No smart soccer for the World Cup!

The potential for interactive features during the World Cup would be huge, but only a fraction of it is being used. Even a major media event such as the World Cup in Brazil does not help - although many had hoped for further development on this occasion. The IT developer conference Developer Week 2014 does educational work and shows what TV can do today, what would actually be technically possible and explains why we will probably have to wait quite a while for smart TV.TV experience remains the sameTV sets are becoming ever more powerful, bigger and better. However, the TV experience itself has hardly changed since its invention. "While people post lively comments on the so-called participatory web, submit product reviews, connect with like-minded people virtually and, of course, can shop, obtain information and communicate in every situation, passivity has always prevailed when it comes to television," comments Florian Bender, head of DWX Developer Week 2014 and an expert on the IT developer scene. You look in vain for interaction and two-dimensional communication.Regulations prevent innovation"It's not due to a lack of ideas or technical feasibility that nothing is happening here," explains Tam Hanna, software expert and author of numerous publications on the subject of software development. "Government regulations and uncertainty on the part of manufacturers are responsible for the lack of innovation." The following overview shows how few smart applications can be found on today's German TVs and which applications would be technically possible:

Voting via Facebook in real time?So while Korean soccer fans can use ticker apps on their TV during the World Cup, for example, and thus view additional interactive information about the team, players, etc. in a strip displayed below the live image, soccer fans in Germany have to do without this. Scores and background information at the touch of a button, voting via Facebook in real time on the TV screen, purchasing merchandising products and sports betting during the game would be further examples of applications for a smart soccer experience.Difficult market in GermanyIn Germany, such apps or applications are difficult due to the advertising time restrictions imposed by the federal government's TV guidelines. On-demand services are subject to far fewer regulations than 'traditional television services'. Nevertheless, a total ban on thematic placements and a general ban on product placements also applies here. Commercial smart TV apps such as sports betting for the World Cup or an accompanying shopping app for fan merchandise are dreams of the future that football-loving consumers in Germany will probably have to wait for.