CES logoI had been on the fence about attending CES again next month. The former Consumer Electronics Show was once a treasure trove of new equipment for satellite TV and terrestrial over-the-air devices. It was always interspersed through a few thousand non-TV exhibitors like targets in a scavenger hunt, and for several years the sea of irrelevant (to this blog) but amazing stuff surged to drown out what I was looking for.

Then Channel Master announced that it would use CES to show off a new device that combined the Android TV world of internet-based content with a mature OTA DVR. I decided to give CES another year.

(By the way, if you want to attend for free, I just got an email link from Hypercel that’s supposed to be good through Dec. 18. If you’re coming, drop me a line so we might find time to say hello.)

Since I’ve committed and bought my plane tickets, I sorted through the announced exhibitors to see who else I want to meet with while I’m there. Dish/Sling isn’t on the exhibitor list, though its usual location is still “On Hold” on the CES map. So here are a few other promising, relevant companies.

  • Plex – A streaming media app with 14 million users. It works well with OTA TV and so much more, but I’ve never had time to really try it out.
  • CloviTek – One of those startups at Eureka Park, the section with the most new ideas per square foot. CloviTek makes a device that transmits audio from a TV to a mobile device.
  • Stream TV Networks – After everyone laughed 3D TVs out of the building a couple of years ago, Stream TV has been keeping the faith. I still believe that glasses-free 3D could be a huge hit.
  • Antop Antenna – They just make really good OTA TV antennas, and they usually have some new form factor to show off.
  • Samba TV – Easier to experience than to describe, Samba tracks what you’re watching and suggests what else you might like. I think it’s better than that sounds.
  • Hisense – Like the experience of standing in a real mountain range, the dazzling room-filling video walls at CES defy adequate description. Hisense is one of those TV makers.
  • Silicondust – Makers of the HDHomeRun interface box that puts OTA TV on your home network. Always gracious and fun to talk to. I backed the Kickstarter for their DVR then neglected to give it a try when it came out. On my ToDo list now.
  • XUMO – After praising Pluto TV recently, I need to look more at XUMO despite its all-caps name. It also offers a free package of live TV and on-demand content.
  • Solaborate – Another Eureka Park exhibitor, it makes a device that “transforms any TV into an all-in-one, video communication and collaboration device for video conferencing, screen sharing, wireless screencasting, live broadcasting, camera feed with motion detection, Alexa Voice Assistance, and more.”
  • REMO Electronics – A Russian manufacturer of indoor and outdoor TV antennas. It might be interesting to see what they do differently.
  • And Channel Master – The single biggest reason for me to visit CES this year. I always love chatting with them about the latest DVR+ channels, but I’m hoping for something even better this time.

AirWave antenna receiver

The AirWave, as seen in the Mohu suite at CES.

There were so many new and interesting devices available at CES that I hesitate to talk about one that isn’t quite ready yet. A lot of people have been writing about the Mohu AirWave, the latest over-the-air TV receiver meant to integrate with over-the-top streaming services, so I guess I’ll add what I saw.

The AirWave takes a different approach to OTA-OTT integration. Its OTA antenna is built-in, and it uses wifi for streaming access, so it should be particularly attractive to literal cord-cutters. The AirWave provides a nice OTA guide with free program data, plus access to the usual OTT suspects. Once it reaches your shelf, it will be able to send that OTA-OTT signal to just about any viewing device you can imagine, including those that get attached to the TV set.

(Mohu was also excited about its free Untangle.TV web app, which launched in November. Untangle interviews visitors about which shows they want to keep, then illustrates how much money they’d save over cable with strategic OTT subscriptions and a Mohu OTA antenna. Nice to have to show cord-cutter wannabes.)

There’s so much to like about the AirWave that I feel sad about its drawbacks. The first kicker is its release date. The AirWave won’t be available until “late Spring 2017,” and only at Best Buy. The second, as noted by Streaming Media, is that it’s still fairly limited, with only a single tuner and no DVR. That could change by the time the next version comes out, but that’s even more speculative than saying version 1.0 will make it to Best Buy before June 20.

Like so many devices, the AirWave strikes me as about 3/4 of a perfect cord-cutter OTA-OTT solution. There are a bunch of almost-perfect devices out there, and each seems to be missing a different piece.

Tablo tuners and TV guide screen

Tablo’s new guide interface and the new Tablo Live tuner.

At CES this year, there was more over-the-air TV on display than in the previous five years put together. (More about that in a later post.) Many of the products on display worked to combine OTA with other technology to appeal to cord-cutters. Tablo took the opposite approach, introducing new products that provide smaller parts of its flagship’s functionality.

On one hand, there’s the new Tablo DROID Android-Based Software DVR for the Nvideo Shield streaming receiver. From what I could see, the Shield looks blazing fast, and the new striped guide interface was a step up from Tablo’s solid guide for other devices. With a two-tuner USB dongle attached to the Shield, while the user watches one show, the DVR can record a second to the Shield’s storage or to an external USB hard drive. Tablo subscription fees apply, though the press release quoted $4/month rather than the $5/$50/$150 Tablo charges for monthly, yearly, or lifetime subscriptions to its standard receiver.

On the other hand, some folks just want an inexpensive way to distribute OTA TV around the house. The new Tablo Live tuner converts the signal to the local WiFi network and includes the standard Tablo interface with an on-screen 24 hour grid guide, all without subscription fees. Tablo also said it was developing a cloud-based DVR that could be used with the Tablo Live, but it’s still “in the proof-of-concept stage.”

With so many other companies jumping in with IP-connected OTA devices, it’s nice to see Tablo diversify. I wonder which products will catch on by this time next year.

AirTV and Roku receivers

The CES exhibit floor opened today, so I got a chance to actually see AirTV, which I wrote about a couple of days ago. The Dish Network’s subsidiary’s new receiver showed off its promised unification of over-the-air TV and SlingTV, with easy Netflix integration to boot.

To answer my most important question about AirTV, there will be no subscription fee for guide data, at least according to the project developer I talked to at the Dish / Sling booth. (He preferred that I didn’t mention his name.) Not now, and not in the foreseen future. On the other hand, no DVR either. They were still discussing whether to allow local OTA recordings even as Sling rolls out a cloud-based, 100-hour DVR, currently in beta.

AirTV display screenUpon installation, an AirTV with the OTA USB dangle will scan for available channels, then lay them out on a typical (for Sling) left-right program strip. As you can see by this photo, users can mix local channels and Sling pay-TV channels in their favorites list. I also saw a strip of Netflix shows, ordered by previous viewings and suggestions. And I also saw the Google Play Store on-screen button for adding any number of TV-friendly apps.

I’ve got a unit on order, and I’ll write a better review once I can put the receiver through its paces. Till that happens, I’ll know that I was right about at least one thing. The AirTV developer confirmed that the OTA USB dangle is a rebranded Hauppauge.

Alexis Ohanian talking at CES

Gary’s Book Club is another way to meet industry leaders. Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, dropped by during CES 2015. (photo by the blogmeister)

Two of the best parts of CES every year are the chance to see industry leaders in person and the chance to learn about new trends. Some of those discussions are presented as SuperSessions, free to all conference attendees, and CES just released its SuperSession schedule for the January 2017 show, now just five weeks away.

The most important session for the future of TV, both broadcast and over-the-top, is on January 5, the same day the exhibit hall opens. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez will present their views for an hour starting at 11:30. Other SuperSession topics will include artificial intelligence, the sharing economy, and self-driving cars. You can find the full list here.

If you needed another reason to join me at CES, there it is. Just drop me a line so we can meet while we’re there.