Your T.V. is lonely. It can’t share its information with anyone. You turn it down, watch a show, turn it off and leave it alone again (unless you are one of those T.V.-holic types that leave it running, yet ignore it, all day long, which is even worse.) Well, Microsoft wants to stop this sort of television abuse. The company has invented a version of instant messaging that keeps track of the all the shows you watch and allows you to share your watching list with your buddies. The idea is to join your actual viewing habits with the kind of social networking and peer-recommendations that has worked so well for Netflix and Amazon.com. Last month, Microsoft filed a patent for its social networking TV software. (Read the full patent here.)
NewScientistTech reports that the messaging system works by allowing online buddies to see what others are watching now and watched previously. It allows buddies to synchronize their viewing choices and chat about the shows.Bringing a multi-player experience to ordinary T.V. watching could be genius. With Microsoft’s experience in instant messaging and games (despite well-publicized bobbles with the latest XBox), the company certainly has the know-how to pull it off.
