Comcast Mobile is an application for the iPhone and iPod Touch that finally brings some purpose to Comcast email and enhances services like digital voice and On Demand. The app is clean, straightforward and actually useful, but it lacks one major feature.
Most of the features found in this application have already been in use on Comcast.net, the command center for all your digital voice, television and email needs. But, really, who uses Comcast email? Who even visits Comcast.net? Now, with Comcast Mobile, these features are with you wherever you go. From inside the app you can check your Comcast email, view your address book, listen to your voicemail and check what\'s on TV or On Demand.
From your inbox, you can view your email messages or listen to your voicemail. The UI here is intuitive and each area is easily accessible. You can even compose your own email message right from inside the application. Folder management is also readily available, as well as search. The address book can sync all your contacts from your phone and your Comcast.net account. Adding or marking contacts as favorites are easily done from this page.
The digital voice page has both positive and negative aspects to it. Here, you can see all your outgoing and missed calls from your home phone line. But, it doesn\'t seem to stay up to date even after manually refreshing. For example, it may show all your calls from yesterday, but not today. One really great feature in the digital voice page is the ability to forward your calls to whatever number you\'d like. After setting it up with your desired phone number, all you need to do is tap the on/off button to make all your home calls forward to your iPhone. This is by far my favorite feature.
The last two pages of the app are the TV Guide for your local Comcast service and the On Demand guide. The TV Guide is a standard look at your channel lineup and tapping on a show will offer more information and additional showtimes. You can also add a show to your favorites and share program information through email. The On Demand guide is actually really nice. The top of the screen displays all new programming that\'s On Demand in cover flow. You can swipe your finger left or right and the preview images rotate around smoothly, just like iTunes. All the other available programs are listed by category and tapping on an image will play a preview trailer. While playing trailers, I did experience a bug that kept playing the rest of the trailer\'s audio even after I selected "done" and came back to the app\'s main screen.
The main feature that\'s missing in this application is what every Comcast customer has been dying for, the ability to remotely control their Comcast DVR. Other companies already let you set your DVR to record shows right from your iPhone. Comcast really needs to incorporate that feature into this application if they want to compete.
If you are a Comcast customer that has all three services, phone, cable and internet, then this app is a must. It will actually get you to start using your Comcast email address. You\'ll definitely love the call forwarding feature and if you like the TV guide, then you won\'t need that other TV guide app you currently have on your device. It\'s a well executed iPhone application that I strongly recommend trying out.
