Ready to take your Entourage on the road? Of course, I’m not taking about a group of adoring hangers-on. HBO has just launched HBO Go, a new service allowing HBO shows, movies, miniseries and other content to be viewed from almost any web browser.
Sadly, HBOGo.com actually isn’t offering Entourage, but there are 600 hours of HBO’s other finest, including Band of Brothers, Big Love, True Blood, and even “oldies” like The Sopranos and Sex and the City. It also offers a lot of theatrical titles. At last peek, I saw Watchmen, Frost/Nixon, Tropic Thunder, and A Knight’s Tale were just a few of the many selections.
Here comes the bad news: You need to be an HBO subscriber to get the goods. Even worse, you need to be a subscriber with FiOS TV or Comcast. That means if you’re shelling out for HBO and have satellite, FiOS and Comcast subs are laughing at you. Maybe not; they could be too busy watching The Wire. Apparently, other providers will be added at some point, so keep checking the site for updates.
Also, HBO isn’t messing around with the tagline, “Its HBO. On Your Computer.” Users will need either a PC and Mac to get the good stuff. There’s currently no word on smartphone capabilities, which pretty much means it has none. Without the option of putting a tiny Bill Maher in your pocket, we’re not sure where you’d use the three subaccounts each household can have. For the kids at school? Watch the Heidi Fleiss doc at work? Whatever you decide, each account can be tweaked with personalized Watchlists, parental controls, and viewing options.
According to the cable net, HBO Go has four times the content of in-demand. To sign up or see what you’re missing out on, check out the HBO Go site.
