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Time Warner iPad app draws fire for live TV streaming

By: , IntoMobile
Thursday, March 17th, 2011 at 10:48 AM
Time Warner iPad app draws fire
Time Warner iPad app draws fire

The Time Warner iPad app allows you to use your tablet as a remote but it also streams live digital TV to your Apple tablet. Well, you know that must cheese off some cable networks and the company is facing a bit of heat, reports say.

According to The New York PostThe New York Post, cable networks like Viacom and Discovery are reportedly furious because it doesn’t think the Time Warner iPad app has the proper rights and licenses for streaming live TV on the go. If you’re wondering what that means, welcome to the wonderful world of content distribution.

The reason why certain movies and shows aren’t ubiquitous online is because content owners like to create new licensing agreements for every freaking thing. For example, streaming a show in a mobile distribution isn’t the same as streaming it in a browser on the desktop or on your tablet.

Having live streaming TV is a major advantage for the Time Warner iPad app, as none of the competitors do this – to be clear, you also have to be a Time Warner cable subscriber. Competitors like the Xfinity program will give you on-demand videos but you can’t get live TV, which is awesome for things like sports, news or just flipping around.

I’m not a subscriber of this cable company, so I haven’t had a chance to get some hands-on experience but I believe that this will be the future on all tablets, so content owners and app distributors will work something out. I am a bit surprised that the Time Warner iPad app hit with questions about the licensing still up in the air but that should be negotiated soon.

Any of you out there using this app to stream live TV? Let us know how it works and what you think in the comments below.

About The Author

Marin Perez

Marin Perez has torture tested cell phones and smartphones for industry leaders like CNET and InformationWeek. He remembers when 4G was just a screen on PowerPoint presentations and is fascinated with the amount of innovation out there. Marin has spent a lot of time with BlackBerry and Android but he finally broke down a bought an iPhone to see what all the hype's about. He also has too many tablets.

  • http://twitter.com/a1by Alberto Plantilla

    Does the business model of controlling distribution still work?

  • JC in NC

    This is EASILY the coolest thing on my new iPad 2!! I LOVE IT! Dudes, the picture looks so damn clear (it is HD, so I guess it should)! Way to look out TW Cable! I’d pay a little extra/month so the pansy assed producers can get their cut. Esp if they allow this app on my iPhone and I could rock this app actually on the go.

  • Nicole

    I noticed that your article mentioned nothing about DISH Network’s Sling Adapter. I’ve been watching live TV and my DVR recordings on my iPad and my Smartphone since last year. DISH has accomplished TV everywhere and the beauty of it is that ALL the programming that a customer is subscribed to can be watched and not just a small handful of channels. I can be anywhere geographically and with the help of a little high-speed internet I’m watching TV as it airs. I work as an advance tech support agent for DISH so I know that what TWC and Xfinity offer is only a chip off of what DISH has already perfected.

    • ACB

      Thanks Nicole for explaining that this concept I had is possible. I am looking into your company now for service.

      I don’t get what is up these peoples but. Anyone savvy gets their TV on demand via torrents already anyhow, as to have a great commercial free on demand experience. Shows are up sometimes minutes after they air and take only another2 to get. If these guys want to get with the times and compete and have their advertisers be actually viewed, they need to start streaming yesterday. Jon Stewart is a great example of how to present a show online, however just last month switched to torrenting that because they went from 1 commercial to like 4.

  • Jjortiz

    The application is great. Not all channels are on yet but I see them coming in the future. The only tying I really don’t like is that you have to be on time Warner wifi.. So you have to be home or somewhere where time Warner is available. So its not really on the go..