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Showtime Summary...wait, not yet!

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bosskev
02/26/09

In reply to TV.com iPhone App Streams Free Full-Length CBS and Showtime Shows

I did not notice any advertising during playback.

Um, Wilson...did you perhaps notice any fees being charged to your account? The reason there is no advertising might be because there could be charges to your credit card for using this service. Let me quote you from the Terms and Conditions you agree to when you download this app (emphasis added):

"For certain Products and Services, CBSI may charge an automatically recurring subscription fee (e.g., a monthly fee...) in exchange for providing access to certain Wireless Content. Until you affirmatively request to stop receiving recurring Products and Services...Recurring Fees will be automatically charged. For other Products and Services, you may have the option to incur a one-time premium charge... Fees charged by CBSI...will appear on your Wireless Device bill or be deducted from your pre-paid balance. In addition to a Recurring Fee or other premium charge payable to CBSI...your wireless provider may charge you fees for access..."

You did read all that...right?
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Wilson Rothman
02/27/09

@bosskev: Honestly, it sounds like lawyers pulling a CYA maneuver. You don't honestly think CBS would run up your wireless bill without giving you so much as a confirmation screen, do you? They'd never hear the end of it. That said, I'll certainly look into this. Thanks for the fine-print reading, Kev.
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Wilson Rothman was starred Wilson Rothman was unstarred

bosskev
02/27/09

@Wilson Rothman: Somewhere in that same fine print they do claim that there will be some kind of confirmation screen prior to you being charged for something. Since the manner in which the T&C appeared on the screen did not allow for a copy/paste of the text (must have been developed by iPhone programmers), I had to manually type up that crap, so I did edit the terms for brevity.

That said, until we see what this confirmation screen looks like, we won't know how obvious it is or is not. And, since AT&T already has your account ready to charge you invisibly, it could be SO easy to mistakenly run up recurring charges.

In any case, even if this first round of offerings are free, it clearly shows the direction CBS wants to take this service, i.e., a fee-based arrangement. Get you using the service with the freebies, then reel you in once you're hooked...
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DeepFriar
02/26/09

In reply to TV.com iPhone App Streams Free Full-Length CBS and Showtime Shows
Terrific. Can they now focus on making Safari please stop crashing everytime I load a page with more than three pictures on it?
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EBone
02/26/09

In reply to TV.com iPhone App Streams Free Full-Length CBS and Showtime Shows
Speaking as someone who has been lying in bed sick with the flu the past 48 hours, this gives me a mental hard-on.
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speck2001
02/26/09

In reply to TV.com iPhone App Streams Free Full-Length CBS and Showtime Shows
Compression/picture quality on CSI: Vegas is terrible.
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Wilson Rothman
02/27/09

@speck2001: Seems like it's based on your connection speed. I noticed Trek was smooth over Wi-Fi, but crunchy as hell over EDGE.
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Wilson Rothman was starred Wilson Rothman was unstarred

Epoch
02/26/09

In reply to TV.com iPhone App Streams Free Full-Length CBS and Showtime Shows
as much as i like csi, i'm holding out until they let you stream MacGyver.
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