Just in time for CES, the second screen startup Zeebox has announced a deal with Gracenote to bring automatic content recognition (ACR) to its apps, enabling users to automatically identify the show they’re watching. Gracenote’s Entourage audio fingerprinting product can identify TV shows and movies — both live and recorded — after listening for a few seconds.
“People love Zeebox’s program discovery, TV remote control and interactive second-screen experiences,” explains Anthony Rose, co-founder and CTO at Zeebox. “Today that experience is focused on live television. Gracenote technology will allow us to take Zeebox to the next level, providing that great interactive and synchronized Zebox experience for both live and recently PVR’d content.”
Zeebox joins the likes of Shazam, IntoNow and Viggle equipped with ACR technology. ACR is turning into a thriving business: beyond Gracenote, companies like Audible Magic and Civolution offer similar services.