The HBO Go service is country specific, which means that HBO Go Romania app will not work with HBO Go in other countries (e.g. USA, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Czech Republic and Montenegro). Previews and a few pieces of "taster" content are open to all, but to access the full content in the app app you'll need to log-in to HBO Go, using credentials from one of the supported providers: HBO Go VIP/Club Romania, INES, NextGen Communications, or Romtelecom.
The HBO Go Romania app is well put together, closely following the Metro design language guidelines. An opening panorama offers pages for recommended content, films, TV series, extras and settings. Each piece of content gets its own page from where you can view a description, watch a preview, start playback, add to watchlist (favourite), share via social networks, view user comments, and view related content.
The app also includes search and watchlist (play list) tools, making it easy to find and save content for later playback. There's also an A-Z function, which lists all the content available (900+ hours) via the app in alphabetical order, an alternative to browsing through the main panorama described above.
While the app is currently only relevant to HBO Go subscribers in Romania, the availability of the app for one country does suggest that other markets may follow in due course. It would make sense for HBO to have a common app base and customise it as needed to fit language and accounts (IDs) for each market.
If the app were to become more widely available it would be good news for Windows Phone. That's because HBO Go is frequently cited by US consumers as one of the "must have apps" for a mobile platform and would certainly be a high profile addition to the platform's app catalogue.
Marketplace description:
[Romanian] Îţi prezentăm HBO GO®, noul serviciu de streaming de la HBO®. HBO GO® este disponibil acum prin Romtelecom, iNES şi NextGen Communications. Pentru vizionarea programului complet sunt necesare un abonament MAXPAK şi activarea serviciului HBO GO. Te rugăm contactează-ţi operatorul pentru detalii suplimentare.
[English] HBO GO ® are showing the new streaming service from HBO. HBO GO is now available from Romtelecom, iNES and NextGen Communications. To view the complete program required a subscription and service activation of MaxPak HBO GO. Please contact your operator for further details.
HBO Go Romania can be downloaded from the Windows Phone Marketplace for free.