purpose of m3u8 file in HTTP live streaming?

Question

is m3u8 file a single file maintained in server for live streaming? is MPMoviePlayerController enough for live streaming to show a TV channel? what are the other possibilities? I have verified the Apple Document

Answer 1

The m3u8 file is the playlist for Apple HTTP live (or VoD) streaming. It contains URLs to the .ts files which normally contain 10 seconds of audio/video each. You can put the .m3u8 URL into the iPhone's browser and it will play the live stream. Here's the sample contents of a live stream's .m3u8 file:

#EXTM3U
#EXT-X-TARGETDURATION:10
#EXT-X-MEDIA-SEQUENCE:1
#EXTINF:10, no desc
media-000001.ts
#EXTINF:10, no desc
media-000002.ts
#EXTINF:10, no desc
media-000003.ts

Answer 2

To answer your first question "m3u8" is the file extension used but the Unicode version of an "m3u" file:

The unicode version of "m3u" is "m3u8", which uses UTF-8 unicode characters.

m3u on Wikipedia

I don't know enough about file streaming to be able to answer your remaining questions.