You may have read earlier on Pocket-lint how the BBC News app has hit the "fourth screen" - i.e. the TV - with the launch of the service on Samsung connected TVs (with more manufacturers to come on board in the future).
Well, if you haven't had time to download the service from the Samsung Apps Store yet, no worries - just take a look at our App of The Day feature, where we give you a step by step guide to what it's all about.
BBC News
- Format
- Samsung TV
- Price
- Free
- Where
- Samsung Apps Store
Once you've pushed your shiny Smart TV button you'll be treated to a splash screen with the familair red spinning globe of the BBC News channel and then, boom, you're straight in to the top story of the day. The BBC chap showing off the app to Pocket-lint that this start-up option was decided on, rather than a menu screen, as they wanted to create "an immersive video based environment".
Along the bottom of the video is an info panel that shows you a headline for the story, the length of the clip, when the clip was published, plus a brief summary if available. You can get rid of this banner by pushing down, or simply by waiting for 12 seconds. Pushing up brings it back and pushing right moves on to the next story.
The top news story will be rotated based on the news agenda and although all of the content on the BBC News app comes directly from the BBC News website, there is a 24 hour editorial team who will decide what's relevant.
Pushing up twice brings up the carousel, which shows you a snapshot of the stories on offer, with a handy logo to show you whether the story is text or video based.
Should you choose a text story, this comes up down the left hand side of the screen, with the last video you selected, or the next video from the section you are in, showing. This is "to keep the video element fresh in the users mind".
If you select a video story you'll have the usual options of pausing, rewinding, fast-forwarding and skipping videos, and you can even drill down your selections by using the categories menu. An interesting point to note is that there's no sports content on the app as of yet, although we were told it may be coming in the future.
The app is incredibly easy to use, and is a brilliant way of catching up with the day's top stories without having to face Kay Burley.
It works with all 2010 and 2011 Samsung connected TVs and Blu-ray players and is in the Samsung App Store now. And what's more, it won't cost you a penny.