A 'Pear' Gives Apple Devices an Easy Way to Control TV [Wall Street Journal]
A device and accompanying app that are coming to market this month aim to give users a new way to watch television, using their existing TV provider. Peel - it's an iPhone app and a peripherial called the "fruit" - allows users to use their iPhone as a remote control on a television or a cable set-top with an interface that promises to make browsing favorite shows and movies much easier than a traditional remote and program guide.
The Peel's fruit device contains an IR blaster and connects to the iPhone app via a user's wi-fi network. Using the iPhone, a user selects a program, the selection is trasnmitted over the wi-fi network to the fruit, then on to the television or set-top box via the IR blaster. A user can configure the IR blaster to recognize their provider specific set-top box.
The Peel's charm comes in its iPhone app. Users get to configure the app to recognize when their favorite television shows are on. Rather than looking at a program grid, users see icons that represent their preferred viewing options. Shows that they aren't interested in won't appear, and Peel claims that the app will learn a user's viewing habits to recommend other choices that it believes the user would like.
The Peel looks to be a great enhancement for traditional television viewing. Android and iPad users are set to get Peel apps for their devices sometime later this year.
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