, August 4, 2011, LocalResponse has acquired Philo.)

There are many more services that do this than the ones above. Do you use Philo, Miso, Clicker, or any other website/app to check-in? Which one? What are you thoughts on the future of the media check-in revolution?

More information on the companies listed in this post:
Clicker - http://www.crunchbase.com/company/clicker
Miso - http://www.crunchbase.com/product/miso
Philo - http://www.crunchbase.com/company/philo