Comcast Labs has developed a prototype of a web-based remote control that will extend our interactive programming guide to many IP-enabled devices. The Xfinity Remote, which Brian Roberts demoed today on an iPad at the NCTA show, enables you to search for your favorite shows and movies on television and video on demand, change the channel on your cable box right from your iPad, and set your DVR remotely.

Watch the video here

The application is simple, easy-to-use and makes it easy to discover content and even chat with friends and share recommendations – making it a truly "social remote," integrated with existing social networks. It brings PCs and a variety of tablets and smartphones into an immersive video experience together with the TV, finding content in very convenient ways. It will bring a new level of personal interactivity to watching TV. It looks particularly great on the iPad because it takes advantage of the rich, graphical user interface. We’ve got developers working now to finish and launch this application. We’re building in some pretty cool social features like chat and the ability to invite friends to watch what you are viewing. This is part of our strategy to give consumers lots of simple ways to navigate the tens of thousands of choices we now offer on television and online.  Yesterday at the show Brian announced our rollout of a new library server system that will bring more than 11,000 movies On Demand to the TV, in addition to the 20,000 TV shows and movies online. With all that content we want to bring consumers smart, simple tools to navigate their entertainment choices.

Today we offer our customers other cross-platform solutions to help them find, discover and watch this content: FancastXfinityTV.com, and a Comcast iPhone app that you can download for free from the Apple app store. The Xfinity Remote takes this functionality to a whole new level.

Here’s a look at the Xfinity Remote prototype from Brian’s panel this morning in Los Angeles.