Amazon has just expanded its X-Ray service to include television shows. The service will bring Kindle Fire and Wii U episode watchers contextual information from the IMDb at the touch of a finger. Just like the movie-centric version of the service, its X-Ray for TV will give Kindle users instant access to information regarding actors in the current scene.
Several months ago, Amazon leveraged its IMDb property to launch "X-Ray for Movies". Available exclusively on Kindle Fire tablets, the service enabled users to touch any scene in a movie in order to quickly identify relevant actors. IMDb was acquired by Amazon in 1998.
To invoke X-Ray, a user need only tap on an in-progress movie or show on their Kindle Fire or Wii U. Users will be presented with a drop-down menu containing a list of who's in the current scene without having to stop or pause the video. From there, curious individuals can fish for more information about actors, like biographies and their other works. A second tap on one of those other movies will add it to your Amazon watch list.
For the first time ever, customers can see the names and filmographies of the actors in a scene simply by tapping on the screen. The classic movie questions—“Who’s that guy?” and “What’s he been in?”—are answered instantly with a tap.
Source: Amazon Press release
Note the technology only works on media streamed or downloaded from Amazon's Instant Video service.
X-Ray for TV is currently only available for a select number of TV shows, but IMDb's CEO Col Needham stated, "Our vision is to make X-Ray available on every movie and TV show". Shows named which showcase the feature include, but aren't limited to, The Walking Dead, The West Wing, Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones.
IMDb has updated their FAQ to mention that they will be adding X-Ray to new shows "each week".
