5. Program Guide

Snapstream provides programming information for the United States and Canada for free. The program guide in BTV (Figure 5) is easy to read and navigate. High-definition programs are clearly marked, and the help box gives a brief synopsis of the selected program.

Figure 5: BTV program guide

Television shows can be scheduled to record one at a time, new episodes only or complete series. The program guide contains an integrated online program scheduler called Remote Recording. For those times when you just can't decide what to watch, the program guide maintains a 14-day rotating TV schedule that can be searched in three different ways: by category, title or key word.

In addition to specific shows, you can also search for types of shows in the category section. The category search (Figure 6) gives you the ability to find new programs within your favorite genre. It also lets you search for upcoming movies without having to dig through all of the regular programming in the guide.

Figure 6: BTV category search

By logging onto Snapstream.net (Figure 7), you can access your program guide and schedule recordings from anywhere that has Internet access (BTV checks for online remote recording requests every half hour).

Figure 7: Online Program Guide

Note that a service called tvtv can be employed for BTV users in several European countries for a monthly fee. There is a complete list of supported countries in the Snapstream BTV FAQ.