From today, Sky customers can control their main TV experience by using swipe and tap gestures on the iPad app, including the changing of channels and all Sky+ functions, such as pause, play and rewind live television.
They can also manage their planner through the app, allowing them to add and delete their recordings on their Sky+ HD set top box without interrupting viewing on the main TV screen.
Sky's enhanced app features a redesigned TV guide featuring new genre tabs, along with improved search and navigation to help users discover new content.
Later in the year, Sky intends to introduce further improvements to the Sky+ app including the integration of "second screen functionality" building on its recent partnership with Zeebox.
Sky took a 10% stake in Zeebox in January with a multi-million pound investment in the service developed by ex-BBC iPlayer chief Anthony Rose, which offers users additional information and content around the TV they are watching via a second screen, such as a laptop, iPad or iPhone.
Sky intends to use the Zeebox technology to enable its customers to "interact with their favourite shows through integrated twitter feeds, plus enjoy bonus second screen experiences created specifically around key Sky content".
The Sky+ app for iPad launched earlier in the year, and Sky claims it has already reached "millions" of customers.
Sky said that to benefit from the new design, users need to have the new Sky Guide on their Sky+ HD set to box and must make sure their iPad and box are connected to the same WiFi network.
"The Sky+ app has proved hugely popular, with millions of Sky customers embracing the convenience of being able to set recordings of their favourite shows while they are on the move," said Luke Bradley Jones, Sky's brand director of TV Products.
"We're now taking the Sky+ experience one step further, handing our customers even more control over their planner - not to mention being able to use the app to change channel and play, pause and rewind their favourite TV.
"Today's update marks a major step forward in using mobile apps to make the Sky TV experience even better, and it's just the start, as we'll be following it up with a series of further enhancements later this year."
Sky has also released some research on how people use remote controls in their homes after it commissioned OnePoll to survey 2,000 adults in August.
This revealed that one third of Brits have more than six remote controls in their house, and a quarter of us spend over 15 minutes trying to find a remote after it has been misplaced.
People spend four days a year deciding what to watch due to the massive number of TV channels now available, and over a third (39%) have changed the channel while a partner or housemate was watching something.
source: digitalspy.co.uk/tech/news/a399528/apple-ipad-becomes-sky-remote-control-from-today.html
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