Time to converge

Convergence is happening at an escalating pace. Sitting down passively watching a sequence of TV programmes and adverts that some network has pre-chosen for you is the past. The future is watching what you want to watch, whenever you want to watch it. And cutting out the adverts, if you so wish.

For people living outside areas such as the US or Western Europe, buying legal video content online is - ironically - quite difficult. This is due to movie and TV companies wanting to restrict the distribution of their content geographically. For example if you live in the Gulf, you can't get an iTunes account unless you have an American or European credit card. Most other movie and game download services are also US only.

The perils of piracy

This pushes non-US internet users towards more shadowy, legally questionable services. Bittorrent and P2P file sharing is an obvious example: where hundred of thousands of pirated movies and TV shows can be downloaded for free. As well as music, software and games. But it's mainly illegal, and you can't always be certain that the files you download are clean of viruses. It's also particularly dangerous using your credit card to pay for pirated media and software. Organised criminal networks sell pirated wares solely as a means to harvest credit card numbers.

Safer options include YouTube, which has music in abundance and despite its ten minute video length limit is also used to upload TV series. These tend to get deleted as soon as discovered by entertainment companies. The same goes for Google Video - where people have even uploaded entire movies - and sites such as DailyMotion.com, although it's blocked every other week here in the UAE.

Streaming TV channels

Then there are actual streaming TV channels. You lose the power of fast forward or rewind, but it's still another internet-based option. Sport-lovers who travel a lot may be interested in StreamTVNow, which offers a range of streaming channels for US$6 per month. It's particularly useful for expats who want coverage of certain sports that may not be carried by channels overseas.

For general entertainment, FreeTube has a range of free-to-air channels streamed over the internet, covering everything from news stations such as Al Jazeera to educational channels, classic movies and cartoons. It also includes faith-based channels: for example Salaam TV, which offers Islamic religious programming.

The pay-to-view networks are also catching on. Fox offers Fox on Demand on MySpace, which allows people to watch selected episodes of popular shows via a special player. NBC does too, but is sadly geographically restricted. CBS runs Innertube - again, US only. (AME Info's downloadable video, available as an RSS feed, is available worldwide for free).

For an umbrella site linking to a huge amount of online video, Ovguide.com is a good start. But beware that not all the sites it lists are offering legally licensed content.

Internet radio resources

The internet is also a massively rich resource of radio stations. From conventional broadcasters such as the BBC to create-your-own channels like LastFM and Pandora, every single genre of music and talk radio is out there somewhere, usually for free. Live365 and Radio Locator lists thousands of stations, including web-based and traditional radio from the Philippines to the Faroe Islands.

Not to mention podcasts - both audio and video - which are all over the web. Apple's iTunes carries thousands of different free podcasts which are available to users anywhere, regardless of geography. Podcasts aren't just for iPods, they can be watched on your computer as well.

From PC to TV

So what to do with all this content when at the end of the day, you may just want to sit back in your armchair in front of your TV set? A range of new hardware means that you can stream all this video from your computer to your TV: your computer effectively becomes your own TV station. Try Apple TV, which went on sale this month. It wirelessly streams all your computer video, music and photos to your television. Or the D-Link Media Lounge which links PCs and home theatre systems.

Or if you have an Xbox 360 and a Windows Media Centre, you can stream digital content from Windows to your PC. Mac Xbox 360 users can try Connect 360 to connect their Mac and console to stream photos, internet radio, music and videos. Plus there's a whole wealth of video and music to download over the Xbox 360 itself.

So you may not want to chuck your TV set out just yet, but you can certainly bin your aerial and your satellite dish, as well as the expensive monthly service fee. The only limits are your bandwidth and your imagination.