I imagine that every service provider will soon be enabling remote control capabilities on smartphones and tablet computers; it just seems that Verizon's FiOS is ahead of the curve...as usual. The company reports that its Mobile Remote application is now available on more than forty devices.

The FiOS TV Mobile Remote app can be downloaded to Apple’s iPhone and iPod devices and will soon be available for download on tablet devices. Mobile Remote - which launched in February on DROID by Motorola - is also available on every device running Android software v.2.1 or above that supports Wi-Fi.

Verizon’s suite of applications is available for download - at no additional cost - in the Verizon Wireless Media Store, the Android Market, Apple’s App Store and BlackBerry App World. After just one year in the market, both Verizon’s DVR Manager, which lets customers manage DVR settings via their smart phone, and Mobile Remote have been downloaded more than 500,000 times.

In our Broadband, Communications & Entertainment Bundles study (press release here), we find that one-third of consumers in U.S. broadband households are highly interested in such a feature. So, yes, this one is going to be a difference-maker.