ABC launches iView app for iPad

Catching up on your favourite ABC TV shows on the move just got easier for travellers with today’s launch of the ABC iView app for the iPad.

The free iView app allows iPad owners to watch all content currently available on the ABC’s iView site, including the popular live News 24 channel. Due to licensing issues there’s no streaming of other free-to-air ABC TV channels.

However, there are currently 160 different series and plenty of one-off programs and specials available for viewing, or rather iViewing.

The iView app works on both WiFi and 3G connections but if you’re using 3G you’ll need to be careful how much video you watch before blasting through your monthly data allowance. If you’re an ABC addict this might be a good time to investigate upgrading to a pre-paid iPad 3G plan with a higher data cap. 

Another caveat is that iView uses 'geo-blocking' technology which prevents the service being accessed from outside Australia – so if you want to kick back in your London hotel room and catch up with the latest ABC news, you're out of luck.

Back home, however, a useful innovation on the iPad app is the Watchlist. This lets you mark a show on iView as a ‘favourite’ program so you can automatically get an alert when a new episode goes online.

The Watchlist also groups all of those favourite programs in a single list, similar to a Web browser’s bookmark menu.

Support for Apple's new AirPlay technology will let users stream iView content from their iPad to an Apple TV in their living room for large-screen viewing. 

The ABC says it also plans a dedicated iView app for the iPhone early next year.

To download the ABC iView app, click here.