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Appiphilia: i.TV app tunes in new features for iPhone

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Upgrades to the i.TV app give new meaning to ‘remote control,’ moving a hand-held TV and movie guide much closer to becoming a powerful personal media tool.

Now, users who find TV shows and movies they want to see while scanning listings on i.TV can schedule recordings on their TiVos and purchase movie tickets. Also, i.TV now offers some full-length television shows, TV previews and movie trailers, and other video including fan videos and YouTube.

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In a recent interview, Chief Executive Brad Pelo said, “This is one of the promised steps” made since the application launched two months ago. “You’re seeing a significant step in this release.”

While the upgrade includes TiVo scheduling, Pelo says it’s only the first of more to come. The company’s “plans and hopes are to support all DVRs,” with additions expected by the end of March 2009.

“The whole idea of time shifting on our television is based on the notion that we aren’t in front of the TV” all of the time, Pelo said.

In addition to TiVo, there’s also integration with MovieTickets.com, i.TV’s first partnership with a movie ticket gateway. This puts the app in direct competition on the movie front with Flixster’s Movies app, which also provides movie listings and previews, provides ticket purchase for some locations and is free. Pelo said this is the first of other similar deals to come.

“Our mantra is media your way ... which means regardless of the vendor,” he said.

Keep reading for my take on the changes....

i.TV (free)

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What it is: The name i.TV might be misleading. It’s about more than just television. The app is a gateway to entertainment media: It has television and movie listings based on a ZIP Code you enter or on your current location using the iPhone’s internal location technology. Users can also access their Netflix DVD-rental queue. This upgrade integrates the ability to schedule recordings on TiVo DVRs, view streaming video and buy movie tickets via MovieTickets.com.

What sizzles: As I and others have written before, this was already a useful tool for navigating what’s entertaining.

Being able to schedule recordings on the iPhone is enough to make this user raise her hands and scream, ‘Hallelujah!’

To schedule a DVR recording, users can either tap ‘watch’ at the top of the screen or the TiVo icon next to the star ratings. The initial setup is as easy as TiVo’s online scheduling: You tap in the e-mail address and the password linked to the TiVo account.

Users have the same basic scheduling access, including selecting from multiple DVRs on the account, recording quality, priority and padding. It’s so easy, my mom could do it -- after I did the initial setup for her.

If you have your TiVo set up with a broadband connection, the scheduling could be effective within about 10 minutes.

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From smaller screens now to the big screen, movie features include listings for upcoming releases through November 2009. If you’re curious what the film’s about, you can play a preview or a trailer.

Buying tickets is quite easy. The setup of Wallet, i.TV’s electronic payment option, is a one-time effort and mostly painless. The feature isn’t available for all theaters. If it is, there’s a red dollar sign on the right side of its listing.

Another goody in the bottom navigation is ‘What’s Hot,’ an aggregation of news, recaps and hot topics in entertainment. In theory, it’s a useful addition, placing all of the offerings of potential interest to i.TV users in one app.

What fizzles: Though What’s Hot is theoretically cool, the information served up isn’t as hot as it should be. It’s more lukewarm. A look late Monday night showed news items, recaps and hot topics from Saturday. (Goodness, there were Sunday morning political shows and football games to tap into, at least.) If they’re going to continue to offer that so prominently, the editorial staff really needs to update it a bit more frequently -- or pull from trusted and popular blog and news feeds that are already aggregating that information.

Also, the offerings in the media bar -- the area for video clips on individual TV shows -- were slim. Possibly with a little more time, they will fill out.

On the wallet feature, instead of tapping into PayPal or another existing electronic payment option, the company chose to create one of its own. It’s simple to use, but you still have to enter your credit card information somewhere one more time. (Seriously, think about how many different accounts require that info.) That minor grumble aside, it wasn’t very difficult to set up.

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Bottom line: The i.TV upgrade changes the channel from passive perusing to one of access and action. If the company makes good on its promise to be vendor-neutral, this really could earn the distinction of being a killer app.

In other news around the app-osphere:

  • LED Football 2 is now available in the App Store. A quick review of the game over the weekend suggests a nice modern interface for another hit of nostalgia. (Appiphilia review to come soon.) Also, linked to the launch of this new LED Football game, touchGrove is giving away a 24-karat gold-bezel iPod Touch 1.0 pre-loaded with a ‘limited edition’ copy of the game. How do you get one? Not quite sure. They haven’t yet made the rules public. (I’m not sure I’d want to use that one in eyesight of anyone. I’m paranoid enough about having a standard-issue iPod Touch jacked.)
  • Also taking up residence on an iPhone and iPod Touch near you is SimCity.
  • Hewlett-Packard brings printing to the iPhone and iPod Touch. The HP iPrint Photo app offers printing on some HP inkjet printers via Wi-Fi. The app defaults to 4x6 prints.
  • 148Apps wants your take on which iPhone apps you think are the best -- not just the best-selling -- for the year. Some of the categories include most useful, best feel like a local app, most creative use of iPhone hardware, best kid distraction, best productivity killer and most innovative game. In all, there are 33 categories looking at the practical, creative, technical and whimsical. Nominations are open until Dec. 30, and voting is open from Dec. 31 through Jan. 7. The winner will be announced at Macworld.

-- Michelle Maltais

Photo at top: A vendor tries to sell her secondhand televisions at a bazaar in Qingdao, China. The Chinese government launched a project to promote sales of household appliances in rural areas, such as TV sets, fridges, washing machines and mobile phones. Credit: Wu Hong / European Pressphoto Agency

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