Find out more about the software and Applications that are part of an ever expanding mobile TV world.
App Stores
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Android Market is an online software store developed by Google for Android devices. Most Android devices have a preinstalled App called Market that allows users to browse and download apps published by third-party developers. Numerous mobile TV Apps are hosted here.
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The service allows users to browse applications on the iTunes Store that can be downloaded directly to an iOS device, PC or Mac via iTunes. A variety of mobile TV Apps are available for download.
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BlackBerry App World is an application distribution service and application by RIM (Research In Motion). The service provides BlackBerry users with an environment to browse, download, and update third-party applications. A variety of mobile TV Apps are hosted on the service.
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Although Nokia now use Windows Phone as their primary Operating system, the Ovi store will still cater to present and future Symbian phones. A variety of mobile TV Apps are available for download.
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Windows Phone Marketplace is managed by Microsoft and is accessible using the Zune software client or the marketplace hub on devices. A variety of mobile TV Apps are available for download.
Featured Software and Apps
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One to watch
Fuugo is a TV and video application for mobile devices that seamlessly integrates support for all the broadcast TV standards with Internet TV, online video and social media services. Consumers enjoy a consistent user interface across devices that presents a unique user-centric viewing experience for easy personalized content discovery, recommendations and sharing.
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FreeBe TV is as the name suggests a free mobile TV service. Providing the viewer has a data package in their mobile tariff or is watching over Wi-Fi, FreeBe is free to view.
The website details the channels available on this service and once registered you are free to view on your mobile or PC.
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Peel is an App that turns your Apple iOS or Android devices into a universal remote control and TV guide that works with virtually any home theatre system. The App makes it easy to find and discover new TV shows and instead of a lengthy channel grid, Peel presents an easy-to-use mosaic of your favourite shows, filtered by type and genre in the order you like.
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ROK TV is an application that you can download and install on your Mobile that allows you to watch Freeview television on your mobile over a standard 2.5G signal, 3G or Wi-Fi on any network. Check the website for channel line up and availability. The ROK Entertainment Group offer a diverse range of mobile entertainment services both free and subscription based which are available through several major carriers worldwide.
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SPB TV offers quick and easy access to 150+ live channels from 20+ countries as well as Video-on-Demand services. Features like instant channel preview, picture-in-picture mode for quick browsing, and integrated TV guide make SPB TV a perfect product for watching live TV on just about any mobile device and there's no subscription fee!
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Yamgo allows you to watch free live TV and video on your mobile phone, iPad and other portable devices. The service works on almost all mobile phone networks and mobile devices. It's like an App except there is no application to download and the technology adapts the quality of the video stream to deliver an optimised TV experience.
In Links
So what's an App?
An app (application) is a piece of software that can be run over the Internet, on your computer, phone or other electronic device.
Mobile TV Apps have worked wonders for streaming TV and video-on-demand but they are not perfect.
Advantages
Streaming TV over the Internet and cellular networks is global and by nature of the technology, interactive. Mobile TV Apps can leverage that to provide highly interactive features such as video-on-demand, chat over TV and more whilst accessing digital TV channels from all over the world and turning them into mobile channels.
Disadvantages
Any kind of video is hungry on bandwidth, which can be particularly problematic for cellular networks where bandwidth is limited. The alternative to streaming is broadcast, where bandwidth is not an issue, but lacks interactivity. As mobile digital broadcast and tuners become more widespread, Apps harnessing the strengths of both systems will become more widespread, easing the bandwidth burden and giving the best of both worlds.
Browser Extensions
Plug-ins are available that allow you to watch TV directly from your Web Browser, they are usually free and easy to use. Once installed you can choose from thousands of channels streamed over the Internet, sorted by country and category - all accessible by clicking on one small icon or link added to your browser toolbar or menu.
Possibly the easiest way to get a TV plug-in is to do a search, the search term should include your browser name followed by something like TV extension, TV add-on or TV plug-in.
The Challenge for Video Streaming
YouTube accounts for 10% of all internet traffic with over 2 billion views per day and 24 hours worth of video uploaded every minute.
In the United States video-streaming service Netflix regularly accounts for near on a quarter of all downstream Internet traffic, making Netflix the single biggest source of internet traffic in the U.S
In the UK, bandwidth consumption with the ever popular BBC iPlayer has been the source of some commotion between the BBC and ISPs over who should pay for upgrades to the UK's broadband network to meet the increasing demand for video content.
With thousands of video streaming services world wide, it's not difficult to see why networks are challenged to handle increasing demand.