Screen Grab via HBOGo.com
HBO Go went live on Android and iOS today, allowing subscribers to watch premium shows and movies on Apple and Google smartphones and tablets.
The application is free in both app stores, but you need the login information you use with your cable provider to sign in.
The application, which is part of HBO’s TV Anywhere initiative, was originally slated for May 2, but the network finalized everything ahead of schedule, surprising us with the app today. It joins HBO’s other streaming offering, the HBO Go online video service.
The app works with the following providers: AT&T, Charter, Cox, DirecTV, Dish, SuddenLink, Verizon and Xfinity.
Tablets (especially the iPad) are rearing their shiny screens as new platforms for direct programming. That is, programming which goes straight to the consumer without the need of cable boxes or televisions. As such, the devices have been cause for contention. Programmers, like Viacom and News Corporation, have said the networks and providers who offer direct streaming violate terms of use agreements. They allege that streaming steps beyond the networks’ and providers’ rights to the programming.
HBO is not likely to get raveled up in this mess because it owns the programming and therefore has the rights to do with it as it pleases.
