JoostTeam

I just got an email from Livestation stating that I qualified for one of the 50 iPhone Livestation application test licenses!

Here are the details of the emails:

Dear Livestation iPhone guinea-pig,

Congratulations, if you’re receiving this email you made the cut.

First of all, thanks for volunteering. We hope that all the crashes and glitches you’ll encounter will be nothing compared to the joy you’ll get by outclassing any of your friends with those old-looking iPhones that can’t even receive live TV.

Here’s what’s going to happen in 5 simple Frequently Asked Questions style. These instructions are up-to-date on our site at http://www.livestation.com/iphone_instructions in case you lose this email.

1. When do I get it?
The number one question.

We are working really hard right now to bring the alpha version out. You will get an email as soon as we are ready. We’re hoping for the first release to be tomorrow Thursday 18th or Friday 19th, i.e. soon, very soon. We’re ironing out some last minute obvious bugs, tidying up some error messages – translating from “developer” to plain English – and other small changes.

2. How do I install?
Follow these easy steps.

1. You send us your Device ID (everyone bcc’d on this list has done so already, and already been added in the Ad Hoc profile of the current development build… )

2. Download the application zip file from the link we will provide in the release email. Download this file to your computer somewhere easy to find (for example, not in your temp directory!).

3. Unzip/uncompress the content of the file into a new folder.

4. Plug your device in and run iTunes.

5. In iTunes, select Device, ie your iPhone, and select the Applications tab.

6. Drag and drop the contents from the new folder to the Applications tab on iTunes.

7. Check “synchronize application” and “selected applications only”. Select “Livestation” only as the app to synchronize with your device. This step transfers the Livestation app to your iPhone or iPod Touch

8. Go to your device – you should see the Livestation logo. Click and enjoy!

3.What can go wrong?
The main area that can give you problems is going to be around connectivity. In our testing, the service works best on good, stable connections. Wi-Fi will work better than 3G but then again, if you have a strong 3G connection the service will run very smoothly too.

Note on iPhone firmware 2.2: there seems to be a problem running continuous streaming on iPhones running the latest firmware 2.2 on the 3G network. We are not sure what is causing this but you may experience sudden start/stop behaviour in the streaming due to sudden drops in connectivity. This was not observed on the previous firmware 2.1 and we hope 2.3 will resolve this problem.

4. How do I receive updated software?
There are two ways of learning about a new version. In this early phase we may release updates to the software as frequently as weekly. Some upgrades will be because of a “breaking change” – this is where we have had to break old versions to either fix a bug, or introduce a new feature. This is a consequence of trying out alpha software.

1. We will send out emails telling you of an updated version of the application. Just follow the installation steps above with the new version.

2. If you run an older version of the app, you should receive a message telling you there is a new version and asking you to upgrade every time you run it. Follow the install process as before. Check your email to see if you must upgrade.

5. I think I have a bug or request, now what?
As with updates, there are two options, depending on what you just noticed happening.

1. If Livestation crashes, then please restart Livestation, go to the “About” dialog and press “upload error log”. This can take 60 seconds or more depending on your network connection. Please email us to tell us how and when the bug happened on team@livestation.com.

2. If you cannot start Livestation, or for any other reason/bug, then email team@livestation.com with your bug report.

3. In the email to team@livestation.com please include:
- iPhone or iPod touch
- device & firmware version – 1.x or 2.x
- network – were you on wifi or 3G at the time.

For example :
“I lost the list of channels after 15 minutes usage. I’m using an iPhone, on 3G at the time, on 2.2 firmware.”

You asked for it and, yes, you are about to get it. We love Livestation on the iPhone and we hope you will too.

Thanks again for helping us.

Jari