Chromecast profiles

I totally missed Google's announcement recently that they would be adding profiles to Chromecast devices. And, by Chromecast devices, I mean the Chromecast with Google TV (Chromecast/GTV). I make the distinction because the older form Chromecast still exists. You know, the one where you must use your phone to control playback. To me, the newer Chromecast IS Chromecast, and that's what I'm talking about from here on out.

So, profiles. They haven't been added, but they are coming, according to a blog post by Google:

Google TV profiles let everyone in your home enjoy their own personalized space with their Google Account. With a personalized profile, you’ll get TV show and movie recommendations just for you, easy access to your personal watchlist and help from your Google Assistant.

This is a good thing. A very good thing. Except for one thing. They announced this on October 11 and we don't have it yet.

Sure, it'll come, I know. And I should be patient for it. But I really do like the idea of profiles.

Today, you can actually log in with different accounts, and switch between accounts. So, if the functionality of switching between different users already exists, what's the big deal? For me, I'd use it by setting up a kids profile for the grandchildren to use. I don't think they all have their own Google account, and even if they did, having to go through the process of logging in would be a delay. With profiles, I can set up a kids profile, and quickly switch to it for them to watch TV.

So, yeah, even though the grown-ups in our household have their own accounts, this brings us a little more. And, I suspect, it would be a bigger help to families where not everyone has their own Google account. Profiles just makes it easier.

I'm excited about it, for whenever it finally comes to my Streaming Life.

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Fubo TV locations restrictions

I decided to try Fubo TV for a month. I tried it again for a week, and was happy with it, so I let the free trial turn into a regular subscription. It had all the sports channels I wanted, and I got three streams, and with local channels, that means I didn't have to change apps to watch something from the broadcast networks. Everything is good, right?

Well, no.

You see, sometimes on weekends, I'll visit my son who lives in another town. I visited last weekend. He has Xfinity cable, even though he was the first person I met who streamed content. He got me into streaming. However, Xfinity offered a deal for him to come back, so he did. But, Xfinity doesn't carry ACC Network, as it turns out, and he follows a team that plays on ACC Network a lot.

Now, let's suppose the following happens:

• I'm at his house.
• He wants to watch something on ACC Network.
• I have a service that carries ACC Network.
• My service has three streams, meaning if someone at my house is watching, I still have two streams.
• I can watch my service away from home, and am not limited to a mobile device. I can use a Roku, Fire TV, or whatever to watch.

What could go wrong? Well, here's what could go wrong.

As it turns out, Fubo TV does allow three streams, and I can watch away from home, but I can't use simultaneous streams from two locations. That last bit may need some explanation and examples.

I can watch Fubo TV at home with a streaming device (Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, etc).

I can watch Fubo TV away from home with a streaming device.

But, if someone is watching my Fubo service at home, I can't stream away from home. Or, if I do, the stream at home stops.

This actually makes sense. It allows my to use Fubo TV at a vacation home, for instance, unlike Hulu+Live TV. (Hulu+Live TV won't let you use a streaming device away from home; you must use a mobile device.) What it won't do, I'm figuring, is allow you to share with friends or family who live at a different location.

So, will I keep Fubo TV? Maybe. How often will I be wanting to stream from my son's house for something he doesn't get on cable, while there's a stream at my house running? Not often.

On the other hand, if I do change to a different service when this month of Fubo is up, I won't have that issue. Well, as long as it's not Hulu+Live TV (hint: it won't be).

These odd things keep my Streaming Life interesting.

Congress, Roku, and Google

We've talked recently about the ongoing pissing contest between Roku and Google. And, we said it could get worse.

It just got worse. Members of Congress are weighing in. That's never a good thing.

CNBC reports that Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D - MN) and Rep. David Cicilline (D - RI) are taking sides in the issue, and they are taking Roku's side:

“For too long, the big tech platforms have leveraged their power to preference their products and services over those of thousands of smaller online businesses,” Klobuchar said in a statement Thursday.

Cicilline called Google’s move a “shakedown” in a tweet Thursday.

While I am leaning towards Roku's side in this argument, I don't like the idea of Congress getting involved. There is no problem so bad that Congress can't make it worse.

I'm hoping Google and Roku can resolve this. I don't think either party wants Congress to start getting involved. I know I don't want Congress having anything to do with my Streaming Life.

The Roku-Google pissing contest continues

Remember when Roku and Google got into a pissing contest over a new agreement to carry the YouTube TV app? Well, nothing has changed. Yet. It could be about to get worse, though. Roku might lose the YouTube app as well.

In a recent blog post, Roku says there has been no progress made:

​There are two primary concerns we are working to address: First, Google continues to interfere with Roku’s independent search results, requiring that we preference YouTube over other content providers. This is a concern shared by many companies who believe that customers deserve neutral and relevant results to their search queries. Second, Google discriminates against Roku by demanding search, voice, and data features that they do not insist on from other streaming platforms. ​

​While we are working to resolve our differences, we want to be transparent about these negotiations. As we shared in April, the threat remains that Google may remove YouTubeTV from the Roku platform. We continue to believe that streamers stand to benefit from Google and Roku reaching a fair agreement and we remain committed to trying to achieve that goal.

Roku refers to the threat of Google removing YouTube TV from the Google platform. Google, however, says that YouTube, not just YouTube TV, will be removed in December if negotiations don't go well:

In a statement to Variety, a Google rep said, “Since our negotiations with Roku earlier this year, we’ve continued to work with them to find a resolution that benefits our mutual users. Roku has once again chosen to make unproductive and baseless claims rather than try to work constructively with us. Since we haven’t been able to continue our conversations in good faith, our partnership for all new Roku devices will unfortunately end on December 9. We are, however, giving Roku the ability to continue distributing both YouTube and YouTube TV apps to all existing users to make sure they are not impacted.”

This ups the stakes. Current users will continue to get the service, but new users won't. And they'll be the loudest, whiniest ones.

Don't get me wrong, things should go in such a way that a platform is able to carry the apps they want to carry. However, Google has the right to ask for things. Who is right? Probably neither. But more Roku than Google.

In the NBCUniversal dustup, I thought Google was correct. In this one, I lean more towards Roku.

If YouTube and YouTube TV come off Roku in December, what will that mean for me? Nothing. I already have the apps and the apps will continue to work. But for new users of Roku, they'll be all whiny and such, and as I said, I understand that.

Should they avoid buying Roku? Between now and December, no. If you have the YouTube or YouTube TV app, the services will continue to work. After December 9, if things don't go well? I don't know. I'll think about it between now and then.

Our Streaming Lives shouldn't be this hard.

Tablo Connect

I've mentioned before that I manage the TV setup for a couple of houses. At my mother's house -- it belongs to me and two of my sisters since my mother's passing -- I bought and paid to set up a TV antenna. That house has a good location for aiming an antenna at Savannah and getting 25 stations.

My house is not in such a situation. Even though I'm a couple of miles closer to Savannah, the lay of the land means I'm not going to get a lot of channels. An antenna isn't worth the effort.

At my mother's house (I still think of it that way) I have Air TV set up for watching local channels from the antenna. At another house I manage, there's an antenna and a Tablo setup. A while back, I added Tablo to my mother's house, giving that location two different ways to pick up over the air TV. I even added a Fire TV Recast there. She had a Fire TV television set, and this would work with it. So there were three different ways to pick up TV antenna content. But that's at my mother's house, not at my house.

Enter Tablo Connect.

With Air TV and Fire TV Recast, you can only watch if you're on the same network from streaming device. You can watch on a mobile device -- phone or tablet -- but not on a dedicated streaming device.

Tablo has a feature called Tablo Connect. It lets you watch TV away from your network, not just with a mobile device, but with a dedicated streaming device. Tablo Connect lets users of Fire TV, Apple TV (new models), and Android/Google TV including Chromecast and Nvidia Shield can watch away from home.

Notice that Roku isn't a part of this. My favorite streaming device doesn't support Tablo Connect. Or Tablo Connect doesn't support Roku. Either way, they don't work together. So, if you're have Roku and only Roku user, you can't take advantage of this feature.

I have the four major platforms. Roku, of course, but also Apple TV, Fire TV, and Android/Google TV (Chromecast). That means I have three options when it comes to using Tablo Connect. And, I've decided to do just that.

I had to configure my router to work with Tablo Connect. Port forwarding was required and was actually easy to set up. Not as easy as I hoped, as I entered the ports backwards. Silly me. But, I corrected my error, and the setup completed in short order.

Next was to sync a device with the Tablo device. My Fire TV, Chromecast, and Apple TV all were set up with Tablo, and I decided to use the Chromecast device. syncing was seamless. In fact, all I had to do was check the menu to sync, but it said the device was already synced.

Taking the Chromecast to my house, I connected it to my TV and launched the Tablo app. Sure enough, the app worked just like I was at the location with the antenna. Sure, I was only a couple of miles away, but I was on a different network, meaning I could have been anywhere and it would have been the same.

Now, I can watch live TV from my TV antenna, even though I'm miles away. I always hated not being able to put up an antenna here. But, I did the next best thing: I put one up at another house and use it.

I'm limited to that one TV to watch by, however. I could add other devices with the Tablo app to other TVs, but I first need to take the device to my mother's house and sync it. I might just do that. But there's one other thing I might do.

Remember I said there's a third house I managed the TV for? It's a bit away from here, and gets local TV from a different city. That's the one that first had a Tablo. I may configure it for Tablo Connect, and put another device on my TV that gets over the air channels from there.

I love playing with these big boy tech toys. It's one of the fun parts of my Streaming Life.