# one for the TV experts



## travelling-man

What do we think of these things and will they work here?

Amazon's Fire TV Stick launches in the UK for £35 | Daily Mail Online


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## sangerm

They have been getting very good reviews particularly concerning the hardware which is very fast. They are the new kid on the block and compete with:

1. Google Chomecast
2. Ruku Streaming stick

All of these solutions offer a range of applications which include things like iplayer, Demand 5. and Filmon TV. Howerver it is only the Roku that offers in addition All4 and ITV catchup and has the largest apps collection. I note though that the Amazon product also offers TV Player which streams UK TV also being new has the least number of applications.

The problem with all of them is that many of the UK catchup applications require you to be in the UK and this can only be overcome by using a VPN or smart DNS service.

The Fire TV stick is easier to configure for smart DNS because it is the only one which allows you to respecify the DNS in the stick itself. With Chromecast and Roku you need to have a router which is configurable to specify the alternative DNS and also block the default DNS used by the sticks.

Mike


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## Bazoo

check out "android Tv" on amazon for a really comprehensive box that you can get thousands of channels including premium channels. YouTube will show you how to set them up


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## sangerm

Android is a system which was developed for mobile phones and tablets with touchscreens. The cheap Android TV boxes use a piece of software called XBMC (or Kodi) to allow them to be used on a TV with a remote control. This is open source software (ie freeware) which runs on other systems (eg Windows) as well and most of the applications that run in it have been built by hobbyists and have no guarantee that they will work and no big company maintaining them.

I worked in IT for 36 years and in my humble opinion (I did install and test Kodi on Windows last week) unless you are a interested in solving IT issues and trawling the web for the software updates and fiddling around to get them working I would get one of the similarly priced devices I mention above.


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## Bazoo

The android box plugs directly into your tv and there are no computers in the middle, just your router. 

When you mention freeware of course it is, as is LINUX and nobody is running LINUX down. Anybody remember the blue screen of death associated with Microsoft (big company maintaining windows)? Big Company support is no guarantee that they work. Open Source software is some of the best that there is.

Google developed XBMC (X-Box Media Centre) and KODI is the latest version of XBMC. this is under the control of the XBMC Foundation. 

At CES 2015 Sony, Philips, Sharp and more announced tv models that are running Android TV.

I am an electronic engineer in air traffic control also for 36 years and in my humble opinion Android TV is here to stay for the foreseeable future and it has the backing of some major players.

Never having played with Android operating system I managed to very quickly get my box streaming 1000's of channels because the box came pre-loaded with the programs that only needed to be activated using the onscreen menu. £67 from Amazon, including remote and mini keyboard.

However, anybody that is curious about Android TV please just Google it and have a look on YouTube for recent uploads on just how 'fiddly' it is to set them up. Most videos are less than 10 minutes long.


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## sangerm

I'm not running Linux or Android down - IOS/iphone, Android and the Roku operating system are all based on it and the Amazon Fire TV stick and Chromecast run Andriod. So you are correct, it is likely to be around for a long time.

The point is KODI and the applications. No one is paying for either. Their continued development relies on good will. Kodi as you say is backed by the foundation (no idea who funds that) but the apps are not. 

I don't know what apps you've loaded but try finding one for iplayer (or the other major UK catchups for that matter). You will not find one from the BBC. The iplayer apps for Kodi/XBMC have all been created by third parties with knowledge of how to interface with the BBC streaming service. If the BBC decide to change these streaming interfaces these apps may not work - and if they don't work you'd be on your own until whoever wrote them decided to fix them or have to find another version that does work.

My experience last week was using apps from the popular xaffinity and metalkettal XBMC repositories. The filmon and iplayer apps worked sometimes and not others. 

The "fully loaded" boxes you find on Ebay or Amazon have been pre-loaded with some of the same apps that you can find in the repositories on the net. There is no guarantee that these will continue to work for the reason I've stated above. If anyone doubts this, before you buy one, email the vendor and ask if they will guarantee that the apps will work for the next year and what the warranty position is if they don't. 

As I say, if you are interested in spending your time trying to resolve these issues (and I had a good time last week) then fine - get one of these boxes. If you just want to watch the TV then get a Chromecast, Fire TV or Roku - or an Apple TV which is also based on Linux!


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## sangerm

You also didn't mention the country in which you were using the XBMC in. Is it Portugal or the UK? Only I suspect that there still may also being geolocking issues with some of the apps - perhaps you could advise?


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## Bazoo

sangerm said:


> You also didn't mention the country in which you were using the XBMC in. Is it Portugal or the UK? Only I suspect that there still may also being geolocking issues with some of the apps - perhaps you could advise?


I am still in the UK at the moment and have no problems watching live tv from USA, Australia. I have never tried watching any other countries. 

The geolocking issues you mention I cant say with 100% certainty there is a guaranteed stream, however 25th March 2015 the EU commission said geo-locking was absurd. "The Commission on Wednesday agreed how to proceed with its European Digital Single Market plan and identified priorities to be detailed in May. Limiting access to content to people in a particular country or region is a bad strategy, so the Commission wants to tear down geo-blocking barriers" 

Why is the BBC iplayer such an issue when you can watch every BBC tv region live?


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## notlongnow

Have to agree with Sangerm on this. XBMC works a treat when first set up with all the right add-ons, but is messy and irritating to keep working over time unless you're the kind of enthusiast that likes tinkering with such things. 

As an example, I had XBMC working with a host of add-ons then didn't use it for several months. ALL of the main add-ons stopped working in this time and there was a need to re load repositories and update loads of stuff before it was any use again.

SmartDNS is the way to go - instant access to catchup services in UK and US with a single settings change and a very low monthly payment.


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## notlongnow

> The geolocking issues you mention I cant say with 100% certainty there is a guaranteed stream, however 25th March 2015 the EU commission said geo-locking was absurd. "The Commission on Wednesday agreed how to proceed with its European Digital Single Market plan and identified priorities to be detailed in May. Limiting access to content to people in a particular country or region is a bad strategy, so the Commission wants to tear down geo-blocking barriers"


I wouldn't get too excited about that just yet. 

In 2001 the EU accounted the "Council Regulation on the Statute for a European Company." Fourteen years later it's still to be ratified. The EU doesn't move fast!


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## sangerm

Live TV and catchup are different ways to access TV content. The catch up services give you more control of what you want to watch and when but they don't have the currency that is provided by the live content. If I'm going to watch a mini series, I'd rather do this on catchup but would not typically use it for news or current affairs. So I think you need both. 

Thanks for the update on the EU. It does seem strange that companies are allowed to restrict their products for sale to certain countries in a "common market". Maybe we ought to get some kind of petition going?

Shortly after the disappearance of Freeview in Feb 2014 I thought I would write to the then Culture Secretary to complain that as a UK TV license payer, resident and citizen, I should be allowed to watch the TV I've paid for wherever I happened to be (ie a lot of the time in Portugal) and that the BBC's decision to pull transmission to Europe was inappropriate. I got a fob off letter back from one of her minions who then stopped the dialogue with me when I questioned some of the bluster. Maybe now with the appointment of John Wittingdale to this position we may see some change. My personal view is that they missed a big opportunity with the introduction of Digital Freeview to make it a subscription service costing the same as the license fee today.

Sky operate this model (albeit at exorbitant price) and strangely they haven't pulled their content which is still available on the wide beam Astra satellite. 

Sorry for the rant.

Mike


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## baldilocks

We have a box that we bought direct from the supplier in UK. It is very good and offers live TV as well as umpteen other things. It cost £69 as a one-off payment. Many people here in Spain have been ripped off by resellers who charge up to €200 for the box and an annually recurring charge of €140 for nothing.


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## cab65

Hi what is this box called? Do I need the internet youse it? I have heard of boxes that don't require the Internet just an ever changing code to access English programmes


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## sangerm

By way of an update, I bought a Roku streaming stick from the UK (£34 on tesco.com) and a cheap (£15) second had wifi router from ebay because my current wifi 4G router can't be configured to use the the DNS geounlocking service and this set up works fine. I get all the catch ups, Film on for live TV and Tunein for all the UK radio channels. All on the same simple menu through the same easy to use remote. I only get a download speed of around 2mb/s (despite my contract for 20mb/s from NOS/Optimus!) and it still works.

I also have a Chromecast which works through the same setup - but the Roku is easier to use.

If any one wants to know specific details or help setting up, PM me.

Mike


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## sangerm

By way of an update on this thread, I bought an Amazon stick last week. It now supports ITV player (but still no All4). Bazoo might like to know also that I was able to load Kodi/XMBC through the back door and that works well. I think it's an excellent device and as I said some time back is configurable to use a smart DNS service on the stick itself without the need to mess around with your router.


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## 44danno

travelling-man said:


> What do we think of these things and will they work here?
> 
> Amazon's Fire TV Stick launches in the UK for £35 | Daily Mail Online


Steve sent you a pm
Regards Karl


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