Reviews

Pocket TV Browser for Palm OS and Pocket PC

August 12, 2002

Let’s get started at the beginning. After you download the Pocket TV Browser, you’ll need to go through a short setup process in order to get started. You’ll be asked to provide your zip code, select the type of TV system you have (broadcast, cable, or satellite) and then pick the channels you’re interested in. This is important in order to get the best, most personalized listings for you. I don’t ever watch Pay Per View movies (go ahead, call me a cheapskate), so why would I want those listings? Same goes for sports, news channels, etc. Once you go through that process, it’s time for your first download (all of the data comes from TV Guide.com, so you know it’s good). The instructions tell you to be patient at this point, and for good reason— my first download took over an hour to complete, but then again I had about 200 channels selected for a full download up to seven days out, with movie reviews and full details for each program. After that first time, downloads are MUCH quicker (due to data caching), averaging just a couple of minutes.

I did have one small problem at this point, because when I first used Pocket TV Browser on my Sony Clie NR70, some of the channel numbers were a bit off. Turns out it was due to a funky channel lineup in my area— regular cable subscribers have A/B channels, while digital subscribers (like me) have a straight lineup with no switching between A/B sides. I wrote the developer, Jeff Parsons, about it late on Friday afternoon. Within three hours he had fixed the problem (which could only affect people in my town, as he had never seen that particular issue before), released a new version, and wrote to tell me about it. I don’t know about you, but I would certainly consider that exceptional customer service!  

Pocket TV Browser takes up less than 100K for the application, and 1.7 MB for the database of program information. You may be wondering why that’s so big, but as I mentioned above, I want FULL TV listings. That’s exactly what I got too, in a program that is amazingly simple to use yet incredibly powerful. When you look at the main screen, you’ll see that you have several options. Just tap on the date to get a list of everything that’s on right now. Or if you’re looking for a particular show or movie, you can tap on another one of the options on the bottom of the screen. Interested in seeing a particular kind of show, such as baseball, cartoons, pets, or soap opera? Pick a category at the very bottom of the screen and then select “Program List.” The browser quickly searches through its database and tells you exactly what your options are. That way you don’t have to wade through a huge list of shows and channels if all you really want to see is a good baseball game.  

You can even set favorite channels and programs, so you can more quickly access those shows that are of most interest to you. As you can see from my favorites, I have a certain weakness for Cops, CSI, the Simpsons, Star Trek and the Powerpuff Girls. That wouldn’t mean a whole lot though if Pocket TV Browser didn’t have one very important feature: insanely complete hyperlinking. Tap on one of the favorite shows, and up pops a complete list of showtimes for the coming week. Tap on a particular showing, and get complete program information. This is great if you follow a particular series very closely, and only want to see the episodes you may have missed. If you’re interested in a particular actor, such as William Peterson (Grissom in CSI), Pocket TV Browser will search through the database and let you know that he’s in two CSI episodes this week, as well as three movies on other channels.

There are plenty of other options too, and one parents might be interested in is the ability to filter all of the listings by rating. That means that when you’re picking things you’ll allow your kids to watch, or that you want to see as a family, you don’t have to worry about any R-rated or “adult” shows in the listing. I think that’s a great feature and one that shouldn’t be overlooked. You can also see a list of top-rated movies, so that if you’re looking for the classics, or just a well-crafted piece of cinema, your list won’t be cluttered up with junk that isn’t worth watching. Navigation in all areas is quick and easy, with well-placed controls. And all it takes is one tap to go back to the application’s home scren when you’re ready to start a new search.

As you can see, the possibilities are almost endless, and of course Pocket TV Browser is getting my coveted “5 Goddess” rating. You may be asking yourself why it hasn’t earned the prestigious “Perfect 10” award, and there are two reasons for that. First, Pocket TV Browser isn’t VFS aware, so that huge database has to sit in your handheld’s RAM. That isn’t a problem for me, since I think the information is worth that space, and because I have an NR70 with 16MB of RAM. This program will still fit on any device with 8MB of RAM just fine, especially if you just download two or three days of listings at a time, instead of the whole week. The second reason is because Pocket TV Browser doesn’t support hi res + yet. I say that because the developer has expressed interest in supporting virtual Graffiti, so hopefully it’s only a matter of time.

If you watch too much TV, like me, and like the idea of having complete TV listings on your handheld device, be it Palm OS or Pocket PC, then you need to get the Pocket TV Browser. It’s a STEAL at only $9.95 for Palm OS devices and $13.95 for the Pocket PC version. You can get more information or purchase the program at the developer’s web page.

PocketGoddess rating for Pocket TV Browser:

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