In the early part of this year IT giant Apple submitted a spec to the IETF for live streaming of multimedia content over HTTP. People immediately started anticipating that a live video protocol would soon be a pre-requisite for iPhone and iPod devices. HTTP live streaming protocol became a reality with the new 3.0 version of the iPhone OS. Though there were already a number of live video apps on the iPhone, they are definitely a lot better now.
Here is a list of some of the live TV options that are available on the iPhone. Most of these apps work best over wifi some of them won’t work at all with 3G. And it also should be known that live streaming can completely drain battery life. It is still a great option to be able to catch up with live television or out of market broadcast when you are not close to your TV.
netTV (Free/$2.99)
This one is available both in free and paid options, netTV offers live streaming access to more than 200 channels from around the world, this list also includes a large number of channels from the US. The quality is good though some of the subscribers did face some teething problems. This also varies from channel to channel. It largely depends on the source of the video stream.
TVUPlayer (Free/ $4.99)
TVUPlayer plays live TV for about 300 channels, though only a handful of channels broadcast at the right bandwidth to play well. Some of the video feeds come in choppy or have audio syncing issues (I actually couldn’t get audio to work at all), which results from the iPhone’s hardware limitations. In spite of the initial hiccups the application offers an interesting array of live international television channels, even if many of them are strange.
World View Live ($2.99)
This one is not exactly TV; in fact it is live streaming video. The application provides access to thousands of live webcams across the world. Only a handful of these are actually live video, but the application does offer an interesting but a somewhat voyeuristic view of the World.
BONUS: TELEVISION ($ 2.99)
The $2.99 application isn’t exactly live TV but it definitely offers access to an impressive line up of television video catch up services. The application which is only compatible with wifi, lets users watch on demand video from HBO, ESPN, NBC, FOX, CBS, Comedy Central, CNN, Sky and several others.
FRANCE 24 LIVE (Free)
The live application from France’s channel 24 news offers live, video-on-demand streaming from the network in French, English, and Arabic over wifi, 3G, and even Edge! Well the video quality is poor as compared to Edge. It still is unique among live video applications as it is being offered for the first time.
Al Jazeera English Live ($2.99)
Al Jazeera’s iPhone application, from Live Station, allows 24/7 live streaming of its English language news channel over wifi and 3G. It has an impressive quality and the application is being actively developed – so bugs are always dealt with. If you are on a limited bandwidth internet plan every time you stream over 3G, you take 7.2 MB of bandwidth.
BBC World News Live (€3.99)
Live station offers a live streaming video application for BBC World News but the application that costs €3.99 is available only in the UK.
MLB.com AT Bat 2009 ($9.99)
Major League Baseball’s MLB.com At Bat 2009 application may appear costly at $9.99 but its well worth it for die hard fans that want to keep up with their team or with out of market teams on the roads. The application offers live broadcasts of every game to all owners of the application and two games are offered over live video each night. For those who have subscribed to the MLB TV however they can watch these programs live over the iPhone application. The quality of the video streamed by the application is very impressive especially over wifi.
PGA Championship ($1.99)
The last of the pro golf tour’s yearly majors, the PGA championship, is next week at Hazeltine National Golf Club and the Professional Golf Association is ensuring that everyone can watch the tournament irrespective of where they are. This application gives users access to live video streams of four marquee groups (think big names like Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and Padraig Harrington) on Thursday and Friday and two more groups on the weekend this one is the third live video application issued by the PGA tour this year. They also had iPhone applications that would track the Masters tournament and the US open, and in March, CBS put out a March Madness application with live video of the year end NCAA college basketball tournament. We’d expect both organizations to do the same in 2010.
TV2 Sporten (Free)
If you are a Football aficionado then the free TV 2 Sporten application is for you. Jam packed with live news and score updates; the application also has a live video selection with goals and other game highlights. Of course, it will all make a lot more sense if you speak Norwegian.
These apps can be found in the Apple App store.
