The home satellite TV business got its start in the late 1970s when people living mostly in rural areas began installing large receiving antennas in their yards.
The dish-shaped devices, some as big at 10 feet across, could pull in popular cable TV channels such as HBO and Showtime along with regional broadcast channels like Atlanta's TBS and Chicago's WGN which carried lots of live sports.
Those signals were bouncing off orbiting satellites because that's how HBO and the others sent their programming to cable company distribution centers.
The big dishes cost $2,000 or more but the content was free and was much sought after by people who either lived beyond cable’s reach or didn’t want to pay their fees.
Those dishes are mostly gone now after TV channels and content creators switched from satellite to digital distribution networks. Now most use the Internet Protocol (IPTV) networks to move content around the globe. That’s how Netflix turns up as an option on many smart TVs and how services like YouTubeTV and Hulu deliver local broadcasts and cable-type channels to end users.
IPTV has also spawned a growing market for dedicated setup boxes like the Superbox S2 Pro, which offers users a stunning menu of more than 1,000 live premium channels and broadcast network channels.
The Superbox S2 Pro uses WiFi to connect to the Internet and an HDMI cable to connect to a TV. Like the Roku or Apple TV streaming boxes, the Superbox also uses downloaded apps to link to different content providers. Some require subscriptions but many are free.
Content options include network TV feeds, local broadcast channels, sports networks, baseball, basketball and football channels, Canadian channels in English and French, and Spanish language channels. The full channel lineup list is available online.
Other features include a seven-day playback function and support for 4K or 6K high resolution content. The Superbox S2 Pro costs $299 -- way less than those big satellite dishes -- with no monthly fees for the hardware.
When friends, family members and readers of this blog ask about cord cutting, I tell them about my daughter and her family. With three pre-school children and a very tight budget, they were perfect candidates to go cable free.
And it turns out they don’t miss much, if anything, from their years with cable and U-verse, a competing service from AT&T.
The kids found animated shows and characters they love on YouTube, then later expanded to include shows on Netflix and Amazon Prime. Dad gets his football fix from ESPN and the CBS app. This summer they caught up on Game of Thrones using HBO Go.
They don’t care much about series shows on network TV and when they do get hooked on something like AMC’s The Walking Dead, there’s, you know, an app for that.
The centerpiece of their cordless system is Google Chromecast. It’s an inexpensive dongle ($35 at BestBuy) that fits it neatly on the back side of any digital TV where there’s access to power and an available HDMI port.
Chromecast takes content sent or “cast” over Wi-Fi from a mobile phone, tablet or computer and displays it on the TV screen. The images that are every bit as clear and sharp as any programs that arrive over cable or satellite systems.
Casting ability was originally built in to Google apps such as the Chrome browser and YouTube player but now there are also hundreds of apps that work directly with Chromecast.
Even Apple products can cast from an iPhone or iPad using a third-party app. Those apps don’t work as seamlessly Google partner apps like Hulu or Spotify, but they eventually get the job done.
At my daughter’s house, Chromecast is part of a broader ecosystem of Google gadgets. They use the Google Home device for voice control. When it’s nearing bedtime for the children, someone will say “Hey Google, cast Little Baby Bum from YouTube to the TV.”
Pretty soon they will be telling Google themselves what they want to watch or listen to.
The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.
Those voices in my head? They’re not signals from space or instructions from the CIA. More likely, it’s probably my wife calling with dinner plans, the folks on the Freakonomics podcast, or a song from my James McMurtry playlist.
And although the sound arrives over a Bluetooth channel, it’s not coming through headphones, it's piped into my ears through hearing aids.
Yes, I’m one of the estimated 30 million Americans who have some level of hearing loss. I blame mine on years of loud rock ’n roll concerts.
Wearing hearing aids make headphones problematic: there's no room for earbuds and over-the-ear pads can cause feedback and muffle nearby sounds, some of them potentially dangerous. Why, I often wondered, haven’t the brainiacs in the electronics industry come up with a way to build Bluetooth technology into hearing aids?
That marriage finally took place a couple of years ago. Now there are several medical-grade hearing aids that that can be controlled and customized from a mobile app and deliver streaming audio. For the past two months, I’ve worn a pair of Halo 2 hearing aids provided by Starkey Hearing Technologies, a Minnesota company with a 50-year history of making hearing aids. In 2014, Starkey launched a Made for iPhone hearing aid with a mobile app and streaming capability.
Earlier this month at CES, I checked out offerings from two other hearing aid makers: ReSound and Oticon. ReSound shares an ownership umbrella with Jabra headphones and Oticon was a pioneer in using digital processors in hearing aids.
Unlike the Bluetooth hearing boosters that are sold through retail outlets, the Starkey, ReSound and Oticon aids are meant to be provided by an audiologist, a licensed dispenser or a doctor. When I got the Halo 2 aids, they came with professional assistance that included a hearing check and specific tuning for my personal hearing profile.
But once the devices were in place, I could use a Starkey app called TruLink to control the devices. The app will raise or lower volume levels or cycle through default settings for different listening environments such as a restaurant, a car or for music.
Custom settings can also be created and stored as Memories for additional situations. For example, I might want a very wide and sensitive setting for a quiet walk in the woods, or one that focuses on the voice that is closest to me. That’s helpful at a party or public event.
A few days ago, I used the app to focus on the speaker at the a business conference. He was standing at a podium about 30 feet away at the front of the room. I heard an immediate improvement. Another way to tune in to a speaker or a conversation is to turn the iPhone into a remote microphone. At a group dinner at a noisy restaurant, I put my phone closer to my wife, who was sitting two seats away. That trick worked pretty well, though I wasn’t thrilled about putting my phone out of reach.
The sound amplification I get with the Halo 2 is as good and often better than my experience with the digital hearing aids that I bought a few years ago. I’ve had fewer situations where I’m unsure of the direction a sound is coming from or straining to adequately hear a someone who speaks softly.
Starkey says their aids incorporate technology that tackle both of those issues. It automatically compresses frequencies that are not usually generated with speech, and it says the Halo 2 aids communicate better with each other, which helps the wearer more easily identify the direction a sound is coming from.
The Bluetooth streaming has been an added bonus. My iPhone 7 paired smoothly with the hearing aids using the Accessibility option for hearing devices. Now Hearing Aids appears as a listening option when I get a phone call, play music, watch a video or listen to an audio book or podcast. I’ve had a few complaints from callers who said they couldn’t hear me very well when I’m talking through the hearing aids, but most people couldn’t tell any difference.
One feature on my Bluetooth headphones that I sometimes miss is the ability to accept an incoming call by pressing a button on one of the ear pads. The Halo hearing aids don’t have a similar button, but they do cooperate nicely with the Apple Watch, so I can accept a call by tapping my wrist.
The TruLink app has an extension for the watch, but its feature list is pretty short. I can cycle through the Memories settings or adjust the hearing aid volume, but only if the companion app on the phone is open.
ReSound LiNX2
ReSound and Oticon have also linked their smart hearing aids to mobile apps and other accessory devices. The ReSound Smart app is available for both Apple and Android devices and the iOS version works with the Apple Watch.
The app contains default settings for different environments, including restaurants or outdoors, and it allows users to create and store custom settings. It will also help users find misplaced hearing aids.
Other ReSound accessories include two wireless microphones. One is a clip-on mic that you would give to a family member, teacher or anyone you want to hear clearly. The other is a multi-directional mic that you might place on a table to tune in a group of people. ReSound also makes a streaming box that can be connected to a TV set or music source.
Like the other hearing aid apps, Oticon’s ON app for Apple devices will control volume levels and switch settings for its Opn model hearing aids. It also helps find lost hearing aids and it offers some controls through the Apple Watch.
Oticon Opn
But Oticon dives a bit deeper into the Internet of Things, the networks that that link everything from light switches to kitchen appliances. Oticon says its Opn model is the first hearing aid that will also interact with smart home devices such doorbells, thermostats and security systems.
The Opn hearing aid supports connections made through an Internet service called IFTTT (If This Then That) where users create simple scripts to send orders to smart devices.
For example if an event occurs (someone rings the doorbell or a smoke detector goes off), that triggers a response (a verbal message to your hearing aids or a text alert to a caregiver).
The IFTTT option is one more step toward a good example of how modern hearing aids are evolving well beyond the tiny amplifiers that our grandparents wore. Today they are miniature computers that keep us plugged into the digital world around us.
Once the cable cutters cut their cables, where are they going to go to get news, sports and their favorite shows?
Of course there are websites for Netflix, Amazon Prime and broadcast of cable channels, but that’s going to take a lot of switching and clicking.
My guess is that once they hear about KEEN.TV they’re going to love it. KEEN.TV has collected more than 850 live TV channels from around the world and made them accessible with one click on one website.
The service's lineup of live TV includes some familiar names from cable and satellite, such as TruTV, Al Jazeera and the US feed of Bloomberg News. Offerings from outside the US include multiple channels from the BBC and feeds from more than 40 countries, from France, Germany and Italy to Pakistan, Somalia and Venezuela.
The site also has a Video On Demand section where visitors can find where recent movies like Captain America: Civil War or popular series are legally available for binging. Want to revisit Breaking Bad? KEEN.TV has links and pricing for episodes streamed on iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, Google Play, YouTube and Verizon.
And viewers can spend hours exploring scads of specialty channels for topics such as snooker, fashion clothing and wine. My current fave is the Drone Racing Channel.
KEEN.TV is a free service. You can get more details and browse the channel lineup at the KEEN.TV website and check in for news and updates @keenlivetv on Twitter.
Universal remote controls have been around for decades, but a new device called Blumoo could be the first one to incorporate streaming services into a single controller.
Blumoo works with an app on a mobile phone or tablet to integrate access to a full range of services. It works with TV, audio receivers as well as satellite services and streamer boxes like Apple TV.
Blumoo includes streaming services like Netflix along with cable or satellite channels and it adds Pandora, Spotify and Apple Music to home audio options.
Blumoo also provides an interactive TV channel guide that includes filtering capabilities and direct connections to home devices. Find a show on the guide, click it in the app and Blumoo will turn on the television and play it.
Blumoo sells for $99 and is available at Best Buy, Sam’s Club, Amazon and at the Blumoo website. The Blumoo apps are available for free in the iTunes App Store and the Google Play Store.
Did you know you can watch Monday Night Football live streamed through a Roku box? I discovered that fact when my wife commandeered our primary TV and satellite receiver to watch Dancing With The Stars.
Turns out there’s all sorts of watch TV online through a host of Internet-connected devices including DVD players, TVs, computers, gaming consoles and set-top boxes like Apple TV and Roku. And now there’s a place to explore that world and get answers to your questions.
The Cut The Cord Forum is an online community for people who use content streaming services and devices as well those who are new to the concept. The goal of the four is to make streaming at home easy.
The forum has discussion boards devoted to all facets of legal streaming technologies. That covers both services such as Hulu, Netflix, iTunes and Amazon Instant Video and hardware such as Chromecast, Sling Box, Fire TV and Apple TV plus Xbox and Sony game machines.
Access to the Cut The Cord Forum is free. Membership requires only a simple registration and users won’t get bombarded with ads.
I started reporting on gadgets and gear when Atari ruled electronic games and computers used floppy disks. My weekly column ran in the The Louisville Courier-Journal and online at USAToday.com and ABC News.com. I was a regular at tech trade shows including COMDEX, CES and the CEDIA show for home theater. Follow @GizmoEditor on Twitter and on Facebook. Contact me at ricman@iglou.comI also create short videos for vendors to use on Amazon and YouTube. Click here to see a portfolio of my recent videos.
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