EyeTV delivers live TV to iPhone - again

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 17 December 2009 09:43

Opinion and Analysis

A new feature of Elgato's EyeTV software supports live streaming to iPhones over the 3G network. Thought you'd heard that before? This time the company reckons it's found the necessary loophole.

When Elgato announced version 3.2 of EyeTV (its highly regarded TV software for Mac OS X), one of the features was the ability to stream live TV to an iPhone or iPod touch via Wi-Fi or the 3G network. The company's EyeTV for iPhone app was required at the receiving end.

But it turned out to have been a 'mistake'. A few weeks later, Elgato issued a statement that read in part "Some test code that enabled live TV streaming over the cellular network was accidentally left in the the EyeTV App. Apple requested that we remove the code since their agreement with AT&T does not allow redirecting TV signals over the cellular network."

And if users in the US couldn't have the app, Apple's attitude seemed to be that the rest of us could do without it too.

So Elgato's customers were left with a revised version of the app that streamed over Wi-Fi but not 3G.

EyeTV 3.3 (the Mac software) is now out, and provides an interesting workaround. It delivers compatibility with a new web app - EyeTV Live3G - that displays live TV within the iPhone's Safari browser.

"The web app connects your iPhone to your Mac at home. It uses state-of-the-art HTTP Live Streaming technology to deliver high quality video streams without sacrificing battery life," Elgato officials said.

There's something for the iPhone-deficient in EyeTV 3.3, so please read on.