DirecTV is will be debuting a new app this summer that allows users to command your television through regular language, according to CNET.com.
Like many cable and satellite television providers, DirecTV’s service has channels that hit the thousands in channel range. At times that can be highly annoying and make it exhausting to find the channel you’re looking for.
With the new voice search app, coming to iOS and Android, the viewer may simply say what they would like to view, and the DirecTV console will respond accordingly.
DirecTV, like Microsoft and Samsung, is pushing the effort to make consumer experience more enjoyable and feasible.
However, unlike Microsoft and Samsung, DirecTV is making minor changes to allow users to speak in a normal manner. With Bing Search on the Xbox, or a Samung’s smart TV, you might have to say phrases such as “Xbox”, “Bing”, or “Hi TV” before you state a command.
With DirecTV’s new technology, the user only has to say phrases such as “Find me Matt Damon movies” or “I want to watch The Following on Fox.” In addition to not needing cue phrases, the app can also understand the user’s voice with little trouble.
Another feature of the new technology will be its ability to sift through future on-demand and pay-per-view shows while filtering searches by actor, time frame, channel and genre. The app will also suggest programming in the form of speech bubbles. These are meant to give the user ideas of possible searches. The company also hopes to use the speech bubbles for advertising.
The app is far from perfect and will most likely get improvements before its available to consumers. For instance, if you search for a specific topic, the app will bring up pay-per-view shows as well as free content. There’s no way to suggest only free content.
The app will not appear in the app store or Google Play as a separate entity. Since DirecTV already has an app for iPhone and Android, what will technically be an “open beta” of the voice search app, will be available to users who simply update the existing DirecTV app.
Although no date for a tablet version of the app has been announced, it will most likely become available after the smartphone version
