| The cutthroat business of live TV streaming has claimed its first victim.
On January 30, 2020, Sony plans to shut down PlayStation Vue, having decided to focus more on its core gaming business. While Vue was one of the first live TV streaming bundles when it launched in March 2015, it ultimately couldn’t keep pace with the growth of YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV, and Sling TV, among others. Remaining subscribers will receive their final bill in December, at which point they’ll be able to use the service until the bitter end.
The news, while not entirely shocking, is still a shame. PlayStation Vue was one of the best live TV streaming services, with excellent video quality, an expansive lineup of sports channels, and several features that its competitors still lack. As cord-cutters look for PlayStation Vue replacements over the next few months, they’ll find that no perfect substitute exists. Read the full column on TechHive. |
| HBO Max pricing: AT&T has finally announced a price of $15 per month for HBO Max, the streaming service it plans to launch next May. That’s the same as what HBO currently costs as a standalone streaming service, but it’ll have many more movies and TV shows from the broader WarnerMedia catalog, plus some new originals. (HBO’s website has a good overview.) AT&T is also hoping that people who get HBO through an existing pay TV package will be able to upgrade at no extra charge, but it’s still ironing out those arrangements with TV providers.
Some other questions remain unanswered. HBO still hasn’t shown us what the service’s apps will look like. We also don’t know how many simultaneous streams HBO Max will offer, whether it’ll support 4K, or if it’ll allow for personalized user profiles. Unless AT&T delays the service yet again, it’ll have about five months to straighten all that away.
AT&T Watch TV in wane: In other AT&T news, the company is launching three new wireless data plans this month. But unlike the current unlimited plans that AT&T is replacing, none of the new ones include Watch TV, a streaming video package that includes CNN, Comedy Central, Food Network, and about 30 other non-sports channels. AT&T continues to offer the service on a standalone basis for $15 per month, though it’s unclear how committed the company is to the service on the whole. Nearly a year and a half after launch, the service still doesn’t support Roku or offer DVR.
You may recall that AT&T made a big deal about Watch TV when it launched last year, saying that free TV was one of the many pro-consumer benefits the carrier could provide if it was allowed to acquire Time Warner. Since then, AT&T has raised prices for its myriad live TV services, pulled popular shows from competing services to bolster HBO Max, and engaged in a protracted carriage dispute over HBO with rival Dish Network. Taking away Watch TV from new wireless subscribers is just the latest promise to collapse since the acquisition.
Fire TV Cube review: As I continue to slog through gadget review season, here’s my evaluation of Amazon’s second-generation Fire TV Cube, a $120 streaming box with built-in microphones for Alexa voice control. Using the new Cube can feel like living in the future, especially when you say “Alexa, watch ESPN” and the game pops up on your TV a few moments later. The new Cube also loads apps much faster than the already-speedy Fire TV Stick 4K, and it can switch between more recent apps without having to reload them from scratch.
The voice control element still isn’t flawless, as some apps don’t fully integrate with Alexa, and putting live mics in your living room will always raise some privacy concerns, even if Amazon only uploads audio when it hears the “Alexa” wake word. (Also, PlayStation Vue was among the services supported Alexa, so its demise really stings here.) Overall, though, this is a great higher-end streaming box if you buy into Amazon’s voice-controlled vision.
Nvidia’s new Shield: And here’s one more gadget to put in the review pile. The Nvidia Shield TV has always been a great streaming player for geeks, but now it’s going a bit more mainstream. The new $150 version has a funky tube-shaped design and a much-improved remote with backlit buttons and dedicated power and volume keys. It also uses AI trickery to upscale HD video into 4K, supposedly with much better results than typical TV upscalers. Essentially, it’s a high-end alternative to the Apple TV for folks who aren’t inclined towards Apple’s ecosystem.
Nvidia is also updating its old streaming box design with the same features. It costs $200 and is required if you want to use the Shield as a Plex server, smart home hub, or anything else that involves USB ports. I have the cheaper model on hand and should have a review up in a couple weeks. In the meantime, my colleague Gordon Mah Ung wrote up a nice hands-on report. |
| AT&T, of all places, has a killer deal going on the Apple TV 4K. Normally $180, it’s on sale for $90, regardless of whether you’re an AT&T customer. I’ve never seen the price fall this low on what is a pretty slick streaming box.
The folks behind Tablo also tell me that Best Buy will be selling the Tablo Dual Lite DVR for $110 from November 3 through November 9, down from the regular price of $150. If you can hold out a few weeks longer, the price will drop to $100 from November 21 through 23.
In my comparison of over-the-air DVRs, the Tablo Dual Lite is in a dead-heat with the Tablo Quad (which can record four channels at once instead of two, and costs $200). They are easy to set up and operate, and once you do, they’ll stream live or recorded TV from an antenna to pretty much any streaming device around the house. |
