Streaming on the iPad and iPhone - Lots of Options, Still Not Enough.

Online TV isn't  à la carte, but it sure is getting close. Even though I do pay for cable (Comcast) I still subscribe to several other online streaming services. I don't know why - I like having the option I guess. I've always been somewhat of a collector of TV stuff. I used to save the TV Guide every week when I was a little kid. I did have other books, but I liked having a stack 4 feet tall by the end of the year. But I digress.

My Monthly Subscriptions:

• Comcast Cable w/ HBO
• Netflix
• Hulu Plus
• Dish Network w/ Starz, HBO, and Cinemax
• TiVo
  

These alone provide tens of thousands of choices.

On top of that, I have apps that allow streaming from NBC, HBO GO, Cinemax GO, Epix, EyeTV, TNT, PBS, TBS, NBC, TWIT, Encore, Starz, MoviePlex, XFINITY (similar to offerings on Dish), Crackle, and a couple more.

To bring some of it under control, I use the AOL TV and Fanhattan apps on the iPad. They don't list whats on on all of these services, but they hit some of the majors - at least enough to give me a show to watch and easy access to it.

With all of these services I bet you think I'm a movie junkie or TV show junkie. I used to be when I was younger, but now I'm pretty happy to watch ESPN and The Peoples Court. And little sprinkling of Survivor, Modern Family, Fear Factor, How Stuffs Made, Big Bang Theory, and ESPN U.

Unfortunately at this time ESPN isn't streaming to my iPhone or iPad since I am a Comcast customer - this is only for a select few cable companies. The good news is that Comcast is on the list and should be offering some live streaming (at least with Disney owned networks) soon.

Hopefully Comcast will make some headway with agreements for streaming all or most of their channels within your own home, and essentially my iPad or iPhone will become a second television set. Cox Cable, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FIOS and others are already doing this. Since Comcast is behind the curve on this one, to make up for their lack of in-home streaming I currently use an EyeTV device and application to make this happen, but it's just 'ok', and doesn't provide me with the higher quality streams I would like or my premium digital channels.

Another issue is that not all of these services (I'm talking to you HULU Plus) make ALL of their content available to the app. I missed Fear Factor the other night and immediately went to Hulu Plus to watch it on my iPad. What? Streaming ONLY on the WEB (and they don't mean the iPad web)! How dare you Hulu.  I quickly resolved this issue by launching the NBC App on my iPad, and sure enough, I was able to stream it just fine. I wish all of these licensing issues and power struggles would go away. A guy can dream.

The good news is that while these services may not be providing an elegant all in one solution, they are providing something. Take for example Showtime or The Movie Channel -- I haven't seen any such offerings from them. They have an app on the App store, but it seems to be merely promotional, only offering 'clips'. This is why they are second tier channels -- and will continue to be until they get with the program (er...so to speak).

So, to recap -- I subscribe to too much TV which I don't have the time to watch. That's really the main reason I do - convenience. I want it when I want it, no matter where I am. If I can fit in an episode of Modern Family while I'm waiting for my wife in the car -- that's exactly why I pay this subscription convenience fee. Several of my online friends seem to be cutting the cord - and that is exactly why all of  the cable companies are making you stay subscribed so that you can have access to their streaming content.  No pay - no shows. I am going to cut the cord this summer -- at least for cable TV and read an iBook.

Update on Friday, January 13, 2012 at 11:43PM by jcost

I found an app that does offer Showtime streaming -- it's called the Showtime Anytime app for iPad, released January 10th,  and they also offer web access. 

I haven't tried it yet, since I don't have a Showtime subscription, however, they seem to be using Azuki Systems for delivery. 

iPhone 4S Coming to China and 21 More Countries Jan 13

More Markets = More Phone sales keeps Apple competitive.

Beginning Friday, January 13, iPhone 4S will be available in Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, China, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Guam, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, St. Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos and Uganda.

iPhone 4S comes in either black or white for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 16GB model, $299 (US) for the 32GB model and $399 (US) for the new 64GB model.* iPhone 4S is sold through the Apple Online Store, Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers. iPhone 4 is available for just $99 (US) and iPhone 3GS is available for free with a two year contract from participating carriers.

Star Wars Alert Tones - iPhone Awesomeness

As if the iPhone wasn't already amazing, they had to go and do this. Star Wars Alert tones. Awesome!!

Pricey.. But oh so much fun.

Settings -> Ringtones -> scroll all the way to the top and choose Buy More Tones!

Thanks to @katiefloyd for alerting me about this awesomeness.

iPhone Event Confirmed - October 4th

FINALLY! iPhone event confirmation - October 4th on the Apple Campus. This is actually one invite that can be somewhat deciphered. The calendar shows 'Tuesday - 4' for Oct 4th, the Clock shows '10' for a 10am event (typical of all Apple events), and the '280' on the Google Maps represents the highway next to Cupertino, Apple's HQ. The Phone emblem and the '1' isn't as clear, but it probably refers to the event title - 'Let's Talk iPhone'. Meaning - one iPhone -- not two.

Sadly, I doubt it's going to be a 4G iPhone. We don't even know if it's going to be an iPhone 5. Maybe just a slight upgrade to the iPhone 4.

I do have a feeling that Apple won't offer a 4G phone until at least 2/3 of the US providers can support it. With 4G service still not prevalent everywhere-- Verizon in over 160 markets (mine included), and AT&T in 5, and Sprint in 40.. Well, I think we will be waiting until next year.

Apple has made mention of not making compromises to go to 4G, and that probably involves waiting for a lower power consumption chipset.

Still, this iPhone will be worth the long wait -- and iOS 5 is incredible.

Print from your iPad, iPod, and iPhone on your Mac - for FREE

Printing from your iOS device can be a little mysterious. If you have a version of iOS that supports 'AirPrint', you've seen the 'Print' button. However, you click it and no printers show up. Well, thanks to a nice little exclusive agreement with HP, only select HP printers get the privilege of being able to be printed on. Apple really blew this one for the consumer.

No worries though.. some third party apps will let you use YOUR printer as long as your Mac is up and running and you have a printer(s) connected to it. .

First up is Printopia, from Ecamm. This is a great app offering more than just printing to all of your printers, it can also print a file to PDF, send it to your Dropbox, Evernote, or your Mac. You simply install the $20 app and it goes into your Mac's control panel and is instantly working. It's a breeze. I wasn't able to fully test it since my 7 day trial expired before I could write the review. Still, a good option, and I've read glowing reviews about it. Sadly, they didn't respond to my NFR request, so I couldn't give it a  good look. Originally version 1 of the App was $10. Version 2 upped the price to $20.

If FREE is more your style, and you only want to print to your printer, then all you need is AirPrint Activator from Netputing.com. This is a cool little app that will enable a Mac with OSX 10.6.5+ and iTunes 10.1+ feature to print to your printers that are connected to your Mac. Install this little app and you can print to any of your available printers.

Works great, and it's FREE. Just be sure to install the proper version for your OS. AirPrint Activator 2 (beta) is for OSX 10.5, 10.6 and 10.7 (Lion).