Next week, Orange France will launch an iPhone mobile TV application offering 60 live channels, including all the big French stations. Pocket Picks got hands on with the app yesterday during a visit to the operator’s La Collection new tech showcase in Paris.
Check the video above for our walkthrough of how it works. The app is a version of Orange’s existing live TV application for mobile handsets, reworked to take advantage of the iPhone’s multi-touch interface.
The application includes a full Electronic Programme Guide to find shows to watch, with handy progress bars showing how far they are through (e.g. whether they’re just starting, halfway through or nearly over). There’s also a VERY nifty CoverFlow-style interface where you flick between channel logos, which you can see in the video.
The app is launching next week in France. Pricing is interesting too – it’s not a one-off payment through the App Store, like other iPhone apps. Subscribers have to sign up for it with Orange – for example as part of their monthly tariff.
We assume this means the app is free to download from the App Store, but authenticates that you’re a paying subscriber before letting you watch anything. It’s interesting, because it’s the first time – as far as we’re aware – that one of Apple’s partner operators has launched its own app with a monthly subscription model.
The key, of course, is that relationship between Orange and Apple. It’s very doubtful we’ll see a version of this app in the UK unless Orange starts selling iPhones here. Still, as an example of how a live TV app for iPhone that offers many channels can work, it’s very impressive indeed.
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