Sunnyvale, California — Struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo Inc. on Monday took a courageous step, announced that it has acquired IntoNow, a budding Palo Alto start-up that makes an iOS app that enables users to “Check-In” to films or television shows they are watching with their friends, in its continuing drive to boost its social media credentials.
IntoNow offers one of several free TV check-in software application that lets iPhones identify television shows being watched and then share the information at popular social networks Facebook or Twitter. Moreover, the company’s competitors include the more established GetGlue and the Google Ventures-backed Miso, but Yahoo apparently had its sites specifically on IntoNow since the service launched in January.
IntoNow launched barely 12 weeks ago and has just seven employees: “Yes that is 12 weeks later… We were all surprised to say the least but it makes a ton of sense and we are ready to rock,” IntoNow said Monday in a blog post announcing the sale. “We want to grow the experiences, platforms (yes we have heard you loud and clear: Android, iPad, web-based, etc.) and countries to engage with you, our community.
That takes resources and a global scale. “Yahoo has expressed that they are thrilled about what we are doing and committed to continue innovating for our community.”
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Image: Screen shots of the IntoNow app on an iPhone. Credit: Apple/IntoNow
Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo, in an attempt to reinvent itself as a digital media company that meshes news and entertainment content with tech expertise after being eclipsed by Google in the online search market, is not a surprising buyer for a social TV application; its Yahoo TV portal is a company mainstay.
The transformation includes Yahoo! Connected TV software built into television sets to link viewers to online content. With IntoNow’s innovative application that not only lets people “check-in” online within seconds to shows they are watching but indexes related episodes dating back five years.
The purchase is a fast one. In its announcement, Yahoo says that IntoNow will “enable Yahoo to provide enriched media experiences and video programming, bolstering its social engagement across the Yahoo! network and on all screens.”
IntoNow, which established in January by Adam Cahan, a former executive with Google Inc. and Viacom Inc.’s MTV, works with an app on a user’s phone which scans the audio waves from TV sets and identifies the programs being aired. Then you can share the name of the show and related information on Facebook or Twitter.
“IntoNow has developed a unique way for people to engage with each other around the content they enjoy,” said IntoNow chief executive Adam Cahan.
“Companion applications and devices are changing the way we interact with TV in significant ways,” he added.
Yahoo! did not disclose how much it paid for IntoNow, which launched on January 31 in the Silicon Valley city of Palo Alto, California. But, according to various tech blog, which puts the purchase price at either $13 million or as much as $30 million, depending on which tech blog you prefer to believe.
The “social media TV-watching” space is a crowded one, with start-ups like GetGlue and Miso (another, Tunerfish, was built internally at Comcast) scrambling to add new features and sign deals with entertainment brands. GetGlue appears to have some early traction, but it’s still hard to tell how things will pan out in the long run.
Furthermore, Yahoo! planned to use IntoNow technology to enhance online media and video offerings and to make its services more social. IntoNow’s application is integrated with Facebook, Twitter, Apple’s online iTunes shop, and US online video rental giant Netflix.
“Relying on social channels as a means for discovering content — whether it is on a PC, mobile device, or TV – is rapidly on the rise,” said Bill Shaughnessy, senior vice president of global product management at Yahoo, said in a statement.
“The IntoNow application the team has devised clearly demonstrates the opportunities the technology presents across Yahoo’s network, especially in regards to our video content, search, mobile and Connected TV experiences. We are thrilled to have the IntoNow team join Yahoo as we continue to build out these experiences.”