Harking back to days of GCSE science, I tend to think of the term ‘application’ usually meaning ‘practical usage’ as a particularly annoying section of these seemingly countless worksheets we had to fill out, just so we might set fire to a bit. The ‘application’ part was the bit where you needed to say what (if any) real world, useful value your experiments had, which, because it seems, was not usually a great deal in my case. I recall a classmate rather nastily drenched a spider in hydrochloric acid once, but I doubted, even at age fifteen and three quarters, that it would turn into a popular form of pest control.
As Led Zeppelin have been telling us since the 70′s, you understand sometimes words have double meanings. In the case of software design and programming, there’s also quite a lot of words that have now been co-opted to be able to denote something, usually only somewhat similar, to what the word actually means. So, applications, or ‘apps’ as we hip, swinging cats refer to them, don’t have anything whatsoever to do with GCSE science and everything to do with innovative consumer tech.
An app is basically a computer program designed to aid the parent device carry out a specific purpose. Apps are like little programs that were initially planned for portable devices like iPods, Smartphones and Pc tablets. Apps range from the sublime, (such like the app that can track migratory whales in real time or the one which shows you the exact position of all the stars and heavenly bodies from any place on the earth) to the totally stupid, but amusing anyways (the app where it is possible to punch a cartoon cat in the face, Angry Birds). Apple consumers alone have access to over 60,000 downloadable applications, most of them are totally free to use.
Smart TV, obviously, has its own set of downloadable apps. I should indicate now that these are not as esoteric as the wide-ranging apps available for the phone or Tablet, yet. So far Smart TV’s list of apps is a typically practical one. Here’s a look at some of the applications you’ll manage to acquire for your Smart TV (NOTE: Different applications are licensed to various manufacturers – so if you’re specifically after a TV because of its apps, it pays to try and do your homework, that is, in its own way, a bit like GCSE science).
Netflix – The extension of the online film rental company (and proud sponsor of our iFanboy comic book discussion show, I hasten to add) can be an app which supplies you the choice to stream ‘rented’ movies over the Web for a small cover fee.
Amazon – From Amazon, you can download content. So when you’d rather buy a movie or Television show, you are able to simply click the link and it’ll be sent straight to your hard drive. It is cheaper than buying discs and much easier to store.
BBC iPlayer – It is a little version of the iPlayer site; there is also a BBC News and sports application.
Youtube – You will also find other video sites available as apps. Dailymotion and Vimeo are now properly accessible from your TV.
Along with these applications, you’ll find Sports applications that’ll record every game and apps for specific channels, making them accessible as individual networks as opposed to part of a cable/satellite package.
Whichever applications you need, be sure they do what you think they do and these are available for that TV you select, before you buy. That way you will avoid disappointment.
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