The social remote control app Dijit has certainly been getting around lately: it started off on iPhones, made the leap onto Android devices not long ago, and now the company has announced that an iPad-friendly version of the app is in the works.
According to Jeremy Toeman, Dijit’s Chief Product Officer, one of the company’s big focuses was to make effective use of all the screen real estate the iPad afforded them. “We’ve tried to think through all the nuance of what a full, 10″ entertainment console sitting on a user’s coffee table should look like,” he said.
Those expecting a straight port of the Android tablet version will find that a few of the specifics have changed. Among other things, the redesigned Dijit iOS app has a more pronounced focus on usability: it features larger on-screen buttons and the option to use a full-screen remote, which stand in pretty stark contrast to the smaller controls as seen in the Android version. The iPad version also sports visual cues in what otherwise would have been empty space to guide users through using the app. Otherwise, the iPad version is a cleverly re-imagined version of the original iPhone app — the ease of setup remains, as does the app’s focus on building a social watching experience by linking up to Twitter and Facebook.
Since the iPad obviously doesn’t have a built-in IR blaster, users looking to control their home theaters while poking through The Office’s Wikipedia entry or sharing show recommendations still need to use the Griffin Beacon to relay commands. I’ve pointed out before that Dijit isn’t exactly alone in this space — Logitech’s Harmony Link works in much the same way — but a $30 difference in price tags may be enough to sway cash-strapped device convergence junkies into giving Dijit a try.
Dijit has been making some big plays lately, like getting their app preloaded onto the Xoom 2 Media Edition, and hopefully the iPad version lives up to expectations. iPad owners looking to take the new-and-improved Dijit for a spin will have to wait just a little while longer though — Toeman tells me that the app should be submitted to the app store within the next few weeks.
