There have been various ways to access live TV on your mobile device, my personal choice being Slingplayer, but up until now, you were forced to watch whatever was being played through your main cable feed (or visa versa). Motorola hopes to change all that with their Televation product. With Televation, users will have an independent, dedicated content feed from their cable provider that can be streamed to any connected IP device for viewing across a user’s wireless network. The product was actually announced back in June but they had some demos here at CES to show off just how well it works.

The Motorola Televation is a broadband device that works with a Wi-Fi router to allow users the freedom to take their programming with them without tying up the content on their TV. While it definitely adds to the mobile viewing experience, I’d be more impressed if I was able to take that viewing experience anywhere outside of my home network, and until that happens, I’ll have to stick with my Slingbox.

Here’s an inside look at how the Motorola Televation works:

Televation employs a 1GHz digital tuner and CableCard to access broadcast TV channels directly from a coax outlet. The device has a high-performance transcoder that translates programming in real-time from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4, as well as changing resolution and bit rate to match the capabilities of the consumer’s viewing device while maintaining excellent picture quality. The device has an
Ethernet jack to plug directly into the home Wi-Fi router so the TV show can be wirelessly streamed over IP to any device connected to the home network. To keep the programming secure while it is being streamed, and to preserve the digital rights associated with the program, Televation utilizes Motorola’s SecureMedia IPRM-HN technology. IPRM-HN has been approved by both CableLabs and the DTLA (Digital Transmission Licensing Administrator), giving content owners peace of mind that their valuable asset remains safe.

For more information on the Televation and a look at how it works, visit Motorola Televation