It’s time to turn your iPad into a mobile television. Elgato’s EyeTV Mobile is the world’s first Freeview tuner which connects directly to the iPad’s standard dock connector. The ultra-compact tuner receives the television signal from a miniature telescopic aerial or a rod aerial to power the free EyeTV Mobile app. Using the iPad’s internal storage, the app allows you to pause, rewind and record live TV. Even better, the EyeTV Mobile TV tuner will be just £99.95 when released late next month.
With IFA 2011 kicking off this week we’ve been receiving a steady stream of mobile announcements, but EyeTV Mobile really caught our eye. With its Freeview tuner, you’ll never touch your data plan. We’re also particularly interested in the recorded TV content and whether we’ll be able to move clips between our other iOS devices. It’d be nice to sync up the iPad with iTunes and then have the shows on our iPhone or ready to stream off the Apple TV. We’ll be sure to lock down a review unit to find out just how friendly this recorded content is after paying Elgato a visit at IFA.
So what’s the catch? Well, the tuner only supports MPEG-2 standard definition video. MPEG-2 HD and MPEG-4/H.264 TV channels are not supported. Also, Freeview HD or DVB-T2 are not supported. On the plus side, the app itself is free and the iPad’s display lends itself to be best suited for the 4:3 ratio of standard definition video.
Coming September | Elgato | £99.95
