tv - 6/6 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Apr

[New App] HBO GO Lands In The Android Market, Now You Can Watch True Blood Anywhere

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

If you're an HBO subscriber and just can't get enough TV, then I've got good news for you! HBO has just released its official watch-it-on-the-go Android App, HBO GO. Of course, you have to be an HBO customer in order to use this app, but that's the only prerequisite as far as I can tell.

The app allows you to watch all of your favorite HBO content directly on your mobile device, including movies and HBO original content. It should work on 3G, 4G, and WiFi, but unfortunately it is limited to US customers at this time.

That's not the only downside, either.

Feb

Comcast Releases XFINITY TV - Its 2nd Android App, This Time Targeted Exclusively At TV

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News

Earlier today, Comcast dropped its 2nd mobile app for Android into the Android Market, the direction of which puzzled even me - and I work for a Comcast-owned company. The new app, XFINITY TV, is clearly targeted at TV viewers, while the previous app called XFINITY Mobile was a more general application for address book management, SmartZone email, Digital Voice, and... TV, DVR, and On Demand.

Wait, what? Did Comcast just release a separate app that does pretty much the same thing its existing app that's been on the Market for a few months does plus a tiny bit more? Let's see - both apps let you:

browse local TV listings
schedule DVR recordings and
fiddle with On Demand

The only things the new XFINITY TV app has that the previous app doesn't have seem to be:

changing channels on your TV (forgot your remote?)
*maybe* throw up On Demand content directly onto your TV from your phone (not sure - haven't tried this yet, but the description seems to imply so)

That is pretty much it.

Jan

Videosurf Will Bring Video Recognition To Your Cell Phone; "It's Like Shazam, But For Video."

Posted by Brad Ganley in Applications, Apps/Games, News, Videos

With all the mind-blowing news coming in from CES 2011, it's easy to forget that interesting and innovative things are coming from other sources at the same time. Here is one of those sources.

A new service somewhat reminiscent of Shazam and Sound Hound has surfaced on our radar, but with one major distinction: this app does videos. Using proprietary algorithms and software (read: magic), newcomer Videosurf will not only help you identify what T.V. show or movie you're watching, but what episode you're looking at, summaries, actors, actor information, and all kinds of information you didn't know you were missing out on right there on your cell phone.

Jan

Panasonic Reveals Viera Tablet, Comes In Three Convenient Sizes

Posted by Nate Kimmey in News, Panasonic, Tablets

The latest manufacturer to show off an Android tablet at CES is Panasonic, whose Viera tablet will be released in three sizes: 4", 7" and 10". The three versions of the tablet, all physically identical except for the size, are all designed for use with a television, much akin to the recently announced Vizio phone and tablet.

Through Viera Connect, users will be able to stream movies on-demand and even use the screens on your TV and tablet together to watch sports at two different angles; naturally, the Viera tablet can also be used as a remote. No word on pricing, release date, or specs yet, but details on a Japan launch are expected to be revealed soon.

Jan

Comcast: Streaming Of Live And On-Demand Content Coming To Android Tablets Later This Year

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in News, Tablets

Android isn't exactly the most media-centric smartphone OS, but that may change soon, with the introduction of Honeycomb and more third-party media stores (like Samsung's Media Hub).

The latest development comes from Comcast, who is, apparently, planning to bring both live and On Demand content to Android tablets (and iPads) across the nation. The company hasn't announced much yet, but from the looks of it, we can expect to see an app (or a tablet-optimized website) that will allow users to watch live news, TV shows, and movies right on their favorite Android tablet.

Great, but before getting too excited, I'd like to know how much Comcast plans to charge for this - that trivial piece of information somehow escaped the press release (which can be found below).

Dec

Tunerfish Releases Android App, Aims To Be FourSquare For TV, Movies, And Videos (Complete With A Back Story - Read It)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News

Tunerfish, which dubs itself "a social discovery engine for TV, movies, and online video," released version 1.0 of its Android app to the Market today.

The idea behind Tunerfish is similar to the one behind 4square, only if you replaced locations with TV shows, movies, and online videos. In order to use Tunerfish, you can create an account or log in using Facebook or Twitter. Once logged in, you can:

see what your friends are watching in real-time
see what they were watching in the past
check out trending shows, movies, and videos, i.e. what's being watched now by everyone
earn badges and awards
participate in discussions, view profiles
check in and share what you are watching on Tunerfish, Facebook, and Twitter

You can read more about Tunerfish here.

Nov

Google TV: Now With 95% Less TV, Thanks To Networks

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, Google TV, News

Looks like Google is hitting roadblocks at every turn with their eponymous TV hardware - which is really a shame, given just how much potential it seems to have. A few weeks ago, the major networks decided to start blocking Google TVs from accessing their content, whether it was via their proprietary feeds (i.e. ABC.com) or directly through Hulu. Just about the only method of streaming left was Fancast (which actually backdoors content from Hulu). But no more: the door has been shut, with few options left for users.

While Google TV's capabilities extend far beyond simply streaming content, that's doubtless its biggest selling point - especially in an age where most content is available on demand online, with fewer ads and minimal delay.

Oct

Broadcast Networks Block Google TV, Stay Stuck In The '90s

Posted by Brad Ganley in Google TV, Internet TV, Logitech, News, Sony

Google TV hasn't been in the wild for long, but major content providers like ABC, CBS, and NBC are already blocking their content from Google's awesome little TV companion. This, as you might have guessed, sucks.

With the advent of TV on the Internet, broadcasters have shown us time and time again that they just aren't ready to embrace the fact that we can get their content from sources other than our TVs. Luckily, says Reuters, Google is reported to be in active negotiations with the networks to get this content back on. As I'm sure you've guessed already, that essentially means that Google is figuring out how much money the networks are going to demand.

Oct

[Quick Hands-On] Sony Releases Crackle For Android: Stream TV & Movies To Your Android Device

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, News

Sony's Crackle app has landed in the Android Market, and brings streaming of original shorts, TV shows, and movies to Android. The app is free, but requires a premium subscription to view TV shows and movies. At $5/month, the premium content isn't necessarily expensive, but after quickly running through the app, I'd have to say it's probably not worth it unless you're pretty desperate.

A word on the app itself: it's small, installs quickly, and runs smoothly. I still think it's lame that there's no better solution to purchasing the premium content than paying as though it were a separate app, but that's not really Sony's fault I suppose.

Oct

Google Announces Boatload Of New Partners For Google TV

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Apps/Games, Google, Google TV, News

According to Google’s announcement today, it seems that content providers really, really like the idea of Google TV – which is a good sign, as content can often make or break new platforms. Specifically, Google say they've "been overwhelmed by interest from partners on how they can use the Google TV platform." And by "partners," they mean a fairly significant number of big players:

Turner Broadcasting has been hard at work optimizing some of their most popular websites for viewing on Google TV, including TBS, TNT, CNN, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, available anytime through Google TV.

NBC Universal has collaborated with Google TV to bring CNBC Real-Time, an application that allows you to track your favorite stocks and access news feeds while enjoying the best financial news from CNBC directly on the TV screen.