Its existing Sky+ iPad app already let its 4.3 million Sky+HD subscribers schedule set top box recordings over the cloud from any location via its on-screen EPG.

Now an updated version of the app released on Wednesday adds same-room TV control including pause, rewind and fast-forward of the Sky+HD set top box; channel changing and recording management.

This is just an increment in Sky’s second-screen developments. In a few months’ time, the app will be injected with social TV functionality from Zeebox, the promising startup in which BSkyB invested this January.

The interesting remote UI introduction today is that the majority of those new features involve not on-screen virtual buttons or sliders but simple finger swiping across an otherwise blank iPad screen.

This may make it easier for some folk who don’t comprehend a wealth of interface options, but the lack of interaction prompts may also pose a challenge.

The main technical challenge, however, is that both the iPad and the Sky+HD box must be on the same broadband network. Sky’s TV boxes are Ethernet- but not WiFi-enabled. Marrying the devices requires an additional £60 Wireless Connector bridge to the TV box, or some homeplugs.

BSkyB rival Virgin Media has taken almost two years so far in developing the iPad remote control app for its TiVo set top box. paidContent reported in March that the app was essentially ready but Virgin feared consumer network confusion – its TiVo boxes also do not have the necessary WiFi functionality.

Announcement.

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Purchase a stylish dock

Since it will be dedicated to a particular location rather than be carried around, consider something other than a simple protective case.  Instead shop around for a stylish dock that will show off your other equipment.  What you will want to consider is whether or not you want to conceal or reveal the charging cable.  You may consider Apple’s iPad Dock ($29), which will charge the iPad when docked.  On the high end would be something like Cambridge Audio’s iD100 iPad Dock ($236), which adds audio and video connectivity.  But I have always appreciated the simplicity of design that products like Just Mobile’s Xtand Encore ($59.95) or Twelve South’s BookArc ($29.99) have to offer.

Wire everything up

Sometimes the dock you purchase will also include a means of wiring up your iPad to your system directly, especially if your system has a USB port and supports the iPod Dock interface. Sometimes, however, these docks are limited to audio only.  If you are also interested in driving video in addition to music, you could consider something as simple as getting Apple’s Digital AV Adapter.  But these solutions will require you to keep your iPad tethered to your system.  The best possible solution would be to also consider using an Apple TV as the accessory of choice to control the content you wish to watch or listen to over AirPlay.  In all cases, the goal is the same: to play content located on your iPad through your entertainment system.

Take control

This is where the iPad can become more than just another component attached to your home theater — when you can pick it up and take control of all of the other components you have attached to your home theater system.  Many manufacturers like Samsung, Denon and Pioneer all have remote apps that will allow you to control the various components you have purchased.  And even AT&T’s U-verse app will allow you to remotely control your cable box over Wi-Fi.  But you may want even more control than that.  This is when you may want to consider something like the Gear4′s Unity, Logitech’s Harmony Link or Griffin’s Beacon.  All three will enable your iPad to remotely control most if not all of the home theater components you have on hand.

Turn on Home Sharing

And that leaves just one last thing: your iTunes music and video library.  With Home Sharing enabled, you can access your entire iTunes library without having to sync back to your Mac.  And if you have an Apple TV, you can use Apple’s own Remote App to access your iTunes music library.  Even if you have moved your music to the cloud with Apple’s iTunes Match, your iPad will be able to access your entire music and video library when connected to your home Wi-Fi network.

Even the original iPad still has what it takes to act as a DVD or DVR by providing access to on-demand video content as well as a CD player or radio receiver to serve up your music library and even access streaming audio sources online.  And with the added ability to control the components you do decide to keep, it is definitely a solid addition to any home theater setup.

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Logitech’s Harmony line of universal remotes has been one of the top brands out there for many years for progammable multi-function home theater system control. They allow you to quickly and easily set up not only multiple devices on one remote, but also program various activities that combine a number of commands from the different components in your home entertainment setup.

Harmony Link brings the same features to your iPhone, iPad or Android device (allowing them to control up to 8 devices and various, user-customizable activities combining those devices), but it also ups the game with interactive content discovery features. The Harmony Link software lets you browse TV listings for your area and provider, and then watch shows using its interactive TV guide. It actually looks pretty magical as demoed in the video below.

I’m even tempted to sign up for cable again just to check that out, but note that you’ll need an iPad to take advantage of the interactive TV guide at launch. Android devices and the iPhone only feature device and activity controls.

The Link system works by connecting with your device via a Wi-Fi receiver, and then translating commands to IR for your home theater equipment to understand. That means if you’ve devised a clever way to keep your cable box, receiver, etc. out of sight, you’ll actually be able to control them with the Harmony Link without having to go on safari just to change channels.

Link on the iPad also includes features for adding shows and channels to favorites, which is nice in and of itself, but also seems like a logical first step towards social sharing features. Just allowing others to see via Facebook or Twitter what you’re watching would add a social layer to Harmony Link that could make it a great way for content providers to encourage second-screen engagement, since people will already be using the remote app to enhance their TV viewing anyway. Hopefully Logitech sees the inherent opportunity there, too, and adds social elements in a future iteration.

Bravo to Logitech for making this available at $99 when it launches next month. The iPhone and iPad have long had the potential to become a disruptive force for the universal remote market, especially since they seem to be becoming more popular as supplementary viewing devices for people consuming TV-based content. A relatively cheap Link (when compared to Logitech’s existing Harmony line) lets Logitech get out in front of the potential for mobile devices to eat into its market share. And thanks to the interactive guide, Link does so in a way that adds value, rather than simply replicating existing Harmony functions in a boring way that leaves room for others to improve.

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1. Overcoming “hidden” conflicts. An obvious and undeniable challenge with managing an entirely virtual team is a lack of visual cues and body language when communicating that can trigger misunderstandings. But less obviously, frequent misinterpretations can chip away at someone’s confidence or comfort level, creating tensions that are hard to name and even harder to address. In one virtual work situation I’ve experienced, all the team members were only privy to what they read in emails or heard on the phone for nearly a year before the company brought everyone to the same location for a retreat. Just sharing moments in a physical space melted away much of the negative energy that was damaging the remote interactions. At this gathering, one person even said to me that just seeing my eyes showed them more kindness than my terse email messages conveyed. Ouch! What an important lesson to learn about e-communications and the human touch.
2. Building stronger bonds. Nothing can strengthen the bonds between team members in the same way as physical presence. I will never deny the incredible power of online communications and online community, but the bottom line is that we are social creatures. We crave belonging, being near others, not being alone. Virtual work can thrust even the heartiest of us into isolation, and the only real way to solve that isolation with lasting effects is a face-to-face meeting. It may not be feasible to bring an entire company to a single place due to the number of people involved or budget constraints. But maybe it is realistic to arrange gatherings of smaller teams or to put together a schedule of in-person meetings over the course of a year — even a series of one-on-one meetings. Another possible solution is to have team members meet up at industry events, several at a time, for both bonding and learning.
3. Delivering really bad news. If your company is in crisis, it is not the time to send out a short email that can be misconstrued or a long email that is confusing and triggers panic. Find a way to get everyone together in one place to drop the bomb. If getting everyone in a single physical space isn’t doable, you should have smaller groups meeting physically or management meeting team members individually. And if those options aren’t possible either, use the best virtual workplace solution you can find, be it a virtual world or virtual meeting space with video. An audio conference call? Barely a step above an email. Be a more solid presence to cushion the blow.
4. Delivering really good news. If you’ve got something big to report, do it when everyone is together on that big client pitch or the company retreat. Small wins can be shared well in email or on weekly calls, but the huge wins deserve more presence to infuse the team with the power of the accomplishment. When you’re managing a team of remote workers, the wins somehow seem a lot smaller than the losses, and over time that dynamic can drain morale and affect productivity. Surround good news with as much “physical” fanfare as possible. People often need something tangible to hold onto. Provide mementos of the big wins that they can take back to their remote workplaces to remind them of being a part of something real and positive.

In our everyday work, far from our team members, face-to-face and in-person may simply not be affordable. Invest in a quality virtual meeting space or conference tool, whether it’s iMeet, Google Talk, Skype, Second Life or any of the myriad solutions out there. Let your team test several of those solutions with you, and get their feedback before making a final purchase and rolling out the technology. Let your workers be just as invested in being present as you are.

What other situations warrant face-to-face and what do you do when you can’t be there?

Image courtesy of stock.xchng user irum

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I rebranded my virtual consultancy with my long-time friend Monique Elwell to create Conversify. We shared the goal of creating a business that was entirely virtual and that would allow everyone who joined us the flexibility, mobility and better work/life balance we wanted. She and I were based thousands of miles apart when we joined forces, in Denver and Alaska respectively. More recently, we brought on a third business partner, Steven Jackson from Boston, and have built a team that spans the U.S., with a U.K. presence as well.

Here’s what I learned from the members of our virtual team. Note that most of our agency’s team members came from more traditional work environments.

1. Develop clear communications processes. Social media strategist Nik Hewitt emphasizes that one thing that helps our team work well together is that we spent a lot of time developing clear and detailed work processes so we could be consistent and efficient. “We share ideas and discuss them, and a nominated person writes down the salient points based on the knowledge of the team,” Hewitt explains. “Then this information is collated and edited by one team member then passed to another team member for comprehensive expansion.” At each stage of our communications process, we notify each person when it is their turn to participate and give clear deadlines along with scheduled reminders so everyone knows what is expected from whom and when. Attention to a detailed process leads to more consistency and accountability.
2. Shared calendaring is key. According to Haley Kilgour, senior account manager, virtual team members have to be more efficient with their time because of the need to schedule specific meetings with one another to discuss issues or make decisions. Even a quick 15 minute chat requires coordinating schedules across time zones to ensure you can “meet” with someone else. We use Google Apps and heavily rely on Google Calendar; we can see the availability of all team members at all times. Plus we can specify our individual work hours that are based on a core set of hours when we are all available at the same time. Those critical mutual time slots are the sweet spot for getting the whole team together for real-time collaboration.
3. Make use of time zones. “When we have something that is due on Monday, I feel like I have two Mondays in which to do it,” says Karen Woodward, social media manager, referring to the fact that Hewitt, who is based in the U.K., can begin working on something on a Monday during his work hours and then Woodward and social media specialist Shelli Martineau can pick up where he left off during their workday in Pacific Time. This elongates the team’s productivity and can be a bonus during critical communications periods, providing our clients with 24/7 social media monitoring and management.
4. Instant messaging can trump email. Email can be a big challenge for virtual teams especially when team members begin to over-rely on it and everyone can gets buried in emails. Email can also be ineffective if you fail to specify in each email sent to multiple team members exactly who needs to take action, says Elwell, Conversify’s CEO. “If you send an email to five people and say ‘check this out,’ everyone will assume at least one of the others will, and no one will check it out.” Sometimes, instant messaging can be far more targeted and effective. Woodward says that IM has has become her virtual version of “popping my head over the cubicle wall.” But IM can also present a more immediate messaging overload, especially since we usually have both GTalk and Skype running. Sometimes you just have to turn them off to get work done.
5. Don’t knock virtual worlds. With several Second Life enthusiasts on our team from the beginning, we decided to bring the rest of our team members “inworld” for both a weekly “watercooler” social as well as quarterly “state of the company” meetings. Kilgour admits that at first she was opposed to meeting in Second Life, but eventually she came to enjoy it. “There’s something to be said for having a visual representation of a meeting that makes me feel more connected,” she says, adding that the format appeals to her visual nature.

Hewitt says that virtual team members need to make an effort to get to know one another. “We take time to just chat, one-to-one and in teams. We just chew the fat sometimes on Skype as though we’re (sitting) next to each other. I pretty much talk to to everyone personally once a week just to catch-up.”

The team also holds meetings for joint creativity such as their “Production Playtime” where they exchange ideas. Martineau, in particular, appreciates “Production Playtime” noting that it’s an opportunity for the team to jointly explore new tools and networks that may be beneficial to clients. “This is how we all got hooked on Get Glue and what reinvigorated our interest in Tumblr,” she adds.

Says Kilgour, getting together in person a couple times of year, if possible, is important, “Human energy can still be missing in virtual settings.” Another caveat for working virtually is to acknowledge that working from home isn’t for everyone and requires self-discipline, the ability to stay focused and being able to avoid distractions.

What does your virtual team use — and do — to work well together?

Top image: Photo by Mike Kilgour, Second Life screenshot by Nik Hewitt

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The rumor about NFC in the next iPhone revision comes courtesy of a source talking to Cult of Mac, who wished to remain anonymous. Initially, according to the report, the iPhone 5 would work sort of like an electronic wallet that carries around your personal information and allows you to use it on other Macs. That could include address book information, logins and more. Later, it could fully transform any Mac into a mirror image of your own.

Of course, the NFC tech needs both a transmitter and receiver, so Macs would have to be outfitted with the tech to take advantage, but that’s an easy enough addition to future models on the manufacturing side of things.

Apple’s recent hiring decisions back up these new rumors. Recent hires include a leading expert in the NFC field, and Apple has a lot of related patents on the books, so it’s likely that they are working on something to do with the tech. Whether what they’re working on will every see the light of day is another story.

If implemented, the new system could have a positive impact on Apple’s presence in enterprise. Imagine being able to change virtually any Mac into your own personal workstation just by being in proximity and entering a passcode. It’s something people who work on the road would really appreciate, and likely something that hotels and other businesses that cater to those travellers would have strong financial reason to implement.

It also would help Apple transition more of OS X to the cloud, a likely direction for all operating systems to take in the future, and it would be another link between Apple’s notebook and desktop OS and its mobile products. Greater integration is clearly a goal for the Mac maker going forward. Plus, if made available to iOS and Mac developers as a public API, there’s no telling what kind of innovative software we could see.

RFID is already rumored to be coming to iPhones sometime down the road, and that’s a type of NFC, so this is definitely one to watch. I wouldn’t be surprised if we didn’t see at least the seeds for this kind of remote portability sewn in Apple’s next round of major mobile hardware revisions.

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Are you ready for that kind of responsibility? Preparedness is what will separate the simply competent web working manager from the excellent one. But if your company doesn’t have a program for grooming distributed managers, or if you’re working for yourself at this point, then how best to prepare?

Read Books

Read about management. There are plenty of books on the subject, and they’ll give you insight you might not be able to get just from lived experience. Books alone aren’t a substitute for experience, but they’ll help you evaluate your own approaches, and learn some new tricks.

• “What To Do When You Become The Boss” is a good primer for those who haven’t yet occupied a management role. It’s designed with entry-level readers in mind, so the pacing is good and it has a number of real case studies and interactive elements to keep things interesting.
• “The New Manager’s Tool Kit” is another good book for those just starting out. Special attention is paid to how to keep the human element a part of your management strategy, which is especially important when you’re dealing with people at a distance.

Ask for (or Take) Responsibility

If you’re already working as part of a distributed team and there’s no direct supervisor involved in the group, you have an opportunity. Either put in a request with a superior that you be given extra organizational responsibilities within the group, or, if others are amenable and there’s an obvious need, just step up and take a leadership role. Chances are that people will be appreciative of some direction if it seems to be lacking.

Taking on added responsibility will pay dividends in the long run, even if in the short term it doesn’t actually result in any extra cash compensation. Any experience you can cite later to differentiate yourself from your peers in management competitions will be hugely beneficial.

Get to Know the Tools

How do people even go about managing others online? Look at your field and find out what tools are being used to help distributed teams stay well-managed. Is Basecamp being used to organize projects and keep people on deadlines? Is there a Google Apps component? What tech is being employed to facilitate teleconferences and online meetings?

Find out what the standard is for your organization, and make a point of learning how to make those tools do what you want them to. Then, find out what the next up-and-comers on the horizon are. Do that by asking other companies you work with who their service providers of choice are. Pay special attention to the suggestions of IT professionals and startups. Those will be the ones to watch.

You may not think you’re in a management track at the moment, but if you’re an experienced web worker, or even a not-so-experienced one who’s intent on becoming more so, then you’ve already got a head start on the majority of tomorrow’s workforce. Take the initiative and capitalize on that advantage.

What tips do you have a for aspiring web working managers?

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The redesigned universal app brings Retina Display support, makes great use of the larger screen space on the iPad and introduces a brand new icon that shares some design similarities with the new iTunes 10 icon. But the changes aren’t only visual.

Remote now supports shared libraries (turned off by default, can be turned on in the app’s settings), allowing you to login with your iTunes account and find any libraries using Home Sharing with the computer you’re controlling. It may seem like a small thing, but it can really help if you don’t have your music consolidated in one machine.

Finally, it also brings full support for AirPlay, and compatibility and bug fixes for iTunes 10 and the new Apple TV. Still free, and a great surprise for those of us who may have given up on Apple’s very first downloadable app.

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The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office yesterday published a patent application Apple made way back in 2008 for “Pushing a User Interface to a Remote Device.” So, then…Smart Remotes. Cool!

MacRumor’s Eric Slivka reports that the patent’s lead inventor is William Bull, now Yahoo’s Senior Director of Mobile User Experience, but once upon a time Apple’s iPod User Interface Manager. The so-called “father of the iPod,” Tony Fadell, is also credited.

The idea is simple; portable media devices — such as iPods and iPhones, for example — have their own on-board Graphical User Interface (GUI) and, usually, a built-in screen. Thing is, we don’t always want to take our iPhone out of our pocket when we’re listening to music (or, if you’re me, catching up on podcasts while washing the dishes).

Enter remote controls (referred to in this patent as “accessories”). Often they’re dumb little inline sticks with a few fiddly (not to mention tiny) buttons. They’re useful, but basic, offering perhaps only a half dozen simple controls. Some of the more elaborate remotes have their own little displays, which is all very well and good, except that they also employ their own little GUIs which not only fail to resemble the one on the device you’re trying to control, but often don’t provide full access to all the device’s functions. From the patent application:

…existing remote GUIs are defined and controlled by the remote control device, and consequently, they may bear little resemblance to a GUI supplied by the portable media device itself Certain functions available on the portable media device (such as browsing or searching a database, adjusting playback settings, etc.) may be unavailable or difficult to find.

Apple’s solution is to “push” the device’s GUI to a remote an accessory with a built-in display. Here’s the description from the patent application (I’ve shortened it to just the main points);

The portable media device can provide the accessory with an image to be displayed on the video screen… [and] include various user interface elements that can resemble or replicate a “native” GUI provided directly on the portable media device. The accessory can send information to the portable media device indicative of a user action […] for example, that a particular button was pressed or that a particular portion of a touch-sensitive display screen was touched by the user. The portable media device can process this input to identify the action requested by the user and take the appropriate action. The action may include providing to the accessory an updated GUI image to be displayed, where the updated GUI image reflects the user action.

Essentially this describes a touch-enabled screen, small enough (and dumb enough) to still be called an accessory, which effectively acts as a small auxiliary display/input panel for the device.

I can’t see this making its way into an inline remote (it’s just not Apple’s style to make a wearable remote that’s big) but I can see a future revision of Apple’s current Remote that entirely does away with the buttons, replacing them with a capacitive touch screen.

Future software updates would enable one to connect the remote to a nearby Mac mini, Apple TV, even an iPod touch, and switch between those devices the same way the iPhone Remote app does today. The GUI would change, depending on the selected device.

The only drawback I can see to such a device (and remember, I’m just extrapolating here and imagining a potential future gadget — Apple’s patent application only describes a possible method and not an actual product) is that a remote with a capacitive touch screen will chew through its battery in next to no time. Is it conceivable we’ll be buying a charging dock for a future Apple MultiRemote?

More compelling is the notion that Apple could build this technology into an entire ecosystem, licensing third-party developers to create compatible hardware; imagine a house where a smart display on the door of your refrigerator not only tells you when the milk needs replacing but also allows you to skip tracks on the album you’re playing over AirTunes…

But am I thinking too small? Is this yet another patent application that will, ultimately, come to nothing, or could this be an early clue to a new Apple-tastic revolution?

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pocket BLU is a free download from the App Store that allows your iPhone to become a remote control for operating Blu-ray discs from Universal. It won’t work with just any movie, of course. Blu-ray discs need to be played using a Wi-Fi connected player, for one, and the title has to be specifically enabled to work with pocket BLU, something which will be indicated by a conspicuously placed logo.

The app will allow you to control playback of the film, and jump backwards and forwards to any point in the movie using a visual time line. You’ll also have access to a pop-up keyboard for entering data, which will definitely make any typing you need to do with your Blu-ray movie much easier. Finally, some titles will offer the ability to stream special content from the disc to your iPhone, which can then be stored for later viewing.

The app has promise, but limited as it is to one major distributor’s titles, it feels a little like yet another extraneous feature designed to add value to a format that’s failing to catch on with most consumers. Chances are, I’m never going to watch or care about the additional features included for pocket BLU users anyway, so why not just stick to playing back digital content on my Mac and using Rowmote or VLC Remote to control it? Take it from me, Universal, you’ll be far better off if you focus on delivering content to the iPhone platform, instead of just control mechanisms.

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