PlayOn is an app that lets you stream audio and video from internet sites including Hulu, Netflix, and Comedy Central to devices that wouldn’t normally support them such as an Xbox 360 or a Nintendo Wii. PlayOn works by having you install a server application on your Windows computer which basically grabs the internet video and then streams it in a supported format to the appropriate device. Last year PlayOn released an app that works with the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. And this week the company launched an Android app.
Now you can download and install the free server on a PC and then use the PlayOn Mobile app to watch web video on your Android phone or tablet, stream music from Pandora, or stream audio and video content your PC to your mobile phone.
The basic PlayOn service is free. That’s the good news. The bad news is that PlayOn will soon start charging for mobile access. In order to stream media to an Android device you’ll need to download and install version 3.2 of the desktop client — and the latest version describes mobile access as a “premium preview.” Premium accounts run about $20 per year or you can get unlimited access for a one-time payment of $54.99.
Fortunately there’s a 14-day free trial which lets you test the app before spending any money. You can also stream local content using the My Media Beta feature for free.
When I first installed the PlayOn Android app, I was able to pull up a list of available channels and view programs available for viewing. What I wasn’t able to do was actually stream any content. It turns out PlayOn didn’t know how to automatically work with my WiFi router to support streaming to a mobile device, and after spending a good 20 minutes looking for a way to manually configure my router I’m about ready to give up. Interestingly, I’m having no problem streaming video to my iPod touch though.
If you do manage to get the app working, you should be able to stream content over a WiFi or 3G connection as long as your PC is running and the PlayOn desktop client is active.
The PlayOn mobile app for Android is available as a free download from the Android Market. It supports Android 2.2 and up. You can also check out a promo video from PlayOn after the break.
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It works pretty well, even with the additional layer (vpn) I need to use to get netflix & hulu working from outside the US.
On 3G it sometimes stops playing for a moment for buffering (happened twice during a 44 minute tv show streaming), on wifi no such problems.
What I did.
- Start my vpn connection for getting a US ip
- Start playon server
- manually configure the port under “mobile access” and add forwarding for that port in my router
- start playon android app (the first time you need to be on the same wifi network as your playon server)
- start watching
Playon has made many useful tools for streaming media. I couldn’t be happier with their Xbox integration! I have recently used the trial version of this particular app and don’t see it too useful. I am a DISH Network employee/consumer, and I have been using DISH’s Remote Access app to stream live TV, on demand content, and all my DVR recordings to my Android. Playon has done a very nice job, but have some catching up to do with this one.
I Have been using Playon from mediamall for over a year it has allowed me to cancel my cable and in return save over 1800 dollars i use a script called TV channels live that I downloaded from playonmonkeys.
Yea I dont like the way it streams to my droid but wasnt sure if it was just the phone or the software