This morning I got a press release forwarded to me from Patrick (copy paste of that after the jump). Usually they hit the trash pile pretty quickly for any number of reasons, but this one I kept around and took a look at mainly because I’ve been using Spb apps for a looong time. So, without further ado, here’s my quick look at SPB TV Free.
My first thought was – Wow… that took em long enough. Maybe they’ll have an iPad version by Next summer. I love the Spb guys but they move like molasses sometimes. I know, I know, that’s mean. But in all honesty this shouldn’t have been a long time coming project for them. They’ve got other iPhone apps in the store so they know the code, and they’re really just accessing publicly available tv streams so there wasn’t an infrastructure to build. But anyway.. That’s just me and too little coffee speaking.
Hit the jump – you’re gonna love this next part
My second thought after making my way to the app store and downloading the app was – I’m not liking this already. The first thing that happens when you open the app (for the first time and every time after) is an Authentication page. It has a spot for your email address, gender and birthday. Doesn’t both to say WTF you’re logging into or why they want it. Now I’m ok with having a registration page, and I’m ok with giving up some minor amounts of information if it helps bring a better product out, but at the same time if some stranger comes up to me on the street and asked me for this info I’d tell him to kick rocks. That’s exactly how this authentication screen felt. Like some creepy dude coming up and asking how old I was and if I like chicken. 🙂
Needless to say I hit the skip button.
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They’ve got a good number of stations but it’s like regular cable – 100 stations but nuthin on. Well, ok its fascinating if you like weather cameras from cities you don’t live in! So far there’s a couple (old as in dirt) movie channels, a ton of public access channels, news (only breaking) channels, cspan and bloomberg. Beyond that its religion and languages I don’t speak. In other words – Don’t get rid of your Dish yet.
But I will say it beats the ABC, Hulu, Netflix, etc apps that don’t exist on your iPhone! Look, here’s the deal. SPB TV Free is a great way to waste some time while you’re sitting on the couch at your in-laws, wishing armed gunmen would storm the house, shoot up the place and end your suffering. But, Dish Network it is not.
So, final judgement. I will be keeping SPB TV Free installed on my phone. Which I know after all the ripping on it I’ve done is going to have some of you scratching your heads. Here’s why: News. There’s about 6-10 breaking news stations in this app, and when the fit hits the shan I quickly turn into some kind of crazed news-crack junkie. So SPB TV has a spot on the phone. But it definitely isn’t first page material.
============ Press Release ============
***************************************** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Press-Release. SPB TV: The Easiest to Use Mobile TV Comes to iPhone You can find this press-release online: http://www.spb.com/press/pressreleases/2010/apr02.html Press-release picture: http://www.spb.com/about/pressreleases/images/spb_tv_iphone.png SPB TV for iPhone product page: http://www.spb.com/iphone-software/tv/ SPB TV for iPhone screenshots: http://www.spb.com/iphone-software/tv/screenshots.html ****************************************** April 2nd, 2010 - SPB Software, a leading mobile applications and games developer announces the release of SPB TV for iPhone which is becoming SPB Software's flagship application for this enormously popular mobile platform. SPB TV for iPhone is a freeware mobile IPTV viewer with TV-like usability, created for tuning in to publicly available digital TV channels from all over the world. SPB TV for iPhone presents exclusive and patent-pending usability innovations and gives the mobile subscribers easy access to over a hundred and twenty of TV channels in more than 20 languages, directly from their phones. The application supports must-have TV features, such as a TV browser with quick channel previews, an instantly accessible TV guide for all offered channels, quick channel switching and more. It's worth noting that a TV application developed by SPB Software has been available to to the Singaporean market via mobile operator StarHub (http://spb.com/oems/casestudies/starhub-tv.html) with a different pack of channels for about a week now, and since its launch has reached number one most downloaded app in "Free apps" category. SPB Software believes this achievement reflects the true potential of SPB TV for iPhone. With the arrival of SPB TV for iPhone, SPB Software expands the list of supported platforms (including also Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Symbian), at the same time starting a new line of TV 2.0 apps - free-of-charge, no-subscription-fee programs supported with advertising revenues. Ads in SPB TV 2.0 are still and unobtrusive, lasting only the amount of time necessary to buffer the stream when starting a channel. ********* PICTURE HERE ********* *** SPB TV for iPhone Main Features: *** - Quick channel preview (picture-in-picture) - Integrated TV guide - Video-on-demand - A wide selection of public TV channels - Adaptive network bandwidth control *** Pricing and Availability *** SPB TV for iPhone is compatible with Apple iPhone, Apple iPod touch and Apple iPad devices with firmware version 3.0 and above. The application can be downloaded from AppStore for free, there is also no monthly subscription fee. The application is ad-supported: an advertisement is shown while the stream is buffering when user opens a channel. *** About SPB Software (www.spb.com) *** SPB is a leading brand in mobile software, standing for a unique line of popular consumer products and partnerships with the world's most innovative handset makers and wireless carriers. SPB's software solutions deliver richer smartphone experiences and enable subscribers to do more with their mobile data connections. SPB Software is the maker of the world's single number one bestselling mobile application - SPB Mobile Shell. For more information, please visit www.spb.com. Follow SPB Software on Twitter: http://twitter.com/spb_software Connect with SPB Software on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/spbsoftware Subscribe to SPB news via RSS: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/spbnews
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