We take a quick look at the future of TV. Mainly streaming content to our TV from other devices, and with today’s release of Google’s long awaited Chromecast in the UK, is Streaming going to take off?
CHROMECAST
Is just simply a dongle that plugs into an HDMI socket in your television which then connects to your Wi-Fi signal and that is it, simple as that, You can then stream content such as films, TV, music to your TV from your laptop, tablet or smartphone. YouTube, Netflix and IPlayer come built in with more apps and content on the way, using the Chrome browser you can install a plug-in that lets you “cast” webpages direct from your browser with the tap of a button. The best bit? Its only £30
Compatible with Android, IOS, Mac, Windows and Chromebooks
NOW-TV
Powered by SKY TV this is essentially a no contract no satellite way of having SKY TV and you can’t stream to content to your TV from your laptop, tablet or smartphone, but what it does do is give you access to 3 optional pay per month packages. Film, Entertainment and Sport.
For £4.99 a month the Entertainment bundle offers you access to the very best in American TV from Game Of Thrones, 24 and The Walking Dead, you also got 10 live channels including SKY Atlantic and Comedy Central.
The Movies bundle is £8.99 a month and for that you get access to SKY’s huge Movie database, over 800 films to stream and with 16 new movies added a month and upto a year ahead of other services It’s a pretty great package.
The Sports Pass is £9.99 per day and gives you access to all 6 of the Sport Channels, you can also buy a day pass if you just want watch to the occasional big events.
You can also just buy the box itself without buying any of the packages, the box comes pre-loaded with a long list of apps from Facebook, Youtube, Spotify, Picasa, SKY News and a plethora of others you can install for free. Catchup services like iPlayer, Demand 5, 4OD are also included.
The Box itself is just £10! But you can buy 6 monthly packages for new user direct from their site
ROKU
The Roku comes in 4 different versions, 4 boxes and a new streaming stick. The boxes connect directly to your wifi and the stick plugs into an HDMI socket on your TV and uses the wifi to stream.
ROKU offers over 450 channels of movies, TV, music, and games at your disposal from the standard free apps such as Facebook, iPlayer, Demand 5, Spotify, SKY Store, not only do you get a huge list of free apps and content you are also able to pay-as-you-go on movies on TV using Netflix, Sky Sports and rent the latest realease from £3.49 from the Sky Store.
The remote control doubles up as motion controller for playing games with, which is nice. Download the free ROKU app for IOS or Android and you can use that as a controller as well.
Prices Start from £49.99 for the Streaming Stick and £39.99 for the basic box
