Optus mobile customers will be able to record and play back free-to-air Australian television through a 3G compatible mobile phone, thanks to a new service launched today.
The TV Now service allows Optus customers to record free-to-air TV programs on 15 channels using a compatible mobile phone, and then play the recording back on their mobile or a PC within 30 days.
Programs can't be watched live, though any recordings streamed to a phone will be unmetered, so they won't count against a customers' monthly mobile data usage.
"While we've been able to record free to air TV on our personal video recorder for years, Optus TV Now is the first service that allows customers from across Australia to record free to air TV using their mobile and play it back on a mobile or personal computer," said Austin Bryan, director of Optus digital media. "This innovative new product highlights the diverse and exciting potential for consumer cloud services."
All Optus customers get 45 minutes storage every month for free, but larger storage quotas can be purchased at a monthly cost. Five hours of storage time on the Optus TV Now service costs $6.99 per month, while the maximum 20 hours of storage costs $9.99 per month. Any Optus TV Now costs are added as a bolt-on to an existing Optus mobile account.
The Optus TV Now service covers the Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth areas, and will work with all models of the iPhone, all Google Android phones running the 2.1 version or later, selected BlackBerry smartphones and various Nokia phones.
