The latest addition to Verizon’s FiOS Mobile application turns Apple’s iPad into a remote control for FiOS TV subscribers’ HD set-top boxes, as well as enabling them to remotely manage their DVRs and browse the service’s video-on-demand offerings. Though Verizon introduced the same feature set for more than 40 Android OS mobile devices earlier this year and offers similar functions for the iPhone/iPod, this is their first foray into iPad land. They join rival Comcast, who launched a similar mobile app for the iPad last month.
“Verizon is pushing the boundaries of TV with innovative technology that continues to spur the industry’s evolution,” Eric Bruno, Verizon vice president of product management, said of the FiOS-iPad mobile app in a news release. “We’re giving customers more control over their TV entertainment whenever and wherever they want it. Extending our FiOS Mobile app to customers using iPads gives more subscribers more ways to conveniently manage their FiOS TV services.”
With the iPad app, viewers can remotely manage their DVR settings from in or outside the home. Among the functionality included is the capability to review, change or add recording requests; record an entire series; delete recorded programs; browse and search TV and VOD listings; set parental controls; check their DVR recorder status, according to the company. Additional features, including “photo flicking,” which allows customers to use their tablet to flick stored photos from the iPad to the TV one photo at a time, are to be added in coming months.
Comcast is promising that it’s subscribers will be able to watch actual video on their iPad at some point, a feature which Verizon did not match in their iPad announcement.
