Major League Baseball just keeps adding features to its groundbreaking MLB At Bat 2009 iPhone app.
Last year, the app began as a simple live-score program with in-game video highlights, then added in-depth MLB Gameday pitch-by-pitch information. This year’s model topped that with support for live game audio, the addition of condensed games featuring the resolution of every at-bat — and won an Apple Design Award to boot. And now, with the release of the iPhone OS 3.0 software update, there’s even more: support for live streaming video.
That’s right, baseball fans — beginning with the White Sox-Cubs interleague game Thursday at 2:20 p.m. ET, users of the updated MLB At Bat 2009 app will be able to see up to two live games a day. (The other live game scheduled for Thursday is Tigers-Cardinals at 8:15 p.m. ET.) MLB says that its entire slate of games will be available “shortly after” this initial launch of two games per day.
What’s more, MLB says that video will stream over either a Wi-Fi connection or the cellular network. There’s just one catch to this video streaming: as with all Internet video streaming from Major League Baseball, your local teams won’t be available.
MLB At Bat 2009, which costs $10, is functional for the entire 2009 baseball season and postseason. And it’s a pretty good deal: comparable audio-streaming features from MLB.com cost $15, it’s $20 for a combination of live-audio and Gameday features, and live game video sells for $70 per year.