Mobile TV is looking set to become the next big thing for PocketPCs and Smartphones alike. That’s all well and good if you want to buy a new device just to keep up with the trend but what if you don’t? Well, for those of you with full size SD slots, Eopstech have come to the rescue with their analogue SDIO TV tuner!

· - SDIO TV tuner (PAL/NTSC/SECAM)

· - Replaceable 1200mAh Lithium Polymer battery

· - Retractable USB DC power cable

· - Stereo in-ear headphones (2.5mm)

· - RF-IN connection cable (2.5mm) with F type adapter for connection to wall socket – for connecting coax cable (NTL etc.) to RF aerial (normal house aerial)

· - 3.5mm to 2.5mm adapter

· - Velcro tape (optionally attachable to back of device)

As you can see from the pictures, the main tuner is not the most discrete of units. There are a few reasons for this though. The problem with analogue is that it has to go through many conversion processes to get it onto the device. The hardware required to do this cannot fit totally inside an SD card. The other problem is that the bandwidth of SDIO is limited. For this reason the sound processing of the tuner is handled externally in the main unit. All this external hardware requires power and lots of it. If you were to take power from the device it would drain that battery very quickly. So Eopstech decided an external battery would be best. Even with the 1200mAh battery, the tuner can only run for around 2.5 hours so you can imagine how power hungry the unit really is. There are, however, some good points to having the majority of the tuner “external”. For one you connect the tuner to your household aerial for an almost crystal clear picture (i have a poor analogue signal in my flat). Also the tuner has a neck lanyard which doubles as a high gain antenna and I have to say, it’s works pretty damn well. Another point is that the tuner itself can double as a stand allowing hands free viewing. Very handy when you’re on the train or at work ;)

The software for the tuner is a simple affair. You plug the tuner in, the app launches. You unplug it, the app closes. It has buttons for tuning, fine tuning, “channel” changing, volume etc. Also, the TV system button allows you to select the TV standard of your country making this tuner usable almost worldwide! The quality button allows you to gain a high fps (frames per second) rate by lowering the quality. This is especially useful on devices with large screens when the TV programs are viewed in landscape. As I mentioned before, the bandwidth of SDIO is limited so squeezing a higher resolution feed through the SD slot results in a lower frame rate. By lowering the quality you increase the frame rate thus making things more watchable. My only gripe with this app is that is has no “landscape with buttons” mode, only full screen landscape. Also, you can’t use the devices hardware buttons to change/tune channels. Apart from that it works quite well.

Eopstech’s TV tuner is a great little device and considering the problems involved in actually getting analogue TV on to a device, I think they’ve done a pretty good job. I know there are devices out there with built in TV tuners, like the g-Smart but in my experience the tuners in these devices are not sensitive enough to properly receive the TV signal. This tuner does actually pick up TV on the move and although it can be a bit annoying having a huge external battery pack and external sound, I still like it. Although there are DVB-H tuners coming soon, the actual service is not widely available as yet and there would be no point in a DVB-T (freeview) tuner for mobile device as it requires “line-of-sight” to a transmitter. The most important thing to consider here is that, although it’s bulky, the Eopstech TV tuner actually works and works well. If you’re after some mobile TV action, you could do a lot worse than buying this great little tuner. Oh and a little reminder, there are no Smartphones that are SDIO compatible and card readers for laptops/PCs are not SDIO either. This baby is just for PPC.

The Eopstech SDIO Analogue TV Tuner is available HERE for 1000HKD (around £70)

· - Replaceable 1200mAh Lithium Polymer battery

· - Retractable USB DC power cable

· - Stereo in-ear headphones (2.5mm)

· - RF-IN connection cable (2.5mm) with F type adapter for connection to wall socket – for connecting coax cable (NTL etc.) to RF aerial (normal house aerial)

· - 3.5mm to 2.5mm adapter

· - Velcro tape (optionally attachable to back of device)

As you can see from the pictures, the main tuner is not the most discrete of units. There are a few reasons for this though. The problem with analogue is that it has to go through many conversion processes to get it onto the device. The hardware required to do this cannot fit totally inside an SD card. The other problem is that the bandwidth of SDIO is limited. For this reason the sound processing of the tuner is handled externally in the main unit. All this external hardware requires power and lots of it. If you were to take power from the device it would drain that battery very quickly. So Eopstech decided an external battery would be best. Even with the 1200mAh battery, the tuner can only run for around 2.5 hours so you can imagine how power hungry the unit really is. There are, however, some good points to having the majority of the tuner “external”. For one you connect the tuner to your household aerial for an almost crystal clear picture (i have a poor analogue signal in my flat). Also the tuner has a neck lanyard which doubles as a high gain antenna and I have to say, it’s works pretty damn well. Another point is that the tuner itself can double as a stand allowing hands free viewing. Very handy when you’re on the train or at work ;)

The software for the tuner is a simple affair. You plug the tuner in, the app launches. You unplug it, the app closes. It has buttons for tuning, fine tuning, “channel” changing, volume etc. Also, the TV system button allows you to select the TV standard of your country making this tuner usable almost worldwide! The quality button allows you to gain a high fps (frames per second) rate by lowering the quality. This is especially useful on devices with large screens when the TV programs are viewed in landscape. As I mentioned before, the bandwidth of SDIO is limited so squeezing a higher resolution feed through the SD slot results in a lower frame rate. By lowering the quality you increase the frame rate thus making things more watchable. My only gripe with this app is that is has no “landscape with buttons” mode, only full screen landscape. Also, you can’t use the devices hardware buttons to change/tune channels. Apart from that it works quite well.

Eopstech’s TV tuner is a great little device and considering the problems involved in actually getting analogue TV on to a device, I think they’ve done a pretty good job. I know there are devices out there with built in TV tuners, like the g-Smart but in my experience the tuners in these devices are not sensitive enough to properly receive the TV signal. This tuner does actually pick up TV on the move and although it can be a bit annoying having a huge external battery pack and external sound, I still like it. Although there are DVB-H tuners coming soon, the actual service is not widely available as yet and there would be no point in a DVB-T (freeview) tuner for mobile device as it requires “line-of-sight” to a transmitter. The most important thing to consider here is that, although it’s bulky, the Eopstech TV tuner actually works and works well. If you’re after some mobile TV action, you could do a lot worse than buying this great little tuner. Oh and a little reminder, there are no Smartphones that are SDIO compatible and card readers for laptops/PCs are not SDIO either. This baby is just for PPC.

The Eopstech SDIO Analogue TV Tuner is available HERE for 1000HKD (around £70)