Clicker shows off 10-foot viewing experience

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L.A.-based Internet television program guide Clicker will get a big plug during the opening keynote of the Google I/O conference Wednesday when Chief Executive Jim Lanzone will be ushered onstage to show off a sleek new 10-foot interactive interface (designed to be displayed on a large television and viewed from as far away as 10 feet).

Basically the new Web app makes it much easier to view video on a television that is hooked up to a computer. In other words, no more squinting. Users can navigate Clicker.tv using their keyboard’s arrow keys or a configured remote to quickly find and watch online programming. Clicker.tv, which is in private testing, is a website that works entirely in the browser (that’s why Google’s Chrome team is among its fans) without any download, plug-in or external device.

It has all the same features as Clicker, a fast and powerful engine that organizes and sorts an index of more than 650,000 episodes from 10,000 shows in more than 1,400 categories as well as more than 30,000 movies and 80,000 music videos, helping users find and discover programs they will like. Users also can access their playlists of saved shows and notifications when new episodes become available online. You can find out more here.

“This is the top of the first inning for Internet TV,” Lanzone said. “We made something that people need and we did it at a time when it was poised to take off.”

Unlike most other guides, Clicker directs users to programming scattered around the Web. It stays away from illegal or unauthorized content. It aims to be the TV Guide for the next generation of television, said Lanzone, the former CEO of Barry Diller’s Ask.com. Lanzone left Ask.com in 2008 and popped up last fall at Clicker.com, which has offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

For example, a search for “Seinfeld” will point users to TBS, which always has six authorized episodes for viewing. Look up “Charlie Rose,” and you can browse by season or episode or search for an appearance by Warren Buffett.

Soon Clicker will get into personalized and social recommendations, Lanzone said. Check out previous Clicker coverage here and here.

-- Jessica Guynn