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Tech News and Commentary
Dave and Chris discuss Apple’s hardware event, GTA 6’s upcoming launch and New Zealand’s edge, license plate readers, and more.
“News Pick of the Week” with Ralph Bond
Traditional management of glaucoma requires daily eye drops and clinic visits. This week our science and technology reporter Ralph Bond tells us researchers have developed a smart contact lens with amazing glaucoma monitoring and treatment capabilities.
Read more here.
Rita in Miami, Florida asked: “I need to find out information on the smart sticks for TVs that will allow me to cut my cable. I’d like to get some local stations. I don’t know how they work, and I’m a little fearful of cutting that cable cord, but I need to do it. So if you could explain some of the things to me, or give a suggestion on which stick you think is the best, that would be great. Thanks a lot. Appreciate your information and your knowledge.”
Rita, streaming sticks are small devices that plug directly into your TV’s HDMI port and connect to the internet, allowing you to access thousands of shows, movies, and live TV channels through apps like Netflix, Hulu, YouTube TV, and more
They do require a stable internet connection though the speed of the vast majority of home connections these days should not be a problem.
To get local channels you have two options.
You can use an Over-the-Air Antenna, think old rabbit ears, and get your broadcasts from the signal put out by the stations.
Obviously that signal is not equal everywhere so before you do anything you can visit Antennaweb.org to see which channels are available in your zip code.
Your other option is cable-like streaming services like YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, and others.
These typically cost more or less what cable costs per month, though, so they may defeat the purpose of what you’re trying to do.
When it comes to choosing a streaming stick, there are many options but some of the most popular are:
The Roku Streaming Stick which is currently the most used streaming stick and has access to just about every streaming app out there. It’s not a bad option, but keep in mind that Roku is known to make sore aggressively anti-consumer choices sometimes. A few years ago they bricked any TV that didn’t accept their new terms of services on the screen (which included an arbitration clause) and the only way to opt out was to mail them a physical letter and wait for them to eventually process them. While that happened the entire TV (including the non-Roku parts like HDMI ports, or the antenna input) stayed bricked.
The Amazon Fire TV Stick, it requires an Amazon account and pushes a lot of ads right onto the home screen, but it’s cheap and popular, starting at around $35.
Then you have Apple TV, the least ad-laden option but also the most expensive to buy, starting at about $130.
If you do make the switch, it may be worth looking at devices like the Nuvyyo Tablo or the TiVo Edge that function as a tradition DVR and allow you to record shows off your over-the-air antenna.
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