Roku’s forgotten feature, Tablo review
This week on TechHive: Remembering the Roku Feed
Use pretty much any streaming device or smart TV these days, and you might feel like it’s plotting against you.
Instead of serving their users’ interests, too many streaming platforms are more concerned with squeezing out as much revenue as possible. The result is excessive advertising, self-promotion, and relentless upselling whenever you turn on your TV.
All this has gotten me thinking about a brilliant old Roku feature called the “Roku Feed,” also known as “My Feed.” This section of Roku’s home screen didn’t just serve as a watchlist for movies and shows, it also helped save money by tracking prices and letting you know when things became cheaper. It was the rare streaming feature that felt squarely on your side.
Too bad Roku got rid of it a couple of years ago, because it’s just what we need right now.
Read the full column on TechHive→
Weekly rewind
Tablo review: At last, my fourth-generation Tablo DVR review is up on TechHive, and sadly it’s not a positive one. While I had high expectations for this over-the-air DVR, which costs just $100 with no subscription fees, I’ve run into major stability issues and bugs over the past couple of months, which is partly why the review took so long in the first place. Tablo’s new software is also missing much of what made its previous DVRs great. Managing tuners is especially cumbersome, for instance, and device support is more limited now.
I’m hoping all this gets fixed over time, because the new Tablo has a lot of potential, and its ability to record from free streaming channels is a killer feature. Even the product’s mere existence is laudable as companies like Amazon and TiVo back away from the DVR category. But if you buy it now, you’re basically paying to be a beta tester.
T-Mobile’s Netflix downgrade: T-Mobile is no longer offering ad-free Netflix with some of its wireless plans. Instead, it’s moving all eligible customers over to Netflix’s ad-supported tier, a $7 per month value, and customers who want ad-free Netflix must pay the difference in price. The news was first spotted by The Mobile Report and subsequently confirmed on T-Mobile’s website.
At the same time, T-Mobile appeared to offer some good news by announcing free Hulu (also with ads) coming January 24, but you can only get that perk with Go5G Next, T-Mobile’s most expensive plan. That plan costs $10 per month more than T-Mobile’s Go5G Plus tier and has no other benefits besides yearly phone upgrades. For the same $10 per month, you can just bundle Hulu and Disney+ while not giving any extra money to T-Mobile.
Prime Video ads are coming: Amazon has set a date of January 29 for stuffing ads into Prime Video. At that point, subscribers will have to pay $3 per month extra to restore ad-free viewing (or turn to craftier workarounds). Amazon announced the news back in September, but began informing customers over the holidays. The company says it needs the extra money to “continue investing in compelling content,” which would make more sense if it was better at investing what it had to begin with.
(An aside: The actual best thing about Prime Video is its licensed movie catalog; I’d take an ad-free version at the old price with just that and nothing else.)
More catch-up
- PlayStation users won’t lose the Discovery shows they bought after all.
- DirecTV tests national NBC feeds as it feuds with a major broadcaster.
- Roku is adding fancier mini-LED TVs to its smart TV lineup.
- Spectrum TV customers can start getting Disney+ for free. (Read my previous coverage.)
Save more money
There’s not much new happening on the deal front right now, so let me just remind you not to pay for Paramount+. Instead, you can sign up with whatever coupon codes the streamer is offering—currently STREAMNFL, CARTMAN, or BUTTERS—then immediately cancel to get a month free with no auto-renewal. Rinse and repeat every month for an endless Mountain of Entertainment™. See here for more details.
One other notable offer: Britbox is 20% off for one year, bringing the price to $72 for new and returning subscribers. (If you’ve subscribed before, check your email, as you may see a better offer there.)
As always, I keep a running list of deals on streaming devices and services on the Cord Cutter Weekly website.
Thanks for reading!
Happy New Year, everyone! It’s nice to be back after taking the last week off.
Quick programming note: I’ll be Las Vegas covering the CES trade show next week, so the next newsletter will arrive a bit later than usual—either in the afternoon or on Saturday morning, depending on my mood after my 6 a.m. flight home on Friday. I’m looking forward to sharing what I’ve learned from the show on the cord cutting front.
Got questions in the meantime? Just reply to this email to get in touch.
Until next week,
Jared