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This week on TechHive: The many problems with Xfinity Instant TV
A couple years ago, I was in the unusual position of defending Comcast in a column about cord cutting.

For $15 per month, the cable giant was testing a new streaming TV service that delivered all four major broadcast networks, HBO, and a selection of movies from its Streampix service. Some observers laughed at Comcast’s efforts at the time, but it seemed like a solid deal, given that HBO was charging the same $15 per month for access to its streaming service alone.

Now, Comcast is rolling out a streaming TV package throughout its nationwide cable footprint. But this new service—dubbed Xfinity Instant TV—is nothing like the one Comcast started testing in 2015. Although it has a few redeeming qualities, Xfinity Instant TV is weighed down by arcane restrictions on how and where you can watch TV, and in many cases, it’s more expensive than other streaming bundles. Read the full column on TechHive.

Weekly Rewind

Mediasonic Homeworx review: After TechHive published my roundup over-the-air DVR roundup earlier this year, some folks asked me about this cheap alternative. I happened to have one on hand from an earlier story, and have now written a proper review.

In short, the Mediasonic Homeworx HW180STB is far cheaper than practically any other solution, and you can easily pull recordings off it to use with other programs like Plex Media Server and VLC. But the interface is slow and clunky, and even some basic tasks—such as weekday-only recoridngs—are a chore. It’s a textbook example of getting exactly what you pay for.

Movies without borders: Hollywood studios—most of the major ones, at least—finally have a way to free your digital movie library from walled gardens like iTunes and Amazon Video. A new service called Movies Anywhere lets you link those accounts and others, such as Vudu and Google Play Movies & TV. Your purchased films then becomeo available on phones, tablets, and streaming boxes through the Movies Anywhere app. CNet has a helpful walktrhough of how this works.

Effectively, this is a merger of two previous efforts, one from Disney (called Disney Movies Anywhere) and another from several studios (called UltraViolet). The hope is that making movies easier to access on any platform will boost video purchases and help offset the decline of DVD sales. I’m skeptical, but still happy that you can own a bunch of different streaming devices, each with their own movie stores, and not be punished for buying films on all of them.

More Catch-Up

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Thanks for reading!

It’s the crazy time of the year for cord-cutting activity. I just filed a review of Roku’s new Streaming Stick and Streaming Stick+, so expect to see those on TechHive soon. I’m also working on reviews of Roku’s other players, the Apple TV 4K, and a whole lot more on top of my usual weekly columns. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, you can contribute to this newsletter through my Patreon page (for recurring payments) and my Ko-Fi page (for one-time payments), and help inspire future story ideas by sending in your feedback. Just reply to this email or find me on Twitter.

Until next week,
Jared