Bell launching “Remote PVR” service February 12th

Bell is becoming more integrated with their services… they have TV, Internet, Mobile plus a bunch of other stuff for Canadians. One way they’ll be taking advantage of combining their services by offering something new, something that really shows the direction Bell is moving towards.

On February 12th (just in time for the Olympics) Bell will be the first in Canada to introduce “Remote PVR Access from your Bell Smartphone”. We’ve been tipped that this new service is for Bell TV subscribers that will give them “the ability to schedule and manage their Bell TV HD PVR from a smartphone on any Internet connected PC, Mac.”

We’ve also been informed that there’ll be no additional charge for the Remote PVR on mobile (Only data usage if not subscribed to an unlimited data plan, but supposedly uses less then 1MB per session). Here is a full breakdown of what the Remote PVR will be able to do for you:

· easily set PVR recordings from anywhere/anytime (if you’re in Vancouver you can control the PVR in Toronto)
· conveniently see all recording schedules: edit or delete existing recordings,
· browse and customize the program guide by preferences (language, genre, ratings etc),
· quickly access their favourite shows with an intuitively search feature,
· use a single login – login with Bell User ID (same login as Bell TV),
· enjoy the familiar Bell TV PVR user interface on their smartphone.

Here is the complete list of Remote PVR compatible smartphones: BlackBerry 8830 World Edition, BlackBerry Curve 8330, BlackBerry Curve 8530, BlackBerry Tour 9630, BlackBerry Bold 9700, Palm Pre, Samsung Omnia 2 and Apple iPhone 3G/3Gs.

For Blackberry & the Omnia II you will find the app at www.bell.ca/rpvr (not live yet). For the iPhone you’ll be able to download find it in the App Store.

Very cool idea. Nice work Bell.
(Thanks “Bell Connect”!)