By Peter Covino
Lifestyles Editor

Remember how great it was to stay up an extra hour or two by turning the volume way down on the bedroom TV set (and maybe lower the brightness a bunch) and fool mom on a school night?

I slept through many an early class from all that late night TV watching (but it has helped immeasurably in my knowledge of worthless TV and movie trivia).

The detective work of moms all over Osceola County has just been dealt another serious blow: Bright House Networks TV app is now available for iPhone and select Android devices.

Yes, if you are a kid living in Osceola County and mom and dad subscribe to Bright House Networks and you have an iPhone or compatible Android, you can watch anything the parents are watching on the big screen set in the living room (and even those things you are not supposed to watch).

Hint: You might want keep the phone screen under the blankets and use those ear buds.

The app is free, and I gave it a quick run through right after I got that email announcement about the app from Bright House.

All my channels, including the premium movie ones, were readily available and looked quite good on my Galaxy Nexus. I don’t have an iPhone, but I do have an iTouch which has the same size screen and TV viewing is much better on the Nexus thanks to its larger screen.

Set-up is a breeze. Simply download the app from Google Play or the iTunes app store. Once downloaded, tap the icon and type in you’re My Services username and password.

The Bright House TV app will work with any iPad, iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4 or any Android wireless device with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) operating system: Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Motorola Xoom or Asus Eee Pad tablet.

You do need to have a strong home signal for the app to work properly.

It would be great if you could take your Bright House connection with you so you can watch all your favorite shows anywhere, like while waiting for a connection at the airport. But it only works at home. Maybe some day.

But you can take your HB0 and Cinemax subscription with you anywhere you have  a wifi connection or 3G or 4G service on  your smart phone (not all phones are compatible)  with the apps available for the premium networks. HB0 Go and Max Go are great and if you subscribe to the channels you really should have the apps on your laptop and other portable devices. There is much more available on the “Go” services than you will find “On Demand.”    

With Bright House Networks recent announcement that it has joined with other major cable providers and expanding free WiFi locations for customers nationwide, the smart phone and other portable devices have gotten even more indispensable.

Currently there are 2,000 WiFi hotspots available for subscribers to the participating cable networks and more are on the way. The new hotspot network is called CableWiFi  SSID and is available to subscribers of Bright House Networks, Cablevision, Comcast, Cox Communications, and Time Warner Cable. There are more than 50,000 WiFi hotspots nationwide.

Xbox

Bright House has also just announced Xbox Live Gold members will be able to access the ESPN  networks on their recievers.

As part of Microsoft’s keynote at E3 in Los Angeles, ESPN and Microsoft tannounced they have expanded their relationship for ESPN on Xbox LIVE to add WatchESPN as part of the service.  

According to the Bright House press release the extended agreement will deliver authenticated versions of ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNU and ESPN Buzzer Beater/Goal Line to Xbox LIVE Gold members who receive their video subscription from Bright House Networks.

Beginning later this year, ESPN on Xbox LIVE will deliver HD-quality live programming and events from WatchESPN through its unique interactive sports viewing experience.  Fans will be able to access popular shows like SportsCenter, SportsNation, First Take, NFL Live, Baseball Tonight, College GameDay and others as well as live events from the NFL, MLB, NBA, soccer, tennis, golf, motor sports and more.

All Xbox LIVE Gold members will be able to access customized ESPN.com video-on-demand clips and sports highlights.  Additional features include personalized sport and team settings, split screen viewing, voice and gesture control with the power of Kinect for Xbox 360, the ability to set reminders, receive live alerts, breaking news from ESPN BottomLine and more.

Launched in April 2011, WatchESPN delivers live access to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN Buzzer Beater/Goal Line on PCs.smartphones and tablets to fans who receive ESPN’s linear networks as part of their video subscription from Bright House Networks. The service is now available to approximately 40 million households nationwide, and the app has been downloaded more than 8.9 million times since its launch and is steadily growing.  It is available free for Android devices from the Google Play store and for Apple devices from the App Store, as well as online via WatchESPN.com.

LinkedIn

So did you change your LinkedIn password?

I got one of those email notices yesterday (Wednedsay) to do so, and it isn’t some kind of scam.

There was a major password compromise at the LinkendIn site this week causing the website to send out the emails. Apparently millions of accounts were compromised so the business professional network sent out the emails to those who may have been affected.

The website is investigating. If you got one of the emails, resetting is pretty easy.

The email explains how to reset the password (the old account password is no longer valid).    There will not be any links in this email. Once you follow this step and request password assistance, then you will receive an email from LinkedIn with a password reset link.

It is a quick process.

These affected members will receive a second email from our Customer Support team providing a bit more context on this situation and why they are being asked to change their passwords.

It is worth noting that the affected members who update their passwords and members whose passwords have not been compromised benefit from the enhanced security we just recently put in place, which includes hashing and salting of our current password databases.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this has caused our members. We take the security of our members very seriously. If you haven’t read it already it is worth checking out my earlier blog post today about updating your password and other account security best practices.