i.TV's iPhone app gets deep Netflix integration
Movie and TV listing iPhone application just got updated with Netflix integration. If you've got a Netflix account you can use it to manage and search for rentals alongside local listings.
On Monday i.TV, the movie and TV show listing service for the iPhone, pushed out a really neat update that marries the idea of its live content guide with services that can take advantage of it as a platform.
The first service to be introduced into the mix is Netflix. I.TV users who are also Netflix subscribers can manage their queue right from the application, as well as start Netflix searches from i.TV's own listings.
An example of how this might work is if you're perusing the latest movie listings. If you see a film that you'd like to watch when it's released on DVD, you can simply cross-reference it with Netflix's library. If it shows up (which I found to work with all the latest releases at my local theater), you simply hit the "add to queue" option and it will go into your saved items. This is also helpful for wannabe movie aficionados, since if the film you're looking at is a remake, you can see and rent the older versions from the same interface.
More importantly, with the outcropping of Netflix streaming-capable devices like Apple computers, and soon the Xbox 360--there's going to be a need to help pick out streaming TV content. Using i.TV, you can easily add any content that has a streaming counterpart to your Watch Instantly queue.
As a Netflix manager it's not as competent as an app like Dashbuster, which is currently unavailable from the app store while it works out some bugs. There are no Netflix RSS feeds (which can be a source of rental inspiration), and it doesn't save box art in a local cache, which can give the app a slight speed gain. There is one big plus though--i.TV is free, whereas Dashbuster and several other iPhone-based Netflix queue managers are not.