TVCatchup.com is a great service that streams free television to your web browser, covering forty channels that normally air on the UK Freeview service. Included are all ye olde channels (BBC1, 2, ITV, Ch4 and 5) and an assortment of others including my favourite, Dave.
This is all very good, and it does mean I can watch what I want while my wife’s watching Celebrity Come X-Factor On Ice, or whatever talent show is running at the moment, but where TVCatchup comes into its own is with iPhone integration. Yes, point your iPhone at http://iphone.tvcatchup.com and you’ll get a cut-down but still good selection of channels that you can watch via 3G or Wi-Fi. Now why on earth would you want to do that? Surely there are better things to be doing than watching telly on your phone, aren’t there? Perhaps a “use case” will explain why I think this is great:
I’m at the in-laws house… they live about 20 miles away. I’m a huge Formula 1 fan, so watched some of the qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix while we were there. Heavy rain delays the qualifying, but we have to get the kids home… Rather than miss the rest of qualifying, which was about to restart, I was able to watch it in the car as we headed home (my wife was driving, by the way).
It’s only a little thing, I guess, but it was pretty cool to be able to keep up with what was happening in my favourite sport whilst not keeping the kids out too late! But there are other applications for this – if you’re in a hotel that doesn’t have digital TV, but does have Wi-Fi, you have a wider choice of channels. Or if you’re at a live event and your friend texts you to say you’re on the telly… you can see it :)
Personally, I wouldn’t make a habit of using this while on 3G since O2′s “unlimited” data plan is actually subject to fair use clauses, but if you can’t get use of the telly at home, or are on Wi-Fi, this is just brilliant.
TVCatchup.com is available to users in the UK, and shows a selection of UK Freeview channels.
Do you want more on the iPhone? Find our best iPhone posts here.
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