SPB Software announced on Tuesday the release of an updated version of their internet TV player, SPB TV 2.  With the new update coming in at the sweet price spot of FREE, it seemed like an outstanding time to take a look at the program.

Installation on my Touch Pro was uneventful, happily finding it’s home on the device’s microSD card.  First launch of the program displays a dialog asking the you to supply some simple demographic information.  I’m not completely sure the point of this, but in all it seems relatively harmless in what they were asking for.

I’d recommend that when running the software, you do so via your handheld’s wifi network.  A slow cellular network connection such as Edge or 1X is out, as the program times out.  Not having 3G in my area, I didn’t have the opportunity to test.  Suffice to say, I suspect that it will be the best on wifi networks as a lot of data is streaming.

After the channel list downloads from SPB, the channel browser screen displays.  Thumbnail icons appear at the bottom of the screen, with a larger preview of the current channel.

SPB TV 2: Channel Browser

Tapping the familiar play icon, the display switches to landscape orientation and fills the screen.  You may be greeted with an ad (hey.. it’s free, isn’t it) while the stream is buffering.  Once loaded, the TV show will start to appear.

SPB TV 2: Picture in Picture Display

Tapping the screen while playing provides options for customizing the experience, including switching to a high quality version of the stream, utilizing picture in picture or returning to the channel browser.  As I was playing with the picture in picture feature, I couldn’t help but reminisce a bit.  Rewind about 20 years ago, close my eyes and I’m in my grandparent’s house watching my grandfather show off the picture in picture feature of his new television set.  I know have the same functionality on my phone.  That to me was a bit of a wow factor.

In conclusion, SPB TV 2 is a well done application, providing a worthwhile service at a terrific price point.  I would recommend downloading it here and giving it a try!

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