Switch off the Foxtel, a TV dongle which will allow you watch everything for a one off $49 is coming. US giant Boxee are working on a Live TV dongle, it revealed yesterday – an HD antenna that connects their Box made by D-Link – to watch channels like ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC in HD and stream internet TV like Netflix, YouTube, Hulu.
And best of all no monthly fees.
And the clever device will let you watch any TV show from online, movies from services like Netflix, and automatically delivers video recommendations from your friends on Facebook and Twitter to your TV and lets you share stuff with them from the click of the remote.
Worried about kissing goodbye beloved pay subscription?
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| Is one stick going to kill off cable? |
Boxee exec, Avner Ronen, makes a very good point: “Yes, there are hundreds of cable channels, but make a list of the stuff you actually watch,” he wrote on the company blog.
However, the bad news is the TV dongle is available in North America only from next January but Western Digital are already tipped to be looking at doing a similar TV dongle here in Australia.
No wording on pricing but for a one off fee beats paying $77 or more a month for one of Foxtel’s packages.
Boxee Live TV works with signals from HDTV antennas (using ATSC) or an unencrypted cable connection (using ClearQAM) and a portable antenna is included.
For users without a strong over the air signal a roof-top antenna may be needed.
Boxee Box, a product of New York based outfit, is a lopsided set-top box that enables any TV to connect to the Internet, launched here by D-Link Australia in November last, but no word yet on whether i the TV stick will come Down Under, although Boxee have not ruled out an international launch.
However the live TV stick is not compatible with PC or Mac’s and is strictly a TV device.
“You will probably find that most are on broadcast and the rest are available on Vudu/Netflix/Network sites.We believe the combination of Netflix/Vudu/Vimeo/TED. with over-the-air channels delivers a much better experience for less money,” is Boxee’s thinking behind its new brainchild.
“Cable companies keep telling the press and investors that “cord cutting” is not real, and that if it exists then it’s limited to people who can no longer afford cable. “
“They are more than just people tightening their belts in tough economic times, these are people who have left cable TV behind because it does not fit their lifestyle. They are part of a changing culture, with a changing expectation of how they watch the shows they love.”
