MULTIPLE CITIES: TV applications are rapidly developing for the Apple iPad tablet computer. A French telecom provider has created an online portal providing 20 free channels to iPads, iPhones and iPods. In the U.S., a traffic-tracking software firm reports 10,000 downloads a day of its recently released iPad app, and WWTV-TV in Cadillac, Mich., adopted a localized iPad app.
Subscribers to Freebox TV in France can access the content from http://tv.freebox.fr., the WiFi provider said. Shows can be time-shifted with a pause-and-resume function with no additional software downloads necessary. The channel line-up includes France 2 and 3, BFM TV, Direct 8, NRJ 12, TV5 and others. Free also has opened its Application Program Interface so developers can convert mobile devices such as the iPhone and Android handsets into remote controls for its ASCL-connected Freebox HD set-tops.
Beat the Traffic, the traffic tracking and forecasting concern in the Bay Area, said its new iPad app is now available for free. Beat the Traffic HD hit the app store April 27th and prompted more than “40,000 downloads in less than four days,” Andre Gueziec of BtT said.
Guziec announced the free app last month at the NAB Show in Las Vegas. It allows users to preview traffic conditions from 20 minutes to two hours ahead of time. It also provides real-time traffic maps, incident reports and other information, plus live images from traffic cameras in 34 U.S. and Canadian cities. Beat the Traffic also has applications for BlackBerrys and iPhones.
Sales of the iPad shot past the 1 million mark by April 30, The Mac Observer reported. The original version went on sale April 3 after Apple began taking preorders March 12. More than 12 million apps have been downloaded since the table computers hit the streets. ABC reported 205,000 downloads of its app within 10 days of release.
The device initially was banned in Israel because its wireless transmission capabilities were thought to violate that countries standards. The prohibition was lifted April 25.
-- Deborah D. McAdams
Also see...
April 28, 2010: “Michigan Station Launches Native iPad News app”
Unlike some other station apps for the computer tablet, WWTV’s isn’t merely an extended version of one designed for iPhones.
April 12, 2010: “Beat the Traffic Adds Touch and Mobile Capability”
Beat the Traffic is taking multiple routes onto mobile platforms with specialized apps for iPhones and Blackberries, and one on deck for the new Apple iPad.
April 5, 2010: “Google Moves to Challenge Hulu, Which Queues Up for iPad”
Google is boosting the commercial quotient of its online video business in the direction of Hulu.com, while that site is claiming its first profit and eyeing an iPad presence.
March 3, 2010 : “App Gives iPad Control of Broadcast Pix Switchers”
The iPixelPanel will be available for download from Apple’s App Store for $195 in April.
