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Freeview coming to your tablet in time for the World Cup

Freeview is coming to your tablet in the new year to watch and record your favourite broadcast telly wherever you roam.

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Richard Trenholm Former Movie and TV Senior Editor
Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.
Expertise Films, TV, Movies, Television, Technology
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Richard Trenholm
2 min read
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Freeview is coming to your tablet in the new year, potentially allowing you to watch and record your favourite broadcast telly wherever you roam.

A new dongle is in the works to allow you to watch and record Freeview telly on your slate, just like on your Freeview box, PVR or television. 

Broadcast software company Motive has joined forces with South Korean manufacturer icube -- interesting choice of name there, folks -- which will build a Freeview dongle powered by Motive's software.

At this early stage details are scarce, but Motive has plans for a similar service in the US called TabletTV. That sees your tablet connect wirelessly to a T-Pod dongle, beaming tellywaves to the screen over Wi-Fi so you don't actually have to plug the dongle into the tablet. Handy for the many tablets, including the iPad, that lack a USB or HDMI connection.

The US TabletTV is set to launch in the spring of next year. Meanwhile the Freeview dongle is planned for a release date in mid-2014. Motive CEO Leonard Fertig commented in a press release, "We hope to have Tablet TV available in the United Kingdom in time for the World Cup in June."

One current option for watching TV on your tablet is the Elgato EyeTV, which works on the iPad and iPhone and selected Android tablets. Motive says it's "aware of EyeTV and several other providers", but "none of them are identical to TabletTV in terms of technology or consumer features."

There are plenty of ways to stream on-demand and catch-up telly on mobile devices, from iPlayer and 4oD to Netflix and Now TV. But watching live is still tricky: a spokesperson for online-connected TV service YouView, as a for instance, told me today YouView has "no immediate plans to give customers the option to watch TV via an app or other devices".

Would you watch TV on your tablet? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.