Comments on: Zattoo - Watch Online TV for free

By: bytecode

bytecode — Tue, 17 May 2011 22:01:41 +0000

The big plus that “native” video clients have over flash/web based is simply video acceleration.
Even on multicore cpu machines with a decent graphics card (nvidia, ati, Intel - yes, I’ve various machines with graphics hardware from all three vendors), plenty of RAM etc I still see poor playback due to either graphics tearing, stuttery playback (it kind of ebbs and flows - not due to bandwidth but in a “ADOBE flash *still* doesn’t do accelerated video on Linux” way (despite the supposed accelerated check box in the flash player options).

I’ve found this to be the case for all web based/ flash based sources be that BBC Iplayer, Channel 4 On Demand, YouTube etc.

So a native, non-flash based player that can work with such sources is/would be most welcome. It’s a shame that channel 4 didn’t embrace the great “get-iplayer” project as that used to work really well with a native player such as mplayer.

Daft sods - they really need start getting a grip on the benefits of going open.

By: Art

Art — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:50:15 +0000

I think that the best one in these segment is Online TVx

By: Jonny

Jonny — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 19:14:13 +0000

I for one am glad to see Linux support back in Zattoo. I believe that the country limitations are imposed by the TV stations and not Zattoo - for example the BBC in the UK is funded by the UK TV licence payer and thus should not be generally available worldwide.
I tried installing Zatto on 64 bit Ubuntu forcing 386 with:
sudo dpkg -i --force-architecture ./zattoo-4.0.2-i386.deb
However it reports an error finding the flash plugin. I have create sym links in various places to my libflashplayer.so but not joy. Did anyone else have any success on Ubuntu 64-bit?

By: mohave

mohave — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:59:23 +0000

No longer free in Spain, please remove Spain ir free from title. thanks

By: Jeevan

Jeevan — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 07:38:45 +0000

Not available in India

By: ney frota

ney frota — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:24:24 +0000

bad as any other media project. Locked by country. Internet its not tv. Its worldwide. these systems with country lock are bad, they are not the future. just mimic old system over internet.

Go miro! (http://www.getmiro.com/) its really internet and think out of box (not old system). a real new way to do it.

By: sehs

sehs — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 19:23:13 +0000

the app is nice but it’s not support most world countries.

By: yetanothersteve

yetanothersteve — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 17:58:15 +0000

Schmidi,

Wilmaa is only available in Switzerland.

By: Joe

Joe — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 17:50:07 +0000

Weak sauce.

By: Ignacio

Ignacio — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 17:08:33 +0000

Zattoo has not been free in Spain for more than a year now.

By: Cas

Cas — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 16:09:25 +0000

This is from the Zattoo help page:

Do I have to pay to use Zattoo?

In Switzerland, Germany and the UK, basic service is free. In France, Spain, and Denmark, we offer test channels for free, with the full lineup requiring a subscription. This is due to content costs.

@Kevin So he forgot to include that bit of info that its not free everywhere, big deal. If you bothered to check yourself you would find that this site is UK based so the service is free for this person. Therefore the facts still stand albeit with a caveat for other countries.

By: rezmez

rezmez — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 13:53:07 +0000

only the player is free…not the service…lol

By: sunshinedaniel

sunshinedaniel — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 13:16:56 +0000

Doesn’t it say: “Zattoo is currently available in Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK.”?

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 12:58:22 +0000

It’s not available in the US. Next time when writing a story all the facts including how it is not also free will help. Journalism school might be a good choice for you.

By: Schmidi

Schmidi — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 12:51:45 +0000

I prefer http://www.wilmaa.com, Live TV without a client. It’s for free. You just have to register.

By: Vole

Vole — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 12:42:15 +0000

I used to use Zattoo but they dropped Linux support - glad they seem to have reinstated it again. Their help FAQs still state “Zattoo does not support Linux platforms anymore” (http://zattoo.com/en/help#faq26n116).

In the UK there are now other easier ways to watch TV online. e.g. http://www.tvcatchup.com/

By: Phoenix

Phoenix — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 10:40:57 +0000

can’t download

By: Luke

Luke — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 09:59:06 +0000

I wouldn’t say that the service is free. From the Zattoo website (during the registration):

We’re happy you’ve decided to give Zattoo a try.

Starting from DKK 23 per month, you can watch the channels you know and love on your computer – wherever and whenever you want.

To start watching TV on your computer, simply complete the form below.

You will then be taken to the payment page, where you can choose your subscription terms.

The pricing options are

1 month subscription kr 35
3 month subscription kr 85
12 month subscription kr 280