Verizon Develops TV App For iPad

Apple's iPad will be able to stream television programs through an application created by Verizon Communications as part of a strategy to take TV beyond stationary home viewing and undermine cable companies such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable.

Verizon's Chief Information Officer Shaygan Kheradpir said Wednesday during a demonstration at his New York apartment that the application lets users of Verizon's bundled home communications service, FiOS, move around their homes with an iPad while streaming live television onto the tablet computer.

"Technologically, there's no difference between this and the set-top box," Shaygan said, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Called "What's Hot," the application allows users to choose their programs in full screen on the iPad from a display of live shows that are popular with local audiences, Reuters reported..

The initiative is aimed eventually eliminating the set top-box sold by cable companies.

"We built Fios TV as a cloud computing product," Kheradpir said, The Journal reported. "The set-top box function is all done in software, and we simply redirect the broadcast TV signal to another screen. And because the set-top function is in software we can implement the functionality in devices."

The application will integrate with Verizon's FiOS network. One of its features will allow users to see in real time what shows are popular among viewers in a given area.

Apple's iPad has attracted a series of products created by media companies seeking to extend their reach. Netflix, Major League Baseball and Hulu have made their content available for the iPad since its launch in April.