Not surprisingly, mobile app and iPad fever made its way out to Los Angeles this week for The Cable Show, that industry’s big annual confab. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts took the time to show off a new iPad remote control app for Comcast’s Xfinity service (see video below). For now, Comcast isn’t delivering content to the iPad, but that could come soon, as well. In essence, the company — and all video providers — need to figure out what to do with a giant, programmable, customer-owned user interface that can work with their existing cable/telco programming but also serve as an over-the-top conduit. The possibilities are endless, and at least for now it’s promising to see big players like Comcast embracing the possibilities rather than roping off competitive spaces.
Connected Planet’s take,
Dan O’Shea:
Applications that allow you to use your mobile device as a DVR remote scheduler are now a dime a dozen. Given that, it is both pleasing and shocking to see a major service provider — the largest cable TV company, no less — jump ahead with an interesting bet on how consumers can and will use such devices to navigate TV and video programming in the future.
We’re tempted to say that Comcast doesn’t fully understand the iPad’s potential to change how, when and where consumers view video, but it is clear the service provider is embracing a broader concept about how the portability and screen size of the iPad could change other consumer behaviors: what kinds of devices they will carry around and use in their own homes, how they will interface with their TVs, and how content will need to be organized and presented in a personally navigable way, as content libraries become more and more vast.
That’s our take on this. Let us know what you think in the comments section below: