Second-screen service ConnectTV has launched a new iPhone app that allows users to clip and share six seconds of video from live television.
The app works by detecting which program you’re watching and grabbing footage from the show. You then select a six-second clip, add meme-style text commentary, and then share across the app and relevant social networks. Developer SMRTV plans to release an Android version of the app soon.
ConnecTV represents an improvement over services like Vine and Instagram, where users have been recording TV moments simply by pointing their phones at their televisions. The TV networks are on board for the app, so sharing clips is fully legal. Meanwhile, networks benefit from watermarks, better image quality of their content, contextual metadata and potential advertising partnerships.
The user-generated video sharing app space is starting to get noisy, but ConnecTV offers a twist by providing access to high-quality video from popular TV shows. While I expect it will take some time for ConnecTV to catch on, the app offers the best solution I’ve seen yet for sharing bite-size chunks of TV.
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