Television

HBO relents, says standalone HBO Go subscription streaming service launching in 2015

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 10, 2017

Cable cutters, rejoice! HBO has relented and will go forward with plans to enable a standalone streaming service in 2015, Re/code reported Wednesday.

Though details are scarce, the forthcoming service will allow people to watch HBO's original programming, TV shows, movies, documentaries and more, but without pay TV subscription.

According to HBO CEO Richard Plepler speaking at Time Warner Inc.’s investor day meeting on Wednesday, the company is indeed planning to launch a “standalone, over-the-top” subscription offering at some point next year. The disruptive move couldn't be overstated as it's going to be a major blow to the complacent American cable industry.

FXNOW channel added to Apple TV, sans The Simpsons archive

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 23, 2014

Announced back in July, FX’s on-demand service dubbed FXNOW is now officially available as a brand new channel to owners of Apple's $99 Apple TV media-streaming box in the United States, Juli Clover of MacRumors first reported Tuesday.

Though the channel does offer a variety of content from the FX, FXX and FXM networks, including episodes of The Strain and Sons of Anarchy, the rumored Simpsons archive is nowhere to be found in today's release of the FXNOW Apple TV channel.

Fire TV companion apps, Second Screen and Remote, hitting iOS soon

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Tucked away as a side note in Amazon's Fire TV announcement last week is an interesting confirmation of a companion iOS app for the set-top box that's scheduled to launch later this year in the App Store.

The software will act as a second screen solution allowing Fire TV owners to fling Amazon TV shows and movies from their iPhone or iPad to the $99 set-top box, providing remote functionality with playback controls, support for Amazon's X-Ray technology that pulls media metadata from the web and more.

In addition to Second Screen, the official Fire TV app for smartphones and tablets will launch soon, providing virtual controls for touch-enabled games...

Amazon unveils its Apple TV competitor: meet the $99 Fire TV set-top box

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Amazon has just taken the wraps off its new media-streaming device designed to compete with the likes of Apple's $99 Apple TV hockey puck, Roku devices and other media-streaming boxes available to cable-cutters today.

It's rather predictably called the Fire TV in a nod to the successful Kindle Fire tablet brand, costs $99 and runs a forked Android version code-named 'Mojito'.

Powered by a quad-core processor with 2GB RAM and a dedicated graphics processor, the set-top box is capable of streaming full HD 1080p resolution video (1,920-by-1,080 pixels) and Amazon claims it's three times more powerful than the Apple TV.

It supports 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus surround sound via HDMI and optical audio-out, has dual-band, dual-antenna Wi-Fi, comes with a Bluetooth remote and ties into Amazon's vast ecosystem of digital content licensed from Hollywood majors and broadcasters.

I don't think Apple should be concerned because the Fire TV's user interface appears clunky (I even like Chromecast's better) and it's hard to see much that isn't already out there, though I have no doubt in my mind that the Fire TV is here to stay and tie existing Amazon customers even deeper into its ecosystem.

Read on for the full reveal...

Report: upcoming Apple TV refresh to serve as full-on cable box replacement

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

Two months ago, the reliable blogger Mark Gurman was first out of the gate with a report painting a pretty rosy picture of an upcoming Apple TV hardware refresh, said to include full-blown downloadable games via an Apple TV App Store of sorts.

He also learned from sources that the box could sport a built-in TV tuner to effectively control your existing cable boxes and TV stations, helping put the real TV into Apple's $99 set-top box.

A new report yesterday by former WSJ writer Jessia Lessin's new outlet, The Information, provides additional tidbits regarding the gaming and cable box functionality...

Steve Jobs told executives Apple would not release a TV

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

When the magic dust of the iPad settled, pundits and analysts alike began to wonder out loud what Apple was going to do next. What product category was the company going to revolutionize next? And for the longest time, a lot of folks thought it was going to be televisions.

Some even believed that's what Steve Jobs was referring to when he said he had "finally cracked" the secret of TV. But according to a passage from Yukari Kane's new book 'Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs,' the co-founder never wanted Apple to release its own TV set...

Amazon’s TV box apparently arriving next month

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 21, 2014

We're expecting a major Apple TV update in March said to bring refreshed hardware that should support iOS 7 controllers and downloadable games. And now, word on the street is that the online retail giant Amazon is about to counter Apple's announcement with a set-top box of its own.

Amazon has been selling music, movies and television shows for years now, it rules the e-book space and has entered the tablet market so adding another piece of hardware that ties into the Amazon cloud should be a no-brainer...

Rumor: next-gen Apple TV has gaming functionality, TV tuner, built-in AirPort router

Christian Zibreg ∙ January 28, 2014

Piggy-backing on a report last week by iLounge which heard from sources that the next Apple TV set-top box will support wireless game controllers and possibly an app store for games, another reliable blogger has chimed in with additional tidbits.

Long story short, a much improved Apple TV hardware refresh is thought to include an 802.11ac wireless router functionality by way of AirPort Express integration. It should also come with a built-in TV tuner to control your existing cable boxes and TV stations and include gaming functionality.

Some hobby, eh?

60Hz gets bumped to 3.0, arguably the best TV show tracker for the iPhone and iPad

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

60Hz is one of those apps that make it easy and fun to keep track of your favorite TV shows and movies. There's certainly no shortage of such software on the App Store as, for example, we previously told you about iTV Show 3, TeeVee 2, Done Not Done, ToDoMovies and a few others.

Like other apps, 60Hz notifies you when your favourite shows are playing and makes it easy to browse TV schedule, find out what others are saying about shows, episodes and movies and lots more.

Suneth and Dineth Mendis of M2D2Apps asked me to take a look at the latest 3.0 update for the iPhone and iPad and I was pleased with the overall changes and enhancements, despite minor UI inconsistencies and one nagging omission. Read on for the full breakdown...

Sky Sports channel with daily passes now available to UK’s Apple TV owners

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 17, 2013

If you live in the United Kingdom and own Apple's $99 Apple TV, turn on your media-streaming box and look for a newly-added content source, the Sky Sports channel from Now TV. There's a total of six different Sky Sports channels to choose from, including F1 racing, Barclays Premier League football matches, cricket and more.

And cable cutters, check this out - you can purchase rather pricey daily passes from within the app, without the need for a cable subscription, thanks to Now TV and Sky Sports both sharing the same parent company, British Sky Broadcasting Group plc (BSkyB)...

Apple TV picks up ABC, Bloomberg, Crackle and KOR TV channels

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 11, 2013

After adding Yahoo Screen and PBS channels last month, Major League Soccer and Disney Junior channels in September as well as Vevo, Weather Channel, Disney, Smithsonian and a bunch of other content sources earlier this year, Apple's again expanded on the device's content sources.

The $99 media-streaming box is now even more useful with four additional channels from ABC, financial organization Bloomberg, Sony's streaming movie and TV show service Crackle and Korea-based on-demand video service KOR TV, all now accessible from the Apple TV's Home menu...

iTV Shows 3 lets you track your favorite TV shows in style

Lory Gil ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

For some people, watching television is a ritual that cannot be disrupted. I have a few friends that won’t even go out on certain nights because they don’t want to miss their shows. Keeping track of past and future episodes can be a daunting task if you are an avid TV viewer.

iTV Shows 3 is a powerful TV tracker that uses multiple comprehensive databases to help you keep a schedule of shows you want to watch. Plus, TV tracking has never looked so good with this interface…