MOVL Apps for Google TV - Coming to a cafe near you

Guest to the Google TV Blog, Alan Queen, discusses "The Neighborhood," a new way to use Google TV in public spaces.

At MOVL, we create multi-screen apps for smart TVs and connected devices. You may have seen two of our existing apps in the Google TV Spotlight: WeDraw and PokerFun. We’ve received tremendous feedback from people who love to play along with these “living room” games using their smart phones as controllers. Now, we are taking the multi-screen experience outside the living room and into public spaces.

MOVL has partnered with V2 Broadcasting to create a new product for retail stores, restaurants, bars, and cafes called “The Neighborhood”. This unique experience will provide customers with special offers, and content, including multi-screen apps powered by MOVL and Google TV.

If you’re at SXSW, we’ll be demoing The Neighborhood in the Google Village. In each location, there will be several Google TV devices running MOVL apps. If you walk into a bar that has The Neighborhood, you’ll be able to download a mobile companion app and play games with other people in the bar.

One of the key aspects of this product is that the TV app and the mobile app will always be in sync. When the game changes on the TV, your mobile app will automatically change to the new game as well.

This means you won’t have to switch between mobile apps to keep up with what’s happening on the TV. If you launch the mobile app and the TV is playing Trivia, your mobile app will automatically load the Trivia interface and connect to the game.

All the apps use the MOVL Connect Platform, so everything happening on the Google TV is automatically synced with the mobile app.  We’ve also converted all of our apps to HTML5.
In fact, we chose Google TV for our launch platform because it has the best support for HTML5, whether an app is running in the Chrome browser or inside a native Android app.

What’s great about multi-screen apps in public spaces, is that once users connect to the TV app, they are also connected to each other. It effectively creates a mini social network, where users can communicate publicly or privately in each of the apps.

So the next time you are at your favorite pub, ask them if they have Google TV with The Neighborhood. If not, chances are they will soon. The Neighborhood will be launching soon in the Chicago area at Bar Louie.

In the mean time, if you happen to be at SXSW this year, stop by the Google Village for a demo of the The Neighborhood. And bring your own controller!

When you visit the Google Village at SXSW, head to the Google TV lounge at the Developers House, and go to http://sxsw.movl.com on your mobile device to play along.

Posted by guest to the Google TV Blog, Alan Queen, CTO and Founder of MOVL