Samsung is holding a $500,000 contest called “Free the TV Challenge” to spur developers to create more apps for Samsung TV sets, and there are some pretty cool entries. One of the submitted apps is called “Twitter Twicker.” As this video shows, connect your Twitter account, and tweets start appearing in a clean ticker across the bottom.
It can be configured so the ticker only appears when you receive a new tweet. Nifty. Suggested new feature: filter by hashtags to correspond with the TV show you’re watching.
Another social app in the contest is called Guroo. It’s a next-generation program guide that scans social media to feature which shows are trending. You can also “like” shows to recommend to your friends. Here’s the video demo. I love the line, “Why sort by channel? That method is 50 years old.” True enough, you can bet all TV guides will be social in 3 years.
There are lots more apps in the contest — from interactive games to an app that controls your home’s lighting and security system — and you can vote for your favorites. The winners will be announced next month at CES.