I-O Data joins iPhone mobile TV party with multipurpose 1seg TV tuner

All iPhone mobile TV solutions are by necessity Rube Goldberg contraptions — receivers that pick up broadcast TV signals and transmit them to the iPhone via WiFi. But that doesn't seem to have discouraged anyone from trying to grab a piece of the seductive iPhone market. PC accessory maker I-O Data is the latest to join the party.

I-O Data has developed the SEG Clip GV-SC310, a multipurpose 1seg receiver that can be used with PCs, iPhones and iPod Touches. Actually, it feels like the iPhone feature was an afterthought, because watching TV on the iPhone requires an additional exercise in Goldberg plumbing. In fact, the TV isn't being received on the iPhone at all — it's either prerecorded or it's being relayed from the PC via WiFi.

The tuner receives 1seg TV signals to your PC and then streams live and recorded TV shows to your iPod Touch or iPhone, via WiFi, but first you must install the SEG Clip companion software on your PC and the TV player client on the iPhone or iPod. If you want to watch TV on the go, you have to record the show on the SEG Clip. Then you can play the recording back on the iPhone or iPod.

The GV-SC310 SEG Clip runs on Windows Vista (32-bit) and Windows XP (32-bit) SP2 or later, and iPhone OS 2.2 and 3.0. The tuner is 18mm × 70.3mm × 8.4mm and retails for about $70.

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