Where is video (tv/movie) streaming heading - thoughts?

[sseelman]

Let me say up front that my personal interest is in the streaming of traditional (classic or new) TV shows and movies. If I want to watch a clip of something - I go to Youtube. I have been intently following the progress of i.TV and Joost when it comes to the streaming of video.

So far, we only seem to have Joost. As many of us know, Joost has had a rough start. It would not work at all for me when it first came out. for some unknown reason, it has started to function for me in the last few days. Maybe an update has made to the server. No client update yet, although they sure need one. Beside the obvious bux fixes that are needed, I would like to see a big improvement in how content is displayed in searches/browsing. It is too hard to tell if something is a clip or a full show. It also needs additional TV and movie content.

As far as i.TV goes, we should know more in the next couple of days as their new update comes online. I am hoping for something great like built-in Hulu or Netflix instant watch. Only time will tell. I will comment more when it is released. Keep your fingers crossed.

And last, but not least, could Hulu or Netflix be considering their own streaming client? I have no information, but it would be great.

Does anyone know anything more about this or have thoughts on the whole tv/movie streaming issue?

 

[notintheleast]

I read on these forums somewhere a while ago that Hulu said it was not going to be creating an iPhone optimized site any time soon. That was a while ago, so things may have changed, but I doubt it.

If the iPhone got flash this would solve all of these problems. I hope that this is the case, and not a switch over to h264. While I like good quality videos, it doesn't really matter to me too much on the 3" screen. Not only that, but imagine trying to steam an episode of a tv show in high res h264 on edge... It would be much quicker with lesser quality videos.

I, personally, am waiting for orb to release their client for mac, as I would like to watch live tv on my phone as well.

 

[sseelman]

I read on these forums somewhere a while ago that Hulu said it was not going to be creating an iPhone optimized site any time soon. That was a while ago, so things may have changed, but I doubt it.

If the iPhone got flash this would solve all of these problems. I hope that this is the case, and not a switch over to h264. While I like good quality videos, it doesn't really matter to me too much on the 3" screen. Not only that, but imagine trying to steam an episode of a tv show in high res h264 on edge... It would be much quicker with lesser quality videos.

I, personally, am waiting for orb to release their client for mac, as I would like to watch live tv on my phone as well.

I hope that Hulu changes it's mind. But, we will see. i.TV has been promising something good, so I expect that they will be getting their content from some source. We;ll see soon.

I am not sure ORB-type products would work well for me. But, not sure.

 

[sseelman]

Wow - I am surprised there has not been much activity with this thread. I think a good release of stream app technology will get people moving on this topic again. Where the heck is the i.TV update anyway???? I know - it is in Apples's review process. I am impatient. What can I say?

 

[bowens]

NBC has a pretty decent iPhone version of their site with full episodes on it. The quality is pretty good. It is a little slow loading on Edge but not bad on Wifi.

 

[sseelman]

NBC has a pretty decent iPhone version of their site with full episodes on it. The quality is pretty good. It is a little slow loading on Edge but not bad on Wifi.

Oh - I did not know about that. What is the URL? Thanks.

Update: Nevermind - I found it. Thanks. Pretty limited, but it is something.

 

[sseelman]

New video app called "Television" now available - read disclaimer before buying

As an FYI, this is a cross-post.....

Before you download this app, please carefully read their disclaimer in the App Store. I will admit that they are honest about hat it does. That is a good thing.

Instead of the makers of the app actually streaming any video themselves, they basically have developed a program guide to some apparently iPhone-friendly web sites that actually hold video. So, you are basically paying $3.99 to link to other sites that are already available. Wow - what a deal. I would have been fine if they would have offered this for free, but it is a joke to offer this for $3.99.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=299871806&mt=8