By Andrew Liszewski
Even though it’s roughly the same size as one of the MiFi mobile internet hotspots, the tizi is actually designed to tune in, decode and then stream local live digital television broadcasts to your iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone over wifi. Powered by an ARM 9 RISC-Processor and weighing in at just 2.5 ounces the tizi does require you to connect your idevice to its private wireless network in order to watch the stream, so unless you’ve got 3G on board as well, you won’t have internet access while watching your shows.
On a single charge the tizi will run for about 3 1/2 hours, but it charges from a mini USB cable so presumably you can keep it perpetually powered from a laptop, PC or even USB-equipped power adapter if you intend to use it for longer periods at home. Now I know most TV shows are readily available online in one form or another, but sometimes just plunking down and seeing what’s on live TV is a nice way to kill some time, and it doesn’t cost you any bandwidth usage, or require any kind of annoying re-encoding. At around $240 (£149.95) the tizi isn’t super cheap unfortunately, but at least the accompanying application is available as a free download. And it also looks like it’s only available in the UK and other parts of Europe, not North America, which is another kick in the knickers.
[ tizi Mobile TV Hotspot ] VIA [ Wired Gadget Lab ]
This device seems like a good idea – unfortunately, it didn't work in my area of the UK. No channels found even with the Tizi next to a window. This has nothing to do with reception as my other digital TV receivers pick up all the available channels without any problem.
So I've paid nearly £150 for a bit of black plastic. No response from Tizi when I asked for help.
My advice, don't buy this unless you see one working in your area first!