For most apps we'd write a regular review focusing on design, usability and content but Anthony Rose's new Social TV service, Zeebox, has way too many features to fit that model. So instead, here are our first impressions of the iPad app: how it innovates, how it works and where it might need a little re-jigging.

5 Brilliant Things

1. The TV Guide

We're not usually so pithy but here there's no alternative: the Zeebox interface is gorgeous. Once you've downloaded and run the app, chosen your TV provider (currently limited to Freeview, Freesat, Sky and Virgin), region and decided whether to login with Facebook or not you're presented with a TV guide. This shows you what's playing right now on all of the channels using your set-top box in your area. Flick to the left or right with your finger and you'll see what was on before and what's on next on each individual channel. Sort by channel, popularity, what friends are watching / commenting on and genre. The interface is clean, intuitive and presents you with lots of options if you want to have a play. Which, of course, we do.

2. The Programme Page

From the TV guide you choose a show by touching it and you're into a dedicated page for that programme. And immediately there's so much to explore here: programme information, actors / presenters, a live Twitter feed, a News feed based on popular newspapers, blogs and other information sources, a popularity rating, related apps and downloads and "Live Zeetags" which reference words and phrases used in the show and which, when clicked, lead you to Wiki pages and further Twitter / News feeds. It's like having Stephen Fry sitting with you in your living room and feeding you nuggets of knowledge about what you're watching.

3. Information on Tap

As noted above, there's a wealth of information for you to literally tap into whilst viewing (or indeed, researching) a show. We predict hours of fun when your partner is watching, for example, "University Challenge" and you, because of Zeetags, can immediately look up the answers. Zeebox is also relying on currency. How many times have you seen something amazing on TV and made a mental note to look it up later? With Zeebox there's no need to wait.

4. Technology, Integration, Innovation

We find the ambition and depth of Zeebox extraordinary. The app contains data from so many sources that even if you find the experience over / underwhelming you have to congratulate Zeebox on its intent. At the same time Rose has done something genuinely innovative: combining external data with deep integration to the metadata of the show you're watching.

In plain English, every programme that appears on a VOD platform is accompanied by metadata i.e. specific text-based information about that show. This generally comes in two forms: 

a) Shotlisting: frame-by-frame or clip-by-clip commentary of what you're watching e.g. "Sir Alan Sugar points at Christopher and says "You're fired"". This kind of information is particularly useful if you're putting together a showreel and you want to find clips of Sir Alan (Lord Sugar) delivering his damnification or if you're a company like ITN and you want to make searching for footage as easy as possible.

b) Subtitles: subtitles are effectively a live text feed of what's happening in real-time. We haven't had confirmation of this from Anthony Rose but we're guessing this is how Zeebox knows, again, in real-time, where a viewer is in any given TV programme. That's how Zeetags work.

It's a brilliant use of technology.

5. Sharing & Shopping

Yes, Zeebox has lots of content discovery and knowledge functions but at heart it's an app for sharing what you're watching with your friends. Some commentators have questioned whether we need a catch-all app that aims to provide a social experience across different TV shows when Twitter and Facebook already make a decent job of it. Zeebox cleverly recognises the power of those platforms, integrates them and adds an e-commerce layer on top. If you're watching Season 1, Episode 6 of 'Life'and you want to catch up by buying the box set Zeebox takes you straight to a store that can help you. Unlike the early days of Facebook and Twitter we can immediately see how Zeebox can monetise itself.

And 5 things that need a little more work

1. It's Complicated

Not on the TV Guide page perhaps but Zeebox is undoubtedly unlike any other TV app we've ever seen. There is a lot going on; lots of options, lots of potential clicks and lots of discovery. Hmm...  No, scratch that. If anything, this is a positive. The UI is well laid-out, the screen isn't too busy (even if it does remind us a little of Sky Soccer Saturday which itself was innovative) and above all, it makes sense except...

2. Popularity

A graph appears in the bottom right-hand corner of each programme page which purports to tell us the popularity of a show. What is this based on? Number of people watching according to BARB? According to Zeebox?  It would be good to know.

3. Even Deeper Integration

Given the e-commerce options available via the apps and download functions Zeebox has a clear plan for making money. But we think there's an ever bigger opportunity if Zeebox associates the names of individual presenters / cast members with links into shopping channels like Amazon. For example, a link from "Alan Sugar" would take the user to all related DVDs on the site. Even without the shopping element, "Alan Sugar" could, at least, transport the user to the Lord Amstrad's IMDB page.

4. Sometimes you have to read the Manual

When on a dedicated programme page like "The One Show" we were presented with the option to invite some friends to watch with us. We chose said friends and clicked 'Invite' only to be shown a dialogue that said that we couldn't invite friends to watch until we selected a TV show. Huh? We also had a few minor problems connecting via Facebook and getting the Twitter feed to load but again, these seem to have resolved themselves after a few attempts.

5. Connected TV Not Connecting

When testing Zeebox we were in an environment that contained a Sony Bravia internet TV. In theory this meant that we should have been able to use the Zeebox iPad app as a remote control for the television set. Unfortunately, Zeebox didn't recognise it or even acknowledge it. That's a shame.

Conclusion

If you work in VOD, IPTV or Connected TV you have to download this app and give it a go just so you can get a sense of how good it is. From a consumer perspective we can imagine it being less attractive - primarily through complexity but also because crucial other data sources like newspaper's own live TV blogs and minute-by-minute reports need integrating. Overall however we think Zeebox is a superb app.