MLB.tv coming to iPhones/iTouch - 1st game is Cubs/Sox Thurs

[Schwarber Fan]

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/mlbcom-streams-live-baseball-games-to-the-iphone/

 

this should be interesting...

 

MLB.com, which sells the popular At Bat application for the iPhone and iPod Touch, said it will add live feeds of some games for no additional charge, at least for now.

 

Owners of the $9.99 application will at first get to see two games each day, chosen by MLB.com. (The games are subject to local blackout restrictions—and your iPhone, remember, knows where you are.) Thursday’s 2:20 p.m. game between the Cubs and White Sox will be the first to be streamed live on the At Bat application; the Tigers-Cardinals game at 8:15 p.m. will follow.

 

I'd guess there will be an extra charge eventually, becuase they can't charge $9.99 to watch and listen to games on your phone while charging more for MLB.tv/audio/gameday premium on the computer.

[UMFan83]

I'd get that if there was no blackout restrictions. Kinda defeats the purpose of watching the game while I'm on the go..

[MembersOnlyJacket]

Tremendous news!

[wolf stansson]

Boner.

[Smack]

As someone with no experience with an iPhone (I'm planning on getting one in October when my contract expires), what is the battery life like? I keep hearing about more and more things you can do with one, but can you actually watch a whole three hour game on your phone? I mean I guess if you're in your car you can plug the phone in, just curious what the battery life is like.

[Guest]

As someone with no experience with an iPhone (I'm planning on getting one in October when my contract expires), what is the battery life like? I keep hearing about more and more things you can do with one, but can you actually watch a whole three hour game on your phone? I mean I guess if you're in your car you can plug the phone in, just curious what the battery life is like.

The battery life is bad compared to other phones, I think. I just bought a new protector case with a lithium ion battery that gives it twice the juice. The downside is the case causes the phone to lose bars in some spots.

 

Overall, the iPhone is the single best thing I've ever bought. It has so much utility for me.

Edited June 17, 2009 by CubinNY

[weis21]

Awesome news! \:D/

[rynefan]

As someone with no experience with an iPhone (I'm planning on getting one in October when my contract expires), what is the battery life like? I keep hearing about more and more things you can do with one, but can you actually watch a whole three hour game on your phone? I mean I guess if you're in your car you can plug the phone in, just curious what the battery life is like.

The battery life is bad compared to other phones, I think. I just bought a new protector case with a lithium ion battery that gives it twice the juice. The downside is the case causes the phone to lose bars in some spots.

 

Overall, the iPhone is the single best thing I've ever bought. It has so much utility for me.

 

I'd have to agree with how you summed it up. Had mine almost two years now and it's been a lifesaver on a few levels and even without anything extra, it's easy to check scores. I'll have to look into that protector case.

[Twiggy]

Time to get a touch :)

[17 Seconds]

it was already an excellent deal when it was only gameday and the game audio. now video and at the same price? amazing. i can't believe there isn't any kind of monthly fee. 9.99 for all that is a ridiculously good deal

 

hopefully it works as smoothly as the audio feature does

[BCVM22]

Reports are that the streaming video is aces over Wi-Fi and only slightly slower over 3G.

[Bixby]

Knowing MLB.TV's past (Mosaic etc...) I'd expect this to be very beta on release. Probably why they aren't charging for it off the bat.

[UMFan83]

Reports are that the streaming video is aces over Wi-Fi and only slightly slower over 3G.

Yeah I downloaded the NCAA Tournament app that streamed Tourney games and the quality and speeds were great. I had no problems playing games on WiFi, and althought they didn't allow you to stream video on 3G, I read that it was an issue of bandwidth from AT&T, not because they couldn't stream properly.

[Soul]

Adding streaming video for the same price makes the MLB iphone app one of the very best values in all of sports.

[cheapseats]

It looks great over WiFi.

[Ski]

I can't watch the game because it says it can't determine my location even though I have location services on and I am allowing the app to use my location. Can anyone help me out?

[woodchip2153]

I can't watch the game because it says it can't determine my location even though I have location services on and I am allowing the app to use my location. Can anyone help me out?

 

Location: Minot, North Dakota

 

there's your problem

[chasinf5s]

As someone with no experience with an iPhone (I'm planning on getting one in October when my contract expires), what is the battery life like? I keep hearing about more and more things you can do with one, but can you actually watch a whole three hour game on your phone? I mean I guess if you're in your car you can plug the phone in, just curious what the battery life is like.

 

its pretty bad, i love it though. If you plan on watching this service though, i doubt it would last an entire game on a full charge.

[MembersOnlyJacket]

As someone with no experience with an iPhone (I'm planning on getting one in October when my contract expires), what is the battery life like? I keep hearing about more and more things you can do with one, but can you actually watch a whole three hour game on your phone? I mean I guess if you're in your car you can plug the phone in, just curious what the battery life is like.

 

its pretty bad, i love it though. If you plan on watching this service though, i doubt it would last an entire game on a full charge.

 

I watched the last three innings and it killed 40% of my battery. For a typical three hour game, your battery will die.

[weis21]

It's telling me that the updated mlb at bat application (1.2.0) is not compatible because it requires the iPhone 3.0 Software update. It clearly states that it's compatible with the iTouch however on the iTunes page and my iTouch is not even a half a year old.

 

Any help?

 

Thanks in advance.

[BCVM22]

What's the confusion? You need the 3.0 firmware for the Touch.

[UMFan83]

As someone with no experience with an iPhone (I'm planning on getting one in October when my contract expires), what is the battery life like? I keep hearing about more and more things you can do with one, but can you actually watch a whole three hour game on your phone? I mean I guess if you're in your car you can plug the phone in, just curious what the battery life is like.

 

its pretty bad, i love it though. If you plan on watching this service though, i doubt it would last an entire game on a full charge.

 

I watched the last three innings and it killed 40% of my battery. For a typical three hour game, your battery will die.

 

Yeah, its more of a "follow the game on Gameday and switch over to video for big situations" kinda feature. The quality looks great though. I guess it auto adjusts the video quality depending on whether you are streaming from Wifi or 3G.

 

Now I just need to find a way to get past the blackout restrictions.

[weis21]

What's the confusion? You need the 3.0 firmware for the Touch.

I couldn't find the software update through the app store, but I found it on apple.com shortly after I posted that. The whole "iPhone" software update rather than just software update had me worried that it wasn't yet available for the touch.

 

I don't understand the whole "what's the confusion" part of the response, but I guess thanks anyway.

[BCVM22]

I don't understand the whole "what's the confusion" part of the response, but I guess thanks anyway.

 

Guess it just seemed obvious to me. No offense.

[weis21]

I don't understand the whole "what's the confusion" part of the response, but I guess thanks anyway.

 

Guess it just seemed obvious to me. No offense.

None taken - I just hadn't heard of the firmware update (which is probably something I should have kept up with) and was a bit perplexed since it was specifically called iPhone software.

 

Back to the subject at hand, it looks like they have chosen several Cubs games over the next few days to be one of the two featured games. I hope that trend continues.