NEW YORK, April 6 (UPI) -- Time Warner Cable says it plans to deliver live TV to Android-based phones and tablets within weeks, but experts warn not all devices can handle it.
The TWC TV app will run only on devices that support Google's Android 4.0 OS, code-named Ice Cream Sandwich, and currently very few devices support that version of the operating system, multichannel.com reported Friday.
Time Warner said it was locked into the limitation.
"It's currently the only version of the Android OS that allows us the security and stability necessary to distribute video over our private network," Time Warner Cable's director of digital communications, Jeff Simmermon, wrote in a blog post. "But it's up to the device manufacturer and sometimes the data carrier when or if ICS will be deployed to a particular device."
Developing the live TV app for Android was "not unlike tweezing one's eyebrows while using a disco ball for a mirror," Simmermon said, explaining developing a live video product for Apple devices is much easier because the OS and hardware are controlled by the same company.
The TWC TV apps for Apple's iPad first launched in April 2010, followed by versions for iPhone and iPod touch.
The apps can provide more than 100 live channels, depending on a Time Warner Cable subscriber's video package.
Simmermon said the Android apps will be upgraded for live TV "definitely by Memorial Day."
