I've posted before about the ability to remote record by Sky+ box from the iPhone. Then it was using Tioti.tv's application and I did wonder why Sky weren't getting in on the act. Well now they have and although a basic offering it's impressive!
What makes it an instant favourite is how similar it is to the actual Sky+ menu. You select your category, scroll through the listing, click on what you want and then press record! It looks and feels like your Sky+ box. It can hold listings for the next seven days and the further you look into the future, the longer it takes to download the programme listings: again like good old Sky+! It's also a free app which helps too!
Comparing Sky's offering to Tioti.tv's is interesting: Tioti beats it hands-down for functionality, yet in my view loses in the overall stakes. This, mainly because I've never really got to grips with Tioti.tv, other than to use its remote record function. My concerns as described here were well founded! I tried to use the social networking side of Tioti.tv on their website, but just couldn't see why anyone would. Maybe at a stretch, if it was a concept built into something like Facebook it would have more success. Again, I think it comes down to audience: there just isn't the volume and level of interest to make what people contribute to discussions on their favourite TV programmes worth reading.
Coming back to Sky's first iPhone experience, there's a good grounding for future development. I've used the remote record on their website for a while and thought a logical development would have been to create a view to manage what's recorded on your Sky+ box. I think the same would fit well into the iPhone application. It's one thing being able to record programme on the move that otherwise you might have missed, but that old episode of the vaguely interesting TV show you keep meaning to watch or football highlights where no team scored that are taking up vital space and will cancel your last minute request I'd like to be able to delete remotely as well.
With more and more services along the lines of the BBC's iPlayer coming online the importance of Sky+ will probably diminish slightly, but you can't beat the ease and comfort of recording on the move, then watching on your tele whenever suits. The iPlayer on the laptop is a life saver sometimes but it's not quite the same!
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