Cable-Free HBO Available for Apple Customers

It's another win for cord-cutters, but in this case they'll still need some ties to Apple or Cablevision. Customers of either company now have access to HBO Now, a stand-alone streaming service that offers HBO content for $15 a month, reports the Wall Street Journal. Those who sign up in April can try it out for free the first month. (Everyone's pointing out that HBO made the service available ahead of Sunday's premiere of the new Game of Thrones season.) Apple customers can get HBO Now though an app on the iPhone, iPad, or iPod, or via Apple TV. Subscribers to Cablevision's Optimum Online also can get it via an app.

Some quick reaction:

• "It's HBO Go without the costly cable package," writes Chris Welch at the Verge. "If you don't have any Apple devices around, jumping in right now might not make the most sense. Cord cutting Android users will need to keep borrowing someone else's HBO Go login for now."
• "Obviously the app will be coming to other places eventually (one can only assume Android, Xbox, and nearly every set-top box, much like HBO Go), but for now it’s iOS, Cablevision or nothing," writes Eric Limer at Gizmodo. "But even with those artificial and temporary constraints, the days of HBO without the cable are finally here."

(More HBO stories.)