Boxfish first launched on iOS last August, and the company’s co-founder and CEO Eoin Dowling told me during an interview this week that a lot of his team’s work since has been spent on perfecting the identification of topics. The new Boxfish Android app automatically displays two hashtags with key topics per channel, and these get automatically updated as news anchors switch to the next topic or as a show goes into commercial break.

These topics are being identified through cluster analysis, Dowling explained. That means Boxfish doesn’t query Wikipedia or any other dictionary source to make sense of conversations, but instead gathers meaning from the context of which words are used. That’s a necessity to make sense of TV in real time, explained Dowling: “News doesn’t exist in dictionaries yet.”

The new Android app lets users check out the current topics on any given show, search for topics across all channels and set alerts for their favorite shows. It also allows users to control their DirecTV and Google TV set-top boxes, making it possible to to tune into a channel as soon as you discover that a certain keyword has been mentioned. It’s a bit less useful without that remote control capability, but still an interesting toy to play around with, especially if you’re a news junkie like me.

However, Dowling made it clear during our conversation that the app is just a first step for Boxfish. The company also built out an API to give others access to its real-time data, and is already in conversations with cable providers, CE companies and others to give them access to this data.

TV makers could for example use Boxfish’s real-time data to make viewing suggestions that are much more fine-tuned than simple show-based recommendations. Care only about a certain sports team? Then how about getting alerts whenever it is a major topic, no matter whether it’s on SportsCenter or the evening news?

Likewise, DVRs could become much better at serving the things you really want to watch, for example by letting you jump right to a news segment you care about, as opposed to making you sit or fast forward through an entire show in search for those 45 seconds you want to watch.

“I just want to see people use this to build a better TV,” said Dowling.

Boxfish’s team of 10 is backed by Deutsche Telekom’s T-Venture fund, which has invested a total of $5 million into the company.

Take a look a t a couple of screenshots of the app on my Nexus 7 below:

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Here’s what’s interesting about Vubooo: It does away with a lot of the notions of second-screen apps, and tries to reinvent the whole experience for soccer fans. You won’t get any badges for tuning into a game, the app won’t distract you with any trivia content while the game is going on, and there definitely won’t be any long-winded discussions about the happenings on the field.

Instead, fans have a chance to predict the outcome of a game, and then simply cheer and boo as the action unfolds on the field. A few simple buttons also allow users to demand players be carded, spot offside violations and do a whole lot of virtual shouting. All of that action gets documented on a timeline that progresses as the game unfolds, giving users a chance to later on go back and see what exactly happened in that fateful 67th minute.

I have to admit that, despite my German heritage, I’m only a soccer fan every four years (there’s nothing just like the World Cup). And even then, I might just leave the second screen in my pocket and instead follow the action without any distraction. However, Vubooo does deserve some credit for a new take on second-screen interaction. Also, the folks over on Google Play seem to love the app, so the Israel-based startup may just be onto something.

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Some of the app’s functionality may seem familiar: second-screen apps like Zeebox have been offering discovery through their apps for some time, and apps like Peel even offer some control capability when paired with the right hardware. But there are two things that stand out with Dish’s app, and they have a lot to do with what Dish brings to the table in the second screen space:

Dish’s second-screen app makes use of data from Trendrr and Thuutz.

First, Dish doesn’t have to rely on automated content recognition to find out what’s on TV, simply because Dish already knows what you’re watching. The company is running your set-top-box, after all. So no more ugly workarounds that require your tablet to listen to your TV’s audio, only to tell you with a notable delay what’s on TV.

Secondly, Dish is making some good use of third-party providers for some of the media and social smarts used in the app. The company is relying on sports data from Thuutz to tell viewers which of the currently airing games are the most exciting ones. And it’s making extensive use of data from Trendrr to gather social sentiment across Twitter, Facebook, GetGlue and others, which makes it possible to show which shows are “hot” on social networks. The reason for this is obvious: Dish doesn’t have to reinvent TV discovery services, because that’s not where the money is for the company. So it can rely on third parties to make its own product better.

Which brings up an interesting question: If an operator like Dish can build a second-screen app without any of the complicated hoops that some of its start-up competitors have to jump through, then why should consumers install a third-party app? Sure, some of the apps built by startups may look hipper and come with a few more bells and whistles, but really, will consumers care?

Or will they just go for what’s good enough, and sure to work with their in-home setup?

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Peel’s programming guide has been available in North America ever since the company launched with its own IR blaster accessory last year. It also has been providing basic remote control capabilities to users of Samsung’s devices in a range of countries for some time, but the company’s VP of Marketing Scott Ellis told me this week that it took some effort to provide all of those users in countries like Malaysia, Portugal and Luxembourg with actual TV guides to tell them what’s on at any given time. “This requires relationships with a patchwork of metadata providers,” he said, adding that Peel is now providing guide data for 20,000 channels in Europe alone.

Peel’s new app with TV guide data will be available in 17 European countries, including heavyweights like Germany, the U.K. and France, as well as Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. Initially, it will be limited to Android tablets from Samsung, but Ellis said that he wants to have the same functionality available on other Android devices as well as other platforms as well soon.

Peel is competing in a crowded space of social TV guides and companion apps, which includes newcomers like NextGuide as well as established players like the more check-in focused GetGlue, which recently got acquired by Viggle. However, Ellis told me that he doesn’t see that much overlap between apps like GetGlue and Peel, in part because of Peel’s strong focus on remote control capabilities. In the end, changing the channel matters more to users than checking into a show, he said. “The core proposition of social TV is secondary to the user,” he said, adding: “For us, control is a key part of the experience.”

Ellis didn’t want to tell me how many active users Peel currently has, only stating that it is north of three million, and that he expects to add millions more as people buy Samsung devices this holiday season. Publicly available data from Google Play suggests that there are between one and five million installs of the Galaxy Tab version of the Peel app alone. Peel is also available on iOS as well as through a standalone Android app. The company currently employs 25 people, and raised a $16.7M Series B from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures and others in 2011.

Image courtesy of Flickr user  Horia Varlan.

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The company quietly rolled out second-screen control for the PS3 a few weeks ago, allowing users to start playback on the game console from their Android or iOS handset. “We expect to roll out 2nd screen control on a number of additional devices in the coming months,” a spokesperson told me via email, adding:

“Our overall strategy around second screen control is that Netflix on TV devices is a great viewing experience, but Netflix on mobile devices makes activities like browsing, searching, rating, and social easier. We see our users doing this naturally today and  are trying to support and optimize for that behavior.”

The PS3 second-screen feature was first discovered by a YouTube user, who posted the following video of the experience on the video sharing site (hat tip to Engadget):

Users who want to utilize this second-screen experience need to be logged into the Netflix application on both devices with the same Netflix account, and also have their mobile phone connect to the same Wifi network as the game console.

Netflix’s most recent Android app update already discovers Google TV devices within the same network, but playback doesn’t work yet.

One of the devices that could get Netflix’s second-screen experience next is apparently Google TV. I found out by chance this week that Netflix’s Android app already discovers Google TV devices located within the same network but isn’t able to actually start playback on them yet. Netflix’s spokesperson told me that the company doesn’t support second-screen functionality for Google TV devices “at this time,” but declined to comment further.

It makes a lot of sense for the company to use phones and tablets as remote controls for the TV screen. Netflix’s catalog now consists of roughly 50,000 titles, which is hard to navigate and search on a TV or connected device. Tablets on the other hand in particular make for great programming guides, and the ability to beam a video with one click to the big screen could be a great addition to the company’s apps.

Netflix isn’t the only company looking to take a hint from Apple’s AirPlay. Google has said that it is working on bringing an AirPlay-like experience to YouTube and other Google TV apps.

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For there’s always a motive beyond keeping people entertained. For the Breaking Bad StorySync experience, the goal was to discourage DVRing your way through the episode broadcast. In the case of the Marvel’s The Avengers second screen iOS app, the goal seems to be driving Blu-ray and DVD sales.

I didn’t know the Avengers app existed until I opened the Blu-ray case, and even that was a fluke (like most people, I suspect, I tend to ignore the paper inserts tucked alongside shiny new Blu-rays or DVDs) — but in the long run, that fluke was most fortunate.

First off, this app is Hulk-sized: When I sat down to test out the app, I had to clear off several apps and a dozen podcasts to find a spare 435 MB on my iPhone. (I also tested it on iPad.) The home screen of the app, originally released this summer, emphasizes the Item 47 Comic-Con experience and dossier files on Avengers characters — you have to go one level deeper to get to the good stuff.

Through the magic of BD-Live and a shared wi-fi network, syncing my devices with the movie was almost instantaneous (for those whose Blu-ray players aren’t online, there are also audio and manual sync options). Once I hit play, the second-screen experience began flooding in: Photos, text and video from the film popping up on my devices fast.

By far the best feature of the app was the on-screen Pause button, which allowed you to stop the movie without reaching for your remote, followed close behind by the “Sync App to Movie/Sync Movie To App” buttons. That’s because the barrage of updates on the second screen was literally impossible to keep up with — and with few exceptions, it was all pretty compelling.

Trivia notes added extra insight about the production’s collaboration with NASA and director Joss Whedon’s decision to cast Mark Ruffalo. Still images included storyboard galleries and photos of the film’s extremely attractive cast, timed with their first on-the-big-screen appearances.

Between the two, the iPad version of the app was a whole lot prettier than the iPhone, thanks to the screen resolution — also, certain features performed better there.

And the video was especially great: Highlights include Tom Hiddleston goofing around during his wirework stunts and Scarlett Johansson’s stunt double practicing the fight choreography of Black Widow’s first scene.

All the clips loaded cleanly, and were soundless in case you hadn’t paused the film to watch them (though most of them were good enough to warrent my full attention). In short: That 435 MB was not ill-spent.

The only major bug I found came with the text-based updates, like actor bios or filmmaker notes: When the text fit into one screen, everything was fine:

But try though I might, I could not figure how to finish reading entries which were longer than the confines of the frame, on either the iPad or iPhone. I tried scrolling, swiping, zooming and even asking Siri — but no dice. If you know how to scroll the text in this app, please let me know — I’m very curious how some of these notes end.

Before you ask, it’s not the three boxes at the top of the text field (those are a design element), or that down arrow at the bottom right of the screen (that minimizes the timeline). Believe me, I tried.

I also couldn’t get certain links to load, such as links to comics — the app is not a bug-free experience in its current form. But what’s there is without a doubt great fun.

In fact, the only other caveat I’ll mention is this: I spent at least half an hour “watching” the first major scene of the movie — skipping back and forth through both the film and the app timeline, using the sync buttons to rewatch certain bits with a new perspective, or catch up with what I’d missed while looking at a device.

Seriously: It took 30 minutes for me to get to the opening titles, which appear 11 minutes into the movie. The Avengers were nowhere close to assembling before I had to go to bed. However, I’m looking forward to getting through the rest of the experience, slowly but surely.

You don’t need to purchase the film in any form to check out the second screen content — not only is the app free on iTunes, but there’s an “Explore on your own” option that lets you browse the timeline content without syncing. However, if you’re one of the fans who helped The Avengers set box office records this summer, you’ll enjoy having the experience as a viewing companion. I know I did.

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NextGuide isn’t Dijit’s first stab at this space. The company first launched its remote control app, dubbed Dijit and capable of controlling TVs and set-top boxes through a custom IR blaster, last summer. It added some basic social programming guide functionality to Dijit earlier this year, and the company signed up more than 100,000 users. Still, Dijit CEO Jeremy Toeman told me recently that he never saw it take off, and so the company realized that it had to refocus.

One key lesson learned with the Dijit app was that remote control functionality wasn’t used as much as the team initially thought. That’s why NextGuide squarely focuses on content recommendations. The app pulls in social data from Facebook and recommends content to you in a variety of channels, with the ability to add and customize the channels you’re interested in most, and even combine various filters. Only want live TV results about dogs in your home city? NextGuide can deliver.

There is also a time grid that mixes live and on-demand recommendations, which can be a bit confusing: It’s not easily understandable why NextGuide would recommend one Netflix title Thursday at 9 p.m. and another Friday at noon. Toeman acknowledged that the personalization could still be improved.

What’s interesting about NextGuide is that it’s not your classic throwing old ideas out of the window and starting over from scratch move. Instead, NextGuide and Dijit are joined by the hip: Dijit logins work on both apps, and comments posted on one of them are also displayed on the other.

Of course, NextGuide isn’t the first company to take a stab at the next-generation TV guide. Fanhattan, Peel, Boxfish and a bunch of others are also trying to apply new ideas to content recommendations on the second screen, and TVGuide.com itself recently published an app that tries to combine the traditional grid guide with more personalized recommendations. Still, NextGuide definitely looks interesting, and the personalized channel idea might just be what the company needs to succeed the second time around.

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The National Hockey League, which already has an official iPad app, is jumping further into the second screen trend with what it calls the first sanctioned predictive gaming app for a major sports league. The free NHL PrePlay app, which just got approved, allows TV viewers to play along with a game by making live predictions on the action.

Users will be able to predict who wins face-offs or who will score the next goal and the outcomes of power plays, penalty shots and other in-game events. As the game progresses, the app will serve up new questions based on the action and will process the results of those predictions in real-time with points awarded. Before the game, players can also enter predictions on things like goalie performance or the final score. A user can play against the entire universe of PrePlay users or they can set up private challenges among friends.

There are other predictive gaming apps that let people play along with the NFL and other leagues. But the NHL is the first to incorporate the feature into a league-sanctioned app. It’s teaming with PrePlay Sports, which is supplying the predictive gaming elements for the app. Christopher J. Golier, VP Mobile Marketing & Strategy for the NHL told me the app is designed to keep fans tuned into longer games. And it can draw in more casual fans, by letting them play along from their couch.

“This is more engaging than a check-in,” Golier said. “It takes the game to the next level.”

Beer vendor Molson is sponsoring the app and is using it to augment its existing TV advertising. So when an ad shows up on TV, the app recognizes the commercial and will display a similar advertisement that offers the chance to get more information. NHL PrePlay uses Second Screen Networks’ video recognition technology to identify the commercial on air. This is becoming a new opportunity for broadcasters, who are using other audio fingerprinting technologies like Shazam and IntoNow to deliver second-screen ads that sync with on-screen content.

Golier said the app will remain separate from the existing NHL GameCenter app, which provides fuller stats, play-by-play, schedules, player information and other rich media features. But there’s a potential for the two to merge at some point. I imagine that some hardcore fans may want to jump back and forth between the apps while watching along with a game.

The app capitalizes on the increasing tendency of people to watch TV while using their tablet or smartphone. Nielsen recently found that 88 percent of tablet owners and 86 percent of smartphone owners used their devices while watching TV. Golier said the NHL is trying reach out to users no matter what screen they’re on.

While the NHL is out first with this, I imagine other leagues will follow suit. With so much dual screen viewing going on, there’s an opportunity to really enhance the televised games and make them more fun to follow. And it opens up more opportunities to pull in advertisers, who can drive home their messages using two screens.

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Peel’s new app is inviting you to press buttons labeled “Booo!” and “Cheer!” during any of the show’s performances. Viewers can also cheer or protest any of the judges and their comments, and Peel promises to aggregate the votes of their users in real time, offering an instantaneous take on who’s gonna make it into Idol’s next round. The direct engagement feature comes two months after Peel added social functionality to its app at CES.

Peel initially got a lot of press for its universal remote control, which combines an iPhone with a pear-shaped IR blaster capable of controlling devices like a cable box or a Roku. However, Peel’s VP of Marketing Scott Ellis told me during an in-person demo of the new app last week that the company has no illusions about the future of this market. “In the long term, control becomes a commodity,” he said.

Peel already took a step past its IR blaster with a partnership with Samsung, which has IR functionality built onto some of its Android tablets, and he’s sure that others will follow suit. However, he didn’t seem too worried about this. “If we don’t have to sell a consumer product … even better,” he told me.

Of course, Peel isn’t the only one who’s offering second screen engagement around competitive reality content. Social TV startup Miso added voting features to its mobile app a year ago, for example.

Still, Ellis said Peel has seen a lot of interest in the new feature, and there are plenty of possibilities to monetize real-time engagement during a TV show. Peel’s app doesn’t currently come with any ads, but TV networks could possibly partner with the company to serve ads on the second screen; or Peel could sell ads directly, making it possible to show Pepsi ads on the second screen while Idol promotes its long-time sponsor Coke.

Peel raised a Series B of $16.7 million last year. The company currently employs 28 people.

Check out some screenshots of the new Peel iOS app below:

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Dijit originally launched mainly as a universal remote control, but has increasingly been adding content discovery and social features to its product. Those features are designed to provide personalized access to the most relevant shows a viewer might want to watch, as well as to give those viewers an easy way to find out about new shows based on what their friends are watching.

The new iPad app expands on existing Dijit mobile features by taking advantage of the tablet’s larger screen and adding more functionality as a result. Viewers will be able access their local TV listings, get recommendations from their Facebook friends, and gather more information about the cast and crew of the shows they’re watching. The app includes Wikipedia and YouTube integration to highlight additional content online. It also has a social check-in feature that will let users share what they’re watching with their social graph on Twitter and Facebook.

Dijit works with Roku streaming set-top boxes, and also acts as a universal remote control when paired with the Griffin Beacon IR blaster. But the startup soon hopes to directly connect with Wi-Fi-capable TVs and operator set-top boxes.

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