This week on TechHive: All about HDMI-CEC


When I cut the cable TV cord nearly eight years ago, juggling multiple remote controls was a necessity. At minimum, you needed one for your television and another for your game console or streaming box. (I also used a third remote for a home theater PC, so I could access video websites that weren’t yet available as streaming TV apps.)

But over the past couple years, the need for multiple remotes has been slipping away, thanks to a decade-old HDMI feature called Consumer Electronics Control, or HDMI-CEC. With this feature, streaming boxes such as Apple TV and Roku can control your television’s power, volume, and input, making additional remotes unnecessary. For more on how HDMI-CEC can simplify your cord cutting setup, read the full column on TechHive.

Weekly Rewind

Amazon Fire TV Stick review: Another week, another streaming device to review. The second-generation Fire TV Stick avoids its predecessor’s show-stopping performance problems, and now it includes a voice remote for the same $40 price as the original.

Among cheap streaming devices, I still give the edge to Roku’s Streaming Stick ($50), but it’s a close call, and could get even closer once Amazon overhauls the Fire TV interface later this year. Amazon has a strong vision for the future of television, which should be interesting to watch even if you’re not buying a new device right now.

Playstation Vue lets Viacom channels go: Sony is making a major change to its PlayStation Vue streaming bundle by removing all Viacom channels, including Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon and BET. In total, Vue’s basic Access package will drop 10 channels, while the Elite package will drop another nine. Sony says it’s doing this to “continue to offer the most compelling value to our fans,” which is PR-speak for wanting to keep prices low. On the upside, BBC America and NBA TV are joining the lineup, and Vice is coming soon.

Some pundits argue that the changing lineup is bad news for cord cutting, but I can think of a few counterpoints: First, Vue is $10 per month cheaper than it was at launch in 2015, and that’s despite the additions of ABC/ESPN/Disney networks, the NFL network, and now BBC/NBA/Vice. Second, Sony should be lauded for keeping its prices down, rather than inviting the channel bloat and price escalation that cord cutters have been trying to escape. Finally, cable and satellite providers have carriage disagreements with TV networks all the time, and while they tend to resolve their differences eventually, customers are trapped in the meantime. At least with Vue, if you’re unhappy with the lineup, you can easily cancel service and try a different bundle, of which there will soon be many more to choose from.

More Catch-Up

Save More Money


Tablo is a DVR for antenna users, letting you record free broadcast channels such as ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox. But instead of hooking up directly to your TV, Tablo connects to your home network over Ethernet or Wi-Fi. That way, you can stream live or recorded programs to phones, tablets, and streaming boxes. I’ve been chipping away at a review of Tablo and other over-the-air DVR solutions, but I can at least say the box works as advertised.

Right now, Tablo is selling refurbished models at a discount. The two-tuner version (which lets you watch or record two channels at once) is selling for $140 instead of $160, while the four-tuner version is selling for $200 instead of $240. Both come with a 12-month warranty.

One thing to keep in mind: Besides the box itself, you’ll also need an antenna and an external hard drive, and full DVR functionality requires a Tablo subscription at $50 per year or $150 lifetime.

Thanks for reading!

Despite an anxiety-inducing election, this week had plenty to talk about on the cord cutting front. And there’s more to come, as I’ve still got a queue full of products to review and services to talk about. In the meantime, send me your feedback by responding to this email or pinging me on Twitter.

Until next week,
Jared