The Colbert Report's The Word is one of those iPhone applications that takes advantage of that sort of portable player. The Word is one of those segments that doesn't translate well to a book, unlike Letterman's Top Ten Lists. Video clips better convey the emotion of the segment.
Basically, the application is all the clips of Colbert's most famous segment, and I mean all of them. The app requires a WiFi or data connection to work (because you don't want all those clips taking up memory) but they're constantly updated. I'm not sure if this will be forever or until they get bored with it and figure out another way to make money.
Fans of TV's Dexter have been clamoring for the release of the video game version for quite awhile, ever since news of the game's development first hits the stands. But just like the show's title character would say, patience and preparation pays off when you're trying to execute the perfect kill.
Dexter the Game would feel like just another run-of-the-mill TV to video game translation if it hit the Xbox Live Arcade or the Playstation Network. But this slice and dice retelling of the Showtime show's first season is special because it's on the iPhone and iPod Touch.
That's right, the touch screen manna from Steve Jobs' heaven now lets you cut up evildoers with a bone saw with the flick of your finger. Now you can fulfill the needs of your own "Dark Passenger" without having to max out your Home Depot card on visqueen and power tools or thin the pet population of your neighbors' backyards.
One of the most anticipated iPhone apps since the "iFart" has finally found its way to the App Store.
The official Dexter video game from Marc Ecko Entertainment and Icarus Studios finally made it to Apple's App Store yesterday after more than a year in anxious development. The game is also set to be released on the PC, as well, but a release date hasn't been officially set yet.
Apple has left some fairly noticeable heel marks on the free throw lines of the computer, digital music and the cell phone industry.
So what technology business does Steve Jobs have next on his "To Dominate" list? Why TV, of course. What did you think I was going to say? Toasters? Did you not read the name of this blog?
G.I. Joe and Transformers climbed to their lofty perches atop Hollywood's food chain from their iconic beginnings on 80's television.
Now, IDW Publishing is helping to bridge the gap between those classic 80's shows and their 21st Century big screen adaptations with new series of digital comic books based on the adventures of Snake Eyes, The Baroness, Optimus Prime and Megatron.
Made especially for online devices like iPods and the iPhone, these digital comics should be a welcome site for hardcore fans of the original TV hits as they're not blown away by the CGI-driven movie adaptions. Yes, the animation of those after-school cartoons was about one frame every four minutes, but they had such purity and charm to their morality plays.
A video game for Dexter is being released soon (iPhone and iPod touch only, for now anyway). Here's the promo. A video game about a serial killer? No, this won't be controversial at all.
Please note that this is the last time you'll ever read the above phrase on TV Squad. At least I hope so.
Are you aware that there's a battle going on over iPhone apps? There are two companies fighting over who gets the right to have an application that reproduces sounds made via a certain bodily function. You can pretty much guess what it is. Wyatt Cenac at The Daily Show talked to the two CEOs on Tuesday's show. It always amazes me that people will agree to do these interviews and then say something so inane, like this guy's comment about Jackie Robinson. (Video also here.)
The Kevin Bacon Game used to be the ultimate litmus test to gauge your level of connectedness in Hollywood. You just tried to link up your name to King Bacon and if you were three links or more, you couldn't even get a Melrose Avenue street bum to spit on you for a quarter.
That game has officially been replaced by something much narrower and definitely much cooler. It also puts me a link away to the Hollywood machine, which bumps me up to not having to pay that bum to spit on me.
I know I've been asking this question a lot, but what the hell is going on here? Have we entered the bizarro world? Is up now down? Has black become white? Did Dr. Sanja Gupta accept Barack Obama's offer to be the next U.S. surgeon general after Dr. Pepper turned him down?
Last week, we reported on Apple's refusal to include a new South Park iPhone app. The white hot anger could be felt from coast to coast. We here at TV Squad were worried that the uproar it could have caused could have landed us in "Enemy Combatant Land" for disturbing the peace and inciting a riot, which technically would be Apple's fault.
Then an interesting little story popped into my view that seemed to contradict the claims Apple had made and as always, television helped show me the way.
Everybody knows an iPhone user who flaunts his phone to the world the way anyone of us would if we owned something that we believed contained the awesome power of God.
They are always checking their emails or giving you weather updates you never asked for. They always let their phone ring longer than necessary with some ridiculous sounds such as one of those dumb novelty "Pick me up!" chimes or the theme to Sanford and Son to make sure it grabs your attention. Pretty soon, every time they stroke their finger across that smirking touch screen, it subconsciously sounds like fingernails across a chalkboard.
Now, you can one-up your personal iPhone a-hole with this comforting fact: Their almighty cell phone from God won't let them watch South Park because it thinks it's too offensive for their delicate sensibilities.
It looks like Nickelodeon is getting a little further into the games business by releasing both SpongeBob SquarePants, iCarly and Dora The Explorerlearning games for the iPhone. They will be available later this year.
My question is this: do children of that age really use the iPhone or iPod Touch that much? Most of the people I know who own one or the other are adults or at least teenagers. While I can see some market for SpongeBob SquarePants (which has some adult crossover appeal), I just don't see the grown-ups buying iCarly or Dora.
I was one of those thousands of geeks who lined up for a shiny new iPhone 3G last month. But I had a good reason! My boss told me to get it before I went on a trip, so I could test it out. Man, what a slave driver.
Anyway, if you yourself have an iPhone or iPod Touch, all of the blogs in our network have been given an iPhone-friendly look, via a specific URL: http://i.tvsquad.com/. As you can see from the image to the right, it's got that familiar iPhone-styled look for diving down into articles to read. Proceed on, and you can also read and leave comments.
(S04E01) Kathy Griffin is back, or as I choose to call her now Emmy Girl. Yes, the Emmy is on full display. In your face, everyone, Kathy's got an Emmy! Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List won the Emmy last year and if this first episode is a sample of what season four has in store, that Emmy is going to get a companion. This show is riotous. And irreverent and a perfect blend of comedy and celebrity reality which is really unreality because how many of us interact with Anderson Cooper and Michael Moore?
Kathy Griffin has found the perfect genre for her particular brand of comedy. A sitcom wouldn't capture her true character, strict stand-up is not her best venue (although she's gotten very good at it), and a talk show would force her to chat with others and appear interested. The My Life on the D-List format works for her and she's found a way to incorporate stand up, situation comedy and guests into a reality hour that highlights her being funny. She has supporting players -- Team Griffin, Jessica, Tiffany, Tom and Kathy's adorable mom, Maggie -- as her comic foils and partners in crime.
Sling Media offers SlingPlayer clients for PC, Mac, and a variety of cellphone models. But so far there's been no support for one of the most obvious mobile devices: the iPhone. It looks like that could all change soon. Sling Media will be showing off a proof of concept version of SlingPlayer Mobile for the iPhone at WWDC.
There are no plans to make this version of SlingPlayer Mobile available to customers... yet. You need a jailbroken iPhone or iPod touch to use the player at the moment. But the company does plan to use the iPhone SDK to release a commercial version in the future.
If you want to check out the proof of concept version, and if you happen to be in San Francisco tomorrow, stop by the Starbucks at 120 4th St between 10am and 4pm and look for product manager Vicky Shum who will be demonstrating the application.
Product placement is everywhere, inescapable. According to Dr. Jean Kilbourne, author of Can't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel, Americans are exposed to approximately 3000 advertisements every single day. Kilbourne has a compelling video called Killing Us Softly that reveals how insidious advertisements are. Ads tell us that women should be thinner, quieter, nicer, want to have cleaner houses. They tell us that men are boarish, lust after women while drinking cheap beers, and order endless rounds of pizza without ever developing a gut. Advertisements not only tell us what we should buy: They tell us how we should think and feel about things and who we should be.
Unfortunately, the price of our entertainment is advertisements. Even when you go to the movies these days, before you have seen any previews, you have seen six commercials for new phones from Verizon and Sprint; and you have paid handsomely for the privilege. This TV Squad Award is amusing, but it is also a testament to how ubiquitous ads are: They have now found their way into the very scripts of some of our very best shows. The only advantage shows like Lost and Battlestar Galactica have is that they mostly take place anachronistically, so advertising would stand out too ridiculously. However, sadly, other outstanding shows have succumbed. And one of the finest is TV Squad's choice to win this award.
The Colbert Report's The Word is one of those iPhone applications that takes advantage of that sort of portable player. The Word is one of those segments that doesn't translate well to a book, unlike Letterman's Top Ten Lists. Video clips better convey the emotion of the segment.
Apple has left some fairly noticeable heel marks on the free throw lines of the computer, digital music and the cell phone industry. 
G.I. Joe and Transformers climbed to their lofty perches atop Hollywood's food chain from their iconic beginnings on 80's television.
I know I've been asking this question a lot, but what the hell is going on here? Have we entered the bizarro world? Is up now down? Has black become white? Did Dr. Sanja Gupta accept Barack Obama's offer to be the next U.S. surgeon general after Dr. Pepper turned him down?
Everybody knows an iPhone user who flaunts his phone to the world the way anyone of us would if we owned something that we believed contained the awesome power of God.
It looks like Nickelodeon is getting a little further into the games business by releasing both SpongeBob SquarePants, iCarly and Dora The Explorer 
I was one of those thousands of geeks who lined up for a shiny new iPhone 3G last month. But I had a good reason! My boss told me to get it before I went on a trip, so I could test it out. Man, what a slave driver.
(S04E01) Kathy Griffin is back, or as I choose to call her now Emmy Girl. Yes, the Emmy is on full display. In your face, everyone, Kathy's got an Emmy! 
TV Squad Ten: Top Ten ESPN shows from worst to first
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
Have any questions for Vik Sahay of Chuck? Ask them here!
