Make Your Own TV Guide

In the old days you needed a TV guide to plan your TV viewing week. With the digital age the guide came to your digital receiver or web browser. Now that the cable cord has been cut your are free to watch any show at any time. Why not create your own TV guide.

The idea for my own TV schedule got me thinking this would help manage my TV viewing. With all the shows I have been watching online it would be nice figure out when I should watch a show. After spending some time writing down the shows I watch online it was time to match show with time slot. This way I can better manage my online TV viewing and not get bored of watching back to back episodes of the same show. It's nice to break up the type of shows I watch and it brings the digital age back to the old fashion way of having to make time to watch your shows at a given time. Sometimes it nice to change things up. With so much to watch online it nice to manage what am watching and not forget or lose track of the shows I want to catch up with.

Boxee Box Media Player

The first week with my Boxee Box from Dlink I spent playing online content. This week I am testing out the media playback of this little gadget. Almost every file I tried played perfectly and I did not have any issues. There have been some Boxee users how have had a few problems get some file types to play back. The encoding could have something to do with these problems. In the most popular encoding formats playback on Boxee is perfect.

The content I watch through Boxee is mostly streaming media, but I would like to get more local content that I can store on a hard drive and watch any time I want. It would be nice to rip my DVD collection and have every movie ready to play through Boxee. With digital files you can watch as many times as you want and not have to worry about scratching your discs.

There are other media players on the market and I have looked at a few different models, but I like Boxee for the great codec support and online streaming. As a build a better digital collection Boxee will make it a simple task to get these files to play on my TV properly. As I explore more of the features in my Boxee Box I hope to review some of the apps shortly.

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The Boxee Box 1 Week Review

Yes I love my Boxee Box, but I do have a few complaints. The Boxee Box is a new video streaming device from Dlink which uses the Boxee software that has been around for awhile. The Boxee software has been very popular as simple way to turn a computer into an easy to use media center. The software has a large number of loyal users. The idea for Boxee is to create a very easy to use interface to bring web based video to the big screen. When you unbox your Boxee it comes with everything you need right out of the box. Let me tell you I was happy to get an HDMI cable free inside the box. Wish more companies would include a cable as they do not cost that much as some electronic store salesmen would lead you to believe. Once you hook up your Boxee you are greeted with the load screen and you will require a firmware update once connected to the Internet it just take a few minute to get the latest firmware. Once the Boxee reboots you are greeted with the main menu which allows access to online content or you can connect hard drives or SD cards with your own video files. It a simple interface and most users will be able to get around without much fuss. The Boxee also has a section filled with apps, my favourite being the weather app and Vevo for music videos. After playing around with the Boxee Box for about a week I have to give it a high rating and I think this is a great leap in technology for those who want to cut their cable. The only challenge right now is with content. The Boxee did a good job of finding my favourite shows, but my understanding is that some content owners are going to block devices like Boxee and Google TV from playing content on you TV. Let’s hope media giants realize that there is a new market and will support these types of device. Would hate to see consumers have to search for pirated movies and TV shows. As the Boxee Box is a first generation device it does have some flaws and did not seem that it was ready for a full retail release. It seems a little beta at times. The biggest problem I had with my Boxee was that the WIFI setting had my network at zero bars even though the WIFI DSL modem was right in the next room and no other device had any problems with my network. It turned out that this was problem with Boxee and a firmware update was going to arrive shortly. With a very active user community getting feature on Boxee and  apps will not be that difficult. This is a plus for a product unlike Apple TV we will see a large number of apps hitting Boxee. The Boxee is a great media player and for online content it makes it easy to play your favourite TV shows. The Boxee uses a Web Kit browser and playing most flash based content through the browser is not that difficult. Those who want to play web content on the big screen are going to love Boxee however be warned that there are still many issues that need to be resolved and the Boxee team will be putting out updates as they correct a few key problems. Now that I have Boxee in  my cable free home I do think cord cutters are going to want a Boxee Box to call their own.

Live Streaming TV FREE

While reading a news web site blog I came across this web site www.boxlive.tv which streams live TV online. Just did a full test of the site and I must say I was happy with the number of streaming channels. The site streamed most channels without a problem, but I did get some buffering. Try it out let me know what you think. It free to stream, but you can register not sure what a registration will get.

Apple TV 2 Won't Connect to Netflix Error

If you have the new Apple TV it has been reported and it has happen to me an error connecting to Netflix. In order to fix the problem you will need to unplug the Apple TV box for up to 30 seconds or do a full restore. This should fix the problem and you will then be able to connect to Netflix. It's a small glitch not sure if it's an Apple hardware problem or with Netflix.

No TV Shows On Apple TV Canada

The Apple TV is a great device and with Netflix it does allow watching older TV shows. The lack of TV shows is through iTunes. It looks like for some reason Apple was unable to get the rights to rent streaming video online in Canada. This could be for many reasons, but it still a lacking feature that I would love to have on my Apple TV. It might be that many TV shows are available for free for watching online from the major TV networks in Canada. The streaming model for these networks is that they also run ads during the stream. If the content was made available to iTunes without ads and in on an easy to use device there might be a bit of a cut into profits for these broadcasters. If new shows won't be available for streaming and renting on iTunes then at least past seasons should be allowed. It would be nice to stream HBO rented content. As a consumer I would not mind paying a fair price for streaming HBO content. Without this content on iTunes I might have to look for shows in a way that the company will not get paid. Again it comes down to give consumers what they want and avoid users finding content for free. If you provide a great service people are wiling to pay a fair price. We all know it costs a lot of money to make great television shows, and that there is a large number of people that depend on the business to make a living. In my opinion I do not want to steal content, but I do want to watch it on my own terms. The large studios need to figure out how to bring these shows to consumers who have left cable and now want these shows in other formats or distribution systems. The studios will get paid and money will go back into the industry. The longer they delay getting content into new distribution models like the Apple TV the more consumers will seek out illegal downloads. Love Apple TV just want my TV shows and more apps like the Roku box.

I Love The New Apple TV

Apple TV MC572LL/A (2010) The new Apple TV has become my main device for playing Internet video. After about a week with my new hockey puck shaped Apple TV I was ready to review another great Apple product.The price for this device makes it a no brainer if you want a simple device for watching video from online sources this is a great solution. The unit has Netflix and YouTube and you can rent movies and TV shows from iTunes. The remote that comes with this unit is simple to use and a major step up from having to get up to change content on my laptop. The interface is easy to navigate as you would expect from an Apple product. The Apple TV media streaming device also comes with a streaming radio player and Podcasts add even more content. There are so many high quality Podcasts that this feature alone would keep me entertained for months. There is enough content available through the Apple TV player to keep most users busy for a very long time. If you are looking for recent network shows then you won't find that on the Apple TV unless the show is offered through iTunes. It would be nice to have apps or more channels like the Roku box, but for what it is Steve Jobs little project looks like it might be a winner over time. If you want something simple to connect to your TV as a replacement for cable then this device does the trick. The cost for renting a TV show starts at $0.99 and movies at $3.99 and up. If you want Netflix it's only about $8.00 to get streaming on the Apple TV or through your computer or other supported device. If you live in the US you might have to make the choice between the Roku box and Apple TV, both have very strong features that will fill most users needs.