Netflix has announced a new recommendations service for its PlayStation 3 streaming app, which promises to find users something they want to watch within two minutes.
The new service, dubbed ‘Max’ hopes to bring an end to the countless hours viewers spend aimlessly flicking around the vast library of content in search of something that tickles their fancy.
The fun-focused personal assistant encourages users to pick a genre they’re interested in watching, depending on their mood. They’ll then rate a host of suggestions in order to narrow the selection down to ‘something they’ll love.’
In a post on the company blog, Todd Yellin, VP of product innovation, wrote: “Max, rumored to be the child of Siri and HAL 9000, asks a few questions about your mood or movie and TV show tastes to arrive at a suggestion, of course based on your tastes and taking advantage of the Netflix algorithms that predict what you’d enjoy watching.
“One of the experiences Max offers is called the “ratings game,” where you pick a genre to fit your mood and then rate a few titles on the familiar Netflix five star scale.”
Sometimes they service will ask a simple question like “Monkeys or OFOs” and make a suggestion based on the user’s answer. When it has become “intoxicated by past success,” as Netflix says, it’ll give make a mystery suggestion which users can access by just pressing play. Kind of like Google’s ‘I’m feeling lucky’ option.
Max is only available to US users for now unfortunately, but Netflix said it plans to roll it out to more devices (the iPad is next up) and more territories if Max lives up to its potential.
In the meantime, you can get a sense for how Max works in the video below.
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Next: Read our Netflix vs Lovefilm comparison
Via TechCrunch
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
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We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
