In Japan, it is quite common for people to watch TV on their phones. Therefore, it is natural that they would want to enjoy this benefit on the iPhone as well. However, the iPhone does not have the facility to pick up TV signals.
MobileCrunch reports that the iPhone can now be used to watch TV, thanks to the SEG Clip, which is a USB 2.0 stick produced by I-O Data. The specialty of this stick is that it supports 1Seg, a digital TV standard which is used in select countries like Japan, Brazil and Peru. This USB is supposed to be connected into the users’ PC USB port.
Once the Seg Clip is inserted, users can stream digital TV data from their computer, which should ideally use Windows XP or Vista only, to their iPhones through WiFi. There is an additional facility that allows users to save TV programs on the iPhone and watch them later on the go, thanks to an application called TVPlayer which is available for free in the Japanese App Store.
The SEG Clip is compatible with the iPhone 3G, the iPhone 3GS as well as the iPod Touch. It will be available in Japan at the end of this month for a price of $70.