Using Fanhattan for new TV series Discovery

The other night, sitting in a hotel over the holidays, my wife asked me if I had any recommendations for a new TV series to start watching on her iPad.  I thought this was an excellent chance to try out the Discovery powers of the SecondScreen apps we have reviewed here so far.  While GetGlue, BuddyTV and Fanhattan all had "medium" levels of Discovery capabilities, I thought Fanhattan hadthe best UX (user experience) and the most sophisticated way for the user to slice and dice the options for Discovering content.

I sat with my very suspicious wife and opened the app on my iPad.  I gave her a quick introduction to the different ways to view recommended TV Series (Hottest, Newest, Hot Fall TV (probably paid placement), Emmy Winners and Top Rated).  She saw the opportunity to see a similar view from Friends, and while set for my Facebook friends (we share many of them anyway), it still offered many new content ideas for her.

Of course, she immediately chose something that we couldn't download to the iPad while travelling in London and gave me the "I told you so" look of disappointment in my wasting of her time.  I showed her how to use Smart Browse to quickly filter the results so she would only return items she could watch on her iPad (while traveling).  She was then able to flip back over to the Hottest or Top Rated shows and choose a new series.

Now while this is really a sophisticated version of Search vs. true Discovery, it is still light years ahead of the current method of combing thru Facebook recommendations or calling your friends (esp. when you are on the wrong timezone).

There are some profound possibilities coming...stay tuned to this space.