While the circumstances have been hardly superb, 2020 was a giant yr for wire slicing.
Streaming companies like Netflix and Disney+ noticed their subscriber numbers soar as individuals appeared for methods to cross the time at dwelling, and the short-term suspension of reside sports activities accelerated the decline of conventional pay TV bundles. While not coronavirus-related, this yr launched two main new streaming companies in HBO Max and NBC’s Peacock, and we noticed some daring makes an attempt to rethink the streaming machine with Google’s new Chromecast and the TiVo Stream 4K.
I’ve been penning this weekly column (and publication) on cord-cutting via all of it, so in accordance with annual custom, I’d prefer to cap off 2020 by recounting my favourite developments of the yr. Here are TechHive’s fifth-annual cord-cutter awards:
Best new streaming {hardware}: Chromecast with Google TV
Jared Newman / IDGAt the beginning of the yr, I wrote that unified streaming TV guides could be certainly one of cord-cutting’s largest developments, and no streaming machine delivers on that concept fairly just like the Chromecast with Google TV.
Since then, I’ve heard from numerous readers who’re in search of precisely what Fancy Bits aspires to create. They don’t need a hodgepodge of various apps, every with their very own interfaces and with various guidelines on how lengthy you may watch their content material. They simply need a easy DVR-style menu for all their favourite films and exhibits, with every thing completely out there to look at on a second’s discover, on-line or off.
Creating that type of expertise is tough work, and Channels DVR isn’t fairly there but—for one factor, you want some tech savviness simply to set it up—however the service has made main strides in the precise path with options like Locast assist, TV Everywhere channel integration, and the flexibility to import video information from exterior sources.
In a approach, it’s making an attempt to succeed in the identical aggregation objective because the Chromecast with Google TV, however from a wholly completely different path, and it’s been thrilling to look at.
Thanks for following together with me via yet one more yr of cord-cutting developments! To keep on prime of all of it in 2021, please take a look at my Cord Cutter Weekly publication, which features a hyperlink to this column and extra each Friday morning.
