Miso CEO Somrat Niyogi is honest about the future of TV check-ins. “We have found that the ‘check-in’ is just the starting point of a conversation about TV but it is not the be-all end-all,” he told Lost Remote. Miso, however, is a TV check-in app, similar to competitors GetGlue, TunerFish, Philo and IntoNow.
That’s why Miso has rolled out a developer contest to find new ways to connect conversations around TV. “We believe the social TV experience can exist everywhere,” he said. “There is so much room for innovation to make the TV watching experience better. We wanted to partner with any developer, big media companies to some small start-ups, to innovate in the TV space.”
The contest will award an iPad 2 for the best Miso API integration. There’s already a Windows 7 app and a Chrome extension with check-ins from the Google search bar. But some of the most interesting ideas are around set-tops and services. “We have heard about social integrations with Hulu or Netflix, even integrations directly with the set-top-box,” Niyogi said. “How cool would it be to see what your friends are watching directly on TV and then be able to change the channel based off what your friends are watching?”
The folks at Boxee have promoted the contest, suggesting developers “kick out some tight social TV apps” like auto-check-ins as you watch a show on Boxee — and auto-notifications when a show you’re following on Miso becomes available on Boxee.
“There is so much room for innovation in this space and we want to empower developers to think outside of the box to create experiences that make the TV watching experience better,” Niyogi explains, adding that this is just first of more Miso developer contests.
