TV Shows

Mohu Channels TV Adapter Gets $149.99 Price Tag

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Not content with being a leader in the over-the-air TV antenna market, Mohu recently launched and then completed a successful Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a new product designed to combine OTA TV with web video services. Now we know that the new Mohu Channels device will retail for $149.99 and is targeted for commercial launch in the third quarter of this year.

Mohu announced some time ago that Kickstarter participants would receive their Android-powered Channels device come June. Our own Adam Miarka got in on the deal for $89 as an early backer, and while he doesn’t have the product in hand yet, there are signs that shipments are coming soon.

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Hulu Lands Fraggles Spinoff, Minus The Puppets

By way of Gigaom, we learn that Hulu is launching The Doozers this spring. The computer-animated series, consisting of 52 11-minute episodes, is aimed at preschoolers… and is sadly puppet-free. Of course, Fraggle Rock was a Jim Henson creation and one of HBO’s very first original titles debuting way back in 1983 — and a show … Read more

Best Super Bowl Ads Of 2014

Although neither the Super Bowl 48 match-up nor the 2014 crop of ads lived up to expectations, according to TiVo quite a few remained tuned in until the bitter end – with 3 of the top 5 most “engaging” commercials airing during the 4th quarter. Of course, there were the bizarre, the the boring, and … Read more

TiVo Thumb Buttons To Rate The Voice Finalists

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Perhaps another benefit of the TiVo 20.3.8 software update is a framework to tabulate in-show tenor by repurposing those iconic TiVo thumbs up/down remote buttons (versus their original purpose to rate programming as a means of generating suggestions). Classified as an “experiment” by “TiVo Labs”, select customers have been recruited to test this new functionality:

If you’re interested in helping out, here’s what to do:

  • Watch The Voice episode “Live Final Performances,” airing Monday, 12/16 at 8 PM/7 Central.
  • As you watch the episode, please use the Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down buttons on your TiVo remote throughout the episode to rate the contestants’ performances.
  • Really loving it? Press Thumbs Up! Totally hate it? Press Thumbs Down!
  • You can use the Thumbs buttons as many times as you want throughout the episode.
  • You can use the Thumbs buttons more than once on the same performance.
  • Feel free to fast-forward, pause, and rewind as usual.

You don’t have to watch the episode live as it airs, but if possible, please try to watch the episode on Monday night. Sound interesting? Just watch and click — that’s all you have to do. There’s no online survey, just “vote with your remote.”

While TiVo’s collected this sort of behavioral data before,

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Chromecast for Christmas

Chromecast stocking

There may be no better excuse to buy gadgets en masse than the holiday shopping season, and this year Google has nailed the stocking-stuffer price point at $35 for its Chromecast streaming video stick. It’s not just Christmas either, of course. I’m a sucker for alliteration, but in reality, Chromecast is going to be the gift of choice for many a holiday celebration this winter.

Chromecast has a lot more going for it than just price. Google added HBO support last week and is reportedly getting ready to release an SDK to developers in the near future. The more apps that integrate with the hardware, the more valuable Chromecast becomes. As someone with a Roku box, I was initially uninterested in using Chromecast for to watch Netflix. However, I installed the Chromecast plug-in on my first-gen iPad, and when the tablet prompted me to choose between my mobile device and my Chromecast-connected TV to continue watching a show on Netflix, I decided to test Chromecast viewing.

The result?

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