Universal Studios is to launch a Blu-ray app for iPhone and iPod Touch that will allow users to access bonus content from the movie they're watching.
Timed to coincide with the Blu-ray release of Universal's Fast & Furious on July 28 the new app will allow users access to a 'virtual car garage' of vehicles from the film that can each be rotated through 360 degrees.
Real-time reference
While this alone is hardly an earth-shattering development, future apps are expected to facilitate more useful tasks including direct access to online reference sites like IMDb and Wikipedia, which will allow users to call up a list of previous films the actors and actresses have been in.
Speculation is rife that, before long, users will also be able to control their Blu-ray player directly from their phone as well as download bonus content from the disc to watch later.
The development and creation of title-specific iPhone and iPod Touch Blu-ray apps fits in nicely with Sony's vision of expanding the functionality of DB-Live to enhance the viewing experience. Sony has previously said that it wants to move beyond the physical limitations of the disc by making related content available to other devices.
Although the imminent Fast & Furious app is unlikely to make it any less bearable a film for anyone who isn't a diesel-soaked, nitrous-fuelled petrolhead, future developments and apps in this area are certain to be well worth keeping an eye on.
