by Robert van Alstyne
What’s Happening
• MetaMirror, a conceptual software platform from Ireland, wants to give consumers a smoother blend of the Web with traditional television. The proposed platform would display real-time contextual info on a mobile device over a simultaneous television broadcast.
• MetaMirror could flex its Web-overlay muscles in numerous ways. Statistical updates to live sporting events and instant product purchasing links on lifestyle shows are just a few of the possibilities foreseen by Notion, the Dublin design firm pushing the concept.
• Just when (or if) MetaMirror goes from imagined killer iPad app to consumer-facing reality remains uncertain. Notion is looking for a partner to assist in building functioning prototypes.
What This Means to Business
• An ever-swelling segment of consumers is already keeping their laptops on while trawling TV land, and many are ready and willing to embrace services that can simplify simultaneous multiplatform consumption.
• Simple evolution often trumps more ambitious tech endeavors when it comes to meeting consumers’ media consumption needs. Many consumers won’t want to muck up their pristine flat screen with a deluge of data, even in the not-too-distant future when every TV is connected to the cloud.



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