Got Foxtel? Watch it on the Go

Today, Foxtel hit the road running, launching Foxtel Go for iPad, a free app which streams live Foxtel channels direct to your iPad.

The Olympic app from Foxtel demonstrated the company’s ability to deliver multiple channels at a quality that was extremely watchable. The stream configured its quality depending on your connection and was excellent even on 3G.

It seems natural that with that capability nailed, Foxtel would make its traditional channels available in the same manner. Recent platform expansions to Xbox and Telstra T-Box have added new ways to view Foxtel channels however they were only available to new subscribers for those specific platforms. Existing subscribers missed out, and couldn’t even “bolt on” those platforms as a multi-room style option.

Foxtel Go for iPad is made just for existing subscribers. 21 channels are available to watch live if they are part of your existing package. This means that no matter where you are, you can open the app and watch your favorite shows – it also means that if the kids are watching cartoons on the main TV you can grab the iPad for a bit of Ice Road Truckers or Pawn Stars without having to have the argument about who watches what.

This app also includes the functionality available in the Foxtel Guide app where you can set reminders and remote recording to your IQ box at home while you are on the go.

The home screen of the app features Foxtel promoted content, both live and on-demand. In addition you have the option to search in the app which will show you programs available in both live and catch-up mode.

The Live TV page shows you a quarter screen live stream of a channel, with channel choices down the right hand side of the page, and EPG information below the live stream.  The available channels are: Lifestyle, Fox Sports News, Sky News, Sky Business, The Weather Channel, A&E, Discovery, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Adventure, CBeebies, Disney, Disney Junior, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, [V], [V] Hits and Max.

For sports fan you won’t get the traditional Fox Sports Channels – however there is a dedicated sports channels such “Fox Sports Play” (which has highlights of Rugby Union, Cricket, A-League and Tennis), Fox Sports Plus 1, 2 3 and 4 which are four Barclays Premier League specially programmed football channels, and Eurosport.

You can easily expand the live stream to full screen on your iPad and from the preview window you can press the IQ button to Remote record to your home IQ box or even change the channel on your home IQ box.

When looking at the program guide (for the iPad available channels) the live stream continues in a tiny window around 3cm x 2cm which means you can keep watching and browse the guide easily.

In Catch Up mode you’ll see some promoted items from Foxtel as well as anything you’ve recently watched on Catch Up, as well as a list of content either curated by Foxtel into categories or listed by Genre, Channel or A-Z.

Only two iPad devices can be running Foxtel Go at the same time linked to the one account, and you can only make one change per month to the devices linked – pretty reasonable really.  Oh, and Go is only available to subscribers to Foxtel Cable or Satellite, not to those subscribing via T-Box, XBox or any other platform.

This app has it all. It’s a fantastic piece of work and a credit to the team behind the scenes at Foxtel.

If you are a Foxtel subscriber and haven’t registered your set-top box for a login for both the online, guide and now Go services, you’re missing out on a whole heap of functionality.

Web: Foxtel Go