Live, 24-Hour-a-Day Interactive Lifestyle Network Now Available on iPhone and iPod Touch
New App Creates e-Commerce’s First Live-Video 3-Screen Experience—TV; Web; Mobile—and
Enables Users to Take HSN on the Go, with Streaming Live Video and Host of Features
ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA [August 17, 2009] – HSN (hsn.com), the leading interactive lifestyle network and retail destination, announces today the launch of a dynamic new application (“app”) for the Apple® iPhone™ and iPod® touch®. The 45 million subscribers to the devices who download the HSN Shop App now have the ability to view HSN programming 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, throughout the US. The launch creates the e-commerce industry’s first live-video “3-screen experience,” enabling consumers to browse and shop the network’s 35,000-plus array of products from home or on the go.
All the engaging highlights that HSN and hsn.com users enjoy are packed into the clever app, available for download at both the iTunes App Store and hsn.com. Live, ‘round-the-clock HSN TV (along with a library of original videos), the HSN Today’s Special, Items Recently Aired, and the many hosts, featured designers and their tens of thousands of products are among the familiar and favorite hallmarks of HSN programming that will be available through the mobile experience. Additionally, the HSN Shop App brings with it a set of new features, including the interactive shake2shop, which, with a simple shake of the device, generates random product recommendations as well as deals and promotions targeted at HSN’s mobile customers.
“Our customer is fashionable and discerning, and thrives on information, ideas and discovery,” says HSNi CEO, Mindy Grossman. “HSN strives to be the true multichannel experience, and this new iPhone app now allows our customer to take HSN with her, anytime, anywhere, and be that reliable, ‘on-the-go’ resource for lifestyle information she craves.”
The HSN Shop App also makes for a seamless transactional experience, allowing the user to call HSN directly or use the device’s browser to purchase an item. Items can also be saved for later purchase, or emailed to a friend.
While the HSN Shop App is supremely navigable and user-friendly,hsn.com will soon feature a tutorial that walks all new users through the app’s various fundamentals and features. To insure the optimal experience, the app will also evolve based on customer feedback.
“HSN truly leads the way in total convergence of its media technologies,” says Brian Bradley, EVP/ GM, HSN Online & Advanced Services. “The loyalty of our customer base has been predicated in large part on a unique ability to engage them in all aspects of their lives, and the addition of a mobile ‘third screen’ opens up an entirely new dimension for interaction.”
Inlet Technologies’ SpinnakerTM live streaming appliance provides the encoding backbone for the HSN Shop App’s streaming video. Spinnaker fully supports Apple’s HTTP adaptive streaming, which reduces buffering and other interruptions to create an exceptional viewing experience and diminish latency, helping HSN customers move through the purchasing process quickly. Inlet, the leader in advanced encoding solutions for new media, has been a HSN web streaming partner since 2008.
At launch, the HSN Shop App will be marketed via on-air promos run throughout HSN TV programming. Other promotional efforts will follow.
The HSN Shop App arrives amidst HSN’s ongoing multichannel convergence effort, which includes expansion of its Shop-by-Remote service and complete transition to high-definition (HD) format.
About HSN
HSN is an interactive lifestyle network and retail destination, offering a curated assortment of exclusive products combined with top brand names. HSN incorporates experts, entertainment, inspiration, solutions, tips and ideas to provide an entirely unique shopping experience for its customers. On HSN and hsn.com, customers will find exceptional selections in Health & Beauty (e.g. M. Asam, Carol’s Daughter, Clarins, FusionBeauty, HoMedics, Italian Beauty, Andrew Lessman’s Procaps, Lancôme, Serious Skin Care, ybf Cosmetics); Jewelry (e.g. Paula Abdul, Heidi Daus, R.J. Graziano, IMAN Global Chic, michaeLisa, Noir, Amedeo Scognamiglio, Tori Spelling, Serena Williams); Home/Lifestyle (e.g. Nate Berkus, Bissell, Colin Cowie, Dyson, Todd English, GreenPan with Thermolon, Emeril Lagasse, Joy Mangano, MoMA Design Store, Wolfgang Puck); Fashion/Accessories (e.g. Curations with Stefani Greenfield, Sam Edelman, Loulou de la Falaise, Carlos Falchi, Diane Gilman, Tina Knowles, Adrienne Landau, Sharif, Heidi Weisel,); and Electronics (e.g. Canon, Gateway, GE, HP, JVC, Kodak, LG, Sony).
HSN is available across all media including its TV network and hsn.com, which ranks in the top 30 of the top 500 internet retailers. HSN, the original shopping network, is an operating segment of HSN, Inc. (Nasdaq: HSNI).