ABC iView app showing off on Xbox today
Posted Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at 9:34 am by Jason Cartwright
Starting today, ABC’s iView application will be available on the Xbox 360. You will need to have upgraded to the new Xbox Dashboard to see the new app. As with all things Microsoft, it’s being rolled out, so if you don’t see it yet in the App Marketplace, just check back later.
The ABC iView app adds to the existing line-up of YouTube, SBSOnDemand, DailyMotion, NineMSN and Foxtel video apps on the Xbox 360. It’s important to note, that Xbox Live Gold Subscription isn’t required for iView. iView features shows like Good Game, Q&A, Gruen Transfer and more, allowing you to catch up on any episodes you or your DVR missed.
The iView app can be controlled using Kinect hand gestures (like the rest of the new Dashboard) and also supports voice commands. Not all the new apps do, so this is actually worth noting. If you’re using voice and hit an app that doesn’t support it, it really defeats the purpose, as you need to find that controller again.
ABC iView is now available on the Xbox 360, PS3, Boxee Box and the web. ABC has done an amazing job at making their content available wherever and whenever consumers want to consume it. If iOS had flash support it’d probably be on there as well. ABC’s content distribution is a model to be held as an example of how to use IPTV well. Without traditional commercial programming, ABC are free to distribute much more flexibly and achieve the ultimate goal of the content producers, to have it see by as many people as possible.
More information @ Xbox
ABC iView returns to Boxee, brings 149 shows
Posted Monday, March 7, 2011 at 6:37 pm by Jason Cartwright
After drawing Boxee’s attention to the ABC iView 84% loading issue in November last year, iView was removed. This meant Australian Boxee Box owners lost Australian content until the issue was fixed. Well today that issue has been resolved and ABC iView content has once again returned to the little box that could.
There’s 149 shows on offer, ranging from the popular well known shows like Catalyst, Good Game, Doctor Who and even children’s programs like Thomas the tank engine. Each show contains multiple episodes, but in just how many episodes lies the problem. Content is very slim, with most shows offering a few episodes, sometimes as low as 2, many of which are also old back catalogue. This is very disappointing and I’d look to the ABC to explain why, obviously Boxee would love to have as much content as possible and the most recent content at that, which can only mean the rights holders are getting in the way.. again.
One gem in the addition of an ABC News 24 live stream in both medium and high quality, but unfortunately their definition of ‘high quality’ is not the same as mine. In fact the quality of the programs is on SD, meaning you’ll need to shift that couch back so the content on your super-expensive HDTV actually looks passable. This is clearly ABC iView’s stream quality, not a fault of Boxee’s, you can only do what you can with what your given.
One frustration you’ll experience when viewing ABC iView content on the Boxee Box is that after making your selection, you’ll have to wait for it to load, then click again to actually watch the program. In all other videos on Boxee this happens automatically with Boxee doing the hard lifting (maximize scraping) for you. Why the cursor isn’t hidden automatically is beyond me.
So its there people, go watch it if you have a Boxee Box, but this implementation is certainly not something that you should buy it for.
Boxee pulls ABC shows
Posted Saturday, December 4, 2010 at 10:44 am by Jason Cartwright
Those regular readers of the site would have seen my post about the ABC content on Boxee suffering from an 84% loading issue. Well I’ve been in discussions with Boxee trying to nail down the problem and solve it. The latest stage was to test iView content via Boxee on MacOS.
Surprisingly the ABC content has been removed. After testing the Windows version I found the same thing, then checked on Boxee Box and sure enough, all ABC shows are no longer listed. Visiting http://abc.net.au/iview still works as usual, so its not a connectivity issue.
Update
It has now been confirmed by Boxee support that the ABC content has indeed been pulled while the fix the issue. As a workaround they suggest using the Boxee Browser app.
Hopefully its just been pulled while the issue gets fixed and we’ll see it return shortly. Local TV content is pretty much non-existent without ABC. I’ve also seen some Comedy Central content like South Park be unavailable.
Boxee Box iView 84% issue
Posted Sunday, November 28, 2010 at 9:18 am by Jason CartwrightAfter the first Boxee Box update was released this week, I was hoping this issue would be fixed, sadly its not. When accessing any iView content from the Boxee Box, the loading stops at 84%, effectively meaning Boxee Box can’t play iView. With Australian content being so limited right now, this is something that needs a resolution.. and fast.
Check out the video below for a walkthrough of the 84% issue.
Optus iPhone customers get streaming ABC and SBS 24/7 free
Posted Monday, November 22, 2010 at 9:07 pm by Jason Cartwright
A very welcome SMS arrived today on my iPhone 4, alerting me to the fact there’s a new iPhone application from Optus available. It’s called Mobile TV and provides Optus iPhone customers with free access to ABC and SBS 24/7. As an added extra, there’s also the Today show from channel 9. Even better news is that streaming this content doesn’t count towards your monthly cap.
One downside is that you can’t connect via Wi-Fi, obviously so the app can detect your connected through the Optus network.
If your wondering why Optus would give this away for free, its really an entry into their premium mobile channel offerings. What I’d actually be interested in paying for is having IP-delivered video from all the free-to-air networks.
Available via iTunes
ABC Channel 24 goes live.. official launch next week
Posted Friday, July 9, 2010 at 9:29 pm by Jason Cartwright
Earlier this year we heard about the ABC’s very ambitious plans to create Australia’s first 24 hour news channel. The wait is almost over. Today the channel went live, however before the channel’s official release next week, Channel 24 is currently looping a preview reel of what to expect.
Channel 24 will contain news reports from around the world, with live reporters on the ground when the action happens. It will be interesting to see how commercial stations react to Channel 24, in the past major events seen all stations attempt live coverage, but often falling pretty short. After Channel 24 officially launches, I’ll know there’s 2 places for the latest info that I’ll turn too… Twiiter and Channel 24.
Sadly a consequence of this awesomeness is the removal of ABC HD, this is related to our ridiculous restrictions on the number of free-to-air licences available. We seen this same issue when Ten launched One HD and TenHD disappeared, frankly it is insane. We all spend thousands on high definition televisions and want to see more content in high quality.
