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AT&T Plans to Gift Free Apple TV to DirecTV Now Subscribers Who Commit to 3+ Months of Service
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Not really. They are matching what Sling TV has been doing and that is to bundle a free Apple TV, Fire TV, or Roku if you pay for 3 months of service in advance.
Yes, you could get Amazon Prime within the ATV4....if Amazon would just release the app. I know they are delaying it in hopes of promoting their Fire TV, but for those of use that are never going to buy one, yet enjoy Amazon Prime, it's frustrating.
Seems like this re-model of the distribution of content is what Steve Jobs aimed to accomplish. No surprise here that Apple was watching, and now Apple will have TV app ready when AT&T accomplishes and provides Apple TV box
so streaming... does that meant theres no recording or fast forwarding commercials cus thats a deal breaker. no one watches commercials in this day
Translation:
$35/month if you sign up for 2 years, then it jumps to $70.
Spam will be right in the channel guide...
A slew of crap channels you can't easily remove from the guide unless you create a favorites list, which will mysteriously disappear every time the app updates itself.
If you cancel before the 2 year agreement you'll pay a penalty in the form of all the 'discounts' they gave you plus the price of the AppleTV box.
$35/month if you sign up for 2 years, then it jumps to $70.
Spam will be right in the channel guide...
A slew of crap channels you can't easily remove from the guide unless you create a favorites list, which will mysteriously disappear every time the app updates itself.
If you cancel before the 2 year agreement you'll pay a penalty in the form of all the 'discounts' they gave you plus the price of the AppleTV box.
It’s AT&T, folks. Don’t blink. Any rate they advertise will be temporary (introductory). Six months later you’ll pay three times that. Ask anyone who subscribed to AT&T’s U-verse service.
I don't disagree, however, in the streaming era, it's a little different. They don't have a dedicated TV pipe into your home, and I don't see them limiting this service only to those with AT&T home and/or wireless internet. Bundle, yes, but not limit to a generally narrow online audience (considering AT&T home service isn't even available in many parts of the US).
In the streaming world, when you don't like a service, either in price or content delivered, there are other competitors available to sign up with right away. There is at least one direct competitor right now on the Apple TV box, Sling. There is another competitor, PS Vue, that just doesn't happen to be on ATV yet. Hulu, YouTube, and others are coming with their services. If AT&T plays the game the way AT&T always has, they will lose and this service will ultimately fail. The great thing about online delivery is the freedom of choice!
Except for unable to skip commercials in most cases. This is the most important reason for a DVR if you have a good On Demand library.
I currently use Hulu (no commercial tier) and CBS All Access (no commercial tier) for about 85% of what I use to record with a DVR. I still need a DVR for the other 15% because I refuse to set thru commercials. What some of want is a No Commercial Tier for ALL of the On Demand Content (like Hulu and CBS). To me it is simple and obvious. There are only few hold outs now. The CW (was on Hulu until this season), AMC and some others. Maybe the New Hulu Streaming Server rumored for early next year will bring more options in this area.
Not if you want to:
A. Skip commercials, or
B. Watch outside of the 72 hour window, or
C. Save a significant number of episodes up to binge at once.
I would hope that they will still have a cloud-based DVR. If they enable TV Anywhere for most of their channels, that could appease the masses, and keep forced commercials into their programming, keeping the channel operators happy.
So, for how many of us would this just replace a subscription to Hulu? I mean, an extra $20 per month and we get all of Hulu's offerings plus a lot more (and an Apple TV) makes this sound like a sweet deal. Maybe even suspiciously so...
Sounds nice if it's true. It's been a long time since I've watched TV, but I think those are the only channels anyone cares about. Though ABC, NBC, Fox are publicly broadcasted for free anyway.
This is needed for sure. Right now you can only have 1 iCloud Login at a time. But with iTunes Store you can have multiple and switch kind of easily. Apple needs to support multiple iCloud Logins and allow for FAST SWITCHING kind of like on the MAC. I have been using the WatchAid App which is like the New TV App and it ties to the iCloud Login so on separate ATV's this works well but not on the same Apple TV.
Directv Now started life as Uverse Now, but that all changed once the merger took place. The original idea was to save the Uverse brand and bring it to more homes via OTT.
Original project:
Roll out OTT streaming app that could play on any media streaming device.
Simple to use interface with cloud DVR controls.
Unlimited data usage with any AT&T service.
100 channels for $30-45 with location and user specific ads.
Reduction of set-top boxes and inventory.
Reduction of maintenance technician truck rolls.
Reduction of maintenance labor force.
Sell Apple TV, Roku and Amazon media devices as CPE.
Sell anonymously data mined user data.
I personally spear headed this side project but was told by the executives that it was too ambitious. Three months after the merger the idea was green lighted by newly merged DTV executives.
I'm no longer part of this project, but the above was the original idea.
Original project:
Roll out OTT streaming app that could play on any media streaming device.
Simple to use interface with cloud DVR controls.
Unlimited data usage with any AT&T service.
100 channels for $30-45 with location and user specific ads.
Reduction of set-top boxes and inventory.
Reduction of maintenance technician truck rolls.
Reduction of maintenance labor force.
Sell Apple TV, Roku and Amazon media devices as CPE.
Sell anonymously data mined user data.
I personally spear headed this side project but was told by the executives that it was too ambitious. Three months after the merger the idea was green lighted by newly merged DTV executives.
I'm no longer part of this project, but the above was the original idea.
One of the things I dread about service issues is a truck roll for AT&T (Internet & DirecTV).
Then don't get it, problem solved. I hate whinny entitled people.
Killing off U-verse? Is that even practical with all the fiber optics that were laid around the country?
Did the cloud DVR controls allow for skipping commercials? And how long did they keep the recordings? I think Vue cloud DVR is 28 days but not sure since I do not use them. And I do not use them because they do not have an Apple TV App.
Except for skipping ads. So unless the streams are ad-free, a DVR is still useful.