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AT&T Plans to Gift Free Apple TV to DirecTV Now Subscribers Who Commit to 3+ Months of Service

Right now I'm paying through the nose for my Dtv.... would love an option to pick channels I wanted.... this would be an ok alternative with Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and such. I just have to have my discover, TLC, and Velocity.... Love me some wheeler dealers!
 
Macrumorsnazis said:
Could be sooner than that, before NAB in April the standards should be fully set for system to be in place at studios, is my understanding:

http://www.tvtechnology.com/atsc3/0031/atsc-30-standard-to-be-ready-by-2017-nab-show/279777


ATSC 3.0 tuner silicon already exists from LG and there are also retrofit cases:

http://www.tvtechnology.com/resources/0006/coming-soon-atsc-30/278850

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Great that ATSC 3.0 will be coming out sooner. Thanks for the update.
 
Will be interesting to see what the channel line up consists of. Is it padded with shopping networks, channels not in my native language, 12 variations on the news, and a plethora of religious channels? I'm not saying that the cable and satellite providers don't do this on their entry-level "150 stations for $29.99" offers either, but I'm sure that there are "just enough" channels missing to sour the deal.
 
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GizmoDVD said:
Pretty sure the ATV3 is not receiving any new Apps so it would probably have to be the ATV4.
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Seriously, so it's straight up deprecated now? That sucks. Meanwhile, any PC (Mac or Windows) can be used to play videos from any source for at least the next 15 years.

I really just want an AirPlay server made by Apple (not those fakes that are always sketchy). That's pretty much the only thing we use our Apple TV for nowadays since it's so limited. Besides, it's easier to pull the video up on your Mac or iPhone.
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M.PaulCezanne said:
Gee, I wonder how much Comcast will throttle that service.
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A few years back, we were highly suspicious of our home Verizon ISP throttling Amazon Instant Video because it was downloading at such slow rates on our high-tier connection that we couldn't really use it. All other video services were fast. And Amazon was fast on our cousins' crappy TWC connection.
 
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You really dont have anything to lose if you already have an Apple TV 4th gen box. Think of it. You sign up for 3 months of service. Get the free box, sell the free box. It pays for your 3 months of service. Even if the directv now service is awful. You lost nothing, the box you sold paid for those 3 months anyway. That is what i may end up doing.
 
sudo1996 said:
Meanwhile, any PC (Mac or Windows) can be used to play videos from any source for at least the next 15 years.
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Really? I can't think of any of the computers I had 15 years ago playing videos very well back then and doubt they'd have much luck with today's formats.
 
InfoTime said:
Really? I can't think of any of the computers I had 15 years ago playing videos very well back then and doubt they'd have much luck with today's formats.
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15 years ago, PCs weren't very often used for playing videos. Today, they are, and the video formats aren't going to change in ways that require significantly more computation power in the next 15 years.

If you want to look backwards instead of forwards, I do have 13-year-old (i.e. 2003) Windows computers tried and tested as media players with VLC (at least 720p). Beyond that, you start pushing your luck, but I know you can play modern SD MP4 videos on a 2001 iMac G3 because I've tried it.
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GizmoDVD said:
Don't make things up.
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I'm not.
 
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GizmoDVD said:
You are. A computer from 2001 can not play any video file.
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Sure it can. You should check the history of 2001 Macintoshes. Remember that they came with iMovie. I used to edit videos with my friend on his 2001 PowerMac G4, and Apple released the FireWire-equipped iMac DV in 2001 with a focus on video editing capability. Of course, non-Apple PCs came with all sorts of hardware and could be even more powerful.

My brother used an iMac G3 as his primary desktop for a year or so around 2013 (I guess for nostalgia?) and watched YouTube just fine on it. His 2001 PMG4 has a DVD drive in it... for playing DVDs. We tried it out as a media player but put it back in the storage closet to keep it clean. I'll try it when I visit home for Thanksgiving and send you a video if you want.
 
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KdParker said:
Killing off U-verse? Is that even practical with all the fiber optics that were laid around the country?
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I am assuming it was meant to be U-Verse TV service. Why would they kill their Internet service?
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avanpelt said:
Charter Spectrum? I wouldn't wish their internet service on my worst enemy. They are about as ass-backwards of an ISP as you can possibly be in 2016. Why? They think it's perfectly logical to cap upstream throughput at 5 Mbps when the downstream is provisioned at 100 Mbps. On business accounts, they cap upstream at 7 Mbps (ooooh...thanks for the extra 2 megabits, Charter!) So completely asinine. They either don't understand -- or don't care to acknowledge -- that in this day and age of putting things in the cloud, upstream throughput is just as important as downstream throughput.

One of the major drawbacks of them choosing to cap their upstream throughput at either 5 Mbps or 7 Mbps is that if you're trying to upload a ton of data to the cloud and have an AirPort Extreme or Express router (which doesn't have QoS), the upstream channel gets completely saturated to the point that no other device on your network is able to send out anything -- even something as simple as a DNS lookup request, thus rendering your connection completely unusable for anything except the upload to the cloud. Have VoIP? Kiss your phone service goodbye while an upload is in progress.

If my family ever moves, one of my requirements is that the house be in a neighborhood that has AT&T fiber installed. If the neighborhood only has Charter service, it is a no go for me. I am that passionate about staying away from Charter. Charter wanted me to pay $120/month for 100 Mbps down/5 Mbps up last year. That's how much they charge if you only want internet service from them as soon as the promo rate expires. As soon as AT&T fiber was available in our neighborhood last year, I jumped on it and we now have 1 Gbps up and down and pay $70/month. Just for the fiber internet -- no bundle. Yeah, $50 less per month for 10x more downstream bandwidth and 200x more upstream bandwidth! Charter can kiss my ass!!
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Do you have any datacaps on your plan?
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boomhower said:
My only question is can I buy NFL Sunday Ticket? It is literally the only reason I have DirecTV. I was a cord cutter for a year and went back for the football package. It is a need for me and even more for my wife.
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I thought there was NFL GamePass on Apple TV now. No need to go to DirectTV.
 
Ken Linger said:
Will be interesting to see what the channel line up consists of. Is it padded with shopping networks, channels not in my native language, 12 variations on the news, and a plethora of religious channels? I'm not saying that the cable and satellite providers don't do this on their entry-level "150 stations for $29.99" offers either, but I'm sure that there are "just enough" channels missing to sour the deal.
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Yea but those channels keep your rates down. Yea Right.
 
No official word yet. Wonder if they have enough Apple TV or call it off days in just like walmart and target Apple TV promos
 
bacaramac said:
Been using Sling for 4 or so months and loving it, except I want my traditional guide view. Got $60 off 4th gen AppleTV with Sling.

Would put Sling on hold for 3 months to try this and get free AppleTV, although a little more expensive than current Sling package, it includes more channels.
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I got my Apple TV using the same deal. I used Sling before that on my Fire TV and then on Apple TV. I actually found the fire TV interface better. The Vue interface is MUCH better though (also pricier)
 
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