HDTV

Google TV Streamer: A Streaming Media Upgrade

Last month we observed the one-year anniversary of our forced migration away from our decades long love affair with Tivo DVRs. That transition, forced by Xfinity, also inspired our migration to AT&T Fiber. We will never again spend a dollar with Comcast or their kin.

No, we’re not bitter. Not in the least!

We have also had a couple of Tivo Stream 4K Android TV devices for several years. These initially overcame the fact that the Tivo DVRs had limited access to online streaming services. And the experience of using streaming services on aged Tivo hardware was less than enthralling.

Tivo Stream 4K

Over the past six months the Tivo Stream 4K that we use most often has exhibited a problem. It would lose its connection to the handheld remote control. At first, it appeared that the remote was going through batteries very quickly. When the batteries failed the Bluetooth connected remote would drop the pairing to the Tivo Stream 4K. I’d put in a new set of batteries, and repair the remote. Mostly that got things back to working.

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Good riddance to Comcast & Xfinity

For many, many years we have been customers of Comcast. We had their consumer cable TV service, which was rebranded Xfinity. We also had Comcast Business Class internet access. We had both services a very long time.

At the time we installed them we were quite happy with both services. As a Tivo household we were compelled to have cable TV service. We adored Tivo. That effectively bound us to Xfinity.

Back in the day (2008-ish) Comcast’s DOCSIS-powered cable internet outperformed the only alternative, which was DSL. It was not without its quirks. We were compelled to switch to business class service because consumer service was badly degraded at certain times of the day. Basically, it slowed to a crawl when the kids got out of school.

In the early days, we’d occasionally hear from some salesperson who claimed to be our new account rep. They came and went. Every time they offered us faster service, it was for way more money. Occasionally they’d have some deal, but the special offer always evaporated if I wanted to use my own cable modem and router. Or if I didn’t want a bundle that included their voice service.

Eventually, they stopped calling on us. We’ve not been bound to a contract since 2012. We’ve just been grandfathered in on a legacy “Deluxe 60/10” service that cost around $100/mo.

Tivo is the glue

We’ve been a Tivo household since 2001. We currently have a Tivo Roamio Pro with 6 tuners. It’s on the main TV in the house. Other TVs are connected to Tivo Mini’s and a Tivo Mini LUX. A total of four TVs can access any content.

Tivo is still the superlative DVR. Nothing else comes even close. Some cable and satellite providers licensed Tivo tech for their own use. Their own DVRs are absolutely lame in comparison. The fact that they could not match Tivo in 25 years is, I think, testament to the fact that they just didn’t care about the user experience.

Our cable TV bill was over $200/mo. If it were not for our investment in, and admiration of Tivo, we would have long ago dumped Comcast.

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Raspberry Pi as a Wi-Fi Bridge

Raspberry Pi are fun little devices. They’re a bit like rabbits in that they tend to multiply. We started out with one as a replacement for a failed Squeezebox, and now have 6 or 8 of them around here. Most are media players running PiCorePlayer. The availability of the Pi4 inspired me to deploy one as a media server, running PiCorePlayer with Logitech Media Server. Yet another Pi4 hosts our local instance of Home Assistant.

Of course, with several RPi deployed it only seems sensible to have a spare on hand. So I usually have a Pi3 and Pi4 readily available for whatever tinkering occurs to me. Earlier experiments with Dicaffeine for example.

We recently installed a new television in our living room. That room had been without a TV for years, but it was decided that a particularly large open wall would be a good place to put a larger TV. A new Vizio M65 now fills that void.

The Vizio M65 is the larger and newer brother to the M50 that’s been in our family room for several years. In 2016, 50” was the largest that was deemed acceptable, both in terms of price and spousal approval. In 2020, it seems that 65” is the new normal and price/performance sweet spot.

The new TV is installed. It connects to our Wi-Fi without issue. That satisfies the requirement for access to Netflix, Amazon Prime, CBS All Access and Disney+.

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Belkin Ships Dyle Mobile HDTV Tuner For iOS

Belkin-Dyle-HDTV-Receiver-372I’m not the biggest fan of watching TV on a tablet or cell phone. I know that people do it, but I still prefer the more traditional experience of a large television or even a decent computer screen. So normally the announcement of the new Belkin Wireless Dyle Mobile TV Receiver would not be all that interesting. However, I live in Houston, at the receiving end of Hurricane Alley. Such a device could be a handy item to have on-hand in a powerless, post-hurricane situation.

This little device mates to the 30-pin connector on suitable Apple devices. That includes the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPad, iPad 2, or iPad (3rd generation) allowing you to receive local TV signals without any 3G, 4G or Wifi connection. It retails for $129.

Of course, to be useful the Dyle signals must be available over-the-air in your area. That’s true for most major cities in the US. There is a web site that lets you check your location by zip code.

Looking back a few years to the time after Hurricane Ike, local TV news was a important source of information. When we were without power for tend days we lived on an 8 KW generator shared with our neighbor.

That situation highlighted the need to conserve power, using only the essential things around the house. We initially ran the refrigerator, lights as required, our core network components and a laptop.

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Streaming vs Screaming Media: USB 3.0 Tries My Patience

Clarity Monitor-220 Preface: This is a wee bit off topic, but I haven’t ranted in a while, and you may find it worthwhile in the end.

For many months I’ve been toying with the idea of using streaming video as an alternative to some of the training and demonstration activities that haunt me in my working life. Historically, sending staff and gear to some distant location was the primary means of selling the gear, or post-sale, conducting end-user training.

In the past year one of our more experienced sales staff has found that demonstration given by remote means can be very effective. Initially this was merely his response to having limited access to my time, but it’s also become a way for him to get ad hoc demo’s accomplished on very short notice.

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Video Calling: My Own Motivation

Video calling has been around for a long, long time. However, it’s yet to become commonplace. There have been studies, some very recent, that suggest that people really don’t want or need it. Yet Skype reports that a substantial amount, around 40% if I recall correctly, of their call traffic involves video. Of course, events like last years volcanic excitement in Iceland highlight how valuable video can be when travel is impossible.

Beyond the more general cases I have my own reasons why video could play an important part in my working life. It happens that I travel a lot in the course of my work. The scope of my working duties is divided three ways; pre-sales demonstrations of hardware/software systems, post-sales commissioning, installations & training, and finally end-user support activity. The demonstration aspect of my travel could be reduced significantly if I were able to deliver the demonstration via online means.

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