AT&T U-verse cuts the coax, goes wireless in-home

By Ryan Lawler

From http://gigaom.com/
Pretty soon, new AT&T U-verse subscribers won’t have to go through the hassle of having their entire home re-wired with coaxial cable when they sign up for the pay TV service. Instead, all they’ll need is a residential gateway and a set of thin-client wireless receivers to deliver live and on-demand TV throughout the home.

Starting Oct. 31, U-verse customers can order the new wireless receiver, which can be placed anywhere throughout the home or even outside, as long as it’s within Wi-Fi range. By hooking up the wireless receiver, users will no longer have to connect the TV’s set-top box to a coax connection, meaning they have the flexibility to move TVs around the house or to switch out the wireless receiver to rooms that aren’t used as much.



TVs hooked up to the wireless receivers will get all the same features that are available through more traditional wired set-top boxes, such as access to on-demand titles and whole-home DVR functionality. Subscribers are also able to pause a piece of programming and pick up watching it in any other room in the house.

More importantly, the wireless receiver will reduce the need for AT&T technicians to run coaxial cable throughout subscriber homes. That means an easier set-up process for new subscribers, and could drastically reduce the time it takes to get users set up and ready. Existing customers can also request the new wireless receivers, which they can put around the house thanks to a self-install kit.
The news follows a trend of pay TV operators introducing more IP-enabled services and devices. Verizon and Comcast, for instance, have both announced plans to make their content available through the Microsoft Xbox game console, which AT&T subscribers can already use as a set-top box. Comcast and Time Warner Cable are also building TV apps for connected TVs. And any number of operators — including Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision, and others have rolled out iPad apps that let users stream live or on-demand videos.

While AT&T has always delivered IP-based TV services, these examples show how it and other service providers can use streaming video to deliver new user experiences to users. While today the wireless streams are being delivered exclusively to U-verse receivers, we can imagine AT&T building apps for connected devices that could alleviate the need for the device. In the meantime, however, AT&T’s new wireless receivers are available for a one-time fee of $49, plus a $7 per month receiver rental fee.

Cablevision brings live cable TV to the iPhone and iPod touch

By Janko Roettgers
From http://gigaom.com/

Cablevision subscribers can now watch cable TV on their iPhones or iPod touch devices, thanks to the cable-TV provider extending the functionality of its iPad app to all of Apple’s iOS devices. The new app allows Cablevision customers to access live-TV channels as well as thousands of VOD titles. It also acts as a remote control for Cablevision’s set-top boxes, allowing customers to change channels and other settings.

Cablevision first launched its iPad app in April. The new release extends its functionality to the iPhone and iPod touch, while also bringing remote control features to the iPad app. However, it doesn’t solve two key issues: Consumption of live and VOD TV is restricted to a subscriber’s home, making it impossible to view programming on the go. That may have been a minor issue for the iPad, since it could work well as a replacement for the bedroom or as a “TV” for kids. However, one has to wonder how many people will watch live television on the small iPhone screen while at home.

Another unresolved issue is that some cable programmers don’t like the idea of programming becoming available on mobile devices, in home or otherwise. Time Warner Cable, which has been offering similar functionality since March, initially got pressed by a number of channels to take its programming off its iPad app. It was eventually able to strike agreements with these programmers, but Cablevision wasn’t so lucky: MTV and Comedy Central owner Viacom sued the cable provider in June, arguing that it doesn’t have the necessary rights to bring its channels to the iPad.

Your Guide to Cutting the Cord to Cable TV

by Mark Glaser
From: http://www.pbs.org/

From time to time, I'll give an overview of one broad MediaShift topic, annotated with online resources and plenty of tips. The idea is to help you understand the topic, learn the jargon, and take action. I previously covered Twitter, citizen journalism, and alternative models for newspapers, among other topics. This week I look at cutting the cord to cable (or satellite) TV and watching TV content online.

Background

Anyone who gets cable TV or satellite in the U.S. has noticed a pronounced trend over the years: their monthly bill keeps going up. Sure, you can get lots of channels, plus HD channels and DVR functions, but those usually cost extra. According to research from Centris (PDF), the average digital cable bill was nearly $75 last year, and the average monthly satellite TV bill was $69.
What's causing those bills to skyrocket? A lack of competition among cable and satellite providers, and the rising costs of programming. The most recent programming dustup happened when News Corp. demanded carriage fees from Time Warner Cable, and settled before any channels were dropped. Time Warner is planning an upcoming rate hike. Like other traditional media, TV networks (both cable and broadcast) are being squeezed by lower advertising income, and think they can just keep raising the cable bills indefinitely.
Unfortunately for the cable TV industry, they've picked a bad time to raise their rates. Centris found in a separate report (PDF) that due to the economic meltdown, eight percent of U.S. households were likely to cancel their pay TV in the third quarter of '09, and nearly half of households contacted TV providers for discounts or cheaper packages.
Thanks to the rise of Netflix, Hulu and hardware like the Roku box and Apple TV, cutting the cord to cable TV doesn't mean cutting yourself off from your favorite shows and channels. While past experiments at bringing together the web and TV (such as WebTV) have failed, the recent recession has pushed people to pursue their own convergence projects that enable them to watch web content on their TV. Depending on various living room setups and viewing habits, making the changeover from cable to online TV can be complex and maddening. But you're sure to save a bundle of money.

Hardware and Services

The first thing to do when cutting the cord is list the shows you watch regularly, and your favorite TV channels. Next, do a little online research to find out whether those shows appear on the channel's streaming sites (such as NBC.com, CBS.com, etc.) or on Hulu or YouTube. Many shows on pay channels such as HBO don't appear until much later, and usually must be bought via a service such as iTunes.
In addition to what's available online, you might be surprised at the quality of over-the-air broadcast channels since the digital switch-over last year. Many newer TVs only require an antenna to get local broadcast channels, while older TVs need a converter box, which runs from $40 to $80. Plus, some of the programming includes HD content. To find out which digital channels you can get over the airwaves, input your location at the AntennaWeb site.
(Note: Broadcasters recently announced at CES that they would be offering "mobile DTV" so that people could pick up digital broadcast TV on laptops, smartphones and tablets.)
Below is a rundown of some of the more important elements to enjoying TV content via the web. You won't need to get all of them but you can mix and match those that will get you what you need. Most cable quitters find they can get about 95 percent of the TV content they used to watch on cable via the various services below.
Hardware
Roku
This is the box most cable quitters seem to like. It connects to your TV and your computer network, let's you watch Netflix streaming movies, and offers some free and pay options for additional content. It costs $79.99 for SD and $99.99 for an HD model.
AppleTV
It's basically a front-end device to iTunes, letting you download movies and music and play them through your TV. Problem: No TV tuner or DVR functionality.
Digital converter box
If you want to get the digital over-the-air stations in your area, you'll likely need an antenna for newer TVs or this box for older TVs. Cost: $40 to $80.

WD TV

WD TV
This small box connects your TV to an external hard drive, letting you play movies, TV shows, photos or music you have downloaded. The standard WD TV is about $79, while the WD TV Live that lets you watch Net content is $119.
eyeTV hybrid
It's a TV tuner for a Mac, letting you watch digital over-the-air channels on your Mac, or even on your iPhone with an extra $4.99 app. Cost: $149.95.
Game consoles
Netflix will let you play movies through your XBox 360 or PlayStation 3. There are also a wide variety of TV tuners and other devices that can turn game consoles into home entertainment systems.
Note: If you prefer simply connecting your computer directly to your TV set without any other hardware, you can do that, too. Here's a great video explaining how:

How To Connect Your Laptop To Your Television on Howcast

Services and Sites
Netflix
The granddaddy of the DVD-by-mail services, Netflix has also become a huge entryway for people who want to dump cable and get TV shows later when they're available on DVD. Netflix also offers unlimited streaming of some movies and TV shows, which works well with a Roku box or other Netflix-ready devices. Cost: $8.99/month for 1 DVD plus unlimited streaming, with various higher cost plans for more DVDs.
Hulu
The free U.S.-only TV show service is a joint venture between NBC Universal, Fox, and Disney. You are forced to watch commercials before and during TV shows and movies. While it has been an especially popular service for those dumping cable, there has been chatter that Hulu might charge for content at some point. Cost: Free (for now).
iTunes
Apple's poorly named digital media buying service started out selling music downloads. Then it added a podcast directory, and now sells TV shows and rents/sells movies. Downloading TV shows at $1.99 per episode can get pricey, though there are discounted "Season Passes" and some limited free TV show offers.
YouTube
The most popular video site on the web also can be accessed through various devices in order to view its content on your TV. These devices include the Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3 and TiVo.

Amazon on Demand

Amazon on Demand
Trying to compete with Netflix and iTunes, Amazon offers quick downloads of various TV shows at similar prices to iTunes. They are playable on Macs or PCs, or on devices that connect your computer to your TV.
Boxee
Free software that helps you organize TV and movie content on your computer. Currently in beta, the Boxee software will soon come on a special Boxee Box from D-Link for under $200.
PlayOn
Windows software that lets you play Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, etc. from your computer on your TV via a PlayStation 3, Wii or XBox 360. Cost: $39.99 after 14-day free trial.
BitTorrent
Popular free file-sharing software for people who trade TV show and movie files. You'll need to search your own conscience to decide whether to download copyrighted material from sites that utilize the torrent system.

Sample Setups

Here are a few sample setups of people who get TV content without subscribing to cable.
Roku + Netflix and Amazon
Who: CancelCable.com bloggers
Setup: Roku box that plays Netflix and Amazon content; digital TV converter box.
Quote: "Since we need to be more proactive and select shows from Netflix or Hulu, we read a lot more reviews and tend to sit down and watch complete movies rather than just switching around hundreds of channels."

Dan Milbrath's setup with eyeTV

eyeTV + Mac Mini
Who: Dan Milbrath, product manager, San Francisco
Setup: eyeTV hybrid to get broadcast channels on a Mac Mini; projector for movies; Netflix.
Quote: "I'm intrigued by on-demand, online TV options like those being offered by Amazon and iTunes but I think the pricing is still a bit too steep. $1.99 for a one hour episode of 'Mad Men' is about double what I think they should charge."
AppleTV + PlayStation 3
Who: Leo Prieto, founder of online community Betazeta.com, Santiago, Chile
Setup: AppleTV with iTunes and Boxee; PlayStation 3 playing BitTorrent content, podcasts.
Quote: "I spend less than $30 a month on content, and it's all stuff I decided to watch (and not just 'what was on' or 'what I remembered to record on my DVR'). I also have Boxee on the Apple TV installed, which lets me access lots of public and free podcasts or web shows that aren't available on Apple TV (all free and legal)."
Hulu + laptop
Who: Carla King, author and tech editor, Pt. Richmond, Calif.
Setup: Laptop watching Hulu; uses projector for some movies on Netflix or iTunes.
Quote: "The availability of content of all kinds on the Internet is a terrible distraction for me from tasks at hand and health in general. Whereas before I could cancel my magazine subscriptions and choose not to buy cable TV to keep myself on task with personal and professional goals, I find that today I need to develop my willpower to the utmost."

What's Missing

For many people, the biggest barrier to canceling cable is the loss of live sports. While MLB.com has a package of games you can stream online, and CBS has offered a popular March Madness on Demand stream, many other leagues have been slow on the uptake. Plus, there are often restrictions and blackouts with some online season pass deals. For example, the NBA League Pass Broadband does not include nationally or locally televised games. So if you're living in Boston, you won't be able to see Celtics games online if they are also on TV at the same time (whether they are home or away).

Leo Prieto

The same goes for other live events, such as awards shows. "Mainly, live TV content is impossible," said Leo Prieto, who gave up cable in 2005. "And most of that live TV content isn't available to download on iTunes later. For example, the Oscars or some sports event. In that case I have to go to BitTorrent and get the show afterwards. I would love iTunes or YouTube to offer live content."
Multimedia reporter Sean Mussenden is also living the cable-free life, and says he believes TVs will eventually come with direct Internet capabilities. He had an interesting take on how his discovery of programs changed without cable.
"When you rely on cable, the easy access to thousands of shows tends to limit your willingness to explore further," he said. "But there are far more options for informative and/or entertaining content beyond cable. Not having having cable has made me more willing to explore. For example, at the moment I'm really enjoying watching talks on Ted.com and MIT's OpenCourseWare. I don't think I'd have discovered either of them if I still had cable."
In many cases, people who have canceled cable still get to see their favorite TV shows, but often much later than those with cable. If they can deal with being a bit behind, and don't mind the tech hassle of setting up a Net-to-TV connection with gear, they're often happy to save money and watch what they want.

More Reading

If you want to read more about cutting the cable TV cord, check out these sites and stories:
CancelCable.com
Cable Freedom Is a Click Away at NY Times
You Don't Need Satellite TV When Times Get Tough at News.com
Cancel Cable and Save with Free Internet TV at Digital Trends
Ways To Watch TV Without Paying An Arm And A Leg For Cable Or Satellite at Bible Money Matters
Turn On, Tune Out, Click Here at WSJ (paid subscription required)
Cancel Cable TV by Paul Kedrosky
Cable TV's Big Worry: Taming the Web at NY Times
Who Will Win the Cable Wars? Not You. at Slate
Broadcast TV Networks Want Your Money at The Atlantic
More Fees For Broadcasters Could Hurt Cable Networks' Growth at Dow Jones
Why the Roku Netflix Player Is the First Shot of the Revolution at NY Times
Netflix Agrees To Warner's New Release Delay In Exchange For More Streaming Rights at PaidContent
*****

Have I missed any important elements to cutting the cord? Have you cut the cord and if so, what's your setup? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and I'll update my story with any gear or services I missed.
UPDATE: There has been a lot of commentary on this story when it was linked on the PBS Facebook page. I thought it was worth addressing a few of those comments here:
> Michael Lindemann said, "Interesting that no one mentions cable Internet access as being an upshot to cable access. Interesting article, but it misses at least one key point: The fastest and most reliable way to get home Internet access is through the cable company! In my area, the cable Internet subscription is bundled with the cable service at a discount." That's true. For many people who cut the cord to cable TV, they still are likely to end up paying for Internet service from the cable company.
> Prashant Shah said, "The missing option in the article is the public library, where I've always found not-so-recent shows. Newer shows you need to wait a bit, but then I'm in no hurry." True enough. The public library in many communities offers up free borrowing of TV shows and movies on DVD. The selection can vary from library to library, but the price is right: free, as long as you return them on time.

Mark Glaser is executive editor of MediaShift and Idea Lab. He also writes the bi-weekly OPA Intelligence Report email newsletter for the Online Publishers Association. He lives in San Francisco with his son Julian. You can follow him on Twitter @mediatwit.

Boxee Set-Top Box Is On The Way: Watch Out, Cable Companies

by Shawn Oliver

Boxee has been on a wild, wild ride since debuting to the world last year, and for those looking for new ways to catch more content online, it has become the go-too application. And while it has certainly taken off, there's still lots of room to grow. One of the main reasons that it has yet to become a household name outside of the tech community is the need to have a full fledged PC to run it. And unless you're looking to hook up a media PC/HTPC in your den, you're probably not going to see Boxee in your living room.

At least, that was the case up until this week. Out of nowhere, Boxee announced that it has located its first-ever hardware partner, which basically means that some sort of Boxee set-top box is on the way. Boxee has informed us that more details will be provided on December 7th when it reveals its first Beta software. Unfortunately, that means that little is known about the box right now. We're guessing that it'll be something like the Roku box or the Apple TV, but only time will tell what the actual design is like. However, obviously there are any number of small form-factor platforms available on the market today to get this done for the folks at Boxee - perhaps an NVIDIA Ion-based system might do the trick? In fact, the mock below looks a lot like an Acer Aspire Revo or maybe it's based on something a bit more powerful?

What could be possibly more important for Boxee is another small (but big) announcement. We're told that the Boxee software could eventually be embedded onto other devices. That means that your DVD player, DVR or even Blu-ray player could one day have access to Boxee, similar to how some devices already have access to Vudu and Netflix right now. Cable companies best watch out--things are about to get really, really interesting.

'Idol' judge makes $75 mil; Donald Trump ranks No. 2

Reuters

tv

Simon Cowell (Getty)

Simon Cowell -- the acerbic "American Idol" judge, creator of "America's Got Talent" and record producer -- is the top-earning man on primetime U.S. television with an estimated haul of $75 million, Forbes.com said Tuesday.

Cowell beat out "The Apprentice" host Donald Trump ($50 million) and "American Idol" presenter Ryan Seacrest ($38 million), based on estimated pre-tax earnings from June 1, 2008-June 1, 2009.

Most of the top earners have several entertainment-related ventures, Forbes said. Cowell has his own record label, which has signed singers including Leona Lewis and Susan Boyle, in addition to his duties as a judge on "Idol" -- the most watched TV show in the United States for seven years.

Apart from "Apprentice," Trump lends his name to products ranging from neckties to vodka and reaps fees from speeches and books.

Seacrest, 34, has a Los Angeles morning radio show, is a celebrity TV host and developed the TV reality show "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," as well as hosting "Idol."

Rounding up the top five are "Two and a Half Men" star Charlie Sheen ($21 million) and "The Office" actor Steve Carell ($20 million).

The remainder of the top 10:

6. Howie Mandel ($15 million)

7. Kiefer Sutherland ($13 million)

8. Jeff Foxworthy ($11 million)

9. Hugh Laurie ($10 million)

10. David Caruso ($9 million)

Simon Cowell top male TV earner

'Idol' judge makes $75 mil; Donald Trump ranks No. 2

Reuters

Nov 10, 2009, 05:44 PM ET

Simon Cowell -- the acerbic "American Idol" judge, creator of "America's Got Talent" and record producer -- is the top-earning man on primetime U.S. television with an estimated haul of $75 million, Forbes.com said Tuesday.

Cowell beat out "The Apprentice" host Donald Trump ($50 million) and "American Idol" presenter Ryan Seacrest ($38 million), based on estimated pre-tax earnings from June 1, 2008-June 1, 2009.

Most of the top earners have several entertainment-related ventures, Forbes said. Cowell has his own record label, which has signed singers including Leona Lewis and Susan Boyle, in addition to his duties as a judge on "Idol" -- the most watched TV show in the United States for seven years.

Apart from "Apprentice," Trump lends his name to products ranging from neckties to vodka and reaps fees from speeches and books.

Seacrest, 34, has a Los Angeles morning radio show, is a celebrity TV host and developed the TV reality show "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," as well as hosting "Idol."

Rounding up the top five are "Two and a Half Men" star Charlie Sheen ($21 million) and "The Office" actor Steve Carell ($20 million).

The remainder of the top 10:

6. Howie Mandel ($15 million)

7. Kiefer Sutherland ($13 million)

8. Jeff Foxworthy ($11 million)

9. Hugh Laurie ($10 million)

10. David Caruso ($9 million)

Cut your cable!

After canceling my cable TV subscription, I realized that online TV is much better

Mike Elgan

May 16, 2009 (Computerworld) As part of my transition to semi-nomadic living and gadget-consolidation project, I canceled my subscription to cable TV and returned the cable box and remote.

I assumed tradeoffs in this arrangement: I would end up with an inferior TV experience, but save money. What I discovered, however, is that the overall experience is actually better. Much better.

My TV, which I've had for a couple years, is a 42-inch Sony Bravia. My laptop (and now my one and only PC) is also a Sony: A Sony Vaio AW that has an HDMI port. To watch online TV on my big-screen TV, I simply plug the laptop into the TV with HDMI (The Vaio even comes with a remote). Other cabling options are almost as good.

Finding a show is easy: Just Google it. All major shows that I'm aware of have a link to the streaming or downloadable HD version on the first results page. You can also find clips and shows on social bookmarking sites, TV sites like Hulu, and on YouTube.

The picture and sound quality is amazing. It's not quite as good as HD programming via cable, but far better quality than analog TV or even DVDs. That surprised me. But a long list of other benefits surprised me even more.

Cable TV creates a minor anxiety. If you don't record shows, you feel the need to essentially keep an appointment each week to catch updates of whatever shows you're following. If you record them using TiVo or something similar, you feel pressed to hurry up and watch recorded shows before your available storage maxes out.

When relying exclusively on shows online, however, I don't have to think about TV schedules or DVR storage space. I can watch whatever I want whenever I want, or I can just stop watching TV for any amount of time. The missed episodes are always online when I want them.

Location independence: Of course, you can always watch your regular TV shows on a laptop. But by carrying cables while traveling, you can plug in to whatever big-screen TV is available. That laptop becomes a portable cable box. Time savings: Many shows, such as Saturday Night Live, TV news programs, the Colbert Report and others tend to be a mixed bag containing a lot of time-wasting junk, but also nuggets of entertainment gold.

We have been acclimated over the years to suffer through entire shows, essentially fishing for something funny or interesting. But TV is presented online often in the form of individual clips. One of the best sites is Hulu, which offers shows both in full format and in clip form. The clips are sortable by "Popular Clips" and "Featured Videos." The site does a great job of separating the junk from the gold. You can watch only the good bits and save a lot of time.

Watch in "epic-sode" form: In the same way that you can reduce shows into their component parts, you can also combine episodes into "epic-sodes" - multiple episodes viewed as one. By doing this, you can watch shows a season at a time.

Rather than watching one episode each of four shows per week, you can find shows online where the season is completed and watch consecutive episodes of only that one show (15 minutes per night, one hour per night, two hours per night - whatever you like) until the season is done. Then you move to another show. This is a great way to watch shows like "Lost," where every episode references previous ones.

Fewer commercials: Online HDTV shows often have commercials, but about a quarter of the commercials you'll find on regular TV.

Money savings: Obviously, not paying for cable saves money. In my case, the elimination of my landline phone and cable bundle saved me about $110 per month. (If I put all that money in the bank for 10 years, I'll be able to pay cash for a brand-new car.)

Browseability: Amazon Kindle users will tell you that they both read more and read more widely with a Kindle because books are easier to discover and browse. The same goes for online TV. It's much easier to find and browse for shows online and to try them out.

Two weeks ago I thought canceling my cable subscription was a good idea for digital nomads. But now I'm convinced it's a better way to go for everybody. It changes the way you think about and watch TV, and improves the whole experience.

If you don't believe me, then I challenge you to try it out. Before you cancel your cable, go cold turkey for one week without using the cable service, getting all your TV online and watching it on your regular TV. Let me know how it goes!

Mike Elgan writes about technology and global tech culture. He blogs about the technology needs, desires and successes of mobile warriors in his Computerworld blog, The World Is My Office. Contact Mike at mike.elgan@elgan.com, follow him on Twitter or his blog, The Raw Feed.

How to Ditch Your Cable Provider Without Giving Up on TV

Let's face it. You don't like your cable provider (here's why). Yet the average American cable subscriber pays more than $700 per year on subscription fees. But with the right combination of antenna and Internet streaming sources, you can get the shows and movies you like without the expense.

By Glenn Derene

Published in the May 2009 issue.

(Photograph by Chris Eckert/Studio D)

Times are tough, money is tight, and Americans are starting to take a long, hard look at their monthly bills. One expense, in particular, stands out: cable. It’s hard to cut back on most utilities—a modern home doesn’t quite run without electricity, water or fuel, and some sort of phone seems essential, but television? Don’t they broadcast that for free?

As a matter of fact, they do. And yet the average monthly cable bill in the U.S. is $58.80—more than $700 per year. Satellite TV generally offers a mild savings compared to cable, depending on what equipment and channels you select. But is there a way to get the range of TV content that typically comes from these services without the steep monthly fees?

Well, yes … and no. If you’re just looking to get local channels, an ordinary antenna will do. In fact, given the level of digital compression that cable companies use to squeeze ever more channels down the pipe, an antenna may deliver a better quality signal with hi-def content.

To receive over-the-air digital television, you need a TV with a digital tuner and an antenna that receives UHF and VHF signals. Plenty of television antennas are currently marketed as HDTV antennas, but as television engineer Mark Schubin puts it: “There is no such thing as an HDTV antenna.” That doesn’t mean that all antennas are the same. Weak digital signals, unlike weak analog signals, don’t show up with static—they don’t show up at all. So if you live in an area with substandard reception, it may be worth it to buy an amplified antenna to boost signal. Check out antennaweb.org to get an idea of what stations to expect, based on your address.

Variety-Packed

Problem Solved: From Web to TV

Fancy new HDTVs have Internet hookups built right in, but there are plenty of ways to get Web video to your existing set.

Game Systems

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 streams Netflix and sells TV shows through its Xbox Live service. Sony’s PS3 has movies and shows for rent. But both gaming consoles are limited to content approved by their parent companies.

Blu-Ray Players

Players from Samsung and LG have integrated Netflix streaming. As yet, no Blu-ray players offer support for online TV sources, but many players are firmware updatable, so stay tuned.

Stand-Alone Players

Roku’s video-streaming box plays content from Netflix and Amazon. Apple TV users can purchase content from the iTunes Store or tap into free, Web-based content by installing open-source Boxee software (which will violate their warranty).

Okay, that takes care of local channels, but cable offers hundreds. What about ESPN? CNN? HBO? What about video on demand? Can you replace those once the coaxial cable is cut? The honest answer is that, if you love surfing through an endless series of channels, then nothing will truly replace cable. But according to a 2007 Nielsen study, the average American household received 104 channels—and watched only 15 of them regularly. So if statistics are any measure, a broad selection of content is important to viewers, but sheer quantity is not.

A surprising amount of TV and movie content is now available over the Internet for free or for a nominal price. The richest and most impressive source of Internet video, aside from outright torrent theft, is Netflix’s “Watch Instantly.” This streaming video service is a freebie extra for anyone who subscribes to the company’s DVD-by-mail service (any plan over $8.99 per month offers unlimited streaming of content). Watch Instantly lets users browse through a library of 12,000 movies and television shows, much as they would surf channels on a cable box. It nicely combines the joy of serendipitous movie discovery that comes from watching HBO or Showtime with the impulse entertainment of video on demand.

Most major networks and cable channels offer a deep reservoir of content that can be streamed over the Internet. CNN’s site posts video feeds of breaking news, and ESPN has partnerships with various Internet providers around the country to offer its ESPN360 live sports streaming service. New episodes of popular TV shows such as Lost and 24 are usually up on network sites within a day. NBC and Fox have teamed up to create the site hulu.com, which has so many shows and movies available for streaming that it is beginning to resemble a separate network itself.

Magic Boxes

Internet streaming video is great, but how do you get all that cable-­obviating goodness onto the big-screen TV in the living room? Many new digital TVs from manufacturers such as Samsung, Sony, Panasonic and Vizio come with Internet hookups that can directly link to sources such as Netflix and YouTube. Also, Dell and HP sell computers under $500 with HDMI outputs that can be hooked up directly to a TV.

In addition to full-featured PCs, there are a variety of Internet-enabled boxes that can be tricked out to tap into one or more of these sources. The Microsoft Xbox 360 can show streaming Netflix movies with a $50 yearly Xbox Live subscription. Perhaps the most elegant add-on device is the $99 Roku video-streaming box. It has built-in Wi-Fi and is a snap to set up and use. Roku streams Netflix movies and video-on-demand from Amazon, which has both free and rentable content.

Which brings us to the big question: How much do you really save out of all this? To take full advantage of online content, you’ll need to have an Internet connection of at least 1.5 megabits per second (expect to pay at least $30 per month for that). And if you don’t have a computer that hooks up easily to your TV, you can quickly find yourself stacking various set-top boxes at $100 to $300 each to get the selection of content you like. If you really go crazy with this stuff, you can burn through enough time, money and trouble that you might look back on your cable box with longing. On the other hand, if you’re taking advantage of equipment and services you already have, there’s a double sense of satisfaction to telling a monopolistic service provider to take a hike, combined with cash back in your pocket. That more than makes up for the loss of The Jewelry Channel.

Kill your cable bill: Make your computer a TV

Thanks to services like Netflix, iTunes and Amazon On Demand, consumers can simply stream or download movies or previous seasons of TV shows directly from the Web any time they want. And for those viewers looking for current seasons of TV shows, they can turn to Web sites such as Hulu.com or TV.com.......

Click here for the whole article.... | digg story

The end of TV: Boxee + Apple TV + Hulu

by Stefan Neagu

The Tux Geek got beta invites to Boxee and so can you.

[Update: We got more invites and we're sending them on a first come - first serve basis. Big thanks to Boxee and Andrew Kippen from StageTwoConsulting.]

People want to do much more with their iPhone then Steve Job allows. So they jailbreak it. The same goes for the Apple TV. While it is a great and relatively cheap media center, it has restrictions, just like the iPhone. Wouldn’t it be nice to play xvid videos, stream shows from Hulu, listen to LastFm, Twitter the name of the movie you are currently watching or see what music your friends are listening to on your big screen TV connected to an Apple TV? Well, you can do that with Boxee!

Boxee is an open source media center, with social networking features, currently in an invite-only alpha stage. It is a fork of XBMC, a media center initially designed for the Xbox, but then ported to run on all major platforms. Boxee runs on Linux, Mac, and soon Windows. You can put it on your AppleTV with a grandma-simple “hack“, with no adverse effects.

What does it do?

As other media center software, Boxee allows you to browse and play media files (movies, music, photos) from local hard-disks or DVD drive and can stream music and videos from the internet or other computers in the network (SMB/SAMBA shares). It supports 1080p HD and it reads virtually any type of media, except DRM-ed files.

Boxee scans your default media folders and downloads the related metadata and artwork for your music and video files. Unfortunately, it doesn’t import your iTunes or iPhoto libraries - a big loss for Mac users.

When playing a song you can choose to see the lyrics (especially useful for a karaoke night) or display information about the band or artist.

Internet Streaming

Boxee seamlessly integrates with online video, music and photo websites and can actually download public torrent movies. You can also configure media feeds for your favourite podcasts on the Boxee website or choose one from the built-in Podcasts directory.

• Video : CBS, CNN, Comedy Central, Hulu, Movie Trailers, MySpaceTV, Next New Networks, ON networks, Revision3, YouTube.
• Music: Jamendo, Last.fm, NPR, SHOUTcast, BBC.
• Photos: Flickr, Picasa.

Social Features

Boxee wants to turn the TV in to “a social media center”. To achieve that, it gives the users the ability to rate and recommend content to their friends. The dashboard displays friends’ recommendations and the media they’ve recently watched or listened to, facilitating the discovery of new quality content.

On Boxee’s website you can set up your Twitter, FriendFeed or Tumbler account to be updated with the current playing media or media you recommended.

Interface

Boxee is not the first nor the last to bring to the table all the features mentioned earlier. The utility of a media center software is given by how fast and how easy you can get to the media files you want.

Boxee has a very clean and slick interface, and after little time to get used to, the menu is a breeze to navigate, especially if you have an Apple remote. It has no manual so you must figure out how to use the keyboard or the remote, but it’s pretty intuitive.

One key feature of the interface is the sliding panels approach for showing the menu. It uses the screen real estate very efficiently and in terms of usability it may be one of the best solutions for media center software I’ve seen.

What’s the catch?

None! Boxee is and will remain free. The business model is not yet established, but it should be based on content referrals or advertising. Being in Alpha it is buggy and crashes from time to time.

End of cable TV?

Well not really. But more and more people watch videos online, in detriment of traditional TV. And now, with media boxes that can stream content from sites like Hulu, for many of us there aren’t many reasons left in favour of cable TV.