This week on TechHive: Will Apple TV kill the cable box? Not so fast.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Cable companies are finally abandoning their stodgy old set-top boxes, and are finally ready to deliver television service through modern media streamers such as Apple TV.
That’s the argument Apple put forth this week during its Worldwide Developers Conference, where the company announced that Charter Spectrum will deliver an Apple TV app later this year, complete with Siri integration and TV app support. Spectrum will also support a new “zero sign-on” feature for customers who have both internet and TV service, allowing them to login into TV Everywhere apps on Apple TV without entering a username or password.
“[The] typical cable box is becoming a thing of the past as these companies embrace internet-based delivery,” Jen Folse, Apple TV’s lead designer, said. “And many of them share our vision of Apple TV as the one device for live, on-demand, and cloud DVR content.”
Though I’d like to believe that’s true, the past couple years have shown that cable companies have little desire to kill the cable box, at least in the United States. The revenue streams are too lucrative and the desire to control customers is too strong, and the Apple TV isn’t doing much to change the status quo. Read the full column on TechHive.
Weekly rewind
Fire TV Cube: Amazon has announced another streaming box called the Fire TV Cube, and while it has similar specs to last year’s Fire TV pendant, the Cube includes a microphone array and speakers for hands-free Alexa voice commands. This allows you to launch videos in apps like Netflix, control playback, and search without ever touching a remote.
If you have an Amazon Echo speaker, you can already use it to control other Fire TV streamers, but the Cube also has a built-in infrared emitter, allowing it to control the volume on a TV or sound system and switch to live TV channels on a cable box. The interface is also better-optimized for voice control, with on-screen hints on how to navigate hands-free and the ability to show Alexa’s answers on the big screen when the TV is on.
Unfortunately, the Fire TV Cube still has one major omission: As with Amazon’s other streamers, its remote doesn’t include volume buttons, so the only way to adjust volume without your voice is with a separate remote (or, perhaps, a Sideclick). Amazon told me it’s aware of this complaint and will be “looking at improving our products down the line,” so it may be wise to wait for a better remote before buying. That said, Amazon is selling the Cube to Prime members for $90, down from the regular $120 price, if you buy one today.
Apple TV’s other updates: A desire to replace cable boxes wasn’t Apple’s only TV-related announcement this week. This fall, the Apple TV will get support for Dolby Atmos, an improved version of surround sound that tries to map audio in three dimensions. The Apple TV’s remote app will also get a Control Center shortcut in iOS 12, and users of high-end home automation systems from Crestron, Control4, and Savant will be able to control Apple TV with those systems’ remotes.
While these aren’t major updates for the Apple TV platform, Atmos support alone should make many audiophiles happy. Roku players support Atmos as well, but Apple TV will be the only streaming box with both Atmos and Dolby Vision, a proprietary version of HDR allows for more detailed color data on a per-scene basis. If you own any iTunes movies that support either format, they’ll be upgraded for free.
More Catch-Up
DirecTV Now’s overhauled app and DVR service land on Roku.
After discontinuing its original two-tuner over-the-air DVR last year, Tablo claims to have found another stash of refurbished units. It’s selling them for $90, which is $50 cheaper than the new Tablo Dual Lite that I reviewed last month. The biggest difference between the old and new models, aside from the physical design, is that the Dual Lite has newer 802.11ac Wi-Fi instead of 802.11n. This is a non-issue if you plan to set up the Tablo near your router or with a wired Ethernet connection.
With Tablo, you connect an antenna and a hard drive, then use Tablo’s apps (on Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, and more) to watch and record over-the-air channels. I think it’s the best DVR for most cord cutters.
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