myTVR lets you watch your free-to-air TV recordings anywhere, anytime.

Cloud computing is set to revolutionise many aspects of technology, but I can't say that I saw it as a rival to PVRs like TiVo. Then along comes myTVR, an online service that lets Australians schedule television recordings and then stream them to their computer or a mobile device such as an iPhone, iPod touch or high-end Nokia. You don't need to buy any hardware or do anything in your lounge room, myTVR just records the show on its servers and then streams it to you when you're ready to watch it.

There's a free trial version that lets you store 30 minutes worth of recordings, plus a $5.85 p/m Silver plan that holds 3 hours worth of recordings and a $7.85 p/m Gold plan that holds 12 hours. It's initially launching in the Melbourne, with plans to roll out in Sydney next year - although I don't see what's stopping you using it anywhere in the country as long as you're happy to watch Melbourne television. It might even work from overseas, I haven't renewed my Witopia subscription yet so I can't test it from the US.

myTVR sounds too good to be true, but I've had a play with it and it seems to deliver on its promises. What's really impressive is that it works on the iPhone over 3G as well as wifi. The resolution on the iPhone obviously isn't as sharp as content downloaded from the iTunes store, but it's still very watchable.

MyTVR estimates that a 30 minute recording streamed to a Nokia smartphone is 30MB, for an iPhone or Android device it's 40MB. That makes it feasible to watch TV on the train a few times a week if you've got a 1GB mobile data allowance. The biggest frustration with myTVR is that it doesn't seem to offer a Season Pass option, so you can't tell it to automatically record your favourite show each week. If they add such a feature it would certainly make myTVR an attractive option for commuters, or for Aussies abroad.

It's hard to believe that the TV networks won't unleash their lawyers on a service like myTVR, but it's backed by Michael Carew - the founder of Freshtel - so I guess he's done his homework. If he hasn't, I'm sure the crew over at IceTV can explain to him what he's in for. Actually, a tie-in between myTVR and IceTV would be briliant.

If myTVR can survive the legal onslaught that probably awaits it, I'd say it's a service to watch in 2010. On that note, Hydrapinion is signing off for a three week break and we'll catch you in the new year.