Teevox Remote App For iPhone Lets You Control Hulu And Netflix Content From Your Couch
August 20, 2010
The new teevox Remote - Interactive Social TV app for iPhone provides the luxury of controlling Hulu and Netflix online streaming content from the comfort of your favorite chair or couch via your iDevice.
Because Hulu and Netflix online streaming are browser-based services, Apple's own Remote app and nearly any other available in the App Store are useless in controlling the functions. In come former MIT students Jong-Moon Kim and Andrew Sugaya, founders of Teevox, to create an app and website to allow basic function control of these services using no additional software or hardware on your computer or television.
A "front end" is just a controller for something that is already there, and can usually be controlled directly, but a front end can add convenience. In a very general description, the Teevox app sends the commands to the Teevox server and site, which then relays them to the Hulu or Netflix service. Just like Apple's Front Row user interface on a Mac is just a front end for DVD Player, QuickTime, iTunes, and iPhoto. In the same way, there are limitations.
Hulu is and has been a free online television show and movie service, therefore, it's automatically available in the teevox Remote - Interactive Social TV app. Netflix is a subscription service and you can only control it, of course, if you are a subscriber of their streaming feature. Along with video controls, the app offers a global chat system. There is a section for people to chat about everything, and then a section for the specific show or movie you're currently viewing. Options include the ability to enable private viewing, where no one will be able to know what you're watching, and manage accounts. With Facebook and Twitter integration, you can share and chat about your experience during the film with your friends or family.
I decided to give it a go. My test run proved to be somewhat interesting. Foremost, I'll mention that Netflix playback only offers play and pause control. On the flip side, Hulu playback allows for volume up and down, play and pause, and even scrubbing.
The instructions for the app are simple.
1. On your computer, go to http://teevox.com/go, and login. 2. On your iPhone/iPod, open up the app and type in the four digit code. 3. Using your iPhone/iPod, select a TV show to watch. The video will then play on your computer.Every time you want to watch a show and use the app to control it, you'll need to follow the same steps, without the need to enter a code. Overall, it's a very interesting concept and I'm sure it'll be improved upon. With that said, I found it to be a bit clumsy and more than limiting on the Netflix side, which is my primary source for online show and movie content. Just another personal opinion, but I'm not into the social aspect of it, so I disabled sharing via Twitter and Facebook and enabled the Private Viewing nearly immediately. To be fair, I also have no interest in using the similar feature provided by my XBOX 360. teevox Remote - Interactive Social TV is designed for iPhone and iPod touch running iOS 3.1.3 or later, and is available for free. [via TechCrunch] [gallery link="file" columns="4"]
