Sony app upgrade eases shopping while watching your TV
Sony's TV SideView application will add Delivery Agent technology that lets viewers shop for products related to TV broadcasts.(Photo: Sony/Delivery Agent)
Sony is giving TV owners some new purchasing power.
Sony's TV SideView app gains some live shopping upgrades on Friday, courtesy of Delivery Agent's ShopTV electronic commerce technology.
To jog your memory a bit, Delivery Agent was behind H&M's Super Bowl commercial that let Samsung TV owners buy the underwear that David Beckham showed off using their TV remote. LG Electronics TVs now also have the ability to let you buy products tied to shows.
Sony's TV SideView app[1], launched last year and pre-installed on all Sony Android-based smartphones and tablets and available for Android and iOS devices, has a program guide and other interactive features already. But this will let viewers shop for products as they watch shows or advertisements.
When you use the TV SideView app's programming guide or select "Top Picks," the ShopTV feature will appear as an option when TV programs have products related to the broadcast for purchase.
Adding shopping into the app helps "deliver a one-stop destination for users to complement and enhance main-screen viewing," said Sony Corp.'s Makoto Ishii in a statement. The app is being demonstrated this week at the IFA show in Berlin. "Delivery Agent was the obvious choice when it comes to shopping data because of the huge catalog of show related and sponsored goods a user can enjoy shopping while tuning into their favorite TV program."
Back in 2005, Delivery Agent made its first foray into TV-related shopping by letting viewers of Will & Grace and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy log into a Web store to buy products seen on the shows. Today, the company works with more than 60 TV networks on more than 600 shows including Big Brother, Game of Thrones and Ray Donovan and is compatible with multiple devices including tablets, smartphones and smart TVs.
"We are just trying to make it really, really easy for the consumer to buy stuff that they see while watching TV. Whether this is a product from a show or from a commercial or an infomercial," said Delivery Agent[2] CEO Mike Fitzsimmons. "This could be buying the Snuggie. The days of having to write down the 800 number, we believe those are behind us."
You can download the app from Google Play[3] or iTunes[4] store and between Friday and Sept. 21, use the code USATODAY15 in the app or on ShopTheTV[5] on the Web to get 15% off a purchase (may be some exclusions).
Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider[6]
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References
- ^ http://helpguide.sony.net/lifestyle/en/view/ (helpguide.sony.net)
- ^ http://www.deliveryagent.com/ (www.deliveryagent.com)
- ^ https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sony.tvsideview.phone (play.google.com)
- ^ https://itunes.apple.com/app/tv-sideview/id594171390?mt=8 (itunes.apple.com)
- ^ http://www.shopthetv.com/ (www.shopthetv.com)
- ^ https://twitter.com/MikeSnider (twitter.com)