Apps make TV more interactive.   I’m Fred Fishkin with technology BootCamp, a report on gadgets and gear.      Using Facebook or Twitter to chat about TV shows while you’re watching is nothing new.   But new apps are using the microphones built into smartphones to listen…and determine what you are viewing.   For instance nearly half of the commercials during the Super Bowl earlier this month…were linked to Shazam, where VP David Jones says…

“Most people know us for the app that identifies the song that’s playing in just a matter of seconds.  But in the last year we’ve gotten into making television shows and television ads what we call Shazamable.  So you can, in a few seconds, connect with a piece of television content and instantly be engaged with the content, get special offers.”

Shazam has competition from Yahoo!’s IntoNow and others.  Will watching TV with apps as companions become the norm?  It may depend on incentives from advertisers and networks.   You can find us at BootCamp.com.   I’m Fred Fishkin.