Last December, the TV Anytime app appeared, allowing users to record and take any web video online with them on iOS and Android devices. Now, app maker DDT Software has added a new feature, which will let its users rip and transfer DVDs from their desktops to mobile devices.
To do so, users will need to download the TV Anytime desktop application — which unfortunately is Windows only for now. Once they have it, all it takes to prepare a DVD for transfer is to put it in the DVD drive with the application open. They enter a title and description of the DVD they’re ripping, and the app goes to work.
Like the earlier version of the TV Anytime application, which helped users record web videos and upload them as mobile-ready files to their phones or tablet devices, the DVD ripper works by playing the requested content and frame capturing it. That means that it takes the entire length of a film to be captured and transcoded before being transferred to the mobile device. You can watch it while waiting, or, if you’re busy or impatient, run it in the background. Once the video has been captured, it can be transferred to the mobile app via Wi-Fi or USB.
The TV Anytime app is a bit of a stopgap measure for those with lots of DVDs who might want to have remote access to them on the iPad or other mobile device. After all, the movie industry is trying to being its new UltraViolet digital rights locker to market, which could eventually let users add DVDs that they’ve previously purchased to their virtual movie library, making the app unnecessary. But that feature has yet to be rolled out.
With the addition of the DVD ripping functionality, TV Anytime has also added a fee for the app, which used to be free. Now, the purchase price on the Apple App Store or Android Market is $ 4.99. The app still lets users record the top 25 TV shows on the web for free, but those who want access to a larger catalog of web video can also pay $ 1.99 a month.
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