IPTV cautionary tale

I haven't written about pirate TV services in quite some time. Now, am I about to call all IPTV services pirate TV services? No, not really. But I am calling many of them pirate services.

But how can you tell? Well, here's how I can tell.

Does the service offer thousands of channels for a very low fee? If so, it's probably a pirate service. Notice I said "probably." Here's why. There are services that offer legitimate content, and there are a lot of legitimate content services out there. However, you've probably never heard of most of them. If the ones offered are major cable channels, and the fee is low, then it's a scam. It's piracy.

Are all the premium channels included? HBO, Showtime, etc? It's piracy.

Do they offer a special box to pick up the channels? While this sounds reasonable to someone who is used to having a cable box in the house, with streaming, you don't have to buy a certain box. You need a streaming device -- unless your smart TV has all the apps you need -- but you can get  your own. Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Nvidia Shield, etc.

Okay, those last two are tricky. They run Android/Google TV. And, the pirate TV boxes that are sold by pirates are often modified Android boxes. That can make it seem legit. And, the fact that there are many legitimate Android TV boxes available makes it hard for new streamers to know if it's a legitimate box, or a box modified for piracy.

If you run into any of those things, it's a pirate trying to sell you something.

So, where's the cautionary tale?

Last year, or probably the year before, there was a local store that was selling pirate TV boxes. I knew about it, but I didn't take up pitchforks or torches about it.

Then, some Facebook friends (people I actually knew, not people you are only friends with in the Facebook sense) asked questions about streaming. I would mention Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, and Chromecast as some things to consider. But, inevitably, someone (usually someone I didn't know) would chime in and refer them to this local retailer who was selling pirate boxes.

I would respond to be wary of pirate TV boxes and "too good to be true" services. That usually got a hostile response.

I understand that they quit selling those boxes, but I haven't been back in to very that. I meant to, but didn't.

So why haven't I? Well when I could, I just never bothered. But now, I can't. They are closed. I don't know if that's a permanent thing, but it sure seems that way.

They sold wireless Internet more recently, and got a shipload of complaints when all of a sudden all of their customers' Internet service stopped working. There were questions raised about why the carrier cut them off. Most seemed to indicate they wouldn't pay the bills to the carrier. People paid them for the service, but the service stopped working. Some say the local company didn't pay the carrier for whom they were reselling. I don't think that to be the case. I think service he was using may have gone out of business. However, if he was using the service I think he was using, they are still in business, but he was reselling in an area they don't officially serve. Either way, a lot of people got screwed.

Am I saying the guy is a crook? That's one option. Another is that he doesn't properly research the companies with whom he does business.

If you are dealing with a company that sells pirate TV service or devices, then you may find their unethical behavior (intended or otherwise) doesn't stop with streaming.

Stay away from piracy. And stay away from pirates. It will ruin your Streaming Life. And more.

What can Roku users teach Fire TV users?

A lot of people, including some family members, absolutely love Amazon's Fire TV platform. Me, not so much.

Now, to be fair, it's a good platform. But, I prefer Roku. But, Fire TV is a really good platform. And, by good platform, I'm referring to the interface.

The reality is that the Big Four platforms -- Roku, Fire TV, Android/Google TV, Apple TV -- are all good stable platforms with a lot of features and apps/services. Only in very rare circumstances would the platform make a difference apart from the interface. So, in general, get the interface you like.

As I said, I'm on Team Roku, but I'm not going to trash the others. They're good. And there's one other thing that makes the differences between them almost meaningless -- except for the interface. Almost any streaming tips will apply to any platform.

For example, recently, Roku Blog published "The best cord cutting tips according to Roku customers." Most of the tips can apply to Fire TV. And to Android/Google TV. And to Apple TV. Of course, they played up the Roku aspect, but Fire TV (and other) platform users can learn from Roku users. And Roku users can learn from other platform users. Any streamer can learn from other streamers. Here's an example:

Saving money

• "Never look back at those horrible cable bills. I’ve saved so much money. Wish I did it sooner!"
• "Take your cable listing. Figure out how many channels you actually watch. Divide that by how much you pay for cable and work out the price per channel. Realize how much more you are paying for channels you never actually watch."
• "Rotating services will save you money. Subscribing to every service every month just isn’t necessary."
• "Paying for cable is like buying $200 worth of groceries, but $150 of the items you don’t eat.
• "Our bill went from over $200 to just $99. Absolutely worth it!"

None of that is Roku specific. Any streamer, regardless of platform can learn from that. Particularly the third one.

There are more tips that go beyond saving money, and focus instead on finding content you like. Overall, the tips are good for any streamer who is looking to improve his Streaming Life.

If you like your movie purchase, you can keep your movie purchase

You can tell by the title of this exactly where this is going. Turns out Sony is removing some movie purchases from some customers who, yes, purchased the movies.

You read that right. Sony is removing access to some movie purchases from people that purchased the movies.

The details, according to Variety (tip: The Streaming Advisor), Studiocanal movies purchased by users in Germany and Austria are being removed.

The move comes a year after Sony’s PlayStation group stopped offering movie and TV show purchases and rentals, as of Aug. 31, 2021, citing the rise of streaming-video services. At the time, Sony assured customers that they "can still access movie and TV content they have purchased through PlayStation Store for on-demand playback on their PS4, PS5 and mobile devices." But clearly, that didn’t mean forever.

PlayStation posted notices about the impending removal of the Studiocanal content for German and Austrian customers on its website.

"As of August 31, 2022, due to our evolving licensing agreements with content providers, you will no longer be able to view your previously purchased Studio Canal content and it will be removed from your video library," the notices read. "We greatly appreciate your continued support."

This doesn't impact me. I've never purchased from Sony's PlayStation Store. And I'm not in Germany or Austria. But the precedent it sets is alarming. This isn't some fly by night video company. This is Sony. The same company that owns Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, and TriStar Pictures. This is a big player. And now, they're about to piss of some German and Austrian customers.

If the 1920s and '30s taught us anything, it's don't piss off the Germans and Austrians.

Seriously, this is a bad thing. A very bad thing. And I certainly hope that the people who purchased the content in good faith are not cheated out of their purchases. I don't want some big studio interfering with my Streaming Life.

Privacy phone, part 2

I posted last weekend about my foray into a privacy phone, trying to use a Teracube 2e phone running /e/OS I bought from Murena. And it didn't go well with the first two carriers.

Briefly, I put a working Tello SIM in, and it worked for texting and phone calls, but the data didn't do well, because I'm in an area where T-Mobile is very weak. I need Verizon or AT&T.

Next I tried Cricket, since that runs on AT&T. Data worked, but it wouldn't send or receive calls or texts.

So, I tried an AT&T carrier that their Website says will work. Yeah, I shoulda done that to start with, right? Well, I didn't. But now I did. Only, that didn't go well either.

Red Pocket runs on AT&T and says they are supported. Red Pocket support says the phone works with their setup. Only, it didn't. Data? Fine. Texts? Fine. Calls? Not so good. In fact, it won't send or receive calls.

I worked with Red Pocket a couple of days on this. The testing went poorly. I ended up putting it in a Google Pixel 4a device I have, and the same thing happened. I then put it in an iPhone 12. Same thing. Everything worked except sending and receiving calls.

Red Pocket's solution was to change the GSMA SIM (AT&T network) to a GSMT SIM (T-Moble network). Well, T-Mobile service here is awful. And the phone I'm wanting to use doesn't work with Verizon.

So what's next? Honestly, I don't know. I'll try another AT&T carrier, other than AT&T -- the cost of AT&T is the problem -- I think. But heck, I might just try AT&T itself just to see. I mean, it could be that the phone is bad. But the fact I'm getting similar results on a Google Pixel 4a and an iPhone points to the carrier, or the SIM.

I'll try another AT&T carrier, maybe even AT&T itself, and try again to get it to work. But, if it doesn't, I still have two other options.

I have been considering a Pine Phone. Those run a mobile version of Linux. Yes, I know, Android is built on Linux, an iOS is built on BSD, a cousin of Linux. But an actual Linux phone may be something I want to try.

There is one further option, and that's installing an OS, such as LineageOS, on my Google Pixel 4a phone. Not sure if I'm comfortable with that. I'll kick that can down the road a bit and try another carrier or two before I risk that.

I'll end up with a privacy phone when it's all said and done. I just hope it's worth all this aggravation.

TiVo to launch its own streaming platform?

A story kinda went under the radar recently. At least, I didn't notice it until late this week. And it may be a big story. We'll see. So, what is the news?

Xperi has purchased Vewd.

Okay, I can hear the collective "huh" right now. So let me explain why this might matter.

Xperi owns a company called TiVo. Yes, TiVo. You certainly know who that is. And TiVo is more than just a DVR for antenna or cable. The TiVo Stream is an Android TV based streaming device, though the interface looks like TiVo.

What about Vewd? Never heard of them? Well, maybe you have. And maybe you've used it, but under its old name of Opera TV.

I've used Opera TV with some early smart TVs. A lot of smart TVs used to use Opera TV. At one time, Sony, LG, and Samsung used Opera TV. My new Sony now uses Android TV. LG now uses webOS, and Samsung uses Tizen. So Opera TV lost a lot of TV brands it was on. I must say that I was never particularly impressed with Opera TV. Whether it's the hardware or the OS, I don't know. The overall experience was poor. Roku was a welcome change for me.

Well, Opera TV is now Vewd and Vewd is now owned by the same company that owns TiVo.

Does this mean that TiVo will be dropping Android and moving to its Vewd OS? I don't know, but unless there's simply some technology it wants to get to by gutting Vewd, I expect they'll try to launch a fifth major platform. Or more accurately transform Vewd into one of the top five streaming platforms. I think they'd do better to attempt to get on equal footing with Tizen and webOS first, then shoot for the stars.

If TiVo does decide to move to its own Vewd platform, I'm not holding out hope it will be a success. TiVo Stream is an inferior product to Chromecast with Google TV, despite running essentially the same OS. They may be better serviced getting it on a better piece of hardware.

Either way, I'll give it a look when it comes out. Whether or not it turns into anything more than "a look" I don't know. If it succeeds, I'll have another option in my Streaming Life. If it doesn't, then it's business as ususal.