TV off air: DishTV's new AirTV device is a connected tuner for free-to-air TV. Dish, the subsidiary of AirTV, introduced a new device on Wednesday that allows users to watch free live broadcasts of television networks such as ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox on televisions and mobile devices at home and abroad. Later this year, AirTV plans to add DVR functionality to the device as well. Now it is better to say goodbye to cable TV and just watch air TV.
Dish airtv, 4k OTA |
AirTV, as the device is simply called, has a cost of $120 and comes with a $25 credit for Dish's Sling TV broadcast service and you can get from Airtv Amazon offer. That combination is not accidental: Sling TV, since its launch, focused mainly on cable channels and avoided transmission networks for its most popular packages.
The AirTV device is a network TV tuner, which means that it does not connect directly to a TV, but transmits local programming via WiFi. AirTV now allows Sling TV subscribers to connect to local stations directly on their Sling TV application by adding open television to Sling TV's cable television packages.
Consumers who do not wish to subscribe to Sling TV can also choose to watch local broadcasts of their AirTV in a dedicated AirTV mobile application or subscribe to a free Sling TV account without paying for any of the service packages.
TV off air AirTV integrates two TV tuners, which means that households can watch two separate programs simultaneously. The device connects directly to a wireless antenna and has Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity for access to the network.
Network TV tuners like these are not completely new. HDHomerun has been manufacturing similar devices for several years, and cable-focused DVR providers such as Tablo have been using networked devices to record and transmit broadcast programming for some time as well.
Speaking of which: at the launch, AirTV will not have DVR capabilities, but a spokesperson confirmed that this functionality will be added later this year. Consumers connecting an external hard drive to the device will be able to record open TV and access their recordings along with the DVR recordings in the Sling TV cloud in the service application.
0 Comments