Streaming

Grooveshark Gets Yanked From the App Store

Guest Author ∙ August 16, 2010

Well that didn't last long, did it? Just this week iDB reported that popular streaming agent Grooveshark had been added to the App Store for download. It was noted that the potential of the rights of music being violated existed, and it seems that very issue is the reason behind the short lived app.

Mac Life has the direct quote from the companies official blog, which states:

Earlier this afternoon, Apple sent us a letter notifying us that, due to a complaint they received from Universal Music Group UK, Grooveshark for iPhone has been, strangely, pulled from the App Store.

This comes as an absolute surprise to us, and we are not sleeping until we figure out exactly how to fix this—and get Grooveshark for iPhone back in the App Store. Above all, our biggest concern is damaging the service we provide to all of you guys—our loyal (awesome) users.

I have beaten this horse nearly to a corpse, however I feel another jab is in order. How the hell does Apple (again) validate an application without fully knowing if it is even legal? Did the responsible party just think that because Grooveshark's website runs without consequence, that all the necessary permission slips had been signed? If I were Universal, I would be drafting a threatening letter to not just Grooveshark, but to Apple alike. Maybe that happened, and maybe it didn't.

For those of us who managed to get the app downloaded promptly, Grooveshark tells us we should be able to continue to use it without incident. How come? Not that I'm complaining, but it would seem that if anything legit was violated then Apple should pull the plug, which is something they have the ability to do. Right?

Anyway, I think while the sort the legality of this out, they should figure out how they plan on charging $3 once the 30-day trial is up, without even providing background capabilities. Let's hope it doesn't take another year. Until then, enjoy Pandora!

Get your Groove (Shark) on With Your iPhone

Guest Author ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

If you feel like it has been months and months since the Beta iPhone app for popular on-demand music streaming giant Grooveshark was released, you are correct. However your patience has been well worth the wait. The application has officially hit the market and is available for free in the App Store, sort of.

Upon downloading the handy jukebox, you will be instantly granted a 30-day trial of the service. Once your month is up, the cost is only $3 a month, or $30 a year if you want to pony up 12 months off the bat. Honestly, that's a great deal, especially if you compare it to similar services like MOG, or Rhapsody. The best part is you don't even have to offer up a credit card to start jamming.

Just like web-based version, Grooveshark's content is posted by the users themselves, thus the ability to find obscurities among the classics is usually painless. The ability to add search results to existing playlists, combined with a "genius" type predictor, works well when constructing the perfect variety.

Inevitably someone is going to compare the pennies a day price to the likes of free music streaming via Pandora, and ask why they should switch. I have a hard time believing anyone who has used both Grooveshark and Pandora would ask. Nevertheless, the ability to outright search for specific song titles and have them played on demand, is in itself worth the small stipend. Don't believe me? Go use your free trial and get back to me.

Watch Live TV On Your iPhone or iPad With WinTV Extend

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 23, 2016

Do you want to watch live TV on your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad? It's now possible thanks to Hauppauge and their WinTV-HVR TV tuner boards.

According to the company's press release:

Live TV for these Apple devices is provided by Hauppauge's "WinTV Extend", which will be a feature in Hauppauge's new WinTV v7.2 application. WinTV Extend transmits live TV to Internet and WiFi connected devices such as the Apple iPad, iPhone and others. The WinTV v7.2 application provides live TV and TV recording to PCs equipped with a Hauppauge WinTV-HVR TV tuner.

Soon available for $9.95, the new WinTV Extend feature will take the live TV signal and transmit it over the Internet where it can be received by any web browser via Safari. More details will be available on Hauppauge's website soon.

I'm not enough of a TV fanatic to make use of this but you might... What do you think?

Netflix On the iPhone? Yes Please!

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated April 18, 2016

Even though Netflix CEO Reed Hastings told Reuters a few months ago that Netflix wasn't going to work on an iPhone app for a while, it seems that Netflix has been feeling the water about it. A RWW article notes that:

Recently, Netflix sent out a survey to select subscribers in order to determine interest in an iPhone application for streaming movies via mobile phones. According to the survey's wording, the proposed app would be Wi-Fi only and would offer the same content that the Netflix "Watch Instantly" service provides.

Hacking Netflix has the full text of the survey:

Imagine that Netflix offers its subscribers the ability to instantly watch movies & TV episodes on their iPhone. The selection availability to instantly watch includes some new releases, lots of classics and TV episodes. There are no advertisements or trailers, and movies start in as little as 30 seconds. You can fast-forward, rewind, and pause or watch again. The movies & TV episodes you instantly watch are included in your Netflix membership for no additional fee.

Whenever you want to instantly watch content on your iPhone, your iPhone must be connected to a Wi-Fi network (such as one you might have at home or at work, or in public places like coffee shops, book stores, hotels, airports, etc.)

If this functionality were available, how likely would you or someone in your household be to instantly watch movies & TV episodes on your iPhone via a Wi-Fi network?

As a long-time Netflix customer, I have to say that I've been waiting for an iPhone app pretty much since the iPhone came out. It does make sense for Netflix to be present on mobile devices, especially the iPhone.

Now there are two problems. First issue is technological. Flash is not going to happen, so what technology could Netflix use to make itself available on the iPhone? Well apparently, Microsoft has been working with Apple on porting Silverlight to the iPhone and it seems to be working well. That would be a solution. I personally think Netflix would develop its own format but it's just a guess.

The second problem facing Netflix is... Apple itself. Would Apple allow video streaming when it has the same plans in mind for iTunes? While I doubt Apple will be particularly excited about having a Netflix app, I believe it will have to allow it in the App Store to avoid being taught a lesson by the FTC.

At any rates, I'm very excited about having Netflix on my iPhone. You know what? I'm even more excited about having Netflix on my iPad!

What say you?

How To Watch Ustream Over 3G

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 28, 2019

I made it clear that I'm not a big fan of Ustream. One of the concern many of you have is that it doesn't work over 3G. Well, I've got good news for you. Thanks to this simple hack, you will now be able to watch Ustream over 3G, and not only rely on wifi.

In order to do so, there are some prerequisites:

Your iPhone must be jailbroken - see quickpwn 2.2 tutorial You must install the following apps from Cydia: Mobile Substrate; OpenSSH; VoIPover3G (reboot after install) You must not be scared of playing around with your iPhone files...

Now comes the funny part! Note that from now on, I assume you are familiar with SSH. If not, there are plenty of tutorial on YouTube that will show you how to do that.

1. SSH into your iPhone and go to the root directory "/"

2. Navigate to /Library/MobileSubstrate/DynamicLibraries

3. With a text editor, open VoIPover3G.plist

4. Look for:

Filter = {Bundles = ("com.Fringland.Fring", "com.apple.AppStore", "com.audiofile.Interstate", "com.apple.MobileStore");};

Now add this part: , "tv.ustream.player"

It should look like this:

Filter = {Bundles = ("com.Fringland.Fring", "com.apple.AppStore", "com.audiofile.Interstate", "com.apple.MobileStore", "tv.ustream.player");};

Don't forget the "," and the quotation marks!

5. Save the changes you just made and upload the file back to its location: /Library/MobileSubstrate/DynamicLibraries

6. Now go to your springboard and delete the Ustream application. Reboot your iPhone and reinstall Ustream from the App Store.

7. You're good to go! Ustream should now work over 3G!

I want to thank GreenGeek to email me all these instructions! If you have such hacks you want to share with us, feel free to contact me.

Ustream is Useless

Sébastien Page ∙ January 21, 2009

If you read this blog on a regular basis, you know I don't beat around the bush. I say things straight, and that's most likely the reason why you love (or hate) me.

Today, I want to talk about how useless of an application I think Ustream is. On the paper, it looks great. Live TV on your iPhone from anywhere you have an internet connection, whether it is wifi, Edge, or 3G. But when you actually look at the live streams available, you realize that there is nothing worth wasting 2 minutes of your time.

To Ustream's defense, I have to admit that the technology behind it is great but that's all there is to it. Why is Ustream getting so much buzz? Simply because Michael Arrington talked about it on TechCrunch a few days ago. And when something is on TechCrunch, you can bet that every blog is going to talk about it as well within minutes.

I installed Ustream out of curiosity, played around with it, looked at parts of the inauguration (it was actually cool that Ustream had this going on yesterday), and deleted it because all the available streams just sucked!!

In comparison, I think Qik is much better, although it is not in the App Store (only available in Cydia).

I'm looking forward to you showing me how wrong I am and how cool of an application Ustream really is ;)

Live TV On Your iPhone

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated November 25, 2016

We already know about Orb, the app that allows you to stream TV to your iPhone. Although very impressive, Orb requires some extra hardware and seems more like a pain in the ass than a truly practical application. Here comes LiveStation, an application currently being developed by UK company Skinkers and that aims at making live TV on your iPhone as easy as it should be...

In the following video, CEO Matteo Berlucchi talks about Livestation and confirms it is currently being worked on. But most interestingly, Matteo shows a demo of the app and it is astonishing! Apparently, Livestation will only work on wifi to be in total compliance with the carriers TOS but I suspect a hack to become available as soon as Livestation is available, to make it work over 3G as well.

Check out this video. Skip the first two minutes if you want to go straight to the point.

LiveCLIQ brings video streaming and recording to the iPhone

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 23, 2017

Like Qik and FlixWagon, LiveCLIQ is a free application that allows live streaming and recording of videos directly from your iPhone. Before some of you get too excited, let me tell you right away that this app is only available for jailbroken iPhones. This means that if you're on a stock iPhone, you will have to wait 2017, until Apple finally decides to add video recording to the iPhone for you to enjoy this neat feature...

Here is how LiveCLIQ works. First I downloaded the application from Cydia. After installing, when you launch the application a message shows up asking for your "token number". This got me confused for a while. I understood that I needed some type of registration but nothing was telling me where to get this "token number". The "more info" link for this app in Cydia was showing the LiveCliq.com website and going there didn't help me at all. After googling "livecliq", I finally found the LiveCliq.NET website where you can register.