Aereo

Cutting out cable has become an increasingly tempting idea with more streaming media services available than ever before. Between Netflix, Hulu, and, ahem, 'other less-legit sources,' there are few shows you can't find easily without a television these days. They don't stream live TV, though, and if you want to watch the news, talk shows, game shows, or, say, soap operas as they air, you still need either a cable subscription or a TV tuner. A new service, Aereo, is offering another option for live TV. It lets you watch basic cable/over-the-air TV on your computer, iOS device, or set-top box for $12.99 per month. The service has antennas in data centers that let servers tune into the different channels and stream them online. It's basically cloud-based over-the-air TV, so it doesn't require any hardware (other than the device you're watching the programming on). There's one possible hitch with the service: there's a lawsuit over the question of whether Aereo can legally rebroadcast broadcast television over the Internet.

The Basics
Currently the service is only available in New York City (users have to have a New York City billing address, and the service checks whether the device is accessing from an NYC IP), and the company has no immediate plans to expand. Instead of an app, Aereo is completely Web-based. The service loads over the Safari browser on Macs or PCs, with additional browsers planned for the future. It only works with iOS devices right now, so Android smartphone and tablet users are out of luck. It works in Safari on both Macs and PCs. I tested a pre-launch preview build?of the service primarily on an iPad 2 .?

Since it relies on over-the-air transmissions, Aereo only offers about 20 channels, including ABS, CBS, NBC, Fox, and PBS, for example. If you're looking for say, AMC, Bravo, or the Food Network, you won't find them here. Fortunately, the channels you do get are extremely sharp, with high-definition channels looking as good as if they were connected through cable. A list-based program guide lets you navigate various channels and flip through time slots, offering a graphic and episode information on each show. Notable shows and movies shown on network TV can appear in the Featured list and under the Feed section, keeping you apprised of new episodes. The program guide lacks a grid-based view, but you can easily navigate between times and dates.

Aereo offers a cloud-based DVR service as part of the subscription. It lets you select any show and either instantly record it or schedule a recording. Besides current and future shows, you can record entire series, either every instance of the show or every new episode. With a single tuner, however, DVR functionality is limited. You need to watch the show you're recording, or stop the recording to watch something else. Once you've recorded a show, though, you can watch it while recording something else. A 30-second fast-forward button lets you skip through commercials when watching recorded video. All shows are stored on Aereo's servers, and played through your Web browser. Worth noting: In?my tests, the service was unstable on the PC version of Safari, with video streams failing to load. We reviewed a preview build, however, so that problem should be resolved soon.

You can also programming on the browser on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch (remember it's browser-based, so there's no app to download). Aereo can also be shown on an Apple TV through AirPlay (with a source iOS device), and Roku users can install the Aereo channel on their set-top boxes.?

The TV-Watching Experience
I watched an episode of The Price is Right,?followed by the local news on an iPad 2. You can watch in either full-screen mode or inside the menu system, so you can browse the guide simultaneously. Switching between the two is simply a matter of pinching to change the size of the active window. While watching, I easily set up a recording of Family Guy and a series recording of The Simpsons. I couldn't switch from The Price is Right to Jerry Springer while recording the first show, but after the recording was complete I set up another recording to occur while I watched the stored episode. Again, all the channels looked great, as if I was watching them through basic cable and not an antenna. This puts Aereo over using a TV tuner and a computer, because the quality of different channels depends on your location, the shape and placement of your antenna, and atmospheric factors. Online streaming is immune to those issues.

In the end, if you're looking to cut cables and bills, Aereo probably isn't the solution you've been waiting for. While it's great to tune into or record programming that's currently on the air, the limited channels, a comparatively hefty $13 per month fee (compared with $8/month each for Netflix and Hulu Plus), and Mac-oriented development doesn't offer quite enough value. Unless you live in New York City, and you're dedicated to daytime soaps and talk shows, you're better off waiting for the big shows to show up on the on-demand streaming media services than relying on this limited TV-to-go service.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/jCp1M2D_FCo/0,2817,2401512,00.asp

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