Hot on the heels of the news that NBC are offering free full episodes of two of their biggest shows to iPhone and iPod Touch users, comes the news that live TV is now also a possibility.

Orb Networks claims to have “the world’s first way to stream live TV to the iPhone and iPod Touch.” The application is called Orb Live, and it will work on all jailbroken Apple iPhones and iPod Touches.

Users can get access to the app by installing it on a home PC, and OrbLive on their iPhone or iPod Touch. You then just set the PC to stream live TV and you can then stream the content to your device via Wi-Fi.

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Anyone left in any doubts as to the value of Web video can argue no longer, as we now have a full length movie being released on DVD, all based on what started as a five minute viral YouTube hit.

Last year saw 300 released, a movie detailing the brave souls of the legendary Spartan army who fought against the Persian army until death or glory became their saviour.

Inspiration For Spoofs

When 300 came out, a huge amount of spoofs were made and put on YouTube, Yahoo Video, Metacafe and the like. Most of these were mash-ups mixing 300 with other films, and pop culture references such as Monty Python.

However, there was one which stood out against all the others, being a well made, brilliantly produced original piece detailing the Spartans who didn’t quite make the movie. Named 305, it was viewed by almost 4 million people, and became a true viral hit.

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We learnt yesterday that social music network Last.fm has started creating original video programming to drive traffic to it. These will take the form of music interviews and live concert footage.

Now, Bebo, the third largest social network behind MySpace and Facebook has announced that it too is starting to create original programming, including a reality TV show called Gap Year.

The show will follow six lucky Bebo members as they travel the globe all expenses paid.

One Billion Video Views A Month

While speaking to Beet.tv, Ziv Navoth, Vice President of Bebo also spoke about hos many video views the network drives, an astonishing one billion every month.

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Companies, both based online and off, are coming to realise the power of Web video to draw traffic in, and once it’s on the site, stay for a while exploring the content on offer.

One field which is utilising the relative ease of providing We based video to users is that of social networking sites.

Not content with providing people a place to connect and hook up, many of them are now providing content to keep people there long term.

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NBC hates Apple, or at least iTunes. However, that doesn’t mean it hates iPhones, iPod Touches, or people who own these devices. If you need proof, then read on.

Despite having a major bust-up last year over NBC shows on iTunes, which resulted in NBC removing all of their content from Apple’s service, Alley Insider reports that they are now offering full episodes of two of their most popular shows on the iPhone.

DRM, Price & Advert Free

What’s more, they are available for free, without adverts, and in unprotected Quicktime format. Is this the same NBC that has tried to control pricing and DRM issues?

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FORA.tv is a video sharing site which describes itself as YouTube for thinkers. The San Francisco start-up company concentrates on intellectual content.

This content varies from politics, science, culture and business, but it all has a heavy bias towards intelligent, and cogent debate, rather than the more fun and frivolous content you may find at other video sharing sites such as YouTube.

New Venture Funding

The site also organizes videos from think-tanks and symposiums at universities and other highbrow organisations. And now, despite being a very young company, it has secured $4 million in venture funding.

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Mobile TV is one of the fastest growing sectors in the new range of television services emerging, with Asia, Europe and the US all showing signs of a desire to watch TV on the move using mobile devices.

Yesterday, The New York Times published a piece about the phenomenon, how the services, and take up amongst consumers, vary around the world, and how the fight is still on to be the single standard of choice for mobile video.

Asia Leading The Way

At the moment, Japan is the world’s leader in direct mobile television, with over 20 million mobile phones thought to be equipped with television receivers, and capable of receiving signals.

South Korea is not too far behind, with 8.2 million mobile phones in use with the ability. Worldwide, the number of people who view mobile TV is estimated to be about 29.7 million, although this is expected to double by the end of 2008.

Asia may be leading the way, but Europe and America are gradually catching up.

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