Aereo promises live TV on mobile devices

ByABC News
August 7, 2012, 7:44 PM

— -- Consider what an Apple iPad might be like had it been invented a generation ago. It could have been designed with clumsy rabbit-ear antennas, to help folks watch TV on the go, and gotten lousy reception.

Fortunately, the present-day iPad is nothing like that. The videos people watch on it are generally top quality, including a smorgasbord of on-demand TV shows from Amazon, Hulu, Netflix and other services. Yet many of the shows are older, and some viewers crave TV that's live. A promising New York City-based start-up called Aereo is primed to deliver live TV via "remote" antenna technology you never see.

The company is streaming live high-definition broadcast TV straight to browsers on the iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and certain Mac computers. There's no separate equipment to add, and you don't have to extend any antennas, as is required on certain nascent mobile TV services showing up on select smartphones. And Aereo plans to add support for Android devices and PCs later this summer. You can watch on up to five authorized devices in all, and even see programs on a big TV, as I did using the wireless AirPlay feature with an Apple TV box.

DVR-like cloud storage

Aereo also becomes your DVR in the cloud. You can record and pause the shows you are watching, or arrange to record a show later, by scrolling or tapping a convenient two-week program guide. You can search for available shows to watch or record. And when you tap the record option, you have the choice of recording the program "just this once," "every new episode" or "all episodes." You can also rewind or skip ahead by 30 seconds when playing back a recorded show. And you can tweet from Aereo and connect with friends on Facebook using the service.

So what's wrong with this picture? There are two major drawbacks.

The biggest is that you can't get Aereo yet, unless you live within the five boroughs of New York City. Aereo is planning to expand its market outside New York, perhaps adding 10 to 15 major markets in the next year or so.

When you go to the Aereo site to take a test spin, Aereo detects your location. Out of New York, out of luck. (The company gave me a temporary special test account that let me try Aereo in New Jersey as well as during my travels to Missouri and Kansas.)

Second, you can access only 28 channels broadcasting over the air, though the roster does include major networks ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC, along with CW and PBS. Eight of the channels are for Spanish- or Asian-language audiences. You won't find premium offerings such as HBO or Showtime, or cable TV channels such as AMC, CNN and ESPN.

Despite the constraints, Aereo provides a playbook for how to do mobile TV right. The friendly user interface is generally a delight to use. Reception, certainly with a decent Internet connection, is stellar. And you can change the broadcast quality among low, medium and high based on your network speed. If you're not sure, you can test the connection right within Aereo, or just let the service automatically adjust the quality.

Anyone in New York City can sign up for Aereo. Consumers can sample Aereo for an hour free daily. For $8 a month, you can watch as much live local TV as you like and get 20 hours of cloud-based DVR storage space. You also get access to two "remote" antennas, so that you can record two shows at once, or watch one while recording another.