Clicker Media Launches "iPad Edition" of its Online Programming Guide

In a posting on its corporate blog Monday, Clicker Media--the company which last fall 1) launched Clicker.com, a service which it bills as "the first complete programming guide to Internet television" and as "the first truly comprehensive, structured and unbiased resource for navigating all broadcast- and broadcast-quality programming online" (see the article published on itvt.com, November 16th), and 2) revealed that Sling Media co-founder, Blake Krikorian, had invested in it and joined its board (see the article published on itvt.com, November 9th)--announced a special "iPad Edition" of its service, to which iPad users who visit Clicker.com will be automatically redirected, and which will provide listings of online programming that can be viewed without using Adobe Flash.

Clicker Media's blog posting lists "a few things to note" about the new iPad Edition of Clicker.com:

• While the company is "doing the legwork of identifying what services are working and which aren't," the iPad Edition "won't be 100% accurate, as those services make adjustments on their end."
• "Handoffs" between services are not yet working consistently: thus, "while YouTube works on the iPad via its own, dedicated service, it is not always working when accessed via one of their partner sites."
• The Clicker catalog does not currently include programs available for download via iTunes. The company says that it is "at the tail end of adding iTunes to all of Clicker, not just the iPad Edition" and that it will launch iTunes coverage on both the iPad-specific and the general version of its service "within two weeks."
• Clicker users will shortly be able to filter their Clicker Playlist, so that they can see content that is only available to watch on the iPad.
• The company plans to launch a full-fledged Clicker iPad app shortly.

Clicker Media has also used its blog to publish what it calls a "quick critique of how some high-profile sources have handled or ignored the iPad so far."

In other iPad news: Envivio has announced that its 4Caster C4(2) video encoding/transcoding platform now offers support for the device, enabling delivery of live and on-demand HDTV services over WiFi and 3G networks. "The upgrade for the 4Caster C4(2) takes full advantage of the vivid 9.7-inch LED-backlit iPad display by delivering HD video that is perfectly formatted for the iPad at up to 720p resolution," the company says in its press materials. "The exclusive multi-profile output of the 4Caster C4(2) offers the capability to simultaneously service iPads and iPhones, as well as PC's, smartphones and other devices, for unmatched service density. 4Caster C4(2) ingests up to eight IP, four analog or four SDI channel sources and simultaneously encodes and protects the content in multiple profiles using Envivio H264 Extreme Compression, regarded as the industry's highest-quality video codec. This multi-profile encoding enables Apple's adaptive streaming functionality, ensuring the best continuous picture quality regardless of fluctuations in network bandwidth for an exceptional viewing experience."