NextGuide, a “hyper-personalized” TV guide for the iPad has just been announced by Dijit. The guide works with traditional digital TV providers like DirectTV (including DVR interaction), but also with online video services like Netflix. It basically unifies the web and TV content in one nicely designed iPad app. Dijit’s goal is to “focus on the people” and get away from the “grid”.
It is clear that a large number of channels and video providers doesn’t mean that you’ll find something of interest when you have time to watch TV. On the contrary, the overwhelming number of channels makes the browsing experience worse. Apps like NextGuide aims to “learn” about what you like so they can filter out stuff that aren’t interesting for the user. Additionally, the app can also propose things that you “may” like as well.
NextGuide also has a social component. It can track what your friends like and propose things accordingly. While this may great in some cases, I can be friends with folks without sharing a taste for their TV shows. This is optional anyway, so that’s really up to you to go “social” or not.
I really like the idea of unifying web and TV content into a single guide. I suspect that the web video integration is not as seamless in the living room (your TV may not be Netflix-friendly), but being aware of what’s available without switching to another app does bring some value. Finally, the app is optimized for the Retina display, so the iPad Gen 3 users will benefit from the highest quality graphics. Official video below:
Introducing NextGuide from Dijit Media on Vimeo.
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