Netflix Debuts New Conversational Content Guide 'Max' for PS3, Coming to iPad Next

[MacRumors]

Netflix today announced the release of Max, a personal content assistant and guide that the company calls the "child of Siri and HAL 9000." Max is designed to help users choose movies and television shows to view, and he does so using personal tastes.

Max asks a user questions about mood and movie viewing preferences in order to come up with a suggestion. He also uses Netflix's algorithms to predict content that a particular user might enjoy and plays a number of "games" to make selections.

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, when Max feels particularly confident, he will offer a fun, personalized suggestion after asking only one simple question. Here Max asks you to pick between two highly specific genres that are personalized and use the very detailed tags we have on all of the shows and movies that are available on Netflix.

Other times, when intoxicated by past success, Max will get a little cocky and offer a suggestion right away, no questions required. The catch...this is a mystery suggestion and you'll just have to press play and trust him.

While Max is currently only available as a beta for PlayStation 3 users, Netflix says that if the experiment turns out to be successful, Max will be available on other devices in the future, "likely the iPad next."

Article Link: Netflix Debuts New Conversational Content Guide 'Max' for PS3, Coming to iPad Next

 

[mrxak]

Is that you, Clippy?

 

[CrazyForApple]

Siri and Max are going to get married

 

[thatsfinebut]

Siri and Max are going to get married

I agree. I've been getting to know the new male version of Siri, and I think he would get along great with Max. They're both so lighthearted.

 

[autrefois]

Other times, when intoxicated by past success, Max will get a little cocky and offer a suggestion right away, no questions required.

Giving random movie suggestions when intoxicated? Sounds just like my friend actually.

 

[HMI]

Netflix can't generally find things I like now.
I'm not one to watch only shows that I already know I would be interested in.
I tend to watch things occasionally that I already know I won't like or enjoy, but specifically to learn something new or just to see how they're made.

The result is a lot of crappy recommendations for things I wont like based on things that I was interested in learning about in the past.

Of course, I never rate anything I watch because I don't want to be limited by a few select interests.

Netflix should have a toggle for recommendations based on actual interests vs recommendations based on what you've actually seen before. I would like to switch back and forth from my known interests to see what programs may expand my understanding, even if they aren't my true interests or remotely something that I would choose to watch for casual passive entertainment

 

[Plutonius]

What if you want to watch a movie that was just released to video ? Does Max say pfft . Netflix is great for older content but not good for newer content (especially movies). I love Netflix but would rather have them spending their money on content instead of Max.

 

[Bevz]

Meh... Give me multiple user profiles and then I'll be interested.

 

[nagromme]

Sure, why not?

But please just make it an additional option in the existing iOS Netflix app. I hate it when a company makes you install multiple apps to use different aspects of the same service.

 

[ConCat]

If this works well, we'll all love it. If it doesn't, we'll all hate it.

 

[TsMkLg068426]

Ehh, instead I think Netflix should be working on getting licenses for more movies and TV shows.

 

[Gasu E.]

I agree. I've been getting to know the new male version of Siri, and I think he would get along great with Max. They're both so lighthearted.

The "mystery" recommendation always seems to end up as "Brokeback Mountain." Hmmm...

 

[TsMkLg068426]

The "mystery" recommendation always seems to end up as "Brokeback Mountain." Hmmm...

LOL! Netflix thinks your gay hahaha!

 

[milo]

How about they just release the multiple user queues they announced with much hype months ago?

 

[Schmitty11]

that the company calls the "child of Siri and HAL 9000." Max is designed to help users choose movies and television shows to view, and he does so using personal tastes.

Siri and Max are going to get married

You want Siri to marry her kid? Creepy.

 

[CodexMonkey]

Why, on the video, does Max say "I have got something awesome here for you" when the on-screen text says "I have got something awesome for you here"..?

Can Max not read his own writing..?

 

[aardwolf]

A major problem I have with Netflix suggestions is that my wife and I like to watch Post-apocalyptic SciFi, but my 4-year-old likes princesses.

Most streaming services that offer suggestions (Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, iTunes) can't seem to separate us… even though we didn't rate them.

 

[lisster]

child of Siri and HAL 9000.

So it won't be able to understand me and then kill me when i try to turn it off
Yeah great idea netflix!

 

[madcran]

It sounds like Ron Howard. I've been catching up on Arrested Development and that voice sounds eerily similar. It would make sense that Netflix hired him after funding the last season of AD.

 

[mdelvecchio]

It sounds like Ron Howard. I've been catching up on Arrested Development and that voice sounds eerily similar. It would make sense that Netflix hired him after funding the last season of AD.

it's not him. besides, Howard is a famous top-tier director, he's not schlepping around us a spokes-voice for an internet recommendation service.

 

[seamer]

It sounds cool, but like someone else said I'd prefer user profiles first. My kid keeps polluting my choices; Now I have a wonderful mix of Ip Man 2 and lots, and lots, and lots, of Nick/Disney offerings. Yay.

 

[a0me]

Is that you, Clippy?

Exactly. This is skeuomorphism at its worst.
Does anyone actually like having fake "conversations" with these "virtual assistants"? For movies and TV shows, using websites like Jinni sounds way more effective without all the annoying interface.

 

[hornstar]

Max was working on my PS3 a few months ago. It was fun. Kind of like a 'you don't know Jack' style announcer that suggests a movie based on questions. We had a lot of fun with it. It went away and my wife and I were bummed. Glad to see its coming back

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Well that's cute. Something no ones been asking for, while nothing's been done about the basic big complaints everyone's been asking for for years.

What would make the biggest improvement to the Netflix experience?
A "remote" mode to the iOS app, so you can use your iOS device as an actually functional (!) remote while watching netflix movies on the Apple TV or Mac. It should browse titles, manage your queue, read & write comments, leave ratings, and control playback, at a minimum. Create it to work with a companion app for OS X so we don't have to use bloody microsoft silverlight in safari to stream video, or type searches in one letter at a time with arrow keys.

Then tie in social clucking services so people can yak movies at their friends. THEN start going crazy with AI and cyborgs and whatnot. But please cover the basics first.

 

[czeano]

How about they fix the missing metadata (director, full cast, cinematographer, composer, year, studio/producers, etc.) and make it usably SEARCHABLE on platforms besides the Searchlight interface, first?

I don't care what content my friends give four stars, I want to see other movies made by the people responsible for whatever I just watched. The IOS one won't let you search by anything but title. Come on.