Al Jazeera English Streams the 24-Hour News Network Live to iOS

Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based news network, has launched an iPhone/iPod touch app to go along with their previously-released iPad app for watching their 24-hour English language news channel. A live stream is available just by tapping the top banner in the app, which quickly loads up the live video feed of the news network. The channel is otherwise difficult to receive in the US – few television providers offer it, though it is available through free-to-air satellite, and is available through various forms of video streaming, which now includes iOS. Note that in this initial release, streaming the video via AirPlay does not work, it only sends audio.

The network is considered somewhat controversial due to their unique Arabic-world perspective, though they have been lauded for coverage of news events like 2011's Egyptian uprising. The app also offers access to their news articles, editorials, photos, and additional video reports. The apps are available for free.