by Adeptus CEO | May 7, 2014 | Apple, Cord Cuttings, Home Audio and Video, Theater, Video
If you’ve read my past post’s you’ll know I am an avid cord cutter and have been a Netflix aficionado for a few years now. I am also a big Apple fan and love my AppleTV and combined these two bring together much happiness for me. Recently Apple TV added HBOGO to their line up of available “Channels” and I jumped in head first, however HBO has been missing some points that I feel a well established company entering a well established market with well established technology should not be experiencing. The trouble first presented itself with the season finale of True Detective and the complete collapse of HBOGO which plenty has been said about. However I was recently on vacation in Key West and of course my wife and I had to keep up with Game of Thrones so I rigged our really small Condo TV up to my MacBook Pro and patched the audio into the Sony HTIB (home theater in a box) system and sat on the couch and watched Season 4 Episode 4 , Oathkeeper. The stream was good, which with my speed test pegging out at 100mbps I should hope so. It was so much better than what we experience at home I began to get agitated. Why? Why was this so much better? I got back to the house and decided to look into our video stream quality and our actual speed numbers. Our internet is a mediocre 30mbps/5mbps Comcast package which if you do a 2wire sustained speed test turns a 2.5mbps constant stream speed which by standard basic math equates to...
by Adeptus CEO | Apr 24, 2014 | Cord Cuttings, Home Audio and Video, Video
Cord-Cutting, you’ve got to admit it’s getting better. HBO and Amazon have made the deal, a deal that adds HBO shows to the Prime Library. Now Amazon Prime members have access to HBO’s Catalog of shows without needing HBOGO. As a prime member myself this is a win. Woke up today and my Prime membership got better, then I had my coffee. With shows like Sopranos, Deadwood, and Six Feet Under on Amazon Prime you can now see the tide turning away from Cable distribution to Net distribution. HBO still has its hold outs like Game of Thrones (Personal Favorite) and Sex and the City which HBO obviously feels warrants more “value” (read $$$). But a step in the right direction is a step away from the old. For years Cable customers have been begging for a’la Carte Access to Channels they want and whether Cable wants to or not the heavy hitters are starting to provide. This is called Adaptation and the ones that fail to adapt will fail to survive, I’m looking at you Big Cable Company X. ( Soon to be bigger Cable Company X) Don’t be afraid to take the leap. No one misses commercials. No one. Free 30 Day Amazon Prime Trial Available Here – Don’t be afraid – Do it….. Dooooo Itttttt -Phil ...
by Adeptus CEO | Apr 22, 2014 | Cord Cuttings, Home Audio and Video, Theater, Video
Apple TV Update April 2014 So I turned on Apple TV last night to discover a new set of channels. The History and H2 Channel (in one), The Lifetime Channel, and The A&E Channel all sitting pretty in the middle of my carefully manicured home screen. “WOW! This is great!”my wife an I both exclaimed , BUT IT WASN’T. Sure you can now watch the OLD Episodes of these Channels but if you want to watch the new you need a cable subscription – Bummer for Cord Cutters like us. However our Internet came with a basic cable plan that included HBO, we don’t use it except for HBOGO access, now we’ll use it for more! So off to the internet I went this morning to see if I could link my account to The History Channel to watch all its crazy goodness, BUT WAIT I CAN’T. Apparently you have to be a DirecTV – Optimum – Verizon Fios subscriber to get access to the new material ( this is all taken from the www.mylifetime.com/activate page ) Sadly I am a Comcast subscriber – This is sad on many levels, and thusly can not subscribe to the new goodness. Sure I can watch the older stuff but we Cord Cutters have been shoved to the back of the line the whole time and It’s nice that channels like HBOGO allow us to see a show almost in realtime the day its being aired -*note: When it works. I noted before that my information came from the Lifetime website – This is because at this time 9:00AM 4/22/14 I am unable...
by Adeptus CEO | Apr 16, 2014 | Audio, Control System, Home Audio and Video, Integration, Smart Home, Video
A personal testament to my experience with these technologies – don’t take it personal I have read a lot of articles that talk about Smart Homes they often discuss Z-wave, Zigbee and Power Line Communication and the many devices available to the consumer. They have control valves and thermostats and pool lighting controllers and garage door openers and timers and just about everything you never cared about controlling available. The articles usually laud the differences between these technologies, I won’t because they don’t work. I have worked with Z-wave, Zigbee and PLC in many projects and I can tell you in general its slow and prone to failure. Now don’t get me wrong I’m not talking about clinical trials here I’m talking about real life in home day-to-day, week to week, month to month problems. I’ve had systems install flawlessly from go. I set it up program it and everything lights up. I’m happy. I’m actually surprised and super stoked I get to go home on time – this almost never happens. Annnndddd just as I’m about to do a full walk thru after cleaning up something just doesn’t quite catch on a command, one device is not responding in sequence or the volume suddenly seems like its touchy. I don’t immediately throw my hands up and rip it all out I assume it’s probably just a mistake or bad timing. But then it happens again and then something else that was flawless before suddenly crashes. I start to get that sick feeling that tells me I’m not going home and I’m going to be on the phone...
by Adeptus CEO | Apr 10, 2014 | Home Audio and Video, Video
I am not the streaming key master. I am however someone who has used streaming almost exclusively for the last 7 years and I can assure you it has only gotten better. Netflix Signing up for Netflix was the best thing, in terms of entertainment, to happen to me since my first Movie Theater experience. Even then with the limited library of TV shows and Movies to select from it presented a whole new world of possibility when I got home from work. My then relatively new and large 46″ Samsung LCD TV became a limitless window into the world of film. Movies I would never have thought of renting became worth the risk. I explored and discovered Directors, Actors, Producers, and Studios. I discovered the thrill and peril of Binge watching TV shows (my first was Lost). I watched independent films I would never have been exposed to any other way. I became my own captain on a sea of video that stretched as far as the eye could see. Past My first streaming device was a Samsung BD-P1600 Blu-Ray Player(currently living out its days at my parents). That unit came with access to four streaming Services – Youtube, Blockbuster, Netflix, and Pandora. This was the beginning of an era, that for me, has no end in sight. After a few years of use I eventually upgraded to a newer model Sony BDP-S580 which included a much broader range of streaming services. New Services included Slacker Radio for Audio, Crackle for free video, Sony Channels, Yoga TV, Hulu Plus and more with every firmware update. Clearly by this point the Streaming market had evolved beyond...
by Adeptus CEO | Apr 8, 2014 | Home Audio and Video, Video
I cut the cord approximately 6 years ago and I haven’t looked back. Cutting the cord simply means not using cable and/or satellite as your primary entertainment source. For me it meant no longer paying for channels I don’t watch and shows I can’t watch while I’m at work. It also means I no longer have to watch mindlessly repetitive commercials every day for products I couldn’t care less about. When I first cut the cord Netflix was my primary entertainment source via a Samsung Blu-Ray player. There were not many options for the intrepid cord cutter. However I did enjoy the freedom. Well, that and binge watching shows like LOST, this on its own was reward enough for cutting the cord. As the years have gone by more options are available for cord cutters. Just released the Amazon Fire TV which retails for $99 is the most recent player to enter the field of streaming online content. The Roku 3 which also retails for $99 is a long-standing online streamer that also boasts flexibility. And last but not least Apple TV which, you guessed it, retails for $99 and represents the first major player to bring streaming to the home. Each of these boxes has its own advantages as well as disadvantages. Stay tuned for detailed break down on each, coming soon. -Phil Adeptus ...
