Television

Summary

An app that boldly proclaims that it is “The MUST HAVE app for your (AN)DROID”?? This I’ve gotta see! “Watch television vodcasts from over 25 channels from US, UK, Germany, France etc. The big iPhone hit now available on Android!"—doesn’t sound too shabby, let’s check it out!

There are a few apps that allow you to watch TV on your Android phone, but maybe TELEVISION really is the ULTIMATE TV app? Find out in today’s review.
 

The Market description is pretty clever. However, I was expecting to find a much more impressive list of channels than the ones that can be found in the list below:

CNN
CBS
AP (associated Press)
NBC
VH1
Nickelodeon
National Geographic
Discovery
Rocketboom
Best of Youtube
Movie Trailers
TEDTalks
Sesamne Street
Onion News Network
Sky News
Al Jazeera English
Euronews
iTele
WDR
ZDF
3SAT
PRO7
SAT1
NOS
NPS
VARA
Eredivisie live
Featured

28 channels—that’s it?! Seems a bit meek for an app that promises so much...

If you read the teaser description carefully, you may have noticed that there’s talk of so-called vodcasts. This is another clever formulation, and it took me a  moment before I realized that this app provides users with video podcasts… I have to say that I had other expectations from an app named TELEVISION.

I’m not making insinuations or suggesting that the developers are trying to mislead users, but I have to say that in the begining I was a bit confused about what this app is all about. Maybe I should have paid more attention to the description blurb. Although the image quality is very good, I find that the selection isn’t generous enough, especially considering that you do have to shell out a few bucks in order to download this app.

Perhaps the rating would higher if TELEVISION’s selection was bigger. That being said, there are other apps that work with video podcasts which offer a much wider selection; some of these apps are even free of charge! I feel that my YouTube application suffices for watching YT videos. That app lets me subscribe to the channels that I’m interested in, and I don’t have to tell you that the selection is much bigger.

 

After starting TELEVISION you’ll see the list of available channels. You can scroll through these channels and see which shows they supply by clicking on them. There’s a preview image or logo and brief description for each show. Click on the show in order to watch it.

Some of the programs are headlined with the disclaimer “This channel will be played using the YouTube Player. Please select the YouTube option and check ‘Use by default for this action’.”

If you select the Browser under Options, you’ll be linked to YouTube Mobile. This means that not all channels/shows are vodcasts—some of them are played directly via YouTube. I’m not impressed, as I don’t need to pay for an app in order to watch YouTube videos. As I said, I can do that using my YouTube player.

You can reach the Help option via a tab in the upper half of the screen. This lets you know which channels have recently been added to the list.

The About tab gives you some information regarding the developers.

Bottom line:
TELEVISON’s screen & controls deserves three stars. Controls work just fine, but there aren’t any other options or settings.

 

I can’t complain as far as the application’s speed and stability go. I experienced no problems with TELEVISION on the G1 or the Milestone.

You can download TELEVISON for $2.99 from the Android Market.