So, that's what TV on mobile devices is supposed to look like: ESPN's free iOS app (apparently) delivers.
WatchESPN provides users with the network's broadcast on iPhones and iPads in a slick, elegant and free presentation, according to Peter Kafka at AllThingsD.com. (ESPN does not stream over the nation's largest cable provider, Comcast, so Press:Here trusts Kafka's assessment.)
The app geo-locates users, offering the nearest games. That geo-location doesn't mean you're getting geo-advertising, at least not yet. Apparently, that's on the road map for August.
The social networking functions -- especially for in-game -- are easy to control and customize. Facebook and Twitter is enabled, with users able to easily opt-in and -out. Tapping "I'm at this game" brings up the conversation page, where pics, notes and tips will fly, much like a Foursquare approach.
Keeping pace with baseball fans' expectations for data and more data (have you seen the MLB iPad app?), ESPN lets users toggle between social stuff and game stats for all the games going on.
There are some limitations, like Monday Night Football will not feed to the app.
For the other broadcast restrictions, Kafka adds: "The biggest one is that Disney’s network has carriage deals so far only with Time Warner Cable, Brighthouse TV and Verizon FiOS. That covers 18 million homes, but that won’t make you any happier if you don’t live in one of them."
