In Japan, it’s hard to find a cell phone that doesn’t come with a digital TV tuner nowadays. Some of them even have two (so you can watch one program and record another on your phone’s microSD). And some people in this country actually do use these tuners, which means the iPhone is at a disadvantage when compared to domestic phones.
Japanese customers could buy an iPhone-exclusive add-on, which turned their iPhones into portable TV tuners last year, but that device is now sold out. Now I-O Data takes another shot at the problem by releasing the SEG Clip [JP], a USB 2.0 stick that makes it possible to watch digital TV on your iPhone.
The stick supports 1Seg, a digital TV standard in use in Japan, Peru and Brazil only, and is supposed to be plugged into your computer’s USB port. Users can then stream digital TV data from their computer (Windows XP/Vista only) to their iPhones via Wi-Fi. It’s also possible to save TV programs on the iPhone and watch them on the go later (an app called TVPlayer is available for free in the Japanese AppStore).
The SEG Clip can be used with the iPhone 3G/3GS and the iPod touch. It will be released in Japan at the end of this month (price: $70).
Via AV Watch [JP]
1Seg has been adopted by Peru, too.
Thanks, amended.
This is what we need here in the states. Effing AT&T will always find a way to block streaming, maybe this would solve the problem. Although I’m not too happy about an USB connection, it’ll have to do. I wouldn’t mind watching TV in short bursts at home through Wi-Fi. Can’t see myself using this a whole lot but could come in handy…like watching the game in the bathroom haha. http://ziggytek.com/
Kind of useless if you want to stream while on-the-go. However, having the ability to record and save to the iPhone isn’t too bad.
What about Live TV by equinux?
http://equinux.com/us/products/thetube/livetv.html
When I was in Japan last year the trains were full of commuters engrossed in their cell phone TVs.