BBC TV over Wi-Fi

Here's something to try over the Easter break.

You will need:

A phone with Wi-Fi A hankering to watch BBC TV progs live A UK location A UK TV license in the vicinity

If you have those four ingredients then switch Wi-Fi on and visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/mobile/live/tv/ from your device. You should be able to pick up several stations both TV and radio.

I tried this on an HTC Touch HD which refused to play ball, so I skipped over to an HTC TyTN II which played along.

I’m not sure I want to watch a lot of TV this way, to be honest. The screen is way too small for my liking.

But the fact that the BBC has launched this service, and plans a 3G compatible version soon, is quite something.

If nothing else it could be the beginning of the end for the TV license as we know it.

Could the future of the license be tethered to a person rather than a place? After all, with all this mobility the BBC has to ensure that an individual has bought the right to access its content wherever they happen to be, rather than that a particular TV has the right to receive said content.

And what does that do for multi-person, one TV households?

The TV license dilemma is a thorny one. But the moment just squint at the screen and marvel.