Sky Sports F1 HD channel launches on new Sky Sports for iPad app

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Sky Sports News for iPad becomes Sky Sports for iPad and adds an F1 HD channel full of content

Sky today launched its Sky Sports F1 HD multiplatform coverage with the first look at the F1 content coming to the new Sky Sports for iPad app.

Previously Sky Sports News for iPad, the new Sky Sports for iPad app includes a new Sky Sports F1 HD channel that's bursting with Formula 1 content.

The Sky Race Control hub can deliver up to ten feeds of live content, accesible via the iPad app as well as via the red button for on Sky TV.

And for the first time, the first choice red button feed will also be available in HD, provided you have an HD subscription.

Alongside live broadcasts of all the Sky Sports channels, the Sky Sports for iPad app's F1 channel allows you to flick between live coverage, constantly updating highlights reels, pit cameras, race information, statistics and more.

There will be a live social media bar pulling in content from Twitter, initially powered by the ScribbleLive platform though Sky is looking at integrating Zeebox, too.

The update for the Sky Sports for iPad app is set to go live on the Apple App Store in time for the first race, the Australian Grand Prix on the Sunday 18th March. The Sky Sports F1 HD channel goes live on Sky channel 408 on Friday 9th March.

The app is available free and, as with Sky Go, the content is dependent on your subscription, so you will need to take both Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 or the HD pack of channels to get Sky Sports F1 HD.

There's currently no option to buy access to the content on the Sky Sports for iPad app without a subscription to the relevant channels.

Sky told us it is working on an Android version of the Sky Sports app but couldn't put a date on when this, or a similar version for iPhone and iPod Touch, might be ready.

We also got a sneak preview of multi-screen viewing on the Sky Sports for iPad app, allowing you to view a number of feeds simultaneously on the iPad.

This element of the app is in development but is expected to go live and be available later this F1 season.

David Croft, Sky's new F1 commentator, said it was about "letting the viewer be the director".

"It's also about making F1 sexy," he said. "It's going to be a different year for F1."

The Sky Sports for iPad has also had a redesign, with a new look to the main hub of sports content. All the changes will go live in the update, which is currently going through the Apple approval process but is expected to be live any day.

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Joe Cox
Joe Cox
Content Director

Joe is the Content Director for What Hi-Fi? and Future’s Product Testing, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for almost 20 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff, and the Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).