{"id":47652,"date":"2017-10-16T06:39:08","date_gmt":"2017-10-16T06:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=47652"},"modified":"2017-10-16T09:35:32","modified_gmt":"2017-10-16T09:35:32","slug":"a-new-way-to-ditch-the-cable-box-streaming-internet-apps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/technology\/a-new-way-to-ditch-the-cable-box-streaming-internet-apps.html","title":{"rendered":"A new way to ditch the cable box: Streaming Internet apps"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new way to ditch the cable box: Streaming Internet apps<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

A new way to ditch the cable box: Streaming Internet apps:- When you shop for pay TV\u2014whether it comes to your house via cable, satellite or a fiber-optic link\u2014the price you see isn\u2019t the price you pay, thanks to a raft of add-on fees traditionally led by a rental fee for a cable box.<\/span><\/p>\n

That receiver and its remote not only add to your expenses but compound the clutter around the TV. And its onscreen interface is often so clumsy that you can\u2019t count on it showing your channels in high definition.<\/span><\/p>\n

But if you have a streaming-media player plugged into a TV or a \u201csmart\u201d TV with its own streaming apps, you may have new options for box-free viewing. Some pay-TV providers now offer apps for those platforms, while others have added video-output options to mobile apps that earlier limited you to viewing your channels on the smaller screen of a phone or tablet.<\/span><\/p>\n

That represents some progress, but it still falls miles short of what major cable and satellite operators pledged to deliver last summer, when they were trying to fend off a Federal Communications Commission proposal that would have required pay-TV providers to make free apps available to let subscribers watch programming on other devices without the need of a set-top box.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now that the FCC has dumped that idea, those firms have quietly dropped that \u201cDitch the Box\u201d concept.<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead, here’s what the seven biggest services now offer:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 AT&T\u2019s mobile apps still disable Chromecast and AirPlay wireless streaming to TVs, but the company now has a version of its U-verse app for Amazon\u2019s Fire TV and Fire Stick streaming players. Its DirecTV app, meanwhile, includes a Web-browser version, so you could theoretically plug a laptop into a TV via HDMI or use the Chrome browser\u2019s Chromecast support, if you\u2019re willing to tie up a laptop for TV viewing.<\/span><\/p>\n

These apps probably won\u2019t save you money, as AT&T doesn\u2019t charge for the first four boxes in a house. For completely box-free viewing from AT&T, you\u2019ll have to sign up for its DirecTV Now streaming service.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Comcast has had an Xfinity TV app for Roku devices in a public beta test since January that includes not just the channels you pay for but also a cloud-hosted digital video recorder. It now plans to ship similar apps for recent Samsung and LG smart TVs by the end of the year and early next year, respectively.<\/span><\/p>\n

The catch: Once the beta ends, you\u2019ll save only $2.50 per screen by using this app instead of a box.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Spectrum (you may know it as Time Warner Cable or Bright House Networks, the two cable firms Charter Communications bought in 2015) has since March offered an app for Roku players, Xbox One game consoles and 2012 and newer Samsung smart TVs that can spare you its $5.99 equipment fee. But you do need at least one traditional box in your home to use this.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Dish Network\u2019s Dish Anywhere app now runs on Fire TV and Fire Stick players, so you can use that to replace the satellite service\u2019s $7\/a month boxes on secondary TVs at home.<\/span><\/p>\n

Like AT&T, Dish also offers an online-only service that runs only in apps, Sling TV.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Verizon has added AirPlay output to its iOS app, so Fios TV subscribers can use that with an Apple TV instead of paying $12 a month on a box for a second or third TV. Note, however, that the app confines watching DVR recordings to your iPhone or iPad, disabling AirPlay for that content. Its Android app, meanwhile, doesn\u2019t support Chromecast output.<\/span><\/p>\n

(Disclosure: I also write for Yahoo Finance, a subsidiary of Verizon\u2019s media division Oath.)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Cox now offers apps for iOS and Android that don\u2019t require you to have a cable box\u2014but also disable Chromecast and AirPlay output. So watching TV on an actual TV will still cost $8.50 a month for its hardware.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Altice\u2019s Optimum service now has apps for iOS and Android and Kindle Fire, but they, too, disable Chromecast and AirPlay. It also offers in-browser viewing\u2014so you can run an HDMI cable to a TV in a pinch\u2014but that requires Microsoft\u2019s ancient and abandoned Silverlight plug-in. It charges $10 a month for a box.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/tech\/columnist\/2017\/10\/15\/new-way-ditch-cable-box-streaming-internet-apps\/765289001\/<\/span><\/p>\n

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