Comments on: Livestation vs. Zattoo: First Round

By: Chuck T.

Chuck T. — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 01:43:36 +0000

Livestation works in the US – Zattoo, not available.

By: James H.

James H. — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 18:34:07 +0000

Are there any U.S. users, or is Livestation still not available here?
Also, is it necessary to have the Livestation program running in the background (I’m the paranoid type), or can I shut it down completely?

By: Derrick Von Zanzibar

Derrick Von Zanzibar — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 11:28:33 +0000

Tom, you’re a pencil.

Yay for Zattoo.

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 09:10:36 +0000

I was going to provide my comments on my user experience with Livestation, but then I realized that the user agreement explicitly prohibits doing so publicly, so I have provided my comments to Livestation support. I look forward to hearing from them.

By: digichris.info

digichris.info — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 19:08:29 +0000

Endlich wieder Sky News…

Corsin gehört schon zu den glücklichen Livestation-Testern. Offenbar gehöre ich jetzt auch dazu. Grundsätzlich empfehle ich allen Lesern einmal das Review von Corsin zu lesen.
Ich bin auf jeden Fall froh, Sky News wieder sehen zu können. Der Sende…

By: jdilla

jdilla — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 12:54:21 +0000

Livestation quality from the US is horrible – I’ve never used Zattoo, but Livestation routinely craps out from the US, and eats up my bandwidth even when I’m not watching! And it takes almost 30 seconds to log in or switch channels!

This kind of parasitic behavior seems a bit dishonest to me, and really makes me wonder what’s going on under the covers. For such a small channel lineup I can already watch over the web, it doesn’t seem worth it.

By: EPG comparison

EPG comparison — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 13:49:11 +0000

Will Livestation at some point offer en EPG where I can easily browse through all the shows on all channels in one window, similar to what Zattoo is offering today?

By: The Livestation team

The Livestation team — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 13:33:27 +0000

Hi Corsin
In answer to your question – we are working on a number of additional services and functions that require the client to be logged onto the peer network for them to work. There is also a significant advantage as if you want to watch something you won’t need to go through the login and reloading sequence which can sometimes take a bit of time.

The Livestation team

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 20:52:45 +0000

I didn’t know AJ English is in 16:9
At Cablecom digital it is in 4:3 and if I am right it is also on satellite.

By: CoCaman

CoCaman — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:23:10 +0000

Hi Kate and Team

Thank you for your response.
> From that point on bandwidth usage is the minimum required to stay in contact with the network.
My question is simple: For what? Is there really a need in letting the software run?

Corsin

By: The Livestation team

The Livestation team — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:20:33 +0000

Hi Cocaman

Thanks for the great blog about Livestation, glad you like the EPG!

We just wanted to let you know that it takes about 10-15 seconds after closing the Livestation window for the streaming to stop completely. From that point on bandwidth usage is the minimum required to stay in contact with the network.

We hope you keep enjoying Livestation!

The Livestation team.

By: Message to Zattoo is ...

Message to Zattoo is ... — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:33:50 +0000

One message to Zattoo seems pretty clear to me, namely: “Just give me BBC World and let me watch it, no matter where I am.”

I believe that alone would make many people around the world very happy and regular Zattoo viewers. One of the best audiences one can think of. Always comes back for news updates from a high-quality source.

By: Nicolas

Nicolas — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 14:25:05 +0000

Actually it is already round TWO! Zattoo, perhaps in retaliation to the launch of a wider Livestation beta, have launched a Technical Preview version complete with a lot of interesting improvements (much awaited in fact!):
- EPG provided by tvtv
- fullscreen controls (access to EPG, stopping channel, sound control, but still no fullscreen channel switcher)
- a channel manager, allowing you to show only the channels you want to have access to
Yet there are no new video quality improvements (and the known Zattoo artifacts remain, though I have ssen some glitches in Livestation too!).
There might also be some channels added to this new release soon
So, is it a tie break? 1-1 ?
Wait’n'see…

By: Daniel Lorch

Daniel Lorch — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 21:01:12 +0000

I just tried to sign up:

What’s next? As we are thoroughly testing the performance of our platform, we are extending the trial on an invitation only basis. We will get back to you as soon as possible with an invitation.

Oooooch.

By: CoCaman

CoCaman — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 20:45:59 +0000

Thanks for the info.

> I don’t think this has anything to do with the number of users concurrently on the Zattoo system, because Zattoo had those from day one …
Another problem is the problem if to many people watch the same program the player crashes or disconnects. I had that a couple of times watching Swiss TV and sport casts.

> It was claimed elsewhere that Livestation will very soon offer larger channel lineup of 30+ channels in the UK, then quickly expand to continental Europe and the US later this year.
I cannot find any infos about that on their website. But I am really hoping for that.