Akamai wants to leverage the largely untapped potential of second screen viewing. Nielsen recently reported that 40 percent of U.S. television viewers use a smartphone or tablet while watching television. While individual shows and networks have created their own second screen apps, most have failed to effectively capture large audiences. Akamai hopes to change that with one service that streams relevant content in near real-time.

“The aim, the company says, is to take today’s fast-growing but chaotic landscape of TV ‘companion’ apps — such as ones delivering athlete stats to people watching the Olympics, or crime-fighting details to ‘CSI’ junkies — and make it easier to create and see such additional content,” explains Technology Review.

Akamai recently demonstrated how its software could be attached to a set-top box, satellite feed or DVR player and then transmit information to a smartphone or tablet. Since the sensor can tell what you are watching and when you change the channel, it can accurately send relevant information, and not just information from one particular show or channel.

Akamai’s servers currently deliver up to 30 percent of Web traffic.

Shazam employs a similar process whereby people open the application and after three seconds Shazam recognizes the program and sends second screen content. “Consumers don’t want an app on the phone for every show they like — not everybody is that motivated,” explains David Jones, Shazam’s marketing vice president.

“Second-screen apps are all about user interface, user experience — so anything that impacts that user experience to make it more seamless and enjoyable is going to make a difference,” he says.

“It will help the whole proliferation of the format in general,” adds Guy Finley, executive director of Second Screen Society. This consortium projects the current second screen market to be worth $490 million and says it could grow to $5.9 billion by 2017.