PlayOn for iPhone brings a wealth of streaming video to iOS, we go hands-on (update)
By Sean Hollister 
posted July 14th 2010 3:32PM
posted July 14th 2010 3:32PM
We spent some quality couch time with the program over the last couple of days, and with a powerful PC, fast internet and WiFi connection, we found video quite watchable on our iPhone 4, and there's no knocking PlayOn's breadth of content available, with loads of TV, a good deal of anime and your entire Netflix streaming queue available on the phone. The interface is barely there, though, just a series of poorly-spaced nesting menus, and it can take quite a few touchscreen presses and a bit of thought to find what you want to watch. There are a few bugs too, like one that kept shooting us back to the main menu randomly upon a button press, and another that locked us into a particular piece of content until both app and desktop server were restarted. Some content could have looked better on the 3.5-inch Retina Display if only we'd had the option to press the HD button, but the only controls Media Mall provides are forward, backward and volume, and even with full bars we're afraid we couldn't get 3G playback to work reliably. Since the company still offers a free 14-day trial of the service, the software's definitely worth a try, but if you want Hulu or Netflix on the go (or even around the house), we imagine you'll eventually end up using their dedicated apps instead.
Update: PlayOn's PR team tells us some of the exact bugs we found have already been fixed for tomorrow's launch, including crashes that return the user to the main menu, and system states that chain the user to a previously selected video. That's an impressive turnaround!
Update 2: The same team just pinged us again, and it looks like they've hit a roadblock. Apparently the app is once more "in review" under Apple's watch, so only Cupertino knows when exactly it'll be released to the world. We'll let you know as soon as we hear more.
Anyone else find it sad that 16 gb iPhone 4s are going for $800+ on eBay right now? Who would pay that much for a defective phone?
@Rick Astley WoW, that is sad, but I'd gladly take an ETF for that...
@Rick Astley
well the truth is that the issue is big but can be cured with a case. The reason why its selling so high is because they are taken outside the country where the iphone is not available. This is why Apple had the issue of selling only 5 iphones to one customer at a time. I dont no one in the US is paying that much...meaning that they are going to use it in the US.
@Seven2k
that's quite the detective work, Seven. Kudos.
@Rick Astley Ok seriously, the trolling on here is pretty sad. For a long time I've seen people trolling back and forth as if they were personally offended because someone bought a competing product. I seriously doubt most of the people here have stocks in these companies.
Seriously, if you wan't to be productive, get out of your mom's basement, get yourself educated and become an engineer so we can dig ourselves out of this economic situation.
Just hold it the right way or the video will stop streaming
can someone explain to me how engadget gives the iphone 9/10 with a defective antenna design?
@Rick Astley
It's sad that requiring a windows PC is a fault.
@TomSawyer
lol used to work for apple i was helping to stop things like this. But thats what basically happens.
@MiddleFinger
stop with the red herring argument, noone actually cares about the kin, not even microsoft. it seems the only ones who care about the kin are the iphone fanboys looking for something to diss.
so answer the question, how does a defective phone get 9/10?
@MicrosoftOwns
Why is it so hard to believe that the engadget editors didn't experience the antennae issues during their review? It's QUITE clear that this issue is not affecting most owners - in fact it is "sporadically" affecting "some" owners. Please accept that as the fact that it is. Trust me, I love my iPhone4, but if it was unable to make phone calls I would not be keeping it just for the other features. I, like most people, do not suffer from these antennae issues.
You and your kind need to step back and realize that maybe, just maybe, the editors are telling the TRUTH when they say they are having mixed experiences. Yes, it seems there is a problem with the antennae. But how serious can it be if MOST people are not affected by it? You have no idea what Apple is doing to address this issue - you couldn't possibly be silly enough to think they're doing nothing right now. Just because they aren't giving the endgaget comment section daily updates on their progress doesn't mean they aren't working on it. Apple has been tight-lipped for 30 years, why all the shock at their current silence?
Bottom line - we all know the issue exists, but it's clearly not as widespread as YOU would like it to be. Apple will address it when they fully understand the problem and it's ramifications.
@MiddleFinger
whats the kin have to do with anything? stop with the red herring argument and answer the question:
how does a defective phone receive a near perfect 9/10 rating and "best phone ever" statement?
@MicrosoftOwns
if i'm an apple fanboy looking to diss microsoft, i've got plenty of other ammunition besides the Kin.
@TomSawyer I'd not go so far as to say "most" people aren't experiencing the issue. There's been no measurement to show what percentage of people are having the issue or not. Until we know for sure (and it's in Apple's best interest that we don't), we can't say "most" people have, or don't have the issue - doing so just lessens the credibility of the argument - whatever that argument is.
@MicrosoftOwns its not a defective phone. defective means it doesn't work. even though you will distort and exaggerate and reference 40 links about the iphone antenna problem, it doesn't change the fact that the phone does in fact work. what you are referring to is a design flaw. its not a defect as it was manufactured to that design. that design flaw does exist, but so does the ridiculous over-hype and over-exaggeration of how bad it really is. my ip4 and my buddy's evo get near identical signal performance in the area of los angeles i am at even when using the "death grip". that said, im sure i live in an area with strong signal as i usually dont have probelms in general. that illustrates my point though of how over-hyped this is.
to more directly answer your question; people will spend that much money on an iphone because they either love it that much or love the brand and the chic of it. something android and other fans will just have to get used to. apple fans love their machines like americans loved their fords and chevy's. its not just about the specs and the capabilities to most apple fans. myself included, they love the whole experience. the stores are cool, the packaging is cool, the materials are cool. saying you have an iphone feels cool. everything feels sophisticated and indulgent. is it rational? certainly not. is it necessary? absolutely not. if people didn't care about this sort of stuff though there would be no need for luxury cars, first class plane tix etc. this is why people will spend $800 for an iphone.
@MiddleFinger and thaaaaats why its DEAD and the iphone sold 1.7mil in a weekend.
@tadghostal
Although my iPhone 4 loses some bars when touched in that area, everything works normally including talking, texting, and 3G. Obviously, I'm only speaking for myself, but according to what all these people are saying, EVERY single iPhone should have the dropped calls, etc.
Coo....my iphone review 9/10
I notice in the pic, no one is holding the phone. Well done Engadget, you're doing it right.
PlayOn is one of the best pieces of software I every bought. If I had an iphone I would get this in a heart beat.
when is this available?
I don't know anything about the app but I suspect it has constant bit rate streaming so things over 3G aren't going to be pretty. Furthermore, I don't think it is easily possible that they will have adaptive bit rate streaming because they would have to encode a single video at three different bit rates in parallel. That may require a computer beefier than most people have.
@megaman821 - have should be *don't have*
@megaman821 - *don't have* should be *have*
@megaman821 Uh, the streaming isn't coming from their computer...it's coming from the provider's server...
@sigwo Duh, disregard...I'm an ass.
Good luck using that with 200MB cap.
@pika2000 2GB no need to thank me.
@ashleythehottiest Yeah, 2GB is bad enough but 200MB would be downright scary, considering I've used 2.4GB's this month on my Evo...
@Son Of a Gun yeah coworker streamed sling player for 3 weeks almost all day at was at 10gigs..Tmo sent him an email and throttled him down to dialup speed. good luck AT&T users with your spotty 3G and 2gb cap.
All of these video streaming services pop up and now at&t lowers their cap..Great timing.
Sprint you better not f*ck me when froyo comes out.
@neeko18 i think we're all f'd sooner or later. i was lucky and got my att unlimited grandfathered in but its only a matter of time before that gets pulled and all the other carriers follow suit with their own caps. i hope im wrong.
"...and even with full bars we're afraid we couldn't get 3G playback to work reliably."
Is that at the -91 dB or the -51 dB end?
wish they had a mac version of the desktop client... hate booting parallels just to stream... also wish they had an android app since my wife and I have droids...
seriously considering paying the $39 lifetime registration fee I keep getting emails about still
@McHoffa
39$ dude jump on that ASAP. Doesn't matter if you really use it that often.$39 is worth it.
@McHoffa I got burned from these guys. Make sure you read ALL the fine print. They just started their premium service which they are offering to the people who bought this for 39 dollars with the promise of free lifetime upgrades. So guess what happened to the people who already spent 39 dollars? We are offered the service for ANOTHER 5 dollars the first year, and 20/year thereafter. Yeah, its cheap...but its not what they promised. This on top of potentially paying Hulu 10/mo to use their expanded lineup (which was also free)? No thanks.
I wish Apple supported standards like DNLA rather than the proprietary itunes sharing nonsense. Just saying.
@McHoffa
The lifetime fee is for the lifetime of the current release. When they add more content, they'll rename it to playon platinum or something and ask for another lifetime fee... Still, beats monthly cable bill...
Looks like PlayOn is becoming a serious contender. I've been using it with my consoles for over a year and love it. Constant updates to fix and improve the service. I hope they are working on an Android port.
I thought the iPhone 4 worked best hands off.
iPhone post. Instant 250+ comments! :(
@Nonok 249 of which are rehashed "antenna jokes".
@tasteskindasalty
on the bright side, there are now less jokes with lower case "i" play on words.
god those are mother fuckin' old, but the internet has no mercy.
@tasteskindasalty yeah. the funny thing is too is that most of the comments are iphone haters feeling the need to let us know how much they think it sucks.
the antenna thing is getting really old. the phone works, it works well in fact. you'd think from all the hate comments that its incapable of making a single call. hardly the case at all. no im not fanboying, yeah i want apple to take action and responsibility, but by that exaggerated rationale i could say the android marketplace has like 15 apps (which i know is not the case... don't worry) and then beat that point senseless on every non-related post.
iphone haters and lovers of other mobile platforms - we know you don't like or don't want the phone. we get it. unfortunately for you, its wildy popular and people are going to post about it. those posts are going to generate a lot of attention - especially on tech blogs. if you don't like it, stick to the android, symbian, webOS, win7 blogs and forums or hide the apple posts. its as annoying for us to read thru the hate and irrelevancy as it is for you to "suffer" thru another iphone post. your beloved android is doing great and you should be secure in that and your decision to choose it.
Windows o.ly does not make it bad. They are simply going for the mad market. Osx simply does not offer the same return. About 85% of iPhone are used on windows machine
This is one of the few time that I wish I was and IOS user. Because of app like this.
Engadget better not go too "hands-on" or it will kill the reception...
@Air Force One
jesus christ, cant you just vote up one of previous comments with the same joke?
@Killing Time I did up-rank the others, but I wanted to piss you off by making one of my own.... and it worked. :)
"and is today the only way to get Netflix on your phone"
I've been watching Netflix via SlingPlayer Mobile on my iPhone for over a year... Just get a Blu-Ray player that has Netflix included. Connect it to a Slingbox, and voila!
Another great product is AirVideo for various I-devices. Transcoder resides on a Mac/PC/Linux box and feeds your device. Works well over 3G and is just a couple of bucks.
Not related to the company, just a satisfied customer.