MacTVision Technologies today announces MacTVision HD for Mac OS X, an update to their app that allows users to watch over 2,600 free, popular TV, news, sports, and specialty channels on their Mac, instantly, on demand.
The app features searchable, updating, interactive TV listings, including over 13,000 programs with thumbnails and descriptions. Displayed in full screen mode, MacTVision’s scrollable database of listings appear in a window that occupies the top one third of the Main window.
The Listings window contains nine columns, and listings may be ordered according to any of the nine columns: Name (of TV show), Type (TV, Streams, Videos, Radio, or Media Apps), Category (Movies, Action, Comedy, etc.) Language (English, Spanish, German, etc.), Favorites, Rating, My Rating, Details (short summary), and Featured. Selecting a popular show from the Name column — such as “Desperate Housewives” — brings up three new windows that occupy the bottom two thirds of the screen: Summary, Sources, and Episodes.
The summary window provides an overview of the program’s premise.The Sources window lists the various outlets through which the program can be obtained: Hulu, CHANNEL4, CTV1, or CTV2. The first on the list is selected by default. Finally, the Episodes window indicates that 20 episodes are loaded and may be scrolled through. Each episode listing consists of a still from that episode, the episode’s title, a complete description, and a large blue button to begin playback. Pressing the Play button launches the MacTVision View screen, and the program begins.
Although the application requires no setup, and users can start watching TV immediately, there is a settings panel where advanced users may choose video display options and download recommended, free software. Also included are settings to bypass trans-national content blocking by means of a VPN (Virtual Private Network). The app includes a short instruction manual, a direct link to the MacTVision web page, and advanced proxy connection options.
MacTVision HD requires Mac OS X 10.4 or higher. It’s Universal Binary so runs natively on both PowerPC and Intel Macs. MacTVision HD costs $39.95 and is available through the MacTVision web site (http://www.onlinetvmac.com). This is a one-time fee, with free upgrades for life; there are no monthly fees or any additional costs. A free demo copy of MacTVision is available. Review copies are available upon request.