Eliminates need for set-top box to view content

Verizon and Samsung have together announced that Samsung will be the first consumer electronics manufacturer to commercially support a Verizon FiOS TV app on new TVs and Blu-ray players. With it, FiOS subscribers can watch programming and on-demand content directly without the need for a set-top box. Samsung will begin incorporating the functionality into its "Smart" devices as it adds them to its product line during 2012.

The app grants subscriber access to 26 live TV channels without additional hardware. The video-on-demand titles will be available through Flex View, Verizon's entertainment service for TVs, PCs, tablets and smartphones.

A representative for the company meanwhile says that a long-delayed iPad app will finally be released sometime this year. It was first announced roughly a year and a half ago, but Verizon explains that it wanted to ensure networks would have the same reliability as IPTV so that streams wouldn't crash.

By Electronista Staff