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BuddyTV Guide app adds Hulu Plus integration
Even when you're watching TV alone, you've always got a friend in BuddyTV Guide -- the personalized listings and remote control app. Now, in addition to content providers Netflix, iTunes and Amazon, it's inviting another player to the viewing party: Hulu Plus. Subscribers to the service will be able to see all associated video content in the BuddyTV Guide listings, and better yet, access it directly from within the app. Intrigued, Hulu Plus patrons? Head on down to the source link, grab the relevant app and let the New Girl marathon commence.
BuddyTV Guide adds Olympics 2012 quick list to help viewers find the events they want
Over 200 million US viewers are expected to tune into the London Olympics, which starts with the Opening Ceremony tonight. NBC alone has over 5,500 hours of Olympic coverage planned on its multiple cable channels. For a TV viewer, that's a lot to sort through. But there's an app out there that can help you quickly find the events you want to see: BuddyTV Guide. BuddyTV Guide is a free mobile channel guide and social TV app from BuddyTV. The company provides listings for cable and satellite TV providers in the US, including Comcast, Cablevision, Time Warner, Verizon, DirecTV, Dish and more. Users with AT&T U-verse receivers, DirecTV DVRs, Sony Internet TV with Google TV, Logitech Revue, TiVo Series 3, TiVo Premier, and any devices controlled by Google TV and Samsung Smart TVs can also use the app's remote control capabilities. The latest version of BuddyTV Guide has added a new quick list feature that allows Olympic viewers in the US to quickly and easily find the events they want to watch. Using the app, you can add your favorite events to watch lists so you never miss an important moment of the games. The app also allows you to share your favorite events with Facebook and send text messages about the event to your friends. BuddyTV Guide is a free download. #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; } #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
BuddyTV app gains control over AT&T U-verse TV boxes
When last we checked in with the BuddyTV Guide app (in July), the capable recommendations and program search in the app were plenty useful. The main drawback, unfortunately, was that you could not use it to control your TV and set-top box unless you had a Google TV-powered setup or a TiVo Series 3. Other cable or satellite providers' tuners didn't have an API that BuddyTV could use to change channels or set DVR timers. Good news, then, for subscribers on AT&T's U-verse television services; you can now control your receiver with BuddyTV. Anything you could do with your physical remote should be possible with the virtual remote living in your iPhone, and since there's no IR blaster involved you can theoretically change the channels from anywhere you happen to be (much to the delight, no doubt, of your roommate/spouse/kids/pets). I'd expect to see more BuddyTV integrations with other IP-enabled TV service providers soon, since you can already control Dish Network and DirecTV receivers with their own apps, and likewise for major cable providers. BuddyTV is free on the App Store. There's a little video demo below; enjoy.
U-verse TV gets social with help from Miso, TV Foundry, Wayvin and BuddyTV Guide
The fact is watching TV has always been social, which of course means it was only a matter of time before technology removed the physical proximity requirement from the mix. We've seen said requirement disappear from various content providers and now it's subscribers to AT&T U-verse's turn. The initial slew of options include Miso, TV Foundry, Wayvin and BuddyTV Guide. All four let you share what you're watching while at the same time help you discover new content by being exposed to what your friends are watching. Of course none of them are exactly Facebook and U-verse isn't anywhere near the most popular content provider in the country, but we're glad to see someone pushing hard into social TV that moves beyond just sending status updates via our remote.
Buddy TV promises to not be just another iPhone remote app
As much as we love HDTV, we dream of a day where TV is almost nothing like it is today. No channels, no grid guides, no preset schedule; nothing but great content that appeals to us is easy to find and discover. Obviously this is just crazy talk here in 2011, but there are plenty of people who share our vision and one of those is the creators of Buddy TV Guide 2.0 for the iPhone. It can integrate via IP with a Google TV, TiVo, Dish Network or Netflix, and makes it easier to tune into your favorite shows, or channels, with one less touch of the old school remote. It will even make suggestions or tie into your Facebook and Twitter lives. The limited hardware support makes it appealing to a limit group, so while it isn't going to keep us from using our old school remote for now, the video after the break does give us hope, that one day, there will no longer be a grid guide.
BuddyTV Guide for iPhone delivers TV recommendations, TiVo/GoogleTV controls
In Victor's recent reviews of iOS universal remotes, most of the products' focus was on helping you control your entertainment devices. Only one system (the Peel) delivered program recommendations in a new way, helping you decide what to watch. The approach behind Buddy TV Guide is a bit different. Launched by the team behind the comprehensive buddytv.com site, this free iPhone app (a software-only solution, no paired hardware to buy -- with a catch) fronts a recommendation engine that does its best to learn what you want to watch based on your preferences and selections, getting better and closer to the mark over time. Since it asks about your favorite channels and the types of things you like to watch, you can save time on finding the programs that interest you (and bypass the ones that probably don't). Company execs told me their goal is getting the 'discovery time' down to 20 seconds, from the moment you start the app to the time you find the show you want. Behind the scenes, Buddy TV is doing some heavy data lifting to aggregate and normalize the various provider listings; not all channels or cable/satellite systems list shows in a uniform way, so the data mining is necessary to eliminate repeats and keep track of similarly-named episodes. The guide and recommendation engine are impressive, and if you're a Netflix subscriber the app will integrate available streaming movies into its 'what you want to watch' lineup. With a single tap, you can tune into live TV, a Netflix movie or recorded content on your DVR... and there's that catch I mentioned earlier. Since Buddy TV Guide doesn't pair with an IR blaster or other remote control hardware, it does the next best thing: talks to addressable receivers over the network. Specifically, the app will control the Sony Internet TV with Google TV, Google TV Logitech Revue, TiVo Series 3, and any devices controlled by Google TV -- making TiVo or the big G's home entertainment platform the middleman. Even if you don't own a Google TV or TiVo Series 3, it's worth checking out the app's recommendation and grid features; they're free to use. If you do have an addressable device, you definitely should try out Buddy TV and see if it speeds up your couch-to-viewing search routine.
