Time Warner Cable Now Streaming Live TV on the iPad [GigaOM]
Time Warner Cable and Comcast, the nation’s largest cable operators, have been working to bring cable programming mobile devices, starting with the iPad.
Recently, Comcast announced mobile viewing of on-demand titles through its iPad app. The app allows Comcast subscribers to view a limited number of titles from Comcast’s TV Everywhere partners. Comcast expressed interest in streaming live TV to the iPad, but has not yet made that feature available to its customers.
Time Warner Cable has now taken that step and released an iPad app that allows any Time Warner customer to stream live cable programming. The app is currently limited to streaming currently airing programs, within the customer's home. Other features like on-demand video and DVR programs could be added in the future. For now, the app is currently limited to around 30 channels that Time Warner has been able to negotiate a deal with the programmers to stream to mobile devices.
In order to use the app, the customer must be a Time Warner Cable video and broadband subscriber, and can only access the live streams over a Time Warner Cable subscriber’s Wi-Fi network. This means that the app is designed to allow customers to watch your cable content in their home.
Time Warner Cable's app is freely available on Apple's App Store. I've downloaded and will try it out sometime soon. More later.
I’m not at home now so I can’t use it until later. I live in a studio so I’m always in the tv room in my home. I think the app would be really something special if it could stream outside the home. I realize distribution rights limit that, but the app should at least be able to set the home DVR when out of the house. Logging in to the time warner site every time I want to set a recording is annoying and it gets errors more times than it actually works.
That said, I’m still happy to see TW “moving technology forward” like they keep saying they are doing.
Posted by: Time Warner Cable | Friday, March 18, 2011 at 03:14 AM
It’s a shame to see such a useful app crash like this. Streaming mobile media is definitely the future of our entertainment. I use the Remote Access app form my employer, DISH Network, to stream live TV, on demand content, and DVR recordings. It works seamlessly!
Posted by: James J | Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 07:04 PM