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Dish adds dual tuners to AirTV Player through an adapter
Dish's AirTV Player is an intriguing mix of an over-the-air player with streaming services, but that single tuner has made it difficult to recommend if you want to both record and watch live broadcasts. You won't have to make that compromise from now on, though, if you're willing to pay. The company has launched a dual tuner adapter that enables simultaneous recording and viewing, or recording for two channels if there are two must-see shows you're going to miss.
Fire TV Recast offers both DVR and streaming on the go
At Amazon's launch event today in Seattle the company announced its first DVR called the Fire TV Recast. There's no cable TV tuner built-in, so the channels available will be the ones you can access with a connected over-the-air antenna (like ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, PBS or the CW). Also, since the Recast doesn't plug directly into a TV, you can place it anywhere in your house to get the best reception, which the app can also help you determine. It then beams your recorded shows or live TV anywhere through your home to an Echo Show, Fire tablet, mobile device (iOS or Android with the Fire TV app) or a Fire TV device. You can also take your recordings on-the-go with the Fire TV app.
Sailfish for the Gemini PDA lets you ditch Android
The Gemini PDA is a throwback to the days when people thought they needed a physical keyboard to manage their portable devices. Sailfish OS is an Android alternative based in part on Nokia's MeeGo project and created for the Jolla phone that works on the Gemini as well as a number of Sony's Xperia handsets. Now the Gemini PDA will feature Sailfish officially; it will also be available to download (as Sailfish X) in late 2018.
Dish's new AirTV broadcasts over-the-air channels to all your devices
Dish's first AirTV was an intriguing set-top box that combined over-the-air (OTA) channels with Sling TV's streaming interface. The downside? It only worked with one TV at a time, and that set had to be near a good antenna reception spot. Today, the company is introducing an even more ambitious $120 AirTV (the previous device is now the AirTV Player), a home server that connects to your antenna and broadcasts OTA content to all of your gadgets. Even better, it'll also let you watch live TV when you're away from home. You can think of it as a completely legal alternative to Aereo, the defunct OTA streaming startup.
Nielsen to include YouTube TV viewing figures in its local ratings
As users cut cords and go with live TV streaming services like Hulu and Sling TV, it gets harder for broadcasters to gauge those all-important ratings -- especially on a local level. Now, Nielsen has announced that it will start measuring local TV audiences for YouTube TV, one of the newest cord-cutting TV services. That will give advertisers "a full account of all viewing activity, irrespective of distribution channel," said Nielsen's Jeff Wender.
Tablo launches more affordable over-the-air DVR with cloud storage
Nuvvyo's over-the-air Tablo DVRs are potentially big bargains if you want the convenience of recording shows without a pricey cable package, but the up front cost (dictated in part by the built-in storage) can make them daunting. The company has a simple solution to that: release a DVR that lets you pick your own drive. Its newly launched Tablo Dual Lite includes the same dual-tuner recording as before, but ditches the 64GB of built-in storage in favor of a lower $140 price (down from $220) that lets you get only the USB drive you want. And importantly, that local storage will soon be optional.
All Ford vehicles will have built-in 4G LTE by 2020
Ford's vision for the future is electric, connectivity and assisted driving. For the Blue Oval company, that means by 2020 its entire lineup will have 4G LTE connectivity and offer Waze navigation by way of AppLink and Sync 3. The former means that all aspects of a vehicle can be updated over the air rather than just the Sync platform. The latter is a bid to make the road safer by decreasing distracted driving that's caused by fumbling with your phone while behind the wheel; all cars with Sync 3 can start using Waze next month. And after studying how people use their trucks, the F-150 will have an available bed-mounted generator for the folks who need to export power on the job-site -- an idea Chevy experimented with on its ZH2 concept truck for the military.
Tesla’s Model 3 patch adds futuristic features like an FM radio
Tesla's latest update for the Model 3 adds an FM radio and a tripometer. Let that sink in for a bit. Sure, plenty of cars don't have CD players anymore, but a radio is pretty standard equipment. Same goes for the tripometer. Actually, the tripometer missing is a little more egregious than the radio. Typically, the tripometer is used to measure how far you can go on a tank of gas, or, in the Model 3's case, a full charge. This is the sort of thing that illustrates Tesla was in such a rush to get the hardware out the door that it overlooked everyday features we take for granted.
Philips' first Roku TV is now available for $349
If you've been patiently waiting for the new Philips television set that comes with Roku built in, you're in luck. The electronics giant announced that the 40-inch model from its new Roku TV 4000 series is available now at Sam's Club. It will appear on the Sam's Club website "soon." Philips says that you'll be able to get its 50-inch version in January at Walmart; it has not determined a date for the 43-inch model.
Dish customers can no longer access CBS TV channels
If you're looking forward to watching the NFL this Thanksgiving you might find yourself stuck watching holiday reruns instead, as CBS is making good on its threat to black out dozens of channels in response to its ongoing subscription feud with Dish. According to Dish, the network last night barred customer access to 28 local channels in 18 markets across 26 states.
Google fixes random Pixel freezing with latest update
Google's Pixel and Pixel XL phones debuted to strong reviews, but not all has been perfect since -- supply has been a problem, as has quality control. Case in point -- some smartphones have been freezing at random times, requiring a complete reboot to clear the problem. Luckily, Google has just released a new OTA update that "should address many of the freezing issues that have been reported."
Tablo's new Dual DVR is ready to record right out of the box
The original Tablo box debuted in 2013, pitched as a DVR for cord-cutters that could stream TV nearly anywhere, and now the company is back with a second generation version. The Tablo Dual is redesigned to fit everything in a smaller case with no fans for quieter operation, and also manages to squeeze in 64GB of memory. That means new users can start recording TV right away, without needing to plug in extra storage (although it does support to 8TB).
Plex Live TV and DVR launches for subscribers
Last fall Plex started beta testing a DVR feature for its popular media server setup, and now it's making the next big step by offering live TV and DVR for all Plex Pass subscribers. They will need to bring their own tuner(s), connected to a TV antenna or cable jack, but Plex will do the rest, providing the necessary guide data as a part of the Pass subscription if you live somewhere with DVB-T or ATSC (North America) broadcasts. . As of today, it not only supports more kinds of tuners, it's also ready to stream live TV to iOS or Android TV, with Android mobile devices and Apple TV next up.
Recommended Reading: The bright future of free over-the-air TV
Free Over-the-Air TV Is Going to Get Better James K. Willcox, Consumer Reports Thanks to a new standard known as ATSC 3.0, over-the-air TV broadcasts will include all the newfangled tech like 4K and HDR. Consumer Reports has the run down on what that means for OTA, including whether or not you may have to pay for it.
AirTV conveniently pairs streaming with over-the-air channels
With the plethora of TV-streaming options, getting all of your content in one place can be a chore. At CES this week, Dish unveiled the AirTV: a 4K set-top box that handles Sling TV, Netflix, Android TV for other streaming apps and over-the-air channels. The $130 device also uses the Sling TV guide to organize all of that content. It also includes a remote with dedicated buttons for those aforementioned streaming libraries. I spent some time with the AirTV on the show floor to see how well it really works.
Mohu's wireless AirWave antenna makes cord-cutting simple
We got a peek at Mohu's wireless TV antenna last night, and this morning the company is releasing a few more details. The AirWave promises free TV "everywhere" across a variety of mobile and connected TV devices, because it catches the OTA signal and turns it into an IPTV stream for its app, sort of like a localized Aereo (RIP). The antenna will cost $150 when it launches in "late" spring at Best Buy stores, and won't require any kind of subscription package for access. All it needs is power, access to local TV signals and WiFi. Then you've got TV, and the viewing app has a guide that integrates TV broadcasts with content from various streaming services.
Mohu teases its wireless TV antenna
One thing about cord-cutting and switching to antenna-delivered TV is that some people can't get a good signal near their TV. Mohu's new AirWave antenna solves that by making it wireless. The $150 device just needs to plug into power to catch TV broadcasts, transcode them and stream the video via WiFi to its apps on platforms like Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV, iOS and Android, not to mention the web. We couldn't get all the details tonight at the CES Unveiled event, but it should hit shelves in the spring.
Sling TV accidentally reveals its set-top box for cord cutters
The Sling TV team has inadvertently spilled the beans on its previously leaked media hub for cord cutters. Zatz Not Funny discovered a briefly available landing website for the AirTV Player, and it's clearer than ever that Sling (read: Dish) is catering to those determined to leave cable and satellite behind. The set-top box will revolve around a home screen that merges over-the-air TV tuning with not only Sling TV, but Netflix -- you won't have to jump between apps or devices to watch both your local news and the latest season of Black Mirror. And since this is an Android device (notice the "G" button on the remote), there's a good chance that other online services will be available as well.
TiVo appears to be testing cloud DVR recording
While a few companies have tried on network/cloud DVR features, TiVo has always been associated with storage that's sitting right in your living room. Previous leaks pointed to a new TiVo box, codenamed Mantis, that might do network recording of OTA channels, but now Dave Zatz posted this picture, showing that there may be similar features in the works for the existing Bolt DVR.
Xbox One gets over-the-air DVR through a set-top box
Just because Microsoft has ruled out an Xbox One DVR feature doesn't mean that you're without choices. Nuvyyo has introduced an Xbox One (and Windows 10 Anniversary Update) version of its Tablo app, letting you watch and record over-the-air TV streamed from the company's networked set-top box. You'll get the "majority" of features you see on other platforms, including a TV guide as well as options to pause live shows and skip ads.
