Comcast shows off app that turns iPhone into TV remote
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BOSTON -- Next time you shake your iPhone at the television, you could end up freezing the screen.
Cable giant Comcast Corp., which has more than 20 million subscribers and is the nation’s largest cable operator, is showcasing new technologies at the National Cable & Telecommunications Assn. trade show here -- including an app that enables people to use motions and gestures as signals to control their televisions.
Comcast has already been working on making iPhones, iPads and other devices into remote controls. Now an iPhone can become a remote and its keypad can be used to search for content by title as part of Comcast’s X1 cloud-enabled television platform. The X1 platform stores movies and other content in a virtual file instead of in a cable box, hence the phrase cloud.
The service will launch first on Comcast’s Boston systems before it rolls out across the country.
Comcast also gave a demonstration of its new “Project Dayview” service, which can turn the television into a virtual planner, complete with traffic reports, meeting schedules, emails and, of course, what’s on television. The device interfaces across TV, laptops, tablets and smart phones.
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