Technologies

IPTV.ONLINE · #1

TechnoBuffalo’s Top 10 gadgets of the year

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IPTV.ONLINE · #2

11 cool features and other things you can do with the new Apple TV

Apple unveiled an all-new Apple TV with an all-new remote during its iPhone 6S September event. It glossed over some really interesting features for the new set-top box when it was revealed however, so we have created this feature to tell you about a few of them.
The new Apple TV is now available to buy, starting at ?129 in the UK and $149 in the US and it comes with a fresh operating system, sleek interface, and voice-command functionality, to name a few things.
With that in mind, and to help you better understand what else is awesome about the latest version of Apple's set-top box, we've dug through all the details and rounded up 11 of the coolest features.

New iOS-based operating system: tvOS
We can't delve into Apple TV features without first addressing one major change: Apple has added a new operating system to its set-top box. The new software offers an interface that's pretty similar to the old interface, though Apple has cleaned it up and replaced the black background with white.
Apple is calling its new operating system "tvOS". It is based on iOS, with various modifications added, such as support for the new remote. Beyond the interface, core aspects of tvOS include voice search through Siri, universal search across apps, a full-fledged app store, support for gaming, and more.
But we'll delve into those features some more in just a bit...

New apps: Use apps built just for the new Apple TVThe new Apple TV is all about apps, thanks to the new Apple TV App Store, which Apple wants developers to make exclusive tvOS-based apps and games for.
Gilt Groupe's CEO, Michelle Peluso, showed off the new Gilt app designed specifically for Apple TV during the unveiling of the device. She showed how you can scroll or swipe with the new remote to navigate through the Glit app.
Buy-now buttons appear on carousel views and product pages, for instance, and so with a simple press of the new remote, you can buy stuff. Netflix, Hulu, and HBO have also released new apps for tvOS.
iTunes Movies has been redesigned as well, while the Apple Music app will soon deliver Beats 1 radio.

New remote: touchpad, motion-sensitive, Siri, etc
The Apple TV has a new remote with motion-sensing capabilities. It's a slim controller decked out with a touchpad and buttons for menu, home, volume, and Siri. The dual mics for Siri are located at the top, while the black touchpad is cloaked in glass and clicks (much like the MacBook's trackpad).
You'll also notice a small IR port for issuing volume commands to your TV. And at the bottom, there's a Lightning port for charging the remote's battery (supposed to last three months on a single charge). Although you won't find a power button, it can turn new TVs on/off if they have HDMI CEC.
The remote also connects to Apple TV over Bluetooth 4.0, so there's no need to point it at the box.

Flip it sideways: New remote doubles as a controller
So, the touchpad lets you navigate through the new interface by sliding your finger across its surface, but as if that wasn't enough, you can turn the remote sideways to turn it into a controller for gaming.
The remote has built-in accelerometer and gyroscope sensors, meaning it acts like a Wii controller.
Apple
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Touch away: Swipe down on the remote to cue up info
The Apple TV comes with a new remote, and we noted below how you can use it to rewind or skip forward, but did you know it can also cue up information?
A downward swipe on the trackpad will bring up details on what you're watching.
Apple
Screen Shot 2015-09-09 at 5.34.17 PM
Gaming with friends: They can join with their iPhones
We've already told you the Apple TV lets you play games using the new remote. But if your friends don't have a remote, don't worry. Up to four players can join a game with their iPhones or iPod touches. Apple told Pocket-lint after the event that the new Apple TV will support third-party gamepads as well.
During our hands-on, we had a look at the SteelSeries Nimbus controller, which can be used to control one player, while the remote, your iPhone, or iPad can be used to control other players.

Universal voice search: Ask Siri to fetch you a movie
Apple TV comes with support for Siri, bringing voice-controlled, smart search to the set-top box.
All results are sorted by popularity, and when you ask Siri to find a movie, TV show, or song, she'll search not only iTunes, but also Netflix, Hulu, Showtime, and HBO. You can also conduct searches by actors and genres. You can say, for instance, "Show me Bond movies" or "Just the ones with Sean Connery."
This is where things get clever. Apple has quietly included something Google previously described as conversational search. So, you can have a conversation with Siri in order to narrow your choices.
Skip around: Ask Siri to jump forward or backward
Siri won't just fetch stuff for you; she'll also scrub for you. She can move whatever you're watching forward or backward. All you have to say is: "Siri, skip back 15 seconds" or "What did he/she say again?" But if you don't want to use Siri for that, you can also click and slide on the new remote to scrub.

Digital assistant: Ask Siri to check the weather, etc
Let's not forget that Siri is a digital assistant first and foremost, and that's no different with the Apple TV. She can pull up weather reports or answer your questions, and she'll display all answers and results along the bottom of your display. If you want that in full-screen, swipe up on the remote.

Stream from iPhone: Play 4K videos, but in 1080p
The new iPhones are capable of recording 4K videos at 30fps, and you'll of course be able to play them on your television through Apple TV, but because the new box doesn't support 4K, all videos will be downgraded to 1080p.

Smart home galore: tvOS is integrated with HomeKit
It's been rumoured that the new Apple TV would launch with support for HomeKit - Apple's framework that is meant to simplify the current state of home automation. Apple was dodgy when asked directly if it included such integration, though it said HomeKit is in the tvOS SDK for developers.
So, theoretically, developers could one day make apps for HomeKit-enabled devices that deliver notification through Apple TV. You might also be able to control those devices using Siri. But that's all just speculation for now.

#3

Promoted: Yamaha MusicCast bundles of joy

Three MusicCast bundles from Yamaha. Three ways to make the most of your movies and music. And three ways to save money
Many wireless multiroom systems are closed shops. You buy the speakers, and the rest of your kit becomes redundant. Yamaha’s MusicCast range lets you bring all your hi-fi stuff to the party.

Anything you plug into it can be beamed to any other MusicCast speaker – any CD player, any turntable, anything with an output. Every MusicCast component is a Bluetooth transmitter too, so you can wirelessly stream music to your existing Bluetooth devices. The best part? All the products mix-and-match – so your system can grow as you want it to. And you can control it all from your smartphone with the free MusicCast Controller app for iOS and Android.

Want to get started? Yamaha has put together some great packages to kick-start your listening. They’ll save you money over the individual products, too…

Trio package

The YSP-1600 soundbar features Yamaha’s Digital Sound Projector tech for 5.1-channel surround-sound without the speaker-clutter, while the compact WX-030 speaker brings quality audio – and instant listening – to any room. The stylish ISX-80 Restio speaker can be wall-mounted for a touch of extra style.

Duo package

If you’re more about music than movies, the Duo package – with the WX-030 and Restio speakers – is the one to go for. They’re both compatible with Spotify Connect, Bluetooth and Apple AirPlay, and both can handle high-res material up to 24-bit/192kHz… so fire up your digital music collection and get listening.

Duett package

Want to watch a movie in more than one room? You can send audio from anything connected to the soundbar – including TVs, set-top boxes, consoles and more – to the other speaker in another room. And, of course, you can use them separately with Spotify, Bluetooth, network audio and more.

Click here for more information about the full range of Yamaha MusicCast compatible products.

IPTV.ONLINE · #4

Pioneer XDP-100R hands on
We take a first look at Pioneer's MQA-ready high-resolution music player, which has a 4.7in screen, runs on Android OS, and supports 24-bit/384kHz and DSD 11.2MHz music files. Tested at ?500

The Pioneer XDP-100R is the company's first high-resolution portable music player. It's also the world's first hi-res player to support MQA technology (Master Quality Authenticated), which promises high-resolution music in a more efficient and convenient file package.

The ?500 player's file support is extensive, and it comes loaded with plenty of music streaming apps, including Tidal - which is also due to start streaming MQA hi-res files in 2016.

We got hold of a fresh new sample of the XDP-100R...
Build and design
It's a big and chunky device. The metal chassis is sturdy and we can't find any fault with the finish, which gives it an air of high quality. Considering the angular design, the edges are thankfully smooth to touch.

Next to the more slimline Astell & Kern and Sony Walkman models (even the hefty Acoustic Research M2), the Pioneer looks a bit too blocky. It's quite wide, so those with smaller hands may not find it easy to grip. On the other hand, it's not as heavy as you'd expect from the bulky design.
There are some design choices we like, though. There's minimal branding, with just a small Pioneer logo at the back and "High-Resolution Audio Player" discreetly stamped on the brushed aluminum front panel, leaving the XDP-100R looking clean and neat.

Our review sample is all black, but you can also get the XDP-100R in silver for the same price.

The control buttons on the right side are nicely milled, and we like that the two microSD card slots are labelled. Apart from the left edge jutting out to accommodate the volume wheel, there's virtually no bezel distracting you from the screen.

We're not too keen on the bumpers on either end, though. The top bit is there to protect the 3.5mm headphone plug, and if you want to hook it to your belt or bag with a carabiner. We wouldn't - it's an expensive hi-res player, and we're starting to wonder if we can simply screw that top hook off.

The bottom bracket seems to be protecting the micro USB charging port and the built-in speakers, but we don't think it's needed. Flagship smartphones don't feel the need for the extra protection, and we're surprised that this robust Pioneer does.

We wonder again if it can be taken off. We'll report back in the full review.

Screen

The XDP-100R has a 4.7in LCD screen (the same size as an Apple iPhone 6S) with a 1280 x 720 resolution. Album artwork is colourfully displayed when playing music, and a decent contrast means that the sharp white text is legible against dark backgrounds.

Running on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, the device feels smooth and speedy to use. However, we suspect part of the smooth performance is down to it not being filled with a lot of data or apps - we'll see if the excellent performance is maintained when we store more music on it.

A useful widget for the Pioneer's own music player lets you control playback from the home screen, as well as see the file format and sampling rate. You can also choose to use the line out option to plug into a hi-fi system, or pick the 'stand-alone mode' option - which cuts off all Bluetooth, wi-fi and display options to use the XDP-100R purely as an audio device. Does this have an effect on sound quality? We'll find out in the full test.

Specs and features

The Pioneer's features list is where things get interesting.

The MQA compatibility is the headline act, except the XDP-100R isn't ready to support the new file format just yet. A firmware update to support MQA will be released in early 2016 - so we have that bit longer to wait and try the new technology.

Still, the XDP-100R is a feature-packed hi-res player in its own right. It has extensive file support - from standard MP3s to 24-bit/384kHz FLAC, WAV and AIFF files. It even does DSD 11.2MHz - also known as 'quadruple-DSD', or four times the resolution of SACD. Blimey!

The player comes with plenty of goodies, too. Pioneer has its own music player, which is filled with useful features such as a drop-down menu that displays the file format, size and sampling rate of each song file - so you know exactly what you're listening to.

In our initial use, we really like Pioneer's own music app. It's slick and neat despite containing so much information. It displays album artwork as the background, the text is easy to read, and the folders are all logically arranged. It's a nice alternative to Google's own music player.

There are also plenty of sound settings, such as upsampling to 192kHz, digital filters, bass boosts, gain and realtime DSD conversion. We'll be trying them all out once we load the player with our music.

Other apps that come pre-loaded are Tidal, Spotify, Qobuz and the Onkyo Music app. The last one gives you access to Onkyo Music's online shop for hi-res (and other) music.

Out of the box, the on board storage is a mild 32GB. But there are two microSD card slots. Which means you can expand your storage up to 432GB, with 200GB max for each slot. That's a lot of portable storage for your lossless library.

And lastly, the XDP-100R has a claimed battery life of 16 hours on 24-bit/96kHz playback. That will vary depending on how much you use it (and if you use multiple apps on it), but we'll find out if the Pioneer player lasts more than a day or two in our full review.

Performance

Our sample of the XDP-100R came with a few FLAC songs on it (none of them MQA, sadly). With Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison, Daft Punk and Charles Mingus available in various file sizes, we start listening.

We get an impression of clear, full-bodied notes and a snappy rhythm. Benjamin Clementine's vocals on Nemesis in standard CD-quality sound solid and detailed, and the Pioneer does a good job of conveying the dynamic peaks and troughs.

There's decent weight underpinning the song, with piano notes clunking solidly. It sounds spacious, too.

Switch to Metallica's Enter Sandman (WAV, 96kHz), and the attacking drums and angry guitars appear to have plenty of muscle and wallop to them.

We look forward to loading the Pioneer with our collection of test tracks for the full review.

Initial verdict

The Pioneer XDP-100R is the latest addition to the rise of portable hi-res music players, with the added feature of MQA file support. However, with the MQA update not ready until the new year, it's not quite there yet.

Still, the XDP-100R is a hi-res player in its own right, and the extensive file support, expandable storage and price will appeal to many. We're not sure if the design will be for everyone, though.

But it will all come down to its sonic performance. How will the XDP-100R shape up against our Award-winning Astell & Kern AK Jr, its main rival at ?400?

We'll find out after we put the Pioneer XDP-100R through its paces in our full review.

#5

Turntable trio take the spoils at the Awards 2015

Thanks to they vinyl revival, there's never been a better time to buy a turntable. And, whether you're looking to buy your first deck or upgrade an existing entry-level model, our Award-winners have you covered...
The three best turntables of 2015 are all repeat winners, with Pro-Ject, Rega and Clearaudio all picking up where they left off in 2014. Thanks to each deck's blend of brilliant sound quality and excellent value, rival turntables have struggled to make an impression.
Our Product of the Year for a fifth consecutive year is the outstanding Rega RP3/Elys2. We’re still to come across a deck at this price that’s as easy to set up or that sounds as good. Rega has made a couple of tweaks to its turntable in recent years and the company hasn't looked back.

Those improvements have allowed it fend off its closest rivals year after year - who's to say the RP3 couldn't be back in 2016?

The Pro-ject Essential II is still without doubt our favourite budget deck, and the best option for vinyl virgins. We love its plug’n’playability, as well as the equipment you get for such a low price. It’s still as entertaining as ever and delivers a great sense of scale and composure.

Finally, the Clearaudio Concept also retains its Best Buy Award. Its simplicity is still as charming as ever and the minimalist styling highly desirable. The level of sound quality on offer is still way above anything else at this price too, which makes the Concept one of the best turntables currently on sale.

#6

Awards 2015: The best CD players and transports

There's a twist for 2015, with CD transports appearing alongside stand-alone CD players for the first time in What Hi-Fi? Awards history...
With four separate Awards in the CD players and transports category, and prices ranging from ?280 to ?1050, our Product of the Year is the Cyrus CDi.

The CDi is a special player in the true Cyrus tradition. It continues to be the best we have heard anywhere near this price, and for that reason, it retains its Product of the Year title for another 12 months.

Our favourite budget CD player will also be familiar to readers: this is the third time in a row that the excellent Marantz CD6005 has won this Award.

The CD6005 is a superb product, with an aura of class. Its sonic presentation marries refinement and drama superbly, and has an understanding of the heart of the music.

Marantz’s domination is little short of miraculous. A year on, there’s still nothing at this price to better the CD6005 - it's simply the best budget CD player on the market.

A CD transport concentrates on reading the information held on a compact disc without expending effort in turning that digital signal into an analogue output, unlike a CD player. All you need to do is add (or already own) an external DAC.

The theory goes that using separate pieces of hi-fi kit to do individual jobs will provide a superior sound, and this is certainly the case with our winner in the Best CD budget transport category, the Cambridge Audio CXC.

This is a nicely made piece of equipment, and it looks and feels worth every penny of the ?300 you’ll pay for it.

Cyrus scooped its second win in the Best CD transport over ?500 category with its CD t, the latest addition to Cyrus’s long line of highly accomplished products.

Going straight to the top of its class, the Cyrus CD t delivers a fine performance that’s difficult to criticise at this price, demonstrating impressive accuracy, speed and precision without ever sounding clinical.

The Cyrus CD t is an exceptionally talented transport. Yes, you’ll need to add a good stand-alone DAC, but the CD t is worth the trouble. As well as offering an effortless, musical listen, the level of transparency, clarity and insight is unrivalled at this price.

#7

ASUS And Gigabyte Reportedly Planning To Launch VR Devices

Virtual reality has become much more popular over the last couple of years, Samsung’s Gear VR has done an incredible job of bringing this technology to the mainstream, and with multiple new VR headsets coming in 2016 from the likes of Sony, Oculus, HTC and others one can only imagine how big VR is going to be in the years to come. Taiwan-based ASUS and Gigabyte seem to have grasped that which is why they’re believed to be planning to launch virtual reality devices.
Citing supply chain makers based in China, Digitimes reports that ASUS is planning to launch a wearable virtual reality device which will be used with its gaming notebooks. Gigabyte Technology is also said to be developing something similar in collaboration with VR company 3Glasses.
It’s believed that notebook brand vendors will increasingly turn towards virtual reality in the coming year in which notebook shipments are expected to remain weak. VR is perceived as many as a main hardware development direction for gaming notebooks.
Both companies mentioned in this report have not yet confirmed their VR plans but it’s claimed that they’re going to release their virtual reality devices in the first half of next year.
If that really is the case then customers will certainly have a lot to choose from since companies like Oculus and HTC are also expected to release their virtual reality headsets in the first half of 2016.

IPTV.ONLINE · #8

Now TV vs Sky+HD vs Sky Q: Which Sky package is right for you?

Sky announced its new entertainment service - Sky Q - at the end of November 2015. The service will join the broadcaster's current options at the beginning of 2016, bringing a more fluid and seamless experience than the current offering. The question is, will it be the right choice for you?
There are currently two ways to get access to Sky's content. You either go down the Now TV route, or you opt for the Sky+HD route and pick a bundle that suits you. When Sky Q launches next year, followed by the UHD service later in the year, there will be four options available to choose from if you want Sky's content.
This feature explains the differences between Now TV, Sky+HD, Sky Q and Sky Q Silver to help you decide which Sky option best suits your needs. Read on to find out which Sky package is right for you.
Now TV
Now TV is the cheapest way to access Sky's content and it is aimed at those who are unable to have regular Sky, perhaps due to lack of satellite or budget. It's an online streaming service that offers access to live TV channels, as well as on demand services. The Now TV box itself costs a one-off ?14.99 and you will need internet access so take that into account, but it is worth noting that Now TV is also available on Chromecast, PS4, PS3, YouView and others so you don't need to buy a separate box if you have any of the compatible devices.
Rather than a yearly contract like Sky+HD, Now TV has what it calls Now TV Passes that allow you to pay monthly for services. There is an Entertainment Pass for ?6.99 a month, a Movies Pass for ?9.99 a month and three Sports Passes from ?6.99 and you can choose the ones you want and when.
The Entertainment Pass delivers a month's access to over 250 Sky Box Sets and 13 live channels that aren't available on Freeview including Sky Atlantic, Sky Living, MTC and Comedy Central. Movies offers a month's access to over 1000 movies on demand including up to 16 new Sky Movies premieres each month. Sports is split into a day pass for ?6.99, a week pass for ?10.99 and a month pass for ?31.99, all of which offer access to the seven Sky Sports channels. You can add a pass and take it away on a month-by-month basis, so add movies just for December for example.
Sky+HD
Sky+HD is the current Sky TV offering but it will be the middle and probably the cheaper option when Sky Q launches in 2016. There are two Sky+HD boxes available - the standard 500GB box and the 2TB box - and there are several bundles available, all at various price points.
The TV bundles start at ?20 a month and creep up to ?75.75 a month, depending on which you choose. It goes without saying, the more you pay, the more channels you get but there are a number of standard features across all the bundles.
With each TV bundle, you get one standard Sky+HD box for free that will allow you to pause, rewind and record live TV. The box comes with built-in Wi-Fi and you'll have access to plenty of Catch Up TV channels including BBC iPlayer, All 4 and ITV hub.
Users will also get the Sky Service app, Sky+ app and Sky Go, the latter of which allows you to watch Sky on up to two devices wherever you are over Wi-Fi or 3G/4G. Other features include Sky Atlantic access with shows including Game of Thrones, and Smart Series Link that remembers the series you have recorded in the past for any future series.
The 1TB box will store an average of 185 hours of standard definition content and it will cost ?199 per extra box. The 2TB box offers storage for up to 1180 hours of standard definition content but it's a little pricier and it doesn't come as standard, nor is the first box entirely free. The first 2TB box has an upfront cost of ?49, while buying a second would cost ?249.
When it comes to the different bundles, there aren't great deal of extras when it comes to features as the price variation is about the channels offered instead. The Original Bundle, which is the ?20 option, doesn't offer access to over 300 Sky Box Sets like the other bundles do however.
The final option within Sky+HD is Multiscreen. This is where you pay an additional ?11.25 per month on top of whichever bundle you have chosen to watch Sky in more than one room. The first Sky Multiscreen box is free and it will be the standard 1TB option again, but you will also get Sky Go Extra, which would normally cost ?5 a month. Basically, if you pay for Sky Go Extra on top of your bundle but you don't have Multiscreen, you'd only be paying an extra ?6.25 per month for an extra box and the ability to watch Sky in bed.
Sky Go Extra allows you to download content and watch it offline, which you can do on up to four devices, including Xbox One now, rather than the two offered with Sky Go.
It is worth noting none of the bundles or boxes within Sky+HD support 4K or offer any 4K channels. You'll need to look a little further down this feature to Sky Q Silver for that.
Sky Q
Sky Q is the latest service from the broadcaster and it will be available at the beginning of 2016, although pricing has yet to be announced. It has been described as a "premium" TV service so expect it to be pricier than the Sky+HD options above.
Like Sky+HD, there are two set-top boxes but there is more variation than just storage when it comes to the Sky Q service. In this section, we are focusing on Sky Q, while the next section will talk about Sky Q Silver.
Sky Q has eight tuners and 1TB of storage, which Sky claims will offer space to store up to 150 hours of recorded HD content. It is Full HD compatible and it allows users to simultaneously record three channels, while watching a fourth, and there is support for watching on one tablet and one Sky Q Mini box too.
The Sky Q Mini box connects to the main Sky Q box via Wi-Fi or Powerline networking and it allows you to view Sky content in other rooms. It is essentially the new Multiscreen, allowing you to view live or recorded content, as well as watch catch-up and on demand services in whichever room you have put a Mini box into, in addition to your main room. Along with watching in other rooms, you'll also be able to pause and resume in another room, which is what Sky is calling Fluid Viewing.
A new app called Sky Q Sync will allow you to record a film or TV series and transfer the content to your tablet. It seems like this will be similar to what you can do with the current Sky Go Extra but everything will be more seamless.
Sky Q also comes with a more intelligent interface than you'll find on Sky+HD or Now TV, with a more image-led service like you'd find on YouView. The home page has categories including Top Picks, Box Sets, Recordings, TV Guide on the left, with images on the right. There is also a section called My Q that brings in shows you didn't get a chance to finish watching, the latest episode from one of your favourite series and other recommendations. Third Party apps will also be present in a side bar including VeVo and YouTube.
Sky Q Silver
Sky Q Silver offers a similar experience to Sky Q when it comes to the user interface and features such as Fluid Viewing, but it has one main difference: Ultra HD TV compatibility. The Sky Q Silver set-top box is 4K-ready for when the Sky Ultra HD service launches a little later in 2016. The regular Sky Q box doesn't offer this.
There are 12 tuners inside the Sky Q Silver box and 2TB of storage, which should allow for up to 350 hours of recorded HD content. The Sky Q Silver box will enable users to record four channels simultaneously, while watching a fifth and it also supports two tablets and two Sky Q Mini boxes, with all devices capable of viewing different content at the same time.
In addition to all the features mentioned already, the Sky Q service, which includes both set-top boxes will come with a new touch remote that connects via Bluetooth so you can hide your Sky Q box out of sight. There is also something called the Sky Q Hub which is a new router for Sky Broadband that integrates Powerline networking, allowing you to use your mains wiring to connect your Sky Q devices together rather than using Wi-Fi. You can use Wi-Fi instead though.
Each Sky Q box can also act as a Wi-Fi hotspot for your Sky Broadband but as you might have guessed, you'll need to make sure you have Sky Broadband for this to be an option. You don't however need Sky as your internet provider for any of Sky's TV services to work as standard, just for the hotspot feature.
Conclusion
So which Sky TV service is right for you? Well, this very much depends on your budget and whether you have access to a satellite dish because if you don't, your only option is Now TV.
Now TV is great for anyone who wants access to Sky's content including Box Sets but doesn't have a huge amount of cash to splash. Ignoring the cost of internet, you could get Sky Entertainment and Sky Movies for ?16.98 a month.
A similar package with Sky+HD would set you back ?53 a month, but you do of course get the ability to pause and record live TV, along with a few more channels and other features.
Sky Q is the most exciting of all three services, as you might expect given that it is new, but it will come at a price and until we know that price, it's difficult to conclude whether it will be worth it. Sky Q looks like it will offer the most seamless and user friendly experience, allowing you to pick up and drop shows and movies as you move around your home but "premium" never comes cheap. If you want 4K content however, then Sky Q Silver is your only option.

IPTV.ONLINE · #9

Forget about vinyl, here come the portable CD and tape players

Vinyl revival? Pah. Set your watch back 30 years because Groov-e wants to bring back portable CD and cassette tape players.
If your interest in vinyl hasn't been revived in recent years, then how about dusting off your casette tapes instead?

Portable music might mean downloads and streaming for most of us in 2016 but Groov-e is hoping its range of affordable 'retro' products will have you pining for the portable CD and cassette experience. Yes, really.

There are three new models, two portable CD players and a tape machine, priced from ?18 to ?35. (And they join a surprisingly large number of similar products that are still on sale.)

The basic Groov-e Personal CD Player supports CD, CD-R and CD-RW discs and costs just ?25. It comes in red, black, blue or silver finishes and is supplied with earphones (sadly not in the style of the vintage Walkmans of old). Don't forget you'll need your own batteries.
If listening to CDs on your commute leaves you longing for your digital files, Groov-e will be only too happy to sell you an upgraded portable CD player complete with a 99-song MP3 player and an FM radio. And it's just ?10 more.

Worried about the reliability of listening to CDs on the move? Worry not: both players come with "anti-skip protection", which we all know means your CDs will almost never skip...

But if you really want to go full retro - and, let's be honest, don’t care much for sound quality - then Groov-e’s Personal Cassette Player & Recorder (!) is for you. For ?18 of your pocket money the player comes with a built-in FM radio and a clip-on attachment for your belt. And what a look that would be.

Convinced? The Groov-e retro players are on sale now on Amazon.

If that's got you feeling nostalgic, then you might enjoy our look back at this What Hi-Fi? cassette tape player Group Test from 1981...

IPTV.ONLINE · #10

CableCard could finally get a card-less replacement
Cable lobby fights plan that could boost competition, kill cable box rental fees.

What if, instead of renting a set-top box from your cable company, you could get all your TV channels and online video services delivered to a single device that you only pay for once?

The Federal Communications Commission could make it happen, consumer advocacy groups say. "An open set-top box market is a key component of freeing consumers from unnecessary monthly rental fees, and it would enable them to more easily access online video content right alongside their subscription TV programming," the groups said in a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler yesterday. The letter was written by Common Cause, Demand Progress, Free Press, Fight for the Future, the National Hispanic Media Coalition, New America’s Open Technology Institute, and Public Knowledge.

Replacing CableCard

The CableCard standard created nearly 20 years ago was supposed to make the set-top box industry competitive. And it has succeeded to an extent, letting cable subscribers use TiVo boxes and other devices. But the FCC long ago admitted that CableCard had only limited success. About 99 percent of customers still rent set-top boxes directly from their providers and pay an average of $231.82 a year in rental fees, US senators found in a survey of TV providers last year.

Consumer advocacy groups say that set-top boxes like the Roku or Apple TV, or even game consoles and smart TVs, could replace the cable box for many Americans if pay-TV providers like Comcast, DirecTV, and Verizon adopt a new standard that doesn't require a physical CableCard.
A CableCard "provides the security component that ensures people only can access the channels they pay for," Public Knowledge Senior Staff Attorney John Bergmayer explained in a blog post last August. But CableCards have problems that have restricted their use mostly to enthusiasts rather than ordinary consumers.

"The technical problems include how a CableCARD cannot send signals upstream to the cable provider by itself, making things like video-on-demand impossible. The logistical problems include inventory management—not all CableCards are the same, CableCards can be put into an unusable state—not to mention the fact that, being physical items, they provide a pretext for the cable company to charge a rental fee," Bergmayer wrote.

Congress in December 2014 ordered the FCC to create a working group of technical experts to find a "software-based downloadable security system" that would essentially provide the functionality of CableCards without physical cards. The new standard is supposed to be technology- and platform-neutral. At the same time, Congress ended a rule that required cable operators to include CableCards in their own set-top boxes.

The FCC's newly formed Downloadable Security Technical Advisory Committee (DSTAC) issued a final report in August that contained two proposals for a software-based downloadable security system: one written by Public Knowledge and another written by Comcast.

The two visions

The Public Knowledge proposal said that pay-TV operators should implement network security and access control "in the cloud," and that security could be handled by "a well-defined, widely used link protection mechanism such as DTCP-IP."

Under this proposal, "Third-party devices would have access to the video content that users pay for, and would be able to offer their own user interfaces and sets of features (e.g., recording, ad-skipping)," Bergmayer wrote in his blog post. The third-party devices would be able to present pay-TV content from cable companies, telcos, and satellite providers right alongside online video content from providers like Netflix.

Public Knowledge, Google, TiVo, Vizio, and a few other groups created the Consumer Video Choice Coalition (CVCC) to promote this idea. In December 2015, the CVCC says it met with FCC staff to demonstrate a "competitive navigation device" that used "off-the-shelf equipment and open standards" to display video from different pay-TV providers.

Meanwhile, the proposal supported by Comcast and other cable companies would involve pay-TV operators building their own apps for third-party devices, while relying on the security APIs in HTML5.

"The downloadable 'apps' approach enables consumers to watch content from Multichannel Video Programming Distributors (MVPDs) and Online Video Distributors (OVDs) on an array of customer-owned and TV-attached devices, including iOS and Android tablets and smartphones, game stations, PCs and Macs, Smart TVs, Kindle Fire, and Roku," pay-TV operators wrote.

The companies argued that because consumers can access pay-TV content on a "wide and growing array of retail devices," there is no need for a technology mandate such as the one pushed by consumer advocacy groups.

Cable lobby fights back

The National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), a cable lobby group, told the FCC last week that the CVCC proposal "would require re-architecting much of the MVPDs’ infrastructure, from back-office systems, to headends, uplinks, and central offices, delivery platforms, network equipment, content servers, and security components, as well as creating and deploying new devices for the home."

The NCTA said that the CVCC idea "requires consumers to lease a new government-mandated box from their MVPD in order to serve retail devices." (CVCC disputed this in one of its own filings, saying that "No separate device is necessary unless the operator prefers to provide one." Public Knowledge told Ars that cable companies could either provide new hardware or update the software on existing cable modems or set-top boxes in order to deliver pay-TV content to third-party devices.)

The NCTA also argued that open access to pay-TV content would let builders of third-party devices make TV service worse. Device makers could "rearrange, exile, or drop channels and overlay ads and drop apps and interactive elements that are parts of MVPD service," the group wrote.

"It would allow tech companies like Google to take content, slice and dice and re-purpose it in any way it wants, collect and monetize customer viewing data without Title VI privacy safeguards, and create an entirely new video service without negotiating or paying for it," the cable lobby said.

Bergmayer argued that the cable industry proposal "relegates third-party devices to the role of dumb terminals for cable apps," preventing device makers from creating user interfaces that are better than the ones cable companies provide.

No action yet

The consumer advocacy groups want the FCC to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking soon so it can develop rules by the end of this year, Bergmayer said. But there will be a fight. Cable companies "have all sorts of ideas that they think would be interfered with if people had competitive choice," he said.

The FCC hasn't said how it will rule or when it will make a decision. An FCC spokesperson declined comment when contacted by Ars today.

No rule changes being contemplated would prevent cable companies from building better services and user interfaces on their own set-top boxes. But consumers could have a wider choice if the FCC does what consumer advocacy groups are requesting.

"The intensity with which cable hates this idea is very hard to underestimate," Bergmayer said. "But nevertheless, I think it would be a huge benefit to consumers and competition."

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