Sky Television has jumped aboard the Windows 8 bandwagon, creating an app for the new desktop and tablet operating system that lets customers search for programmes and book them through their MySky set top-box.

The app, which will be free to download when Windows 8 launches tomorrow, also lets subscribers create their own programme guide comprised of their favourite channels.

Product manager Alex Winter said the app was similar to those Sky already offered for Apple and Android smartphones and tablets, which had now been downloaded 400,000 times. But the search and "personalisation" features were easier and "more elegant" because of the Windows 8 interface, which supports both touchscreens and keyboards and mice.

"With a touchscreen you can very easily move your favourites' around and reorder them. It also allows us to get on to a new class of devices - desktops."

The app was developed for Sky by Christchurch firm Smudge, which also made the Apple and Android versions.

A future version of the app could represent channels as miniature live "tiles" that displayed what was showing on each channel at the time.

Views on whether Windows 8 will prove a hit with consumers and software and app developers remain mixed, but Microsoft's hope is that it will be able to out-muscle other platforms and create a huge market for third-party apps by leveraging off its high share of the desktop operating system market.

However, analysts have been expressing concern over the past few days that consumers may be slow to fork out for more expensive touchscreen computers, which they view as necessary to provide the impetus for consumers to upgrade to Windows 8. In the case of portable devices, touchscreens can also necessitate tougher, better-quality and therefore more expensive computer casings.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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