PlayOn is a service that lets you stream web video to devices including video game consoles, supported set top boxes, and Apple mobile devices. Here’s how it works: You install a server app on a PC on your home network. Then you login to that PC using another device on your home network, and now you can stream video from Hulu, Netflix, Comedy Central, and other channels to your device, using your PC as a sort of server which transcodes and transmits the web video on the fly.

The company launched a mobile web app for the iPhone and iPod touch last month, and this week PlayOn announced a new version with support for the iPad. What’s more, the new iPad software supports streaming over 3G as well as WiFi. The iPhone and iPod touch versions are still WiFi-only. In order to stream media over 3G, you’ll need to pair your iPad with your server PC at least once over a WiFi connection first.

That’s the good news. The less good news is that there’s still no PlayOn app available in the iTunes App Store, so you essentially need to run the app from your mobile Safari web browser. PlayOn also requires iPad users to upgrade from the PlayOn Basic service to PlayOn Premium, which costs $39.99 for the first year and $19.99 for each additional year — or $79.99 for a lifetime subscription.

via Engadget

Brad Linder

Brad Linder is editor of Liliputing and Mobiputing. He's been tinkering with mobile tech for decades and writing about it since...