Tag: HBO

HBO al la carte Coming In April To Apple TV Streaming Box

Linda Reimer

One of the big  announcements Apple made at its press event last week was about a deal with HBO which will now allow you to purchase HBO al la carte, as in without subscribing to a cable package through your local cable TV provider!

Of course, there is a caveat, you have to have an Apple TV streaming box (and Internet access) to access the HBO Now library of programs.

The Apple TV box now sells for $69 and the HBO Now monthly subscription price will be $14.99 a month; however, this is a huge, huge deal as far as video fans being able to watch TV shows and movies wherever and whenever they want to because for the first time ever a major cable channel is offering a subscription to their video offerings that does not require you to purchase a cable TV package!

Hopefully now that HBO has put a crack in the walled in garden of TV Packaged the flowers of stand alone TV subscriptions will grow!

Here are links to two articles on this subject the first from The Wall Street Journal and the second from NPR:

http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2015/03/10/with-apple-tv-deal-hbo-frays-the-cord/

http://www.npr.org/2015/03/10/392041850/new-hbo-now-streaming-service-shows-consumers-will-is-king

And if you’d like to see how an Apple TV streaming box works — let us know! We do have one at the library we can show you!

Have a great day!

Linda, SSCL

Personal Technology Stories You Might Have Missed January 12 – 23, 2015

Linda Reimer

Article 1: Presidential Speeches That Include References To Technological Innovation: The first recommend article is from the Washington Post and it takes a look back at past presidential speeches that mention “modern” technology as an innovative tool. The list includes a few lines from John Quincy Adams on the subject of the growing of railroad technology, moves on to note Andrew Jackson mentioning the innovative power of stream, Lincoln offering words on the subject of the first global communications technology – the telegraph and goes all the way forward to 2015 when President Obama mentioned Instagram in his 2015 State of the Union Address – history and technology mixed together – cool!

Here’s the link to the article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/01/21/the-first-mentions-of-technological-innovations-in-state-of-the-union-messages-catalogued/

Bump, Philip. (21 January, 2015). The first mentions of technological innovations in State of the Union messages, catalogued. The Washington Post. Online. Accessed January 22, 2015.

Article 2: Technology Has Not Made Life More Stressful: Article 2discusses how many people think that the modern technology has made life more stressful, when in fact many people find the new communications technologies to be stress relievers as they allow people to more easily connect with family and friends.

Here’s the link to the article

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/upshot/technology-has-made-life-different-but-not-necessarily-more-stressful.html?ref=technology&_r=0

Miller, Claire Cain. (15 January, 2015). Technology Has Made Life Different, but Not Necessarily More Stressful. The New York Times. Online. Accessed January 15, 2015.

Article 3: New Features of iOS 8: This article is for iPhone & iPad users who’d like to know more about the new features of Apple’s latest mobile software upgrade – iOS 8. The new features include the ability to ask Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant, questions hands free while your device is plugged in as it might be while you’re in a car, the ability to use third party keyboards and the option to ask Siri to identify a song that is playing. The article comes with a video review found at the following link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/technology/personaltech/tips-to-get-the-most-out-of-apple-ios-8.html

Wood, Molly. (14 January, 2015). Getting the Most Out of Apple iOS 8. The New York Times. Online. Accessed January 15, 2015.

Article 4: Fitness Trackers: This “article” is actually a funny video review of some of the most popular fitness trackers by the always fun Wall Street Journal Tech columnist Joanna Stern:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/review-best-fitness-trackers-to-get-you-up-off-the-couch-1418760813?mod=ST2

Stern, Joanna. (16 December, 2014). Review: Best Fitness Trackers to Get You Up Off The Couch. The Wall Street Journal. Online. Accessed January 13, 2015.

Article 5: The Basic Gist of The Term The Internet of Things:  If you’ve heard the term “The Internet of Things” and wondered what exactly that means – then this article is for you! Re/Code tech columnist Bonnie Cha offers an accessible explanation of just what that term means and how the technology is advancing in that integrated direction.

Here’s the link to the article:

http://recode.net/2015/01/15/a-beginners-guide-to-understanding-the-internet-of-things/

Cha, Bonnie. (15 January, 2015). A Beginner’s Guide to Understanding the Internet of Things. re/code. Online. Accessed January 15, 2015.

Article 6: Google Translate Update: Google Translate has recently had an update and this link is to a video that shows how you can now have a conversation with someone speaking another language by using the software:

http://www.cnet.com/videos/hold-conversations-using-google-translate/

How To Video: Hold conversations using Google Translate. CNET. Online. Accessed January 22, 2015.

Article 7: Windows 10 Is Coming In 2015! (And the Start Menu will return!): This BBC article offers some basic info on the new Windows 10 operating system that Microsoft will be unrolling later this year:

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30924022

Kelion, Leo. (21 January, 2015). Windows 10 to get ‘holographic’ headset and Cortana. BBC. Online. Accessed January 22, 2015.

Article 8: Windows 10 Holographic Headset: Windows 10 is being unveiled later this year along with a cool new holo headset that allows you to

http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/21/7867593/microsoft-announces-windows-holographic

Savov, Vlad. (21 January, 2015). Microsoft announces Windows Holographic with HoloLens headset. The Verge. Online. Accessed January 21, 2015.

Article 9: Microsoft Founder Bill Gates Will Be Guest Editor On The Verge Site In February:  Bill Gates will offer guest editorials on the tech site The Verge in February focusing on how technology will make the world a better place in the next 15 years:

http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/22/7870497/bill-gates-interview-future-verge-guest-editor

Patel, Nilay. (22 January, 2015). Bill Gates is guest-editing The Verge in February: Technology will build a better, safer, healthier world by 2030. The Verge. Online. Accessed January 22, 2015.

Article 10: HBO Standalone Web Service Coming In 2015: Sometime this year HBO will be rolling out a paid standalone subscription service so you won’t need a cable

http://recode.net/2015/01/22/will-hbo-on-the-web-pull-the-plug-on-pay-tv-survey-says-yep/

Kafka, Peter. (22 January, 2015). Will HBO on the Web Pull the Plug on Pay TV? Survey Says: Yep! re/code. Online. Accessed January 22, 2015.

Article 11: Amazon – Good For Readers or Not?  This “article” consists of a short article from NPR and a podcast of 50 minutes on the subject of whether or not Amazon’s e-book practices are good for readers. Essentially, the podcast offers a debate on the subject; on the pro side author Jon Konrath & Matthew Yglesias executive editor of vox.com, a digital news company, and on the con side Franklin Foer the former editor of The New Republic and author and lawyer Scott Turow.

Here’s the link:

http://www.npr.org/2015/01/22/378889431/debate-is-amazon-the-readers-friend

Debate Is Amazon The Reader’s Friend? NPR. Online. Accessed January 22, 2015.

Article 12: The Battle For Net Neutrality Goes On: And this last article is an NPR offering on the subject of just what will happen later this year when the FCC rules on Net Neutrality & how congress will influence this new rules.

Here’s the link:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2015/01/21/378844286/critics-say-republican-net-neutrality-plan-strips-fcc-s-power

Rose, Joel. (21 January, 2015). The Battle Over Open-Internet Rules Shifts To Congress. NPR. Online. Accessed January 21, 2015.

And remember if you need assistance in learning how to use a new e-reader, tablet, computer or smartphone, or a new piece of software you can go to the library and get assistance for free!

Our Digital Literacy Services staff are happy to assist you in learning how to use hardware and software so contact us for a free one-on-one session today!

Give us call: 607-936-3713 or send an email to us at the following email address: DIGLIT@STLS.ORG

The Rise Of Group Subscriptions Or Accessing Television Subscription Content You Don’t Pay For & And Rdio Vdio Streaming Service Debuts

Linda Reimer

The Rise Of Group Subscriptions Or Accessing Television Subscription Content You Don’t Pay: The New York Times featured a cool article over the weekend which chronicles a growing trend – the growing number of people who access paid television content by using the cable subscription of a friend or relative so they don’t have to pay for the content. It seems an increasing number of people are accessing paid television shows and movies by accessing cable accounts online or via apps through their tablets or smartphones and then logging into their cable accounts with the log in information of a friend or relative. This new trend seems to be the most popular way for Cord Nevers. The term Cord Nevers referring to young adults that have grown up and accessed television shows and movies both online and by their parents or some other family members’ cable subscriptions and never had to pay for that content – and now they don’t want to so they are essentially getting accessing their favorite television shows and movies by a work-around logging into the HBO, Time Warner or other cable vendors subscription accounts with someone else’s login information.  

Consider this example that is relayed in the article – the HBO television series Game of Thrones is in the midst of its third season. And episodes of the series can be streamed for free from the smartphone and tablet HBO app and also through the HBO website. And the only thing a person needs to stream the episodes is someone’s’ cable subscription login information – it doesn’t have to be theirs. Having the login information in hand can allow five or six members of the same family to watch episodes of Game of Thrones, or any other HBO content, on demand and when they want to! The only stipulation is that two people cannot be logged in and watching the same television episode at the same time.

This is an interesting trend as it shows how the traditional cable TV bundled channel subscription package business model is walking down the road to obsolesce.

Here’s the link to the New York Times article which is titled No TV? No Subscription? No Problem:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/business/streaming-sites-and-the-rise-of-shared-accounts.html?ref=technology

And Rdio Vdio Streaming Service Debuts: The company behind the Rdio streaming music service has just introduced a new video streaming service called Vdio. Unlike Rdio, which is a subscription music service, the new Vdio service allows you to buy or rent streaming videos. And currently Vdio is only available to Rdio Unlimited subscribers who can watch the Vdio videos through a web browser or if they have an Apple device through the Apple app – there isn’t yet a Vdio app for Android smartphones and tablets.

And as I’ve already gotten up on my soapbox on for the above section on the New York Times article and gone on about how the traditional cable TV bundled channel business model is changing in our 24-7-365-Internet connected world – I won’t do it again today!

Sufficient to say the new Vdio streaming videos service is another example of how the traditional way people watch movies and television shows.

Billboard offers an article with more in-depth information on this new streaming video service via the following link:

http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/digital-and-mobile/1555894/rdio-launches-vdio-new-tv-and-film-marketplace-updated

Have a great day!

Linda R

References

Dredge, Stuart. (2013, April 4). Vdio streaming TV and film service goes live in the US and UK. The Guardian. Online.

Wortham, Jenna. (2013, April 6). No TV? No Subscription? No Problem. New York Times. Online.