EyeTV iPhone App Pulled by Apple, Revised Version Submitted

MacRumors · Oct 17, 2009, 11:42 AM

Yesterday, we noted that an easter egg had been discovered in Elgato's EyeTV iPhone application that allowed users to stream live TV to their devices over 3G wireless networks. While the workaround had been present since the application's launch late last month, it hadn't gained significant publicity until yesterday, and Apple quickly moved to pull the application from the App Store due to its agreement with AT&T not to allow television signals to be "redirected" to mobile devices.

According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, Elgato has issued a statement claiming that the feature was related to test code that the company failed to remove from the application prior to submitting it to Apple and noting that a revised version of the application lacking the functionality has been submitted for App Store review.

Quote:

Apple's response, on AT&T's behalf, was swift. Elgato's Mike Evangelist told me the following in an e-mail just now:

"Some test code that enabled live TV streaming over the cellular network was accidentally left in the EyeTV app. Apple requested that we remove the code since their agreement with AT&T does not allow redirecting TV signals over the cellular network. The code was removed and a 1.0.1 version of the EyeTV app was submitted. We expect EyeTV to return to the App Store when the 1.0.1 version is approved."

Article Link: EyeTV iPhone App Pulled by Apple, Revised Version Submitted

Longey Nowze · Oct 17, 2009, 11:56 AM

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_0_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7A400 Safari/528.16)

I don't understand why AT&T gets to decide, interfere with the choices and features available to iPhone users around the world! If my carrier is better equiped or even just less of a tyrrant why do we get to suffer?!

Don't developers have a choice where to offer their apps? I'm sorry to say this, but why don't they offer their Crippled apps just in the US store?! Why do we have to suffer?!

iVoid · Oct 17, 2009, 12:01 PM

Guess I won't be updating this app any time soon.

:P

Kilamite · Oct 17, 2009, 12:33 PM

Got the work around to work - though it is pretty laggy. It'll play fine for 10 secs then stop, buffer for a minute or so.

It'd be great if it worked flawlessly!

hanpa · Oct 17, 2009, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Longey Nowze

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_0_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7A400 Safari/528.16)

I don't understand why AT&T gets to decide, interfere with the choices and features available to iPhone users around the world! If my carrier is better equiped or even just less of a tyrrant why do we get to suffer?!

Don't developers have a choice where to offer their apps? I'm sorry to say this, but why don't they offer their Crippled apps just in the US store?! Why do we have to suffer?!

I agree. The rest of the should not have crippled apps due to the agreement between Apple and AT&T. This is one of the reasons why jailbreaking using e.g. 3gunrestrictor is more or less required. I don't want to jailbreak but I probably will sooner or later. The agreement is not valid in my country!

Shoesy · Oct 17, 2009, 01:31 PM

Alright - who was the grass?

jmann · Oct 17, 2009, 01:35 PM

Did they pull the "killswitch" on this app?

RoboCop001 · Oct 17, 2009, 01:39 PM

They make restrictions, and we fall back.

They get rid of entire apps, and we fall back.

Well not again. The line must be drawn HEAH! This fahhh NO FAHHTHER!

And IIIIIIII will make them PAY for what they've done!!!!

dukebound85 · Oct 17, 2009, 01:52 PM

im getting tired of this "unlimited data" plan im paying for and not being able to use it as i see fit

knewsom · Oct 17, 2009, 02:01 PM

When the FCC finally clamps down and throws Apple and ATT in the slammer, I think I know who will be pitching and who will be catching in their shower-room encounters.

kas23 · Oct 17, 2009, 02:01 PM

This proves, beyond any reasonable dispute, that AT&T plays a significant role in the app approval process. This is in direct violation of the FCC's vision of net neutrality. I hope the FCC is privy to this latest move.

Mr. Gates · Oct 17, 2009, 02:09 PM

AT&T can burn in hell.

TraceyS/FL · Oct 17, 2009, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hanpa

I agree. The rest of the should not have crippled apps due to the agreement between Apple and AT&T. This is one of the reasons why jailbreaking using e.g. 3gunrestrictor is more or less required. I don't want to jailbreak but I probably will sooner or later. The agreement is not valid in my country!

I agree.... why should the rest of the world have to suffer because of AT&T? Bad enough the US has too.....

LoganT · Oct 17, 2009, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kilamite

Got the work around to work - though it is pretty laggy. It'll play fine for 10 secs then stop, buffer for a minute or so.

It'd be great if it worked flawlessly!

Change the quality of the stream. When you're in Live TV and looking at the guide press the gears button at the top right corner and slide the the kbps to a lower quality.

rstone3 · Oct 17, 2009, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iVoid

Guess I won't be updating this app any time soon.

:P

Ditto - I'll have to update apps one at a time very carefully. I suspect this functionality will return once iPhone not just on AT&T network.

jordanh91 · 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by knewsom

When the FCC finally clamps down and throws Apple and ATT in the slammer, I think I know who will be pitching and who will be catching in their shower-room encounters.

Yeah, AT&T doesn't need to be domineering Apple like this

I'm sure someone has already said this, but isnt it rather redundant that AT&T isn't letting us stream video from an app store app, yet they allow YouTube to be accessed by thousands of users everyday?(rough estimate) :/

Man will I be glad when Apple and AT&T split.

Eddyisgreat · Oct 17, 2009, 04:04 PM

Just great. Can we backup .ipa's if our phones aren't jail broken? I need to keep it just incase I hit update.

jordanh91 · Oct 17, 2009, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eddyisgreat

Just great. Can we backup .ipa's if our phones aren't jail broken? I need to keep it just incase I hit update.

Yes, they are located in either:

~/Music/iTunes/Mobile Applications/

or, if you've recently updated iTunes,

~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/Mobile Applications

~ meaning your user folder.

fpnc · 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jordanh91

Yeah, AT&T doesn't need to be domineering Apple like this

I'm sure someone has already said this, but isnt it rather redundant that AT&T isn't letting us stream video from an app store app, yet they allow YouTube to be accessed by thousands of users everyday?(rough estimate)...

There are a lot of iPhone apps in the iTunes Store that allow video streaming. It's only live TV that can't be streamed. You can, however, stream TV that has been pre-recorded (i.e. time shifted).

I'm not certain why they make this distinction, but it could be because AT&T's legal team is afraid that they could get in trouble for enabling the rebroadcasting of live TV. Also, I suspect there could be a "crush" of users if breaking news occurred and everyone attempted to view CNN at the same moment on their iPhones.

jordanh91 · 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fpnc

There are a lot of iPhone apps in the iTunes Store that allow video streaming. It's only live TV that can't be streamed. You can, however, stream TV that has been pre-recorded (i.e. time shifted).

That's what I meant.

Still, it's not like watching streaming live tv (at low quality) is going to bring the whole network down, but then again, you can't be sure with AT&T.

edit: I suppose it could be due to legality as well. I don't see users selling iPhone quality streamed tv, though...

utazdevl · Oct 17, 2009, 04:34 PM

I hate in any way shape or form to seem like I am defending AT&T, but it is possible that this is not an issue of streaming or clogging their network. It is possible that this is a rights issue, and AT&T might not have the ownership/rights to allow users to stream Live TV over their networks, or at least their concern is that some content on Live TV have independently sold rights to their product being shown live on the net (for example, the Sporting Leagues typically sell the rights to stream their games on the net to different companies than the networks that broadcast their games on TV and/or radio).

Wi-Fi is out of the AT&T network and streaming pre-recorded elements is basically just accessing your computer and its data you have recorded on the hard drive (which AT&T accepts no responsibility for). Streaming Live TV might get into a whole royalties issue with the networks and producers. This might explain Slingbox as well, as (correct me if I am wrong) that only allows you to stream on Wi-Fi.

This would be similar to the XM/Sirius application, that does not allow you to listen to things like MLB over the app, as XM/Sirius does not own the internet rights to the product, so they cannot distribute it.

I have no inside information or anything, so I might be talking out of my butt, but this might not be AT&T's fault.

kiljoy616 · Oct 17, 2009, 05:30 PM

I see more of copy right issues and problems with how copyrights work in today's world, until we resolve that this is going to be a problem we will see again.

But with ATT sucking and bitching about their network issues I can also see ATT saying if we allow this and many people start doing it say on the weekend we could see areas basically going down the tube when it comes to speed. Maybe all this will be resolve if we finally get real copyright legislation or 4G comes out and actually does what it promises, we can only wait and see what the next excuse will be.

kdarling · Oct 17, 2009, 05:38 PM

It's not a copyright issue.

The Verizon Wireless contract specifically allows streaming video on their network.

SimonTheSoundMa · Oct 17, 2009, 05:56 PM

I can’t wait for AT&T to loose their exclusivity. They are interfering with development because of their sub-standard network. The iPhone OS platform is being held back by them.

Apple need to get a grip and see what other platforms, phone operators and countries are doing.

3G in the UK is advertised as a network for video and audio streaming, iPhone is the only device which does not do this.

Anyone in the USA want to complain to the FCC?

optophobia · Oct 17, 2009, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shoesy

Alright - who was the grass?

Um... Macrumors ?

Oct 17, 2009, 11:56 AM	#2
Longey Nowze macrumors regular Join Date: Apr 2001	Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_0_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7A400 Safari/528.16) I don't understand why AT&T gets to decide, interfere with the choices and features available to iPhone users around the world! If my carrier is better equiped or even just less of a tyrrant why do we get to suffer?! Don't developers have a choice where to offer their apps? I'm sorry to say this, but why don't they offer their Crippled apps just in the US store?! Why do we have to suffer?! __________________ STOP THE THE KILLING please. s/he might not be moody, s/he might have Bipolar disorder and suffering... learn to help

Oct 17, 2009, 12:33 PM	#4
Kilamite macrumors Demi-God Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Scotland	Got the work around to work - though it is pretty laggy. It'll play fine for 10 secs then stop, buffer for a minute or so. It'd be great if it worked flawlessly! __________________ - MacBook Pro Unibody 15" 2.8GHz 'anti-glare' - Apple TV 1TB (work in progress) - iPhone 3G 8GB - MobileMe // OS X 10.6.2

Oct 17, 2009, 01:31 PM	#6
Shoesy macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Colchester, UK.	Alright - who was the grass? __________________ check out my facebook fanpage for a free mixtape and other goodies!

Oct 17, 2009, 01:35 PM	#7
jmann Contributor Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: on a bump on a log in a hole in the bottom of the sea(not far from Hollywood,CA)	Did they pull the "killswitch" on this app? __________________ DFU Mode - Recovery Mode -Take Me On The Floor- The Veronicas \| Mac Tutorials

Oct 17, 2009, 01:52 PM	#9
dukebound85 macrumors 603 Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Upstate New York, but will always have my heart in Colorado	im getting tired of this "unlimited data" plan im paying for and not being able to use it as i see fit __________________ "The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries." - Churchill

Oct 17, 2009, 12:01 PM	#3
iVoid macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jan 2007	Guess I won't be updating this app any time soon. :P

Oct 17, 2009, 01:39 PM	#8
RoboCop001 macrumors 6502 Join Date: Oct 2005	They make restrictions, and we fall back. They get rid of entire apps, and we fall back. Well not again. The line must be drawn HEAH! This fahhh NO FAHHTHER! And IIIIIIII will make them PAY for what they've done!!!!

Oct 17, 2009, 02:01 PM	#10
knewsom macrumors member Join Date: Jun 2005	When the FCC finally clamps down and throws Apple and ATT in the slammer, I think I know who will be pitching and who will be catching in their shower-room encounters.

Oct 17, 2009, 02:01 PM	#11
kas23 macrumors 68020 Join Date: Oct 2007	This proves, beyond any reasonable dispute, that AT&T plays a significant role in the app approval process. This is in direct violation of the FCC's vision of net neutrality. I hope the FCC is privy to this latest move.

Oct 17, 2009, 02:09 PM	#12
Mr. Gates macrumors regular Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Redmond - Washington	AT&T can burn in hell. __________________ Mattel Barbie PC,90Mhz 64 Mb RAM -128 USB Flash Stick Thingy

Oct 17, 2009, 04:04 PM	#17
Eddyisgreat macrumors 65816 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Seattle, Wa	Just great. Can we backup .ipa's if our phones aren't jail broken? I need to keep it just incase I hit update. __________________ 2.5 Penryn MBP (4GB, 80 GB x25-m) + ACD 20", 32Gb Black iPhone 3G S⃣ Tuned by Jobs™ , G-Drive Q , G-Drive G-Raid Mini I live within walking distance of an Apple Store.

Oct 17, 2009, 04:34 PM	#21
utazdevl macrumors newbie Join Date: Jul 2008	Rights issue I hate in any way shape or form to seem like I am defending AT&T, but it is possible that this is not an issue of streaming or clogging their network. It is possible that this is a rights issue, and AT&T might not have the ownership/rights to allow users to stream Live TV over their networks, or at least their concern is that some content on Live TV have independently sold rights to their product being shown live on the net (for example, the Sporting Leagues typically sell the rights to stream their games on the net to different companies than the networks that broadcast their games on TV and/or radio). Wi-Fi is out of the AT&T network and streaming pre-recorded elements is basically just accessing your computer and its data you have recorded on the hard drive (which AT&T accepts no responsibility for). Streaming Live TV might get into a whole royalties issue with the networks and producers. This might explain Slingbox as well, as (correct me if I am wrong) that only allows you to stream on Wi-Fi. This would be similar to the XM/Sirius application, that does not allow you to listen to things like MLB over the app, as XM/Sirius does not own the internet rights to the product, so they cannot distribute it. I have no inside information or anything, so I might be talking out of my butt, but this might not be AT&T's fault.

Oct 17, 2009, 05:30 PM	#22
kiljoy616 macrumors newbie Join Date: Apr 2008	Copy Rights anyone I see more of copy right issues and problems with how copyrights work in today's world, until we resolve that this is going to be a problem we will see again. But with ATT sucking and bitching about their network issues I can also see ATT saying if we allow this and many people start doing it say on the weekend we could see areas basically going down the tube when it comes to speed. Maybe all this will be resolve if we finally get real copyright legislation or 4G comes out and actually does what it promises, we can only wait and see what the next excuse will be.

Oct 17, 2009, 05:38 PM	#23
kdarling macrumors 68040 Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Somewhere designing devices and UIs for over thirty years	It's not a copyright issue. The Verizon Wireless contract specifically allows streaming video on their network.

Oct 17, 2009, 05:56 PM	#24
SimonTheSoundMa macrumors 6502 Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Birmingham, UK	I can’t wait for AT&T to loose their exclusivity. They are interfering with development because of their sub-standard network. The iPhone OS platform is being held back by them. Apple need to get a grip and see what other platforms, phone operators and countries are doing. 3G in the UK is advertised as a network for video and audio streaming, iPhone is the only device which does not do this. Anyone in the USA want to complain to the FCC?

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