Watching your own TV, thousands of miles away

[TotallyOz]

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - So you're moving from the United States to another country and the most important thing you can think of is how you can watch the new season of "American Idol"?

 

You're not alone -- "placeshifting" is one of the hottest new areas in TV technology. People no longer need to live in a country to see all of their local TV stations. In fact, they don't even need a TV anymore.

 

There are platforms for watching popular shows on the Internet and there is technology to actually make a full television feed available just like in the living room. Either way, it can be relatively cheap and surprisingly easy to keep up while on an overseas assignment.

 

PLACESHIFTING

 

The best-known technology for moving an entire TV feed from one place to another is the Slingbox (www.slingbox.com), which came out a few years ago. Although the developer was later acquired by satellite company EchoStar, the device works with any platform, even an over-the-air antenna.

 

The Slingbox, which currently comes in two models starting at $180, connects to a video feed and to the Internet, and lets users watch that feed as though they were in the same room. It even offers an on-screen remote control for changing channels, pausing, opening menus, and so on.

 

The Slingbox is available for Windows and Mac, as well as the BlackBerry, iPhone, Windows Mobile, Symbian and classic Palm mobile platforms.

 

One downside of the Slingbox, though, is that it does not offer wireless support out of the box, meaning users need to put their Slingbox close to their Internet router or buy a separate wireless or home powerline adapter. Also, it is not designed to let users record video onto computers.

 

For those who want wireless or who want to record to a PC, Monsoon Multimedia's Hava Media Player (www.myhava.com) offers many of those features. It leverages the Windows Media Center software to turn a PC into a personal video recorder, using a remote video stream from a Hava box. Hava has four models that start at $120.

 

However, Hava does not offer a Mac version, and its cellular support is limited to Symbian and Windows Mobile. Hava also charges a subscription fee for some services.

 

The problem with the Slingbox and the Hava is that if something goes wrong overseas -- a power outage, a broken cable, an overly inquisitive cat -- they can be difficult or impossible to fix.

 

For American expats with money to burn and a need for guaranteed service, there are options like Nationphone & TV. The company will actually sign you up for cable service, put your cable box in their data center and stream the output to you over a fiber-optic connection.

 

The service costs $99 a month for 65 channels without a digital video recorder, or $199 a month for 200 channels with a recorder and premium movie stations. There is also a one-time set-up fee of $175. http://www.nationphone.com/USATVabroad.html

 

THE INTERNET

 

Some people are content with just a few shows, though, and don't necessarily need to watch the Sunday morning current affairs program from their local public access channel.

 

For those TV junkies, there are services like Hulu.com and TV.com in the United States and the BBC iPlayer in Britain. They are, very simply, TV aggregators that offer free streaming of episodes of many new and classic shows.

 

One problem, though: Unlike placeshifting hardware, you can't watch these services just anywhere. Copyright rules and advertiser demands mean that they are largely unavailable outside their home territories, although they are useful when you're on the road in your home country.

 

Hulu was founded by NBC Universal and News Corp, and TV.com is owned by CBS Corp.

 

(Reporting by Ben Berkowitz; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

 

 

http://in.reuters.co...-42659920090923

[Guest HeyGay]

Wow amazing GT !

 

It all sounds very technical for my small brain, is there not a little man, with a big instrument, some where, we can call round, fit it all in and just hand us the remote for all this.

 

In bed preferably, naked, after a warm shower with him lol

 

 

[PattayaMale]

I used Nation Phone and TV. Their customer and technical service department is fantastic! After you pay for setup and the first month, if you are not satisfied, they will refund the money you paid. I received my refund within 10 days of canceling.

 

The idea is brilliant. Once setup, you use the online remote to change channels or to record up coming episodes (just like Tivo). You can pause, rewind, freeze the picture. It also comes with a TV Guide online. It is exactly like you were sitting in the US in front of the TV. Since they are based in Milwaukee, the local news is from that area. You can not ask for local channels from NY or LA if you want to keep up with news from a different hometown.

 

There is a Thailand problem however (which caused me to cancel. To get optimum picture and sound, your ISP must have a download spreed of 1MB. Many people (Including me) thought that by buying a speed of 4, 6 or 8MB from TOT, Maxnet, etc. they certainly even at peak usage times would get 1MB. Not so. In fact according to CAT, no public account (for less than 20,000 baht a month) will get over 950KB of INTERNATIONAL SPEED and usually that will be 750KB or less during peak times. Those advertised 4,6, and 8MG speeds are domestic speed.

 

CAT did tell me that some of the providers are no longer getting their bandwidth through CAT. They are or will buy it internationally on their own, which CAT said is very expensive. I understand only enough about computers to understand that this international speed bottleneck is a Thai business problem. They could open up the speed connection, but feel it is too expensive to do so. Now if you wish to pay 20,000 a month, they do have a package that will guarantee a speed over 1MB.........I decided to wait.

 

Is this anyone else's understanding?? maybe I have this wrong.

[Guest]

CAT did tell me that some of the providers are no longer getting their bandwidth through CAT. They are or will buy it internationally on their own, which CAT said is very expensive. I understand only enough about computers to understand that this international speed bottleneck is a Thai business problem. They could open up the speed connection, but feel it is too expensive to do so. Now if you wish to pay 20,000 a month, they do have a package that will guarantee a speed over 1MB.........I decided to wait.

 

Is this anyone else's understanding?? maybe I have this wrong.

 

I had higher speed in Pattaya than I have in Bangkok. If others will go to http://speedtest.net and do test for Los Angeles server, you we will be able to see what the average is. Attached is my screen shot.

[firecat69]

GT

 

Read this with great interest for Thailand. But then I went to the site and found out Thailand is not a supported country.

 

Any thoughts???

[firecat69]

GT

 

Read this with great interest for Thailand. But then I went to the site and found out Thailand is not a supported country.

 

Any thoughts???

 

 

I did mean Slingbox

[Guest]

I did mean Slingbox

 

I am not sure as I have never used it. But, http://www.nationphone.com/USATVabroad.html shows Thailand is supported. It is not cheap IMHO. But, I think I spend about that much or more on Itunes each month and think I'll give it a try on my next holiday.

[Guest zzrichard]

My reading in Pattaya is download: 2626 kbps, 846 kbps and ping is 71 ms, from Maxnet.

 

And, I don't have a clue to what it means.

[PattayaMale]

I had higher speed in Pattaya than I have in Bangkok. If others will go to http://speedtest.net and do test for Los Angeles server, you we will be able to see what the average is. Attached is my screen shot.

 

I noticed that the latency test is pretty high, over 200ms. Now you are the computer guy GT not me but I believe this is the delay between packets sent.

 

What is your latency in Thailand? It is probably much lower maybe 30 - 45ms. I think this is one of the keys. Maybe you could ask one of your tech buddies. I would appreciate knowing so I have some ammunition when I talk to CAT again

[Guest]

I am currently testing the Nationphone TV service. I'll write a review when I have tested things.

[Guest RichLB]

For other TV junkies, you might want to visit www.eztv.it. It has most popular TV shows available for download within minutes of the airing in the US. And if you've missed previous episodes, they will be available there, too.

[Guest]

For other TV junkies, you might want to visit www.eztv.it. It has most popular TV shows available for download within minutes of the airing in the US. And if you've missed previous episodes, they will be available there, too.

 

I have never downloaded from a Torrents site. A few questions.

 

1. Is it safe? Are there viruses and bugs with them?

2. Is it legal?

3. Is the quality very good?

4. I see the extensions and I don't recognize them. What program do you use to view them?

 

Thanks.

[Guest kjun12]

Go GayThailand Go! This is the most interesting thread I have read in a long while.

[bkkguy]

1. Is it safe? Are there viruses and bugs with them?

2. Is it legal?

 

p2p and torrent protocols and software are generally as safe and reliable and legal to use as are protocols like http and software like a web browser

 

in the same way as you can access both legal and illegal or malicious content via your browser you can also access legal or illegal or malicious content via p2p and torrents and torrent listing sites

 

to be safe always use a browser you know and trust, don't visit web sites you do not know and trust without adequate protection, and similarly use p2p and torrent software that you know and trust and don't use torrents from untrusted sites

 

3. Is the quality very good?

 

if the content you are acquiring via torrent is legal content from a reliable source then the quality should be good, if the content you are acquiring via torrent is pirated or from an untrusted source then the quality could be anywhere from terrible to terrific same as if you were acquiring it via a web browser or buying it on the street in Silom!

 

4. I see the extensions and I don't recognize them. What program do you use to view them?

 

to download using torrents you need a program like bittorrent or utorrent, once you have downloaded the content if will usually be a format that will play in common media players (mpg, avi, mp3 etc)

 

bkkguy

[Guest lvdkeyes]

I use Torrentbox all the time and have downloaded hundreds of films which have excellent quality. The newest film I have downloaded is Precious. Excellent quality and OMG ! What a film! The only problem is there are no Thai subtitles. My BF gets films from a Thai website that had subtitles. Also excellent quality.

[Guest GaySacGuy]

I have been using torrents for the last three years to watch as much American TV as I like. It is a good way to see current TV within a few hours of the showing in the US.

 

I use UTorrent, and it is a good program, and pretty easy to install and use. I have two torrent providers that I use.... Immortalseed and Torrentvault.

 

They both have nearly all primetime TV shows from the US, as well as TV from England, Australia, New Zealand, and a lot of other stuff including movies and music.

 

There are several layers of quality on the movies up to blueray. For TV there are two levels of quality, and I find the lowest one to be very satisfactory. A friend just got a big screen HD tv, and downloads the good quality TV for some excellent results. The better the quality, the larger the file, the longer it takes to download.

 

It has worked for me, and I enjoy the TV.

[Guest RichLB]

Looks like I got here a little late to address GT's questions, but the above replies seem spot on. I do think the issue of legality, though, is a little murky. Most of the TV shows and movies available for download are copyrighted and therefore it's most probably illegal to download them where those laws apply. But, since I live in Thailand and the choice is either to purchase illegal copies from vendors with questionable quality or to download, I elect to download.

 

The question of quality can also be important. I haven't encountered any cam copies of TV shows on Eztv, but I have run into them on Vuze, the torrent I use. Most times, the person who uploaded a cam copy identifies it as such so if you want pristine copies, select another download. I've also found that very recent movies are more likely to be cam copies - but not always.

 

And referring to viewing programs, it is rare that the common applications you most probably already have will not view them successfully. Every once in awhile you will download a movie and a screen will pop up telling you to go to another site to download their "free" viewer as a way for the producers to control pirating. I'd advise against doing that and just download another copy of the program.

 

And finally, if you elect to use P2P, I recommend VUZE. It's relatively fast and accesses multiple torrents simultaneously. I've found it faster than other programs I've used. It's free.

[Guest Soi10Tom]

I'm sitting here in Pattaya, as I write this, watching Los Angeles TV on my Slingbox. My buddy is downstairs watching Vancouver TV on his Slingbox. Slingbox works great here in Pattaya.

[firecat69]

I'm sitting here in Pattaya, as I write this, watching Los Angeles TV on my Slingbox. My buddy is downstairs watching Vancouver TV on his Slingbox. Slingbox works great here in Pattaya.

Do I understand Slingbox correctly that you have to have it connected to a cable box in your own country.???

[Gaybutton]

Do I understand Slingbox correctly that you have to have it connected to a cable box in your own country.???

And if it does, then I have a question. If I have a friend in the USA willing to let me connect a slingbox to his cable, do I have to watch whatever he's watching or can I watch what I want without me interfering with what he wants to watch and without him interfering with what I want to watch?

[Guest Soi10Tom]

Do I understand Slingbox correctly that you have to have it connected to a cable box in your own country.???

 

Yes, you have to hook Sling Box to a cable or satilite box it what ever area of the world you wish to view. The best way to handle this is to hook Sling Box to your cable box at home if you are a traveler or visitor. If you are an ex pat the best way to handle the cable box issue is to have a friend/family member rent an extra box at their home and hook your Sling Box to it. In the US most cable providers charge an extra $5 per month for each cable box.

[bkkguy]

But, since I live in Thailand and the choice is either to purchase illegal copies from vendors with questionable quality or to download, I elect to download.

 

in the last few months there has been a significant increase in the range of legal releases of DVDs of western movies available at shops like MangPong and Gram, all studio quality with some bonus materials, all with Thai subs or Thai soundtrack available and most at very reasonable prices of 100 - 300 Baht

 

OK there are few new releases or TV series but I think this is a significant step in the right direction in trying to address the piracy issue rather than the typical actions of the studios etc in the USA!

 

bkkguy

[Guest]

Yes, you have to hook Sling Box to a cable or satilite box it what ever area of the world you wish to view. The best way to handle this is to hook Sling Box to your cable box at home if you are a traveler or visitor. If you are an ex pat the best way to handle the cable box issue is to have a friend/family member rent an extra box at their home and hook your Sling Box to it. In the US most cable providers charge an extra $5 per month for each cable box.

 

Thanks for this info! I am testing NationPhone for their TV service Monday night 5PM EST. I got my link for the IP and was told to download Sling Box app. So, what they are doing is the exact same thing that you use except they set up the cable box in their office and it is yours to use. I find this concept quite fascinating and am anxious to see the quality. Years ago there was a DVR recorder that allowed for you to transfer recorded shows to your computer. I think they discontinued that shortly after it came out. This seems to be the replacement.

 

OK there are few new releases or TV series but I think this is a significant step in the right direction in trying to address the piracy issue rather than the typical actions of the studios etc in the USA!

 

I agree. I hope it is something that continues. I love the variety of the DVD's in LOS and the price is always dirt cheap. I hope that continues.

[Guest MikeGeorg]

hi all

 

at the moment we offer over 20 british channels without any boxes, only to download the player that's all.

u need only a high speed international internet connection with 2mb.

this international connection u can have with the premium packages from tt&t / 3bb, true, cat.

i have 5MB premium from 3bb in bangkok, i never have any problem to reach the server out of thailand.

 

it works worldwide, not only in thailand.

 

try it 3 days for free.

you can download the player for free from the website http://my.moxx.tv

send me an pm and i will send you the password

 

there are also over 28 channels in german language avaible

 

mike

[Guest beachlover]

www.livestation.com is an excellent website. It lets you watch a number of news stations live, including BBC World and Al Jazeera English.

 

Most Australian TV channels have what's commonly called, "catch up TV" on their websites. This means you can recently screened TV shows on their website for a certain period after they have screened... you might need to use an Australia proxy if you are overseas though.