I
f you happen to subscribe to Comcast cable and own an iPad, Comcast has launched a free app that turns your iPad into a remote control, TV guide and in the near future, a video screen.
Comcast debuted the Xfinity TV app for iPad at Web 2.0 in San Francisco (although we saw a sneak peak back in May). The first iteration, which will be available on iTunes later this week, lets you scroll through TV and on-demand listings, tap on a show, and watch it on the big screen; basically, a fancy remote control. You can also use it to program your DVR.
By December, users will be able to watch Xfinity's pre-recorded content directly on their iPads. They will also be able to integrate their Comcast accounts with social-networking sites to share what they are watching with their friends and "friends."
The iPad app is the first of many scheduled apps, the company said. This year Comcast will launch different apps for the iPhone and iPod touch. Next, it will launch versions for the Android OS, and "apps with similar functionality" on the Blackberry "very soon," said Tony Werner, chief technical officer for Comcast, who demoed the product for PCMag.com at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. Comcast will develop for the 7-inch Android Galaxy Tab by the end of the year, and it will run on Android phones as well, he said.
By mid-2011, Comcast will provide all of its Xfinity recorded content via the app, Werner said.
In the first iteration, users will be able to either watch live TV or tell the DVR to record the series. It will not allow consumers to manage their DVR - adding and deleting shows, Werner said. But users can also tune their DVRs via the app, Comcast's answer to AT&T Uverse's ability to "take" a show from one room and DVR to the next, he said.
"We've been thinking about this for quite a while," Werner said.
According to Neil Smit, president of Comcast Cable, the app will reinvent the way consumers interact with their TVs.
"The remote control hasn't changed in years and this app will enable millions of consumers to instantly search thousands of live TV and On Demand choices and also watch the best content whenever and wherever they want," he said in a press release.

Source: PCMag

by patrickj on November 9, 2010

in General

The App Hall of Fame has announced its set of inductees for November 2010. This is just the second round of inductees to the App HOF, and the 12 apps chosen are all big, instantly recognizable names.
There are several massively popular games and some killer productivity apps – and there’s Facebook, one of the first, best, and most popular social apps (or apps of any kind really) to hit the App Store.
I’m fortunate enough to be a member of the selection committee for the App Hall of Fame, along with a whole lot of superb iOS-related site owners, editors, and reviewers. I’m already looking forward to our next round of nominations and voting on inductees – especially as this month will be the first time that iPad apps are added to the mix.
For lots more detail on the November (and past) inductees, and how the whole App Hall of Fame process works, check out the site here:
http://www.apphalloffame.com/

Providing more proof that Apple really does “have an app for that,” the iTunes App Store now has over 300,000 apps available.

Here’s a number the competing tablet computers will find hard to argue with—300,000. That’s how many apps are now at the iTunes App Store, ready to be downloaded to your iPad, iPhone or iPod. The coming flood of “iPad killers” won’t have anywhere near the wide selection of applications available for the pioneering Apple tablet, and that could play a large role in which tablet computer consumers will chose to purchase.
Since the tablets announced so far aren’t offering much of a price break—if any—from that of the iPad, and the lowball cheapies don’t offer much in the way of features, the iPad is likely to hold onto its dominance of the market for the next several months. That will encourage more developers to work on new apps for the iPad—and maybe do an Android version as an afterthought. The escalating number of new apps isn’t going to be slowing down anytime soon.