Oscars 2012 Apps: Follow Live Coverage on iPhone, iPad & Android Mobile Phones

Oscars 2012 apps allow you to follow the live coverage on iPhone, Android, iPad and other mobile devices via free mobile live streams, and also to view photos and commentary and participate via social media.

The Academy Awards are tonight, and they are easier than ever to watch this year, on your iPhone or iPad, as iTunes has a dedicated free app available that will allow you to view all the action via free live stream on your Apple mobile device.

Not only is the app free, it is also even more advanced than the TV version of the Oscars, and will allow you to watch all the action from more vantage points than ever before, according to the description on the site of the iTunes app:

The Oscars® app has more cameras than anywhere else following all the action on the Red Carpet, in the Kodak Theatre and even at the ultra A-list after party, the Governor's ball. This is the perfect companion app to have when watching the show on TV, the description says. Once you download the app, you'll be a virtual member of The Academy with insider information on all the Oscar buzz, a first person view of the Red Carpet and exclusive backstage access to Hollywood's biggest night. Use the app In WATCH mode and sit back, grab the popcorn and enjoy our live hosted experience on the Red Carpet and Backstage.

And the app will even allow you to decide which camera you want to watch the Oscars 2012 from, in real time, making the experience more interactive than ever before.

The free Android app, called Live From the Red Carpet, is also very impressive, offering live stream feeds of the awards ceremony, after-parties, red carpet interviews and more. And both the iTunes and Android apps offer social interactivity. Get the Android app at androidapps.com

The fashion! The stars! The glitz! The winners! It's all here in this unparalleled, high-class and FREE Android app from E!, the leader in red carpet entertainment, the Android app's description reads. This Live From the Red Carpet app lets you experience total VIP access to Hollywood's hottest events, right at your fingertips. You'll hit all the big shows, live and in high-gloss interactive bliss: the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, Grammy Awards, SAG Awards, and red carpets of weekly movie premieres and film fests.

However you watch the Oscars 2012, it's guaranteed to be an intriguing night of film, celebrity and excitement.

The main event will take place in Hollywood's Kodak Theater as it has since 2001 -- and will be broadcast live on ABC, beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern/4 p.m. Pacific. To determine which channel is ABC on your cable provider, consult channel information for Time Warner Cable, DirecTV, Dish and Comcast, which is available on their Web sites.

This year's Academy Awards are the 84th, and there are plenty of thrills to be expected, as once again there are 10 films up for Best Picture this year, though for decades there were only five nominees for the top prize.

Many of Hollywood's biggest stars will be presenting at the 2012 Oscars, including Halle Berry, Penelope Cruz, Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz, Tom Hanks and Angelina Jolie.

Until then, sate your appetite for award fever by reading about the nominees at this link, and read about the history and culture of the Oscars at this link.

And if you want to go even deeper into pre-Oscars 2012 fun, you can pick your own Oscar winners online at this link, then follow along and see how you did as the show progresses.

The Academy Awards have a long and colorful history. According to the Oscars' official Web site, the first Academy Awards ceremony took place out of the public eye during an Academy banquet at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Two hundred seventy people attended the May 16, 1929, dinner in the hotel's Blossom Room; guest tickets cost $5.

It's come a long way since then.