Live And On Demand TV Comes To Your iPhone With MobiTV
While the app is free to download, to get the full MobiTV experience will require in app purchases to subscribe to the service. Expect to pay $9.99 a month, $24.99 for 3 months or $44.99 for 6 months.
The free version of MobiTV will provide access to one live channel (ABC News) and dozens of on demand clips that range from movie trailers, news clips and snippets from shows and cartoons. The shows do stream on 3G but the image quality will vary depending on your coverage with AT&T. Here in the Bay Area, it did tend to feel a bit jerky at times. WiFi was optimal with much sharper quality.
The app's user interface is familiar to anyone that has used the on screen channel guide on a television. Shows can be accessed using the standard programming grids and tapping the screen can bring up the scrubber to fast forward or rewind through on demand content. Thumbnails at the bottom of the screen provide access to other shows within a given category.
The content lineup for MobiTV is pretty vast if you're willing to pay for monthly service. At $9.99 a month or if you think about it at 33 cents a day, getting this type of entertainment during a train or bus commute to work or killing time while waiting in a doctor's office can be fairly appealing. Fortunately the app is free to download so give it a try and see if the cost and programming lineup fits your needs.