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Cable companies are doing their best to keep up with the switch to streaming media. Considering most traditional TV subscriptions also double as ISPs, though, it's been a fairly smooth transition. As services like YouTube TV flourish, companies like Comcast aren't ignoring modern ways to watch television. It wants to keep users consuming media through its own branded devices, and that effort starts with an all-new streaming box.
Amazon is kicking everyone's butt in the streaming wars
Fire TV has tripled its market share in the last 6 years and is now tied with Roku
When the Chromecast debuted back in 2013, it was a legitimate revolution: an incredibly cheap, incredibly simple gadget that let you send all the streaming video on your phone straight to your TV. But in the years since, Google has steadily lost ground in the set-top box market in pretty much every metric. The big winner at the moment is, indisputably, Amazon.
Google Assistant adds native support for TVs, set-top boxes, and media remotes
Many have already implemented it, but it's now available for all device makers
Google Assistant already supports more than 60 device types, from smart lights and thermostats to more eccentric ones like dehydrators, pergolas, or fireplaces. Now it's officially adding three new ones: TVs, media remotes, and set-top boxes.
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- So it turns out that this deal is the opposite of good. According to Roku, the 2018 version of the Ultra will be on sale for half off, or $49.99, starting on November 22. Walmart is also getting in on this by offering the 2018 Ultra for $48.
The smart TV game has plenty of options, depending on your preference or brand loyalty. If you're a fan of Roku, then this deal might be of interest to you. Amazon has a certified refurbished Roku Ultra (2017) for just $64.99, a nice $35 off the $99.99 MSRP. Roku's 2017 Ultra supports 4K, HDR, and HD streaming. There are plenty of apps available, including the big ones like Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, and so on. The included remote can be programed to control your TV's power state and volume, and it also has the neat feature of supporting headphone plugin via the 3.5mm jack.According to the Amazon listing, Roku has certified each refurbished unit to look and act like a brand new one. You get the original accessories, plus a 90-day warranty. If you're looking to add some smarts to your current TV, or bury the built-in system as far from your sight as possible, this is a good option to consider.
Late last year, T-Mobile announced its intentions to "uncarrier" television service, with its purchase of Layer3, an online TV provider. The first fruits of that acquisition have just reared their head at the FCC in the form of a new T-Mobile-branded set-top box.
Roku's Google Assistant integration was promised a few weeks ago along with Logitech Harmony and NVIDIA SHIELD. And while those two have already been announced, the Roku integration is now following suit.
Amazon's new Fire TV Cube, which was announced earlier this month, is now available for purchase and ready for shipping and delivery. The pre-order price of $89.99 is long gone, so you will have to fork out the full 9.99 if you want one. However, the deal on the bundle with the Amazon Cloud Cam is still available so you can save $40 by grabbing both for 9.98. Additionally, if you buy the Cube on or before July 1, you can redeem a Prime Video credit before August 31.The Fire TV Cube is a jack of all trades. It's a Fire TV device, so when you connect it over HDMI to your TV (cable not included, sadly), it acts like a smart box. Streaming services, games, and various other apps are available with support for 4K Ultra HD up to 60fps and HDR. It's also similar but more powerful than an Echo Dot thanks to its eight far-field microphones, 40mm speaker, and built-in Alexa support. And it's finally like a mini Harmony hub with its included IR functionality that lets you control TVs, soundbars, A/V receivers, and cable/satellite boxes. Plus, there's an IR extender in the box to reach hidden electronics and equipment.
It's a little bit tough to see the big picture when we're stuck looking at the news that interests us as consumers, but Android TV has made large strides away from our observing gaze. In less than a year, ever since hardware from the Android TV Operator Tier started coming to the market, many Pay TV providers around the world have switched their boxes to run Google's software. The result: new Android TV users have doubled in the last year.
DISH has been relatively fast in adopting new Android-related devices and services, from 4K Android TV boxes to Google Assistant support, but it's only now that the cable box provider has decided to support Android TV properly and release its DISH Anywhere app for the platform.
When Arris announced last week that it would start making set-top boxes for cable providers running Android TV, one reader brought our attention to the fact that this wasn't a rare occurrence. We already knew about Airtel and Dish, but there are many more cable boxes running Android TV around the world that we didn't know about but luckily, there's one site that lists them all.
You may not have heard of Arris International, but it's one of the world's largest set-top box manufacturers. Cable/satellite/TV operators will contract Arris to manufacture their proprietary set-top boxes, which they then sell to their customers. Today, Arris announced that it would begin offering new Android TV-based solutions to operators.
There's a race to the bottom in the home entertainment world, created by the lower pricing for set-top boxes, the near ubiquity of built-in "smart" features for new televisions, and not least, Google's own low-priced efforts with the Chromecast. Compared to the rock-bottom pricing of gadgets like the Chromecast, the Amazon Fire TV Stick, and the market-dominating Roku boxes, Android TV is in a pickle. Stand-alone ATV units start at around $100, which is more expensive than the Roku you might buy (or the apps that come free with your TV), and less expensive than the home game console you might already have.
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The official first-party remote control for NVIDIA's SHIELD Android TV set-top box is great. It uses more or less the same mini-remote design as the Nexus Player, Fire TV, Roku, and any number of similar streaming boxes, but it's made out of metal, the buttons are backlit, it has a built-in headphone jack for private listening, and it recharges via a MicroUSB port. The only problem is that unlike the SHIELD controller, it doesn't come in the $200 package - you have to buy it separately for a hefty $50. But not anymore.Starting today, NVIDIA is running a promotion that bundles a free remote in with the SHIELD, so you get the Android TV box, the (excellent) Xbox-style controller, and the smaller remote all for $200. Considering that the SHIELD was already an easy winner in the admittedly short field of Android TV hardware, this only sweetens the deal. Sure, you control every aspect of the SHIELD with the bundled game controller, but the remote is just sleeker. Cooler. An elegant remote control for a more civilized living room. And you can hide the game controller under the ottoman when you're not using it.
Who knows what Google has planned for the Nexus Player, but if you want to get your hands on the company's media streaming hockey puck, doing so is becoming easily affordable.
So you've read our exhaustive review of the NVIDIA SHIELD and decided that it's the Android TV device for you. Whelp, it's available for purchase right now in the US, from both NVIDIA's own store and Amazon.com. The standard 16GB SHIELD is $199.99, but it looks like the SHIELD Pro ($299.99) with its 500GB internal hard drive won't be available until June. According to the NVIDIA Store it's coming on the 3rd, while Amazon says it won't be in stock till the 12th.
Let's be honest here: there hasn't been much movement for Android TV since the Nexus Player was released way back in November. Though Sony has committed to using ATV in its upcoming smart TVs, the actual availability of Google's latest set-top box is depressingly low. But two gaming-centric Android TV units are on the horizon, and one of them is from veteran PC accessory vendor Razer. The Forge TV now has an unconfirmed release date (May 1st) and at least one pre-order retailer (Amazon).The only thing available at the moment, and indeed, the only hint of the Forge TV we've seen since its unveiling at CES in January, is the "Forge TV Bundle." This includes the tiny Android TV set-top box and a premium "Serval" controller for $150. When Razer announced the Forge, it said it would sell the hardware itself for $100, the controllers for $80 a piece, and the Turret mouse and keyboard combo for $130. So far only the bundle is available on Amazon, though there is an out-of-stock listing for the Serval.
In a lot of ways, NVIDIA's SHIELD (not to be confused with this SHIELD or that SHIELD) is a typical set-top box. And in many ways it isn't: though NVIDIA has built its living room invader on Android like the previous products in the line, the OS underneath is merely a means to an end. And that end is selling you games, in every form and fashion that the company can come up with.
We've known that Razer was working on its own branded version of an Android TV set-top box for more than half a year, but at CES 2015 the well-known gaming peripheral company has given the gadget its coming out party. The Razer Forge TV hopes to be the go-to choice for gamers, with support for up to four simultaneous players, keyboard and mouse input, and (eventually) streaming high-end games from a local gaming PC.
Roku already gave users the ability to stream content from their Android devices to their set top boxes, but now the company is taking things a bit further. Instead of select files, the company will give people to capability to stream whatever is on their screen. We've seen this from Miracast devices, we've seen it from Chromecast, and now we're seeing it from Roku. Update: In fact, Roku is using Miracast to deliver this functionality.
Last month I took Amazon's Fire TV for a test drive and came away pretty damn impressed. It's a nice box with a lot to like – but there's also some pretty stiff competition in the streaming box arena. Companies like Google and Roku are both ready to take your money in exchange for enhancing an otherwise stale television experience.Since there a variety of options on the market today, we decided to take four of the most popular and put them in a head-to-head deathmatch. We've got Google's Chromecast, the Roku Streaming Stick, Roku 3, and Fire TV all ready to duke it out and answer one question: which one is worth your money?Unfortunately the answer isn't so simple. Each unit has standout features of its own, and none of them are bad at what they do. In fact, it's really difficult to go wrong with any of these choices. With that said, if you're looking for something in particular – be it gaming compatibility, the largest catalogue, or even the most affordable – we should be able to help guide you towards the right purchase.