Google TV's Movies App Adds Recommendations
Google has begun to add Netflix-style recommendations to its Google TV platform via an updated "TV & Movies" app.
Google has begun to add Netflix-style recommendations to its Google TV platform via an updated "TV & Movies" app.
The new version of the app began rolling out Wednesday, and should be available to all users within the next day or so, a YouTube spokesman said.
The new version of the app allows users to opt into recommendations for shows in several ways. Upon launching the latest version of the app, TV & Movies will ask the viewer to rate a series of movies and TV shows, to generate a baseline rating. Users will also be able to rate individual TV shows and movies when they like. There's also an option to allow Google TV to base its recommendations on what the viewer actually watches.
For those without any idea of what to watch, Google offers a "Trending This Week" shelf, where users can discover what others consider to be must-watch shows.
The latter two choices require the user to opt in. Google TV also only knows what the viewer is watching if he or she selects it from the new app, as well; in other words, Google won't be able to know that you watched The Bachelor unless you manually select the show from its list.
Users have the option of browsing shows on live TV, as well as pre-recorded movies and TV shows. Google understood that I had a subscription to Netflix; it also referred me to Amazon to purchase the latest episodes of shows like Breaking Bad, that weren't yet available on Netflix Instant.
Google also doesn't know whether or not users have a subscription to services like HBO GO, a spokesman confirmed. Instead, the app will show whether or not a movie is on a pay service like HBO's cable channel, he said. If a user does subscribe, the movie playing on HBO will show up as "free".
Google TV rolled out its last fall, bringing Android version 3.1 to the platform and adding the Android Market (now Google Play) to the platform. Although Logitech was burned by a tepid consumer response to the Logitech Revue, LG, Samsung and Vizio have all committed to Google TV.
Editor's Note: This story was updated on Friday at 8:39 AM with a clarification from a Google spokesman on HBO.