Turn your iPhone into a television - Elgato's EyeTV Hybrid brings live and recorded TV programming to computers, iPhones and iPod Touches

Turn your iPhone into a television - Elgato's EyeTV Hybrid brings live and recorded TV programming to computers, iPhones and iPod Touches
By Kevin Hunt
Copyright © 2010, Chicago Tribune
June 17, 2010
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/technologytrends/sc-cons-0617-tech-elgato-20100617,0,6997288.story


I'm not about to relinquish my big-screen HDTV, but I never thought "Pawn Stars" could be so exciting until I watched it on an iPod Touch, in the palm of my hand, over a Wi-Fi network.

An iPod Touch as a television? Yes, as long as a Mac is awake, the iPhone-Touch user can start the EyeTV software to change channels, schedule recordings or watch recorded shows. If you're at Disney World, you can still check in on your favorite baseball team, live, as long as your Mac in Bethlehem, Pa., is running and you've got a Wi-Fi or 3G connection for your iPhone/Touch.

The EyeTV Hybrid dongle — a jump-drive look-alike that plugs into a USB port — also has a butt-end connector for an antenna, cable line or satellite feed. It comes with a year's free use of TVGuide listings, but free program information is included in both over-the-air (antenna) and cable broadcasts.

Elgato supplies a full-size remote control — is it possible to watch TV without one? — and cables that make it easy to transfer movies from a DVD or VCR, or family videos from a camcorder.

When viewed on a Mac, the EyeTV Hybrid software is Apple-like in its ease of use. It launches with three screens: live TV, a program guide and a virtual remote with clickable channel change and other controls. It displays programming in high-definition on computers with Intel Core Duo processors, but captures/records video only in standard definition.

To set up my Macbook, I only had to tinker with firewall settings that allowed it to communicate with the Touch. On a Toshiba Satellite U505 laptop running Windows 7, the EyeTV software was so clunky that it could have used a quick-start guide.

I couldn't get the EyeTV Hybrid going until using the TV feature in Windows Media Center. Even then, there was no virtual remote and no indication how to navigate the EyeTV setup. How would anyone guess that hitting the space bar changes the channel?

My Macbook was no stranger to watching TV shows via Hulu or movies via Netflix or iTunes, but the Touch clicked its heels after discovering it could show live television or schedule a recording of the "24" finale.

To do all this, you'll need a Mac with a 2.26 gigahertz Intel Core 2 Duo processor or better, running an OS X 10.5.8 or later operating system.

The EyeTV Hybrid records video using H.264 encoding, so you can export recordings automatically to iTunes, where it can then be sent to an iPhone/Touch. EyeTV Hybrid also can record in iPhone and iPad formats simultaneously. With the EyeTV 3.4 app, iPad owners can stream live and recorded content, too.

On the Touch, programming arrived with a 15- to 20-second delay, but I didn't see any pixelation or dropouts during my evaluation. A 3G connection with an iPhone apparently is less reliable. Try Elgato's free EyeTV Live 3G Web app before buying the app.

Elgato also sells a Turbo.264 encoder/accelerator ($150) to improve 3G streaming, but that would make it a $300 investment for iPhone users.

For viewing programs on the small screens of an iPhone or Touch, or even the iPad's bigger screen, the EyeTV Hybrid has plenty of firepower. If you want to watch a recorded "Dancing With the Stars" on both the small screen and in HD on your big screen, try Elgato's new EyeTV HD ($200).

Don't do anything, though, until investigating the coming Mobile Digital Television service, which sends over-the-air broadcasts to in-car TVs, cell phones, laptops and portable devices.

khunt@tribune.com

What: Elgato EyeTV Hybrid TV Tuner, elgato.com

Price: $150

Hot: Turn your computer into a DVR/TV. An app makes your TV mobile.

Not: Subpar Windows version

IPhone 4 gets two-faced

The product: Apple's iPhone 4

The pitch: It launches with eye-popping innovations, including the highest resolution 3.5-inch retina touch display with superb screen clarity.

The trial: Placing the new iPhone 4 next to my iPhone 3GS makes the older one feel like a Volkswagen next to a BMW. Two extraordinary pieces of durable glass surrounded by a stainless steel band that acts as the antennae for cell, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It is now an HD video camcorder and 5 megapixel camera with the ability to download Apple's editing app called iMovie for an additional $4.99. The second camera is lower resolution and front facing. It is a new eye to accessing the FaceTime video calling feature that when combined with the extraordinary high resolution display of 326 pixels per inch, lets you look into someone else's eyes like never before from half way around the world.

The verdict: I spent 30 minutes with it. And, with Steve Jobs looking over my shoulder, it took only 30 seconds of seeing the new video call feature ("FaceTime") to want Apple's latest phone.

The rating:

Tech Talk

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