In2TV Goes Public

An anonymous reader writes "It looks like AOL has finally released In2TV, allowing us to watch some of our favorite shows on the internet. It looks fairly promising." In2TV has managed to bag four major advertisers right from the start but if you want to watch on anything but a WindowsXP machine you may be out of luck.

Not just Linux and Mac with problems...

[LiquidCoooled]

In2TV is also out of bounds to other alternative browser users inside XP.
Unless you use Internet explorer 6.0 and Media Player 10 you can't watch the big streams.

This obviously rules out Firefox users, so no Babylon 5 for me :(

You can't even use it on XP 64.

Damn good though, and so far the only thing that has tempted me to install WMP 10...
Hell, I might even use IE for it as well.

tip for Windows users who have removed their IE icon, open "My Computer" and directly enter the URL into the address bar - it converts from Explorer to Internet explorer automagically...

Re:Not just Linux and Mac with problems...

[bherman]

This obviously rules out Firefox users, so no Babylon 5 for me :(

When you go to the site with firefox (after you choose a show). It prompts you to install the Mozilla Firefox ActiveX plugin you might be saved.

Re:Not just Linux and Mac with problems...

[MightyMartian]

Is it my imagination, or are most media outlets run by retarded corporate types who hire nothing but retarded programmers? Man, but AOL becomes more pathetic all the time. It's not like multiplatform means don't exist to do this.

Re:Not just Linux and Mac with problems...

[LiquidCoooled]

Follow up...

I sold out.
I installed WMP 10.0
I used Internet Explorer 6.0.

I still can't play this fucking thing (during the licensing for the stream it says "We apologize, this content must be played in the AOL Video Player. Please goto aol.com/video."

Teething trouble, or over complexified DRM?

It looks like a good time to hit the p2p.
I wanna see B5 now damnit, how far off streaming torrents are we?

Re:Not just Linux and Mac with problems...

[csnydermvpsoft]

From http://television.aol.com/in2tv/requirements [aol.com] :

Core System Requirements

• Operating System: Windows® XP, 32 bit or 64 bit
• Media Player: Windows® Media Player version 10.0 get it HERE!
• Web Browser: Internet Explorer 6.0+, Netscape® 7.2 and 8.0+, Firefox® 1.0.7+
• An Internet connection
• Macromedia® Flash Player 8. Get it HERE!
• In2TV video is only licensed for viewing in the United States.

Excerpt of the listings

[JUSTONEMORELATTE]

Sounds like a bunch of dusty re-runs from decades past. From TFA:

The shows are organized into six genre-themed channels (with two more to launch this summer), including:

- LOL TV: Laugh Out Loud with everyone's favorite comedies from Welcome Back, Kotter, which made a household name out of John Travolta to the slapstick antics of Cousin Balkai and Larry in Perfect Strangers as well as the Emmy-winning Chico and the Man, Hangin' With Mr. Cooper and Head of the Class.

- Dramarama TV: Fans will enjoy the unaired "lost" pilot of juicy soap Falcon Crest and all the drama of five-time Emmy nominated Sisters, plus there's Scarecrow and Mrs. King, Spenser: For Hire and the family favorite Eight Is Enough.

- Toon Topia TV: Kids and adults alike will flock to animated fare such as Beetlejuice, Steven Spielberg Presents Pinky and the Brain and Freakazoid, The New Adventures of Batman, and Histeria!

- Heroes and Horrors TV: Sci-Fi and Horror come together in heroic proportions with Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Babylon 5, Wonder Woman, V and Freddy's Nightmares.

- What a Rush TV: Rev up for plenty of action-adventure when East meets West in Kung Fu, plus La Femme Nikita, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., Dark Justice and The Fugitive.

- Vintage TV: Fans find all-time favorites such as Growing Pains with heartthrob Kirk Cameron, F-Troop, The F.B.I., Maverick and Alice.

Re:Not just Linux and Mac with problems...

[loconet]

Add IE7 to the list. Even thought it doesn't complain about my version of IE, the movies wont play, I get script errors, etc. This service is turning out to be extremly flaky.

Looks like Firefox/Mac might be supported someday

[electrichamster]

I've just been digging through the code and came across this in the variable declaration section of the player Javascript. (I snipped all the uninteresting lines in the middle)

GECKO_AX_PLUGIN_REQUIRED_US = "We're sorry, this feature requires the Mozilla ActiveX Plugin. <a href=\"javascript:installAxControl();\">Click here</a> to install."
GECKO_AX_PLUGIN_REQUIRED_NOLINK_US = "We're sorry, this feature requires the Mozilla ActiveX Plugin."
GECKO_AX_PLUGIN_INSTALLED_US = "Firefox Windows Media ActiveX Control install succeeded. Please restart your browser to continue."
GECKO_AX_PLUGIN_FAILED_US = "Firefox Windows Media ActiveX Control install failed."
FEATURE_NOT_AVAILABLE_MAC_MSG_US = "We're sorry, this feature is not yet available for Macintosh."
FEATURE_NOT_AVAILABLE_MAC_IE_MSG_US = "We're sorry, this feature requires Safari or Netscape 7.2 and up."
UPGRADE_AOL_MSG_US = "Please upgrade AOL to experience this feature. <a target=_top href=\"http://www.aol.com/aol_downloads.adp\">Clic k here to upgrade.</a>"
WM_UPGRADE_MSG_US = "You're almost there... <a href=\"http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmed ia/download/AllDownloads.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">Click here to upgrade</a> your Windows Media Player to experience this great content."
WEB_BROWSER_UPGRADE_MSG_US = "Please use Netscape 7.2+, IE 5.5+, or Firefox 1.0.4+ to experience this feature."
NETSCAPE_UNSUPPORTED_MSG_US = "Please upgrade to Netscape 7.2+, or use IE 5.5+, Firefox 1.0.4+ to experience this feature. <a target=_top href=\"http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/do wnload.jsp\">Click here to upgrade Netscape.</a>"
FIREFOX_UNSUPPORTED_MSG_US = "We're sorry, this feature requires <strong>Firefox 1.0.4+</strong>. <br><br>Please download the latest version of Firefox at <a href=\"http://www.getfirefox.com\">www.getfirefox. com</a> or use <strong>IE 5.5+</strong> or <strong>Netscape 7.2+</strong>."
FIREFOX_BETA_UNSUPPORTED_MSG_US = "We're sorry, the player has encountered problems initializing. Please restart your computer and try again, if you continue to get this message try a previous version of Firefox located <a href=\"http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/fire fox/releases/\" target=\"_top\">here</a>."

It's probably just old recycled code, we can but hope....God I love "Pinky & The Brain"...