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Where to get your television shows when you're not in front of your TV? Here's a look at three ways to take cable TV with you on a smartphone or iPad:
Comcast
The app: Xfinity TV Player
Works with: iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch and Android devices.
Where/how: Anywhere with Wi-Fi (or direct-wired Ethernet connection) or through Verizon's 4G LTE service.
Price: Free to subscribers.
Inventory: More than 18,500 on-demand titles for streaming and thousands available for download for offline viewing. No new releases. If you want "Men in Black 3," forget it — you'll have to sit through the 1997 original "MIB."
The look: More like Netflix, Vudu or other online streamers, with a scrolling catalog displayed as tiny DVD cover images.
Likes: Comcast knows the enemy — streaming/download services like Netflix, Amazon Instant Video and iTunes. The new download feature is a big move, though it's limited for now to Showtime, Starz, Encore and Movieplex. Downloads are available in "medium" and "highest" quality. A high-quality download of "Moneyball" took 41 minutes and 3 gigabytes of space on an iPad connected to my home network. Most medium-quality downloads take a fraction of the time and space, about half a gigabyte.
Streaming options include on-demand content from any premium services like HBO or Cinemax you subscribe to and assorted cable networks. Don't look for live television or anything on-demand from the major networks — ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.
Dislikes: No live television and no major-network streaming. Eventually, the networks will likely follow Disney, which in June agreed supply live Disney Channel content for Comcast's Xfinity mobile app. (Note: Disney owns ABC.) Streaming feeds from another Disney property, ESPN, is available via the WatchESPN app.
Comcast, a bit app-happy, also has an Xfinity TV Remote app that combines some basic controls and DVR programming of a customer's cable box with limited on-demand content.
Best for: Downloading for offline viewing and catching up with "Homeland" and other premium-network programming.
Cox Communications
The app: Cox TV Connect
Works with: iPad
Where/how: Only in a subscriber's home on a home network. The customer must have Cox TV Essential or Advanced TV and Cox's Preferred, Premier or Ultimate Internet service.
Price: Free to subscribers.
Inventory: Live programming only, no on-demand, with no major networks. Cox added 56 channels in late December — among them Bio, Encore, Oxygen and the Tennis Channel — to push its lineup to 87. It then added WatchESPN and Watch Disney apps.
The look: Basic-cable channel guide.
Likes: Live programming, though not as lively as most subscribers would want.
Dislikes: Not enough big-ticket channels, though ESPN/Disney helps. Your monthly smartphone data allotment could take a hit if you overindulge in live streaming.
Best for: Bedtime viewing of "Gator Boys."
Sling Media
The app: SlingPlayer
Works with: iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch, Android, Windows Phone (smartphones and tablets), Web browsers (Mac or PC), Western Digital and Boxee Box media players, Google TV. The app requires a Slingbox 350 ($178) or Slingbox 500 ($298) connected to a high-definition cable box or satellite dish.
Where/how: Anywhere with a mobile or Internet connection.
Price: $14.99
Inventory: Everything that's available on your home cable or satellite service, including on-demand, at up to 1080p resolution.
The look: Basic cable/satellite program guide.
Likes: The SlingPlayer is the app every cable company dreams of but can't have because of rights payments or conflicts with networks. Sling Media, owned by the Echostar satellite service, can stream live television of every channel a customer receives at home via cable or satellite dish. (That includes pausing or rewinding live programming, like an in-home DVR.)
Why is it legal? It's considered a variation of time-shifting, a method upheld by courts that allows consumers to record a program for later viewing for personal use.
Dislikes: The price of the box and the app. (A similar product, the Monsoon Vulkano Flow costs less than $100, with a $12.99 app.) The SlingPlayer app does not work with all your devices either. If you own an iPhone and iPad, you must buy an app for each.
Hi-def programming needs a wired connection or superfast Wi-Fi for best quality and a sputter-free video stream.
Best for: Reproducing at-home television access. No cable app can touch it.
