Netflix has announced their new conversational content finder named ‘Max.’ The new service is a quick way to find content on the Netflix streaming service. Netflix says the next stop for the service, which it calls “the child of Siri and HAL 9000,” is on the Apple iPad.
Today we started rolling out Max, a new experience on PlayStation 3 that helps you find something great to watch in a fun, conversational way. You’ll find Max on the third or fourth row of the main Netflix screen on your PS3, where Max beckons you to enter his world with one of his many funny call outs. Click on the row and you’ll engage Max’s services. Max, rumored to be the child of Siri and HAL 9000, asks a few questions about your mood or movie and TV show tastes to arrive at a suggestion, of course based on your tastes and taking advantage of the Netflix algorithms that predict what you’d enjoy watching.
Max offers the “ratings game,” in which you pick a genre, and then rate a few titles using the Netflix five star rating system. After Max is confident he knows your tastes, he’ll make some personalized suggestions of content he thinks you might enjoy. Sometimes Max will offer a suggestion after just one question, other times he might get cocky and offer a suggestion immediately, without asking any questions. There is a tiny gotcha though, it’s a mystery suggestion, you’ll have to press play without knowing what it is he thinks you should watch. (I love surprises!)
The service is landing on Sony’s PlayStation first, and Netflix says the most likely place for Max to show up next is on the iPad. We’ll keep an eye out for him and let you know when he visits Apple’s popular tablet.
Just FYI, Max is currently only available to customers in the United States. You can get a peek of Max in Action below:
