A few reviews of Livestation TV http://www.reviewstream.com/reviews/?p=75466Hello,
I will be reviewing a software in which will allow you to watch tv channels on your computer via the internet. This software is called Livestation and is freeware and comes with many channels. I will discuss the interface, number of channels,variety of channels, and an overview.
The interface of the livestation software is a interface in my opinion that is a rather great one. I like the channels being listed below my viewing screen so i can search through channels while i still have a show playing in the background. One thing i will say though is that on some channels if you go into full screen mode the picture quality will be somewhat off. As in you will see little squares coming through the picture. This could be caused due to my internet connection and this may not happen to everyone.
The livestation software comes with a number of “partner†channels and livestation comes with a number of channels that are submitted by the user.
The variety of channels is pretty good, although I have found some channels on their that are simply clips where if you were on say…ESPN and then you went to BBC then back to ESPN, ESPN would start from the same place it started from the first time. Every partner channel appears to be news related and, some channels come in different languages i.e English, french, and German. Not all channels have this though only a few. When you get into user channels they can put basically anything on their feed that they want to. Their is a search box where you can type in a type of channel you want i.e news, and the search engine will bring up all the channels that are news related or you can simply type in a channel you are looking for and see if they have it. One more thing you have to register through livestation in order to view channels upon downloading software.
Overall i like this software and consider this a good software if you enjoy hearing about news events from around the globe.
Rating: 9
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/watch-live-tv-news-online-livestation/When desktop apps become web apps, the result is usually happiness. That’s how I feel about Livestation, an online TV service we last reviewed in 2008. The site’s made huge strides since then, of course, offering streaming news stations from within your browser as well as expanding its players to many platforms. Whether you own an iPhone, a Blackberry, a Playstation 3 or even a Boxee box you can get live streaming news with this app.
In my recent article about websites where you can watch news online I mentioned that Al Jazeera offered 24 hour a day streaming news. It makes sense, then, that Al Jazeera is offered at Livestation, but what I wasn’t prepared for were the other stations offered here. Let’s take a look around!
Head over to Livestation’s web site and you can start watching streaming news immediately. This is a huge improvement over the previous model, which required users to sign in before they could do so.
On the web you’ll have access only to Livestation’s partner stations. These include:
Al Jazeera, English and Arabic
BBC World Service (Radio Only)
BBC World News 24
BBC Persian
France24 (French, English and Arabic)
NasaTV (live feeds from space missions!)
UN TV
There’s more, of course; check out the full list of official stations here and start watching immediately. The formal partnerships Livestation has with these stations ensures they will be online 24/7 (or when available for stations like NASA that only broadcast during events.) Overall, Livestation’s web interface is a great way to quickly find a news broadcast to watch.
Desktop Client
But of course Livestation is more than a website. There’s a very nice desktop client available. It works for Windows, Mac and Linux computers, and has improved a lot since 2008. For example, the service now offers picture-in-picture:
Another cool feature is the “carousal,†a slick interface that makes for quick browsing of your channels:
The desktop also gives you access to the many user-generated stations Livestation offers. These streams are similar to services such as UStream (check out this article for more information on starting your own broadcast with UStream.) Because these streams are unofficial, and frequently pirated, they tend to go down a lot. Still, it’s nice to have access to more content and these streams certainly deliver that.
Another new feature is the ability to pay for premium channels, including CNN International and Bloomberg. This is probably useless if you have cable, but could prove interesting for those who only want to pay for stations they actually watch.
Other Clients
If the web and your desktop just aren’t enough don’t worry: Livestation offers many ways to access it’s content, including:
The (new) Boxee App gives you access to live news from your TV.
iPhone Apps for Al Jazeera, CNBC and BBC New Streaming. Click here for more information.
A Playstation 3 Compatible page at ps3.livestation.com. Read more here.
A mobile page for smart phones, and apps for Blackberry coming soon.
Naturally the site keeps adding new services, so check frequently to see what’s being added.
ConclusionI don’t have cable TV, so to me this is a wonderful addition to my web TV lineup. What I really love is the sheer diversity of ways to access the content, and the international nature of the content.
Can you find a use for a program like this? Do you like the changes Livestation’s made since our most recent review? As always comments make me happy, so do your part and say something!
Happy viewing
BOLOA