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EyeTV App Lets You Stream Over 3G

Cory Bohon — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:08:42 -0500

A "work around" in the EyeTV application for iPhone lets you stream your television from your Mac over the AT&T 3G network, but probably not for long.

Electric Pig reports on this interesting way to get the EyeTV software to allow streaming over 3G:

"Elgato’s EyeTV app requires you register your Mac to its free My EyeTV service in order to tap into broadcasts outside the house, but use it when your iPhone has only a 3G connection and you’ll see an error pop up, warning that “Live TV playback requires a Wi-Fi network connection.” Tap the OK button, and the app will act as if it can’t receive broadcasts. However, tap the text of the warning message instead, and the Eye TV app will stream live TV over a 3G connection."

But if you want this functionality, you better hurry to download the Elgato EyeTV application from the App Store [iTunes link] because Apple will probably pull it soon after they hear this information.

via 9to5 Mac

Duke Posts Vintage Commercials on iTunes U

Danny Estrada — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:48:06 -0500

You can now download vintage commercials that probably had your parents, driving their parents insane asking for some sugar-coated cereal or new kung-fu grip toy. The spoiled brats!

Duke Universtiy is now making it easier for you, and your parents, to take a trip down memory lane. Possibly with less begging and whining.

Duke University is posting more than 1,500 historical TV commercials from the Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History to iTunes U in a collection called AdViews. The current 1,200 commercials currently available are from the 1950's and 1960's.

Former Procter & Gamble marketing exec, and visiting professor at Duke, George Grody mentions:

I was looking at some of the commercials that are now being digitized at Duke, and they almost provide a history of U.S. culture...You can see how the roles of women have changed over the years, the role of the family has changed; African-Americans in advertising in the late ’60s, where they weren’t so present in the early ’60s.

So if you are looking for some quick, FREE, and entertaining blasts from your, or your parent's, past, it can all be found on iTunes U thanks to Duke University. We aren't sure about you, but we all have a huge hanker'n for some Sugar Crisp... Oh man that bear is one smooth operator.

Via TheLoop

Hulu - Pay to Play?

Arvind Srinivasan — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:51:56 -0500

There was a time, not so long ago, when TV shows were only watched on TV. No, not the middle ages. Users increasingly want TV on demand on their computers, and luckily, in 2009, there are several ways to get it. One of the most popular is Hulu, which anyone can use to discreetly watch episodes of One Tree Hill with their backs facing the corner and headphones on.

Hulu has been incredibly successful since it launched as a joint project between Fox and NBC Universal. Since its launch, several other networks have signed on. Even though several sites, and bittorrent, offer a free, but illegal methods to get the same content, many users have felt that Hulu, due to its superior (almost HD) quality and minimal ads, is not only more convenient, but the guilt of "stealing" content has disappeared as well.

However, things might change. Jonathan Miller, Chief Digital Officer of News Corp, Fox's parent company, said in an interview that his vision of Hulu is a subscription based service. This, of course, is not a sure thing, as there is no official word from Hulu regarding the subject. But, Mr. Miller does have a stake in the service and that lends an air of credibility.

Would you be willing to pay monthly or annually for access to Hulu? Let us know in the comments.

The 10 Best Geek Shows On TV Right Now

Roberto Baldwin — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 06:00:00 -0500

It seems like TV is, for the most part, being programmed for tween girls with horrible tastes in music and an equally astonishing acceptance of bad acting and faux-dating. While shows like Gossip Girl, 90210, The Hills and One Tree Hill get the kids (and some of the Mac|Life staff) excited. It's the science fiction shows and shows based on blowing stuff up in the name of science that have us tuning in every week.

Using the latest in TV watching technology we determined the shows below deserve to be included in our list. These are the cream of the crop, the shows that succeed where shows like Automan and Misfits of Science failed. If you're a fan of just one of the shows below, you should check out the others.

As with any list, we're sure we missed something. If your favorite show isn't on here, or you think a show on here doesn't belong, tell us in the comments.

Doctor Who

Summary - The Doctor travels through time and space with a female companion in a craft called the TARDIS that's disguised as a blue 1950s British police box. The Doctor is the last of the Time Lords and travels to different time periods and planets to right wrongs with a female companion that usually ends up being the source of many a nerd's time-traveling fantasies. The current show is a reboot of the long running Doctor Who series that ran from 1963 until 1989.

Resurrected in 2005, the Doctor Who franchise could have been a train wreck. A guy that travels through space and time in a blue police booth. Did we mention he's a bit of an eccentric and the main character was recast after the first season? On paper it sounds like a one-way ticket to Crapville, instead the show's mix of science, time travel and great writing have made the new Doctor Who a geek's delight. With any franchise with deep roots, the new Doctor Who will probably never measure up the old series in some viewers minds. Our sympathies go out to those viewers, they are missing a truly great show.

Where to watch:

BBC America
iTunes - Seasons 1 - 4 of the current series are available as well as seasons from the original show.
Netflix - Seasons 1 - 3 available on instant Queue, Season 4 Available as DVD rental. DVDs of the original series are also available.

The IT Crowd

Summary - Three IT employees do their best to become socially accepted while helping the company's technically inept staff with their ludicrous computer issues from the confines of of their filthy basement office. The computer geeks or "standard nerds" as identified by the companies president, fit every geek stereotype and are lead by their manager Jen, who knows absolutely nothing about computers.

If the above sounds like your job, you need to be watching this show. The IT Crowd (pronounced it) should be required watching of every nerd that's ever dreamed of being an IT admin. This show will surely crush those dreams with hilarity. Bonus geekiness, the UK release of season one had 1337 subtitles.

Where to watch:

iTunes - Seasons 1-3 are avialable for download
IFC - The basic cable network is airing the series in the United States.

Fringe

Summary - An FBI division, known as the Fringe Division, investigates a series of unexplainable events known as "the Pattern." FBI agent Olivia spends her time with a father son team of scientists as they explore issues related to dark matter, reanimation and suspended animation. If it's an outrageous theory, it'll probably end up on Fringe.

Created by J.J. Abrams, Fringe is the X-Files for the new millennium. The show is part part science, part scare-fest, and all nerd. If you're afraid J.J. Abrams will infuse the show with Lost-like plot elements, don't. Abrams has stated that he won't create confusing plot elements into the show like he has with Lost.

Where to watch:

Fox- Fringe has been picked up for a second season and is available for viewing on Fox's site.
Hulu - Episodes 4-14 are available
iTunes - Season one is available for download

Mythbusters

Summary - Former special effects wizards, Jaime Hyneman and Adam Savage test out various myths and urban legends with often explosive results. The guys along with their build team test out myths about exploding pants and how far a rocket car can actually go.

Jaime and Adam have what is possibly the greatest job ever. We've watched them fill sunken ships with ping pong balls, shoot their dummy Buster out of a cannon and test myths about ninjas. Oh, and they build robots all the time. Everyday we think about how we can get on this show. If you have an idea, drop it in the comments.

Where to watch:

Discovery Channel - Airs Wednesdays at 9pm
iTunes - Seasons 1-5 are available for download
Netflix - Various episodes are avialable for instant viewing

Lost

Summary - The survivors of an Oceanic Airlines plane crash end up on a mysterious island complete with hostile natives, a mysterious set of numbers, a smoke monster, time travel, resurrection of the dead and a four toed statue. It's just another day in paradise.

After a stellar first season, Lost got side-tracked with new characters and Kate's inability to not to get held hostage in every episode. The last two seasons the writers have really hunkered down and brought life back to the series. Few shows have their own Wiki and ARG, The Lost Experience. With only one season after this one left in the series, it's a good time to get Lost.

ABC - Wednesdays at 9pm
ABC.com - All five seasons are available online
iTunes - Seasons 1-5 are available for download

Eureka

Summary - U.S. Marshall Jack Carter becomes the sheriff of a small town inhabited by geniuses. The highly classified town, Eureka is continually threatened with annihilation by a science experiment gone awry or a rogue scientist with a bone to pick with Global Dynamics. Imagine if the smartest person you know was 10 times smarter and lived in the pacific northwest with other smarties.

This light-hearted science show is nice break from the dark and scary world of science that we've come to expect from TV shows. Sheriff Jack Carter, while not the sharpest tool in the shed in a ton full of razors, is just a regular schlub we can all relate to.

Sci-FI - The show is on a mid-season break right now.
SciFi.com - Watch the past five episodes
Hulu - All of season one and half of season three
iTunes - Seasons 1-3 are available for download

Battlestar Galactica

Summary - After a 40 year truce with the Cylons, the Twelve Colonies were obliterated by the Cylons. These aren't your father's Cylons, they've taken human form and they chase the Battlestar Galactica and its rag tag group of ships across the universe as they humans search for a new home. With enough plot twists to keep you begging for more, you'll never look at your toaster the same way again.

It's not very often that a reboot of a series is better than the original. After a successful mini-series, Battlestar Galactica hit the Sci-Fi channel and entered nerd hearts everywhere. Starbuck's a girl and Apollo is her on again, off again love interest. So some stuff has changed from the original. This is the last season of BSG and we can't to see what happens.

Sci-Fi - Friday 10pm
SciFi.com - Past five episodes
Hulu - Past four episodes
iTunes - Seasons 1-4 plus the mini-series are available for download

30 Rock

Summary - As the head writer of the hit show TGS wth Tracey Jordan, Liz Lemon has to deal with a group of sarcastic writers, the insane antics of star Tracey Jordan and falling star Jenna Maroney. In addition to the cast and crew, Liz must contend with Jack Donaghy, the "Head of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming" at General Electric. All the while Liz looks for love and acceptance. Even going so far as to date a beeper salesman.

30 Rock is bar none the funniest show on TV. Not only is this show hilarious, it's choke full of geek references. Liz shows up to jury duty as Princess Leia, and the show popularized the "uncanny valley." The theory that as non-human entities begin to appear more and more human, the creepier they become. A good example is the film "Polar Express." Oh, and let's not forget Tina Fey's geek chic.

Where to watch:
NBC - Thursday 9:30pm
Hulu - Last five episodes
Netflix - Seasons one and two are available for instant watch
iTunes - Season 1-3 are available for download

Flight of the Conchords

Summary - New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo a capella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo, Flight of the Conchords consists of Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. The duo hope to make it big in New York under the misguided direction of their manager Murray. Each episode contains a hilarious song.

The Flight of the Conchords have a song entitled "Humans are Dead." It takes place in the distant the future, the year 2000. Can you get any geekier then that?

Where to watch:

HBO - Sunday 10pm
iTunes - Season one is available for download

How It's Made

Summary - Ever wonder how your accordion was made? How It's Made will show you. The Science Channel, a subsidiary of the Discovery Channel, wants you to know how everyday items are created. It's the answer to a mystery you never knew you wanted solved.

Watching How It's Made is a geek zen experience. Who knew that pencils were so damn interesting. The show sucks you in and fills you full of worthless information.

Where to watch:

The Science Channel -
iTunes - How It's Made Vol. 1-6 are available for download

Did we miss your favorite geek show? Drop your favorite show in the comments below.

Japanese iPhone Owners Getting TV Tuner

Danny Estrada — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:58:10 -0500

Japan is seriously becoming the raddest Mac destination on the earth, even cooler than 1 Infinite Loop... that's Apple's AirPort Extreme Base Station in case you didn't know.

Now why do we think Japan is cooler than the Apple Mothership?

1. Giant Robots
2. Totoro
and now
3. TV Tuner add-on for your iPhone!

Local Japanese carrier, Softbank announced plans to begin selling a TV Tuner add-on later this year that will also serve as an extended battery pack.

The TV tuner will retail for 9,747JPYen ($100.00) and should be for sale in December. The portable device will deliver the One-Seg TV signal to iPhones via Wi-Fi, or by being connected directly to the iPhones dock connector. Control of the device will be achieved using a free app downloadable from the iTunes App Store. The Wi-Fi allows users to hide the tuners receiver in a pocket or bag. When connected directly to the iPhone dock, it doubles as a secondary battery.

Softbank, Apple's exclusive iPhone carrier in Japan, will market the TV Tuner through its retail stores. While the iPhone has been doing better than expected in the Japan, it's still proving difficult for Apple to break into an already advanced mobile phone market.

Dr. Horrible to Destroy Network Television?

Carol Pinchefsky — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 11:49:43 -0500

If you’ve visited iTunes recently, you may have noticed something different about the “Top TV Episodes” section. Currently, the three best-selling shows aren't episodes at all, but an independently produced series, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, written and directed by Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly).

Dr. Horrible is outselling the likes of Hannah Montana, Army Wives, and other traditional fare. Although no official sales figures exist (a call to Joss Whedon’s office went unreturned), the episodes were watched almost two million times in five days when the episodes were offered for free on www.drhorrible.com.

If only one quarter of those viewers purchased the show, half a million people could have downloaded the series. At $3.99 for the three 13+ minute segments, Whedon’s company, Mutant Enemy, may have raked in $2 million for a series with a budget of a low six figures.

Thanks to iTunes, this may be the beginning of a paradigm shift, where television shows will be freed from network control and put into the hands of their creators.

According to Mike McGuire, vice president of media research for technology research company Gartner Inc., “[The success of Dr. Horrible is] a manifestation of …the lower cost of production and the nearly zero cost of distribution. Distribution with iTunes, which is amassing and aggregating large audiences, is a no-brainer.”

iTunes gives a small production company advantages that traditional media doesn't—not the way viewers watch television, but how they pay for it. The idea for Dr. Horrible occurred during a four-month strike of the Writer’s Guild of America, where some of the issues revolved around compensation for new media. If independent companies are paid directly by the viewer, the problems with missing residuals are automatically nullified.

Another advantage over traditional media: no money was spend on advertising. The series’ popularity sprung from word of mouth. Also, director Whedon and stars Nathan Fillion (Firefly), Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother), and Felicia Day (The Guild) each have their own substantial fan base.

Although hiring talented writers and actors, combined with spending money on slick production values, will limit the number of web series that earn back their costs, Dr. Horrible proves that it doesn’t take a large studio to make a good show…or to make money.

“We’re only going to see much more of this,” says McGuire.

Why Seinfeld Doesn't Work With iPhones

Susie Ochs — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:09:06 -0500

Newsweek recently examined whether the episodes of Seinfeld still hold up 10 years later. After I got over the shock that "yikes, that was 10 years ago? I am friggin' old," I thought it was a nice article -- everyone loves Seinfeld, it's fun to look back, yadda yadda yadda. But Mac|Life dares to ask the deeper, more important, and far, far geekier question:

Would the episodes of Seinfeld hold up if the characters had access to iPhones?

Well, do they? To borrow a phrase from closer to the show's time, I think they do. Not.

Heh. Look, I'm not bagging on the best sitcom of all time (and I thought Newsweek's "Legend or Loser?" headline was a little much -- there are a few stops in between, aren't there?), but very little from 10 years ago could hope to hold a candle to such a technological wonder. They didn't even have iPods back then. Bondi Blue iMacs, dude, and that was the same year the show ended. Seinfeld is still awesome.

Anyway, let's take a look at a few classic episodes to see how the plots wind up after they've been trampled upon by the iPhone 3G's unique footprint.

The Chinese Restaurant (206)

The entire premise of this classic episode is that Jerry, Elaine, and George are waiting for a table at a Chinese restaurant, on their way to see a bad movie (Plan 9 from Outer Space, actually a real movie, as opposed to many fake ones mentioned in later episodes, directed by Ed Wood). This is a notable case study in that nearly everything that happened within the 22-minute story would likely have not occurred if the characters owned iPhones.

First of all, the restaurant. They might not have even picked that hole if they'd been using the iPhone to look up the movie theater's location in Google Maps. Then any number of apps -- Where, iWant, UrbanSpoon -- could help them find a better place to eat.

And of course, we saw George freak out ("You know we're LIVING! In a SOCIETY!") when he had trouble using the pay phone to call Cynthia. Later, Cynthia actually tried to call George back at the restaurant (who does that anymore?), and the host called "Cartwright" instead of "Costanza," ensuring hilarity would ensue. Of course, an iPhone-toting George makes his call without problems, at the same time Elaine and Jerry use Yelp to complain about the restaurant's incredibly slow service and seating the other guy ahead of them.

Even the part where Jerry and George offer to pay Elaine $50 to eat an egg roll off someone's else's table could have been drastically changed with iPhones. George would have been snapping pictures of her embarrassment, and if she had actually pulled off the stunt, she could collect from Jerry even if he didn't have cash, thanks to a little thing called PayPal.

Then, of course, there's The Pez Dispenser...

The Pez Dispenser (314)

iPhones give you any number of hiarious ways to while away a piano recital -- you won't need the ol' Pez-dispenser-on-the-leg trick to make your friends guffaw. Just show them a hilarious picture you made in Finger Paint, start chuckin' beef with Cow Toss, or even whip out the ol' Tiny Violin (not a euphemism). How about Jared at the opera? Obviously if Jerry had an iPhone, either Elaine would be desensitized to the whole shebang, or neither of them could go to recitals together ever again, period.

And who could forget...

The Phone Message (207)

Sneaking into someone's apartment to steal the tape from their answering machine? That would never work today, of course. (And to be fair, this episode dates way back to early 1991.) But if George's girlfriend had the iPhone, he'd be be even more sunk, as she would notice his messages in Visual Voicemail, listen to them first, and bust him in record time.

Still not convinced? There's more...

In The Sponge (709), Elaine's search for sponges would be VASTLY aided by a trusty iPhone 3G. Simply search the built-in Maps app for nearby drugstores, click the phone numbers to call each one, and save yourself a lot of legwork, Laney. Or she can just go buy them on drugstore.com.

In The Stock Tip (105), Jerry and George invest in some stock, and Jerry is very stressed about it, always looking for a newspaper to obsessively check and re-check the price. A newspaper, aw! Hmmm, one of the iPhone's default applications is a Stocks checker. Bloomberg makes a nice one too, we hear. How handy.

In the classic episode The Parking Garage (306), they'd have no trouble finding their car thanks to the iPhone's Notes application. Sure, you can't sync the notes to your Mac or even to MobileMe for some insane reason that no one in the universe can properly explain (it's like those hip musicians and their complicated shoes), but your iPhone can remember what level and section you parked in. Presuming you remembered to make a note in the first place.

To be continued! Like that funny one where Morty lost his wallet.

In The Bizarro Jerry (803), George tells people that a photo of Elaine's attractive friend (the pictured Man Hands) is his dead fiancee, to win sympathy from some models and entree into their "forbidden city." Then his blow dryer ruins the picture, and when Elaine can't get him another one, he cuts one out of a magazine and is busted. Since people carry their photos on their phones and other gadgets now, this would either be much easier (since he could find a hot chick on the Internet, tap and hold the photo in Safari to save it to his iPhone's Camera Roll, and say she's his dead finacee) or much harder (because the lack of hard evidence would keep the models from falling for the story altogether -- I mean, come on).

And what about The Bubble Boy? (407) While Jerry following George instead of having his own directions is kind of weak premise anyway, with the iPhone 3G they could both map out directions to the Bubble Boy's house so easily. And when George drove too fast and Jerry lost him, they could just...well, call each other, duh. (I like to have Google Calendar send me an SMS with the address and even a map link if I'm going somewhere new.) Plus, that whole nasty business with the Moops? Easily avoided thanks to Safari.

The Implants (419): While we're on the subject, Safari and our old pal Google can solve all kinds of bets, even Kramer's insistence that he saw Salman Rushdie at the health club. (The iPhone's camera might come in handy here too. For Rushdie, not Sidra.)

The Marine Biologist (513): If Testikov had thrown Elaine's iPhone out the window of the limo, Carol Kane wouldn't have tried to find her and have her medical bills paid -- she would have just kept the iPhone.

The Hot Tub (705): Jean-Paul Jean-Paul -- best tertiary character name ever -- wouldn't oversleep and miss his marathon even when Kramer's hot tub motor blew the apartment buildng's power. Because, apparently unlike all clocks and watches way back in this episode's time, the iPhone features BOTH a helpful alarm function AND the blackout-resistance of batteries.

...

As long as you charge it every day or so.

[Laugh track]

That's it for me; you've been great! Good night!