Dave Zatz
Xfinity Voice Control Remote To Upstage Amazon Fire TV
By way of The Donohue Report and the FCC, we learn that Comcast is poised to launch a voice-control remote for the Xfinity X1 platform. Whereas Amazon’s Fire TV remote similarly incorporates a microphone, Comcast’s offering extends well beyond search … inheriting functionality from the Xfinity mobile app. While holding down the microphone button, some sample commands from the … Read more
Bypass Roku Credit Card Requirement
While Roku remains our go-to streaming player, gifting still leaves something to be desired. And, as the company eclipses 10 million units and pressures streaming partners, Roku continues to solicit credit card information for the small number of apps that require it and to take a cut of every M-Go video rental or purchase. Of course, this isn’t unusual … Read more
TiVo Tests Free Hardware (Again)
TiVo is once again testing the market with free DVR hardware. And, this time around, it’s the 4-tuner TiVo Roamio that handles cable and over-the-air (but not at the same time). Instead of charging $150-200 at $15/month, TiVo is giving away the Roamio … for those willing to commit to two years of service at $20/month. You can bet … Read more
Accessing Roku’s Secret Menu
While I’d been vaguely familiar with a prior version of Roku’s service menu, I hadn’t yet stumbled upon the one associated with their newer user interface… Until a co-worker mentioned he’d had some issues resulting in Roku support directing him here. While there’s not a whole lot of interest for most of us on any sort … Read more
3 Suggestions for TiVo to Improve OTT App Usability
With Vudu and Amazon Instant soon set to join the likes of Netflix and YouTube, as TiVo begins redefining themselves as a “Streaming Player,” we have a few usability enhancements to suggest. Because, as it stands, getting into TiVo’s over-the-top apps requires quite a few clicks compared to a Roku. So my first suggestion is simply repurposing … Read more
The A&E Streaming Infographic
In conjunction with the A&E, History, and Lifetime Channel apps launching on Fire TV, A+E Networks hit us with an interesting infographic. And, while it’s far too large to run in its entirely, we’ve chopped up a portion above. Beyond the numbers, and without knowing how exactly they measure an Apple TV “download,” A+E elaborates: On average, XBOX … Read more
The Curious TiVo Roamio OTA
The new TiVo Roamio OTA is a curious beast, In fact, we’ve fielded more questions on it than any other product the DVR pioneer has released in recent years. Unlike TiVo’s prior attempt at targeting cord cutters, instead of lowering services fees on existing hardware, this time around they’re dropping box cost. The prior base 4-tuner … Read more