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iPhone and i.TV means a TV remote you can actually use…

I hate mine, I bet you hate yours, too – I’m talking about my TV remote control. It’s rubbish, complex and clunky and takes an age to navigate to what I want it to do. Plus each TV has a different remote – not to mention the stereo and DVD player. If only life were that little bit simpler. If only I had a simple remote control that worked…well, now that integrated vision’s taken a step forward with i.TV’s introduction of the i.TV Remote Control Framework.

This is one of those small but big deals. I’ve been hoping someone would begin to get this together for a very long time. What i.TV’s framework does is  make it possible for you to turn your iPhone or iPod touch into a universal remote control for televisions, DVRs, AV receivers and other home entertainment devices – and TiVO is the first company to introduce an integrated remote control for their subscribers who use i.TV.

A quick feature list:

Remote Control: i.TV now combines the TV guide and the remote control on an iPhone or iPod touch. Remote controls are powered by the i.TV Remote Control Framework, which allows third parties to develop remote controls for use on the i.TV platform.

TiVo remote: TiVo is the first to introduce a soft remote on i.TV. You can now change the channel, fast forward, record and most importantly play your favorite shows and movies, with just a tap on your iPhone or iPod touch.

New look: i.TV now has a simplified and streamlined user interface.

iTunes: From within i.TV, discover related TV and movie content and then tap to download from iTunes.

Push notifications: Set alerts for when your favorite TV shows air. Never miss a show again.

While the i.TV 2.0 software isn’t quite available yet, it has been submitted to the App Store.

We’re hoping electronics manufacturers will see the light and share their remote control codes with i.TV, as we’d very much like a remote control for our devices that was so integrated and easy to use…

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