14 DAY TRIAL // A Television, the third parent
I am a product of television. I?m proud to say that I?ve watched my fair share of TV throughout my life, something I try to do a lot less of now, but the damage has been done. When I ran into a program that offered me over 3000 online Radio and TV stations, I couldn?t help but think of the last one that offered me something similar: FantasyTV Pro. Luckily for everyone, HalpTV is a lot better.
First of all, when FantasyTV charged around 20$ for its services, HalpTV does it for no cost at all. Honestly, the reason I?ve been looking into online TV is that I?ve been trying to legally watch some playoff football. I?m currently not in the States so it makes it hard for me to keep up with everything that?s going on, especially Super Bowl news. Yes I know of the many bit torrent links out there, but I want to watch it Live and in Prime Time. Being out of the country makes it hard for anyone to watch sporting events live. Being in a totally different time zone wreaks havoc on the avid sports fan, let alone the sports fanatic. By the time you wake up, it?s already happened, it?s in the news and you already know the outcome.
There?s no hushing of the crowd over whether or not Sean Alexander will run in for the final touchdown or if Big Ben Roethlisberger will be as big of a threat as he was during the Broncos game. The beauty of Live sporting events is that it happens live. I can?t say that I?ll be able to watch the Super Bowl using HalpTV because of CBS redistribution and broadcasting rights, but at least I?ll be able to listen to it over HalpTV?s Radio coverage. Out of the possible 3000 incoming streams, I?ll be sure to find a live feed of some sort.
What?s Inside
OK, let?s start off by saying I was a bit disappointed that I couldn?t choose the install directory. That needed mentioning. The program itself has a lot to offer. Aside from the throngs of streams one can connect to throughout the world, HalpTV offers Video on Demand. A service that?s only typically included in popular satellite and cable companies.
The interface is actually pretty nice. You have three varied views to choose from: original, fit to window and full screen. Your main viewing window is smack tab in the middle and you have a drop-down tabbed menu on the right hand side which includes a TV Station guide, a Video On Demand tab as well as a Radio and Favorites tab. The bottom of the player gives you a snapshot of key information as well. It tells you if you?re connected, the buffering speed, the bitrate, bandwidth and volume of your player.
Honestly this little ditty has a lot of programming that you?re bound to find interesting. From watching Castro address his nation on TV Cubana to watching a show about a random French author on TVRi in Romania or an infomercial on the ?Miracle Blade? on Tele M1 from Switzerland. One is bound to find something interesting no matter which country you?re watching from. I gave a few reasons as to why you might want to have something like this on your computer when I reviewed FantasyTV Pro, the same reasons still stand. Reasons may vary widely, if you?re looking to get live reports and feedback on how another country?s stocks are going or if you?re just interested in touching up on a foreign language, I?d have to recommend HalpTV because it?s a good program.
What would help
Something that bothered me was that you could easily set TV stations as favorites, but you couldn?t set some of the Radio stations as favorites. That might help in the next build. I have to remind some users that although this program is a 1.0 build, Halpsoft has done a great job at putting together a product people will want to have on their machines.
The Good
I honestly can?t believe that this is a 1.0 build because it has great features along with a free service that is typically not included in similar packages. 3000 + Video and Radio streams, a ?Video On Demand? feature that sets it apart from the rest should be enough to make you want to at least check out this product. Also a Livecam is included with the On Demand feature. I almost left out that HalpTV is skinnable and comes with 7 default skins.
The Bad
It?s not easily discernable that this is a 1.0 build, so it?s only going to get better, but as I said above, I?d like the ability to add Radio streams as favorites. More channels would also be great. Streams can be a little grainy at times.
The Truth
The truth is that I?m still looking for a way to watch the Super Bowl live and if you know a way, please share, but I digress. HalpTV is definitely a nifty little free tool to have on your machine if you want to get in touch with the rest of the world. It?s an international TV tool that gives you a peak at what the rest of the world is watching. You should definitely check it out.
Take a look at the screenshots below.
