Category: Cord Cutters

I had one of the old original Slingbox units. It was pretty cool, I would LOVE to test one of these someday!

New ‘M2’ Slingbox Drops Mobile App Fees

MultiChannel – By: Jeff Baumgartner – “Taking another stab at the consumer mainstream, Sling Media has launched the Slingbox M2, a video place-shifter that won’t require users to buy the requisite mobile apps, but will expand its use of advertising.

The M2 (ZatzNotFunny caught wind of the product a few days ago) runs on the same hardware as the Slingbox M1, $149 product launched a year ago, but M2 buyers will no longer be on the hook to pay extra for the SlingPlayer app for iOS and Android tablets and smartphones, which typically runs $15 per app per device. There’s no recurring monthly fees, and M2 users also have the ability to stream content from their mobile device to Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire TV devices as well as to Chromecast adapters.

With the M2, a product outfitted with WiFi and 1080p capabilities that carries an MSRP of $199.99, Sling Media will instead try to make up for that by selling ads that run on standalone apps for mobile device and PCs, as well as Sling’s browser-based clients.

Those users will see a pre-roll ad when they fire up those apps, and ads will also appear in the app viewing window (no ads will be placed on top of the video itself, however). Display ads will disappear completely when M2 customers use the apps in full-screen mode, Mark Vena, Sling Media’s worldwide vice president of marketing, said. ‘We think that’s a great tradeoff,’ Vena said, noting that M2 Slingbox users will have the option to avoid ads on the mobile apps by purchasing the apps separately.

The ad model isn’t a new one for Sling Media. Last fall, the company started to stitch ads into its free Web browser client and a new standalone PC app for the M1 model. The decision was controversial in that it didn’t go over well with some Slingbox customers, but Sling Media defended the decision because it helps the company offset the costs of ongoing engineering and technology testing requirements. Sling Media hasn’t revealed how many retail Slingboxes have been shipped (on the leased end of the spectrum, Dish Network embeds the technology in its new Hopper HD-DVRs, and Arris is Sling’s exclusive distributor of a place-shifting device optimized for cable operators and telcos). Vena estimates that the M1 currently makes up about 60% to 65% of the recent sales mix. Its high-end Slingbox 500 model runs $299.99. From this point on, the M2 is the company’s flagship Slingbox model.

Sling Media will look for the M2 to help it gain more ground in the consumer arena, even as the place-shifting platform faces off with multiscreen TV Everywhere offerings. Sling is trying to distance itself by promoting the fact that its products provide users with remote access to their full pay TV subscriptions, including DVR recordings, rather than to a subset of channels and features typically found in most TVE offerings. Last year, Sling Media introduced a consumer campaign that mocked the limitations of TVE.

Looking ahead, Sling Media plans to introduce a free app upgrade in October that will bring its Gallery view to smartphones that shares similarities with the company’s iPad app. The new app will also feature 20% quicker loading and connection times. Sling Media also provided some revised usage data. -Of its U.S. user base, 34% of Slingbox place-shifting is to Europe, followed by Asia (32.6%), and Mexico (9.6%). -The longest Slingbox session recorded so far spanned 12,380 miles (from Asunción, Paraguay, to Taipei, Taiwan). -About 75% of watched hours via the Slingbox occurs out of the home, and 80% of Slingbox viewing is of live TV, versus 20% from a DVR.”

If you have been having issues as a Chromecast user (I haven’t) then you now have a fix!

Google finally has a fix for Chromecast’s biggest problem

Techradar – By: Nick Pino – “The Google Chromecast was almost perfect when it launched in 2014.

It offered a low-cost, lightweight option to mirror exactly what you see on your handheld or tablet to the big screen. But if you didn’t have a consistent Wi-Fi signal in your living room, you could pretty much kiss any chance of having a flawless stream goodbye.

Capitalizing on the one flaw plaguing its pint-sized streaming stick, Google has finally released an ethernet adapter that will replace the power cord that ships with the basic Chromecast.

The ethernet adapter costs $15 and offers a single 10/100 ethernet port on its backside. It’s currently only available in the US and, as of when this article was written, is completely sold out on the Google Store. (If you’re in the UK or Australia, don’t worry. We’ve reached out to Google for additional details on international pricing and availability.)

Google has sold more than 10 million Chromecast units since launch worldwide and continues to be one of the highest selling streaming devices on the planet.”

I’ve had several people ask me about Sling TV. It looks like ‘cord-cutters’ are beginning to ‘get it!’

Sling TV’s Web TV Subscriber Numbers Keep Growing, Now Around 250,000

re/code – By: Peter Kafka – “Sling TV, the ‘over-the-top’ service that delivers pay TV over the Web, has around 250,000 paying subscribers, according to industry executives familiar with its performance.

If you assume that the vast majority of those subscribers are paying the service’s base rate of $20 a month, that would mean the service, owned by satellite TV operator Dish Network, is generating more than $5 million a month.

Sling, which offers a free 30-day trial, has been open to the public since early February; in March, Re/code reported that Sling had at least 100,000 sign-ups. For context: Hulu, the streaming video service that offers repeats of broadcast TV shows and its own original programming, has 9 million subscribers. And Netflix, which offers its own mix of originals plus repeats, has about 41 million subscribers in the U.S.

In March, Sling apologized for a well-publicized failure on one of its highest-traffic nights – the semi-finals of the NCAA March Madness tournament; the company said it had been overwhelmed by ‘extreme sign-ups.’

I’ve asked a Dish Network rep for comment, but I don’t expect to get one.

Industry executives say the new data point is interesting and encouraging, but they’re not nearly ready to assess Sling’s performance. Sling offers a ‘skinny bundle’ of 22 cable TV channels, including ESPN, CNN and AMC, which stream live over the Web to phones, tablets and connected TVs. Depending on whom you believe, the service is meant to target Millennials who’ve never signed up for pay TV, or is aimed at cable TV ‘cord-cutters.’ Perhaps both.

Apple is trying to put together a service that would do something similar, but would also offer access to broadcast TV networks like ABC and CBS. Apple hasn’t signed up network partners for that one yet, and TV industry executives believe it may not launch this year. Sony is also offering a Web TV subscription service, but so far it is only available in three U.S. cities.”

It seems the Chromecast is REALLY catching on!

Google Has Now Sold 17 Million Chromecast Units

Tech Times – By: Sumit Passary – “Google sold more than 10 million Chromecast units worldwide in 2014 and the company has confirmed that it has now sold 17 million units of the device across the globe.

Chromecast was launched in July 2013 and is a thumb-sized media streaming device, which can be plugged to the HDMI port of a TV. A user can stream media to the TV via an Android smartphone or a tablet. The device can also cast media to a TV from iPhones, iPads, Mac computers, Windows laptops or Chromebook.

On Thursday, May 28, Google revealed that the sales of Chromecast shows that the device has changed the way people watch TV. Google revealed that in the U.S. Chromecast users are now consuming 66 percent more media content each day in comparison to mid-2013, when the device was launched. Google also pointed out that YouTube watching time has also increased by 45 percent upon activation of Chromecast.

With 17 million units sold and more than 1.5 billion clicks on the Cast button, Google acknowledges that Chromecast is a big success for the company.

Streaming content is growing rapidly and 2015 will be even bigger. Market analysts estimate that in 2015 about 25 percent of all U.S. broadband homes will be streaming their TV content. Content networks likes HBO may put content online and unbundled from cable packages. Such services from content networks may boost Chromecast sales even more in the coming years.

Experts suggest that easy installation and usage of Chromecast coupled with its cheap $35 price tag are the key reasons behind its success.

Google also revealed that the company is making it easy for developers to bring graphically intensive games or applications to Google Cast receivers with Google Cast Remote Display APIs for Android as well as iOS.

‘While Casting your Android screen is an existing option for users, the new Remote Display API allows mobile developers to build a tailored, integrated second screen experience, without requiring an identical mirroring of content between mobile devices and the Google Cast device,” per Google.

More and more apps are now supporting Chromecast. Currently, Chromecast supports about 350 streaming services. However, Google suggests that more than 6,000 developers are already working about 10,000 Google Cast-ready applications, which means that customers will be attracted to the device.”

I still love my Roku, but this does sound intriging! After all, I am an Apple guy too!

New Apple TV device to appear midyear, report says

c|net – By: Don Reisinger – “The Apple TV set-top streaming box will reportedly get an update later this year that could finally bring some long-awaited features to the device.

Apple will unveil a new Apple TV box at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) later this year, Buzzfeed is reporting, citing people who claim to have knowledge of the company’s plans. The Apple TV announcement will come in tandem with the unveiling of a software development kit that will allow developers to bring apps to the set-top box, according to the report. Apple TV currently has apps, but those are automatically added to the device. The update would deliver an App Store to the Apple TV, similar to the App Store on iOS devices like the iPhone and the iPad.

The Apple TV box has been on a strange odyssey since its debut in 2007. The original device was designed to bring iTunes content to a customer’s television and was followed by subsequent versions that stripped away the need for onboard storage and focused solely on streaming content to the television. An updated Apple TV device hasn’t appeared since 2012.

The Apple TV box currently offers access to iTunes content, as well as a host of apps, ranging from YouTube to HBO Go. Owners can also rent and buy movies and television shows from the device. The Apple TV device will also play host to HBO’s upcoming streaming-only service, called HBO Now, starting next month. It’ll initially be the only TV streaming device to support HBO Now, beating out competitors Roku and Google’s Chromecast.

Years ago, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs famously called the Apple TV a ‘hobby’ and gave little indication that the product would feature prominently in the company’s product roadmap. Indeed, over the last several years, some analysts have said that Apple has treated Apple TV as little more than an afterthought.

The tide, though, appears to be turning. At its special event earlier this month announcing more details on Apple Watch, Apple said it has reduced the price on the Apple TV to $69 from its previous $99 price tag. Apple also touted that it has sold 25 million Apple TV units since the product’s inception in 2007.

Just a week later, a report surfaced in The Wall Street Journal claiming Apple is working with television networks to launch a service later this year that would let users stream programming from a range of providers, including ABC, CBS and Fox. The service would be available on Apple’s iOS devices and the Apple TV. (Disclosure: CBS is the parent company of CNET.)

The Buzzfeed report claims Apple is looking to sweeten the pot a bit. The new Apple TV box would come with a new design and more storage than the current device’s 8GB to allow for the storage of apps. The Apple TV device could also include a Siri voice control feature and support for Apple’s home automation platform HomeKit, the report says.

So far, pricing and other key details, like improvements to the device’s operating system, are unknown. Apple has yet to announce an official date for WWDC 2015. It typically hosts the show, which caters to developers who create software for Apple’s iOS mobile operating system and OS X operating system for laptop and desktop computers, in early June. Apple hosts a keynote address to kick off the event, which would likely be where the company announces an updated Apple TV.

Apple declined to comment.”