Articles about Cut the Cord

Over the years, many have predicted television's demise, because of competition from the internet. However, it seems that the opposite is happening -- TV is more popular than ever thanks to an increase in quality programming. Shows such as Game of Thrones and Bates Motel have viewers tuning in and on the edge of their seats.

It turns out that the internet is actually complementing television, as more and more people choose to consume TV on the web. According to Adobe, online viewing is up 246 percent year-over-year -- that is a shocking figure. However, this is not just people staring at desktops and laptops, but utilizing game consoles and mobile apps too.

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The apartment was strangely silent last night and darker than usual. Gone was the flickering light filling the center room as one of us scanned the program guide. A year later than planned, we dismantled the TV shrine and took back the living room from the false idol. Henceforth, we will worship at a different altar. Finally, I cut cable's cord -- IPTV, really, but we all call it the other, eh?

I feel anxiety and elation at the dramatic change, which allowed us to rearrange the furniture such that the living room is more open, more inviting and more suited to entertaining real people. The television now resides in the bedroom, more for the benefit of my wife's sleepless nights (the thing is narcotic). We'll stream from Amazon Prime, Hulu and Netflix primarily -- haha, maybe even iTunes. I had planned Google Play by way of Nexus Q, but the search giant nixes that option.

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Since purchasing the Vizio Co-Star several months ago, I have become a fan of Google TV. I even considered using online services to "cut the cord". With my Amazon Prime subscription and network TV sites I will miss little. What stops me? The NFL and those networks. The league stubbornly refuses to move into the future, where other professional sports already reside, while many network websites block the Google device.

Today, PlayOn makes the barrier in front me even smaller. This is a huge move for MediaMall software. The company announces it brings full service to Google TV free of charge. It does so because of the slight that Google's living room solution has been shown by networks. "We’ve decided to make PlayOn completely free on Google TV. Why? Well, Hulu and the Networks have been discriminating against Google TV owners by not creating apps that enable folks to watch their content on Google TV", the company tells us.

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Today's set-top boxes do not all come from the cable or satellite provider and they frequently contain much more functionality than those that do come from the big providers. One is Roku, a company that has been innovating and upgrading at a rather quick pace recently, having only just released the Roku 3 with added functionality.

Now the company rolls out version 2.2 of its mobile apps for both the Android and iOS platforms. Roku promises that this latest update addresses feedback received from users.

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The whole idea of "cutting the cord" means a household cancels its cable or satellite television subscription and relies on IP-based content delivery methods that offer greater choice of programming. The trend often doesn't focus on users actually getting rid of their televisions as well, even though it is entirely possible with technology that is available right now.

And I'm not talking about Netflix, Hulu, Crackle, Amazon Video, Vudu, Ultraviolet, or any of the other pay-per-view or subscription streaming video services, even though they really could turn a mobile device into a TV replacement. I'm talking about the Hauppauge Broadway, which I spent this week testing.

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Boxee confirms it is working on an USB dongle add-on for its Boxee Box set-top box that allows an antenna to be connected to the device to recieve "over-the-air" HD television signals. Pre-ordering opens Wednesday in the United States and Canada for $49, and the dongle will ship in January.

Those with unenecrypted basic channel service -- called clearQAM -- would also be able to connect the cable to the Boxee Box device. Either way, the set-top box itself still requires an Internet connection in order to use the signature functions of the Boxee service.

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