That is right, a new iPhone App we probably won’t see at the App Store comes to us from the mind of Joss Whedon and company embedded in the new web smash vlog, Dr. Horrible. Starring the iPhone carrying “Barney” from How I met your mother, Neil Patrick Harris sports another iPhone, this time for remote control of a van. Clearly, the App controls the vehicle’s direction and lights. Perhaps other functions, such as radio controls can be found by searching?
The iPhone App is just one of the charms to be found in the Whedon’s creation that chronicles the attempts of budding evil scientist bent on attracting the attention of a girl in the laundromat. And it is cleverly done in a musical fashion. Harris is fantastic in the character.
Whedon is the force behind Buffy The Vampire Slayer among others and has made a bold stab here at defining a new way to profitably. In a mix of 3 free web episodes (all being released this week), then iTunes downloads, then a DVD packed with extras, Whedon hopes to turn the industry on its collective ear. This concept came to him during a moment of clarity in the writers strike.
Shot on a shoestring budget, paying the actors and crew nothing, Whedon hopes sales will support him paying off the team. And interesting gamble for sure. If episode one is any indicator, they’ve got a winner on their hands, as I enjoyed it.
Will it be the next big thing in entertainment? Check out the interview over at Wired.
Read [Wired] Or watch the episode [Dr. Horrible]
its a web app, you can tell because it has an empty url bar, and has the normal safari buttons on the bottom