As you’re reading this week’s newsletter, there’s a good chance I’m running around Las Vegas at the annual CES trade show, where a surprisingly large amount of cord-cutting gear has turned up.
After after spending some time with cloud DVR in Sling TV, it’s obvious why the feature launched as an invite-only beta. Right now, it’s missing some vital features and has some rough edges.
Apple clearly sees its TV app as the interface of the future for Apple TV. But right now, it doesn’t support enough video sources, especially if you don’t have a cable TV login.
Streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime are great at delivering on-demand video, but sometimes you don’t want to pick from an endless list of movies and TV shows. For this type of lean-back, passive viewing, you’ll want a video app that has some kind of ‘round-the-clock streaming element, so you can start watching with minimal effort.
After months of hype with little substance, AT&T has launched DirecTV Now, a bundle of streaming channels that will compete with Dish’s Sling TV and Sony’s PlayStation Vue.
Nothing’s more important than app selection when you’re shopping for a streaming TV device. Without access to the streaming services you require, it doesn’t matter what kind of fancy features are included in the box.
With HDMI-CEC, streaming boxes such as Apple TV and Roku can control your television’s power, volume, and input, making additional remotes unnecessary.
Apple’s $150 streaming box isn’t a bad product, but it faces the same fundamental challenge as other streaming boxes: With so many apps competing for users’ attention, managing and sorting through them all can be a chore.
AT&T made some waves this week when it announced that its upcoming DirecTV Now streaming bundle would cost just $35 per month for 100 channels. Still, AT&T won’t be alone in trying to bring more TV bundles to the Internet.
As online video transitions from “skinny” bundles to more standalone streaming services, you might wish for a way to bundle them all under one bill—kind of like you did with cable. Streaming platforms from Apple, Amazon, Google, and Roku are best-suited for this new type of bundling.