iTouch

In a posting on its official blog, Tuesday evening, the White House announced the availability of a new, free White House App for the Apple iPhone/iPod touch. "One feature that stands out is live video streaming," the blog post stated. "Now anyone with this app can watch the president's public events at the White House, frequent Web chats with administration officials, and other events like key speeches and press briefings, in real time. In fact," the blog post continued, "the president's State of the Union speech next week is a great example.

Sky News said Monday that its iPhone/iPod touch application has been downloaded over a million times since its launch last May. The UK satellite TV operator's news arm also announced Monday that it is launching a new mobile Internet service. (Note: Last week, Sky News also announced the launch of an interactive TV widget for the Yahoo! Widget Engine--see the article published on itvt.com, January 11th.)

ThinkFlood--a Waltham, Massachusetts-based start-up that describes itself as designing and developing "hardware and software with a focus on making everyday tasks easier"--on Wednesday unveiled its first commercial product, the RedEye personal remote control for the iPhone and iPod touch. According to the company, RedEye, which has an MSRP of $188 and which uses WiFi to replace infrared-based remote control systems, is the only remote control system for the iPhone/iPod touch that allows users to control "virtually any" home entertainment device from any room in the home.

Livestream (formerly Mogulus), a New York-based company which offers a platform that enables amateurs and professionals to produce and distribute live TV on the Internet, last week announced the immediate availability of a free service for streaming live to the iPhone and iPod touch. According to the company, users of its flagship Livestream Procaster platform can now start streaming live to the iPhone/iPod touch audience over 3G or WiFi, with less than five minutes of set-up.

UK satellite TV operator, BSkyB, announced Tuesday that its Sky Mobile TV service is now available on the Apple iPhone and iPod touch. The company has developed a Sky Mobile TV app specifically for the iPhone/iPod touch: the app allows users to stream live TV via WiFi, and available channels include Sky Sports News, Sky News, ESPN, At The Races and all the Sky Sports channels.

CBS Mobile and The CW, a broadcast network that is a joint venture between CBS and Warner Bros. Entertainment, on Wednesday announced the launch of two new CW applications--CW City Wize and CWTV--for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch.

Spanish-language broadcaster Univision's Univision Interactive Media arm has launched a "Univision Movil" application for the Apple iPhone/iPod touch. The free app, which is now available in the Apple App Store, provides users with access to short- and long-form content from Univision's shows via what the broadcaster claims is an "easy-to-navigate and innovative" multi-touch user interface. Video is presented in a number of categories, including news, entertainment, soccer, TV shows, sports, horoscopes and special events.

CNN on Tuesday launched what it calls an "interactive news app" for the iPhone/iPod touch. The app, which is available in the Apple App Store for $1.99 (note: it will also be monetized through advertising; it currently features logos and banner ads from "launch advertisers" Chevron and Lexus), offers among other things live breaking news video, push notification, localization and personalization tools, and user-generated content capture and upload functionality, the broadcaster says.

A developer called Albert Lee has built an iPhone/iPod touch application that provides all-in-one remote control, wireless keyboard and mouse/trackpad functionality for users who have hooked their TV up to a computer in order to access over-the-top-TV services such as Boxee. Dubbed the HippoRemote and available through the Apple App Store for $4.99, the device offers customized controls for Boxee, XBMC, Windows Media Center, iTunes "and all your favorite Web browsers, to name [but] a few," Lee writes on the app's dedicated Web site (hipporemote.com).

UK satellite-TV provider, BSkyB, announced Tuesday that its Sky+ Remote Record application is now available on the Apple App Store. The app, which is offered free-of-charge, allows iPhone or iPod Touch users with a Sky+ or Sky+HD DVR to schedule recordings remotely. It provides those users with access to Sky's seven-day EPG, where they can browse listings by time, day or program name, and then select programs to record. Once a recording request has been sent to the user's DVR, a confirmation message appears on their iPhone.