EyeTV, the OS X DVR software and television tuning/encoding hardware provider, receives a companion iPhone app today. The $5 EyeTV for iPhone (iTunes link) provides access to both live and recorded content originating from your Mac, which needs to be running the new EyeTV 3.2 update. While a prior iteration of EyeTV enabled local streaming of recorded shows around the home, these new features are supplemented by router configuration and an EyeTV dynamic DNS service for a true worldwide placeshifting experience – including access to live television.
Given my current OTA situation (Antennas Direct to the rescue?), Cox’s near total clear QAM lockdown, and the fact that my primary Mac is a laptop, I can’t really put the WiFi-only app to use. Not to mention, I’ve been hoping for more OS X EyeTV software refinements which could allow a Mac Mini, supplemented by Front Row and Boxee, to be used as a full time HTPC.
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These features are a nice value add over the existing streaming the software did, but although it’s been a few versions since I tried EyeTV last time I did it wasn’t very good DVR software.
Ben: I would suggest trying it out again. I find EyeTV’s search abilities to be even stronger than TiVo’s if you have the patience to learn how it works.
I, personally, have been using EyeTV for a year (after dumping Comcast for TV) with two tuners and in conjunction with iTunes purchases and I’ve been very happy with it as a DVR. But, as I said above, it took me a while to learn how the search worked.
My problem was the series recording options, or lack there of.
Nice HTPC feature. I hope to see something similar for Media Center and SageTV as well. I’m not holding my breath, but would love the functionality.
They now have “Smart Guides” for recording a series, and you can further tweak it just to record new shows. That, coupled with the TV Guide integration, has done a good job at recording regular series for me.
It does stil have a problem with “Wolfman Mac’s Chiller Drive-In,” but I think it’s the local station the show airs on that’s the problem, not EyeTV.
I’ve been playing with the iPhone app this evening and I’m impressed thus far. I really like the fact that it takes advantage of the Turbo.264 hardware and that you can run live TV through the app. It is a touch slow over my 802.11g network, so I’ll be curious to see how slow it is over 3G tomorrow.
Well, no live TV over anything but wifi. HD content seems to be giving me only audio over 3 G. It’s a start, though. :)
I have alwasys said Apple has a great business model in selling shows to folks via iTunes. DVR is just a second thought for Apple – it just happens that their second thoughts are not bad – but then also not great.
This has nothing to do with Apple. Elgato’s EyeTV has been the best solution for DVR on an Apple machine for ages, and just keeps getting better. This iPhone app is something I’ve been looking forward to for ages.
My Mac Mini is a full-time HTPC and EyetV integrates with Front Row through the wonderful pyetv script – but only through Leopard, not Snow Leopard. I had to roll back the OS, but it all works seamlessly now, and the ability to control remotely through this app is simply icing on a very tall cake…
Live Tv works over 3G with (Unrestrictor) for us jailbreak folk.
The use of turbo 264 HD is cool but there is a lot of buffering. The instructions say you need a core 2 duo mac.
My mac mini is only a core duo not a core 2 duo. It still works but I’m thinking maybe this is the reason for the excessive buffering. I also have a slingbox and the slingmobile app for my iphone 3GS. The picture quality on the eyetv seems slightly better then the slingbox but the slingbox doesn’t continuously buffer like the eyetv setup does but the eyetv setup gives me the ability to remotely set recordings, watch my eyetv recordings and with my RF transmitter, change channels on my cable box to watch some Ok live tv, if you don’t mind the buffering.
The eyetv recorded video plays clear with almost no buffering.
All said, this is a pretty good app.