It seems it was only a matter of time before consumers were able to buy products via remote control while watching TV. What's perhaps surprising, however, is that it's a retailer not a technology firm that is testing the platform. Ikea is bringing "tele-commerce to the owners of Ikea's new Uppleva TV set," according to a story on GigaOM.
The TV will be available in select European Ikea stores next month and offers a built-in shopping and payment solution. A German company called Connept developed the technology that will prompt users to press a red button on their TV's remote during select ad spots. It will then launch a brower window that will prompt registered users to enter a password and confirm their order.
The exact details of the implementation of Connept on Ikea's TVs are still unclear, according to GigaOM's Janko Roettgers, who was unable to get a response from Connept, Ikea or from the middleware provider that has implemented the technology on the TV sets.
Watch below for a product demo. A warning — it's in German.
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