Live Television on iPad, iPhone Now Playing with Elgato EyeTV Mobile

With more and more users turning to portable devices for their computing needs, and wanting to get a little more entertainment when they're out traveling with devices, the push to get video to mobile devices has never been quite this strong. That's where Elgato comes in with its new EyeTV Mobile accessory, designed to bring live television to the iPhone (News - Alert) and iPad line of portable devices.

Elgato's EyeTV Mobile accessory, essentially, allows for the devices to be turned into portable television sets. Thanks to its Dyle mobile TV compatibility, these portable TV tuners can just be plugged into the dock connector on the iOS device of choice and, from there, receive signals that yield live television. The tuners also come with either a small antenna for mobile use, or a larger rod antenna when users expect to be in the same place for a while. Additionally, a companion app, the EyeTV Mobile app, allows several more viewing features to be brought into play like pause and resume, as well as program guides to let users know just what's on at any given time.

The particularly good part about the EyeTV Mobile system is that, since it works via an antenna, it can receive free over-the-air signals like those commonly offered by the major networks. Admittedly, it's not a way to get Comedy Central so much as it is a way to get Fox, CBS and similar broadcast stations, and will therefore be dependent on area and signal reception to work to the fullest. It's currently priced at $99.95, and is available from several different locations. It will work on most iOS devicea running at least iOS 5.1, and will work with both old and new dock connector ports thanks to a line of adapters for the devices.

Admittedly, with much of the online community focused on streaming video as the future, it's easy to forget that there's already a solid, robust technology in place for delivering video feeds in the form of over-the-air television. While the resulting content is much more limited and often interrupted by commercials, it doesn't have the issues of bandwidth that the streaming market has. Incorporating something like this into the mobile technology market is something of a game-changer, but only one of limited effect due to the lack of control and content overall, as well as the frequency of commercial interruption. Considering the offerings available on iTunes, however, the EyeTV mobile may be something of a tough sell to video buffs who will likely see the offerings of network television as weak compared to what can be found online.

The Elgato EyeTV Mobile will, however, likely prove a solid entrant for those wanting at least some level of entertainment on the road, and especially for those without an interest in games to pass the time.