Review: Mobile Foxtel for iPhone

<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-5778" title="Screen shot 2010-03-17 at 11.31.23 AM" src="http://www.mactalk.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Screen-shot-2010-03-17-at-11.31.23-AM.png" alt="Screen shot 2010-03-17 at 11.31.23 AM" width="207" height="192" />I really like Foxtel. At home I have the Platinum HD package with an IQ2 box. I get to watch the A+ quality programming on the Bio, W and Lifestyle channels. There's sport live (AFL!), lots of docos and news. It's not cheap, but I love plonking my arse on the couch and watching TV, so for me, it's worth it. Being the Foxtel fan I am, I was interested to hear that they've released an iPhone version of their Mobile Foxtel service, which has been on virtually every other non-iPhone NextG phone for a while now.

The Mobile Foxtel service is a cut-down version of the full Foxtel selection of channels, streamed live to your phone, via a <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/mobile-foxtel-from-telstra/id353741695?mt=8">native iPhone app, which you can grab for free from the App Store</a>. It's only available to Telstra customers. If your iPhone isn't on the NextG network, you can't use it. Infact, if your iPhone is on wi-fi, the Mobile Foxtel app actually tells you to turn wi-fi off before you can use it. This makes sense, as Telstra want to make sure all the data passing to your phone, stays on their network - if it had to go over the general Internet, I presume it would cost a fair bit more, plus, they can't guarantee a reliable level of service. The data the Mobile Foxtel app uses is unmetered, so there's no need to worry.

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Mobile Foxtel costs money, it aint free. There's free previews, but if you want to use it regularly and have access to all the channels, you have to pay. I couldn't find any Telstra website which lists the costs and channel selection, but it's all listed on the <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/mobile-foxtel-from-telstra/id353741695?mt=8" target="_blank">App Store description for the Mobile Foxtel app</a>. All charges for Mobile Foxtel are added on to your Telstra bill, or deducted from your credit if you're on pre-paid.

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Pricing is $4 for a 24hr pass, which gives you access to some of the more popular channels for 24 hours. There are also subscription packs (Kids, Entertainment, etc. etc.) for $12/month (for 2 packs - you can't select just one pack). If you want all the channels, that's $18/month, or $49 for 3 months, or $89 for 6 months. For this review, Telstra gave me a SIM to trial it with, so I hit up the $18/month package which included all the channels. The channel range is not bad, but I would like to see all the channels Foxtel offer rebroadcast in the Mobile Foxtel app. For a list of the available channels, view the App Store description. There's 3 channels that are on Mobile Foxtel that aren't on regular Foxtel: TMF (a music channel), Animax Mobile (anime) and Union (snowboarding/extreme sports). They're crap, even by my low standards.

The thing to note with Mobile Foxtel is that it's not on-demand video, it's live TV. For most of the selected channels it's the same as what's on regular Foxtel. Some channels however, show the same programs, just at different times. And unfortunately, for the sport, there's no live channels, just the news. No watching live AFL on your iPhone. There is a guide for what's showing on Mobile Foxtel, so you can plan your viewing - there is no ability to record or save a show to watch later. There's also a guide built in to view what's on regular Foxtel, but it's junk compared to the dedicated <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/foxtel-guide/id341469468?mt=8" target="_blank">Foxtel Guide iPhone app</a>, which I quite enjoy and is superior to Foxtel's <a href="https://www.foxtel.com.au/whats-on/tv-guide/default.htm" target="_blank">massive Flash-based TV guide</a> on the web.

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I was quite surprised with the quality and reliability of the streaming video. Not once on my travels did it crap out. Sometimes the quality of the video adapted for the conditions, but it was always watchable and never stuttered or paused to buffer. This is pretty amazing, considering this is all happening over a 3G network, out and about.

The app is well done for the purpose it serves. I quite liked the fact it ignores the orientation of the iPhone and doesn't automatically rotate. To make it rotate, you need to tap the screen. There's nothing I hate more than leaning over and having the orientation of the screen change, particularly for video. One big bug that I hope is fixed soon, is showing the password when you log in to the TV guide. It should be shown as dots when you enter in the character, not in full text! Naughty developer, naughty.

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So what do I think of the app and service? It's great - if you need it. Personally, I'm not hankering for TV out on the road enough to pay for it, but I can see the uses for it. So if you want to watch a selection of Foxtel channels on your iPhone, the Foxtel Mobile app is fantastic. Works as advertised! I'd really love to see an iPad version of this - maybe if the streaming quality can be improved (I doubt they can stream 720p HD, because the iPad/iPhone only supports 7.2mbit 3G, <a href="http://www.telstra.com.au/abouttelstra/media/announcements_article.cfm?ObjectID=46522">despite their network supporting up to 42mbit speeds</a>), or allows it over wi-fi for those on Telstra ADSL/cable connections, that would be a really cool use of the iPad around the house. If you have any questions about Mobile Foxtel, *just drop a comment on our forums and while I still have the SIM with me, I'll try answer any questions that come in.