Fire TV adds more access to sports

Amazon has updated the Fire TV Channels feature of their platform's devices to include more sports.

This doesn't necessarily mean live sports, but it does include highlights, news, and even condensed games for fans of various sports and leagues.

Amazon Fire TV Blog says the feature has already rolled out:

We’ve added the NBA, Big Ten, SEC, Big 12, Fox Sports’ 24/7 linear channel, beIN SPORTS XTRA & video-on-demand, and the Locked On Podcast Network to our lineup of sports content available to all FTV customers in the US for free. These partners join Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, NBC Sports, and many other high-profile sports content providers already streaming on Fire TV Channels.

For basketball fans, the content from the NBA includes daily highlights from every game and event, along with top plays. If you’re into college sports, the college conferences offer highlights, condensed games, news, and analysis from all of their member teams. Check out Fox Sports for their expert coverage of the biggest national stories in sports, and Locked On Podcast Network for hyper-local coverage of your favorite teams.

Fire TV Channels also introduced a new Favorites feature that makes finding and watching your favorite team’s content easier and faster. Now fans can select and follow their favorite teams in Fire TV Channels to instantly watch fresh feeds of their teams’ highlights, news, and analysis. You can also favorite Channels, like NHL or any of the other 400+ channels on Fire TV Channels, to quickly and easily get right into the shows and personalities you like best.

This is good news for sports fans who use the Fire TV platform. My Streaming Life doesn't use Fire TV a lot, but it's good to know these options are there when I do use that platform.

Roku or Fire TV?

For years, I've been firmly on Team Roku. However, lately I've used Android/Google TV in the form of Chromecast and NVIDIA Shield devices. I have to say I like them.

This does not mean I've left Team Roku. It simply means that I'm using other devices in order to ensure I know about them, and can answer questions when asked.

I've not mentioned Fire TV yet. Well, until now. I've used Fire TV, and it's a user friendly device as well. While I'm still using Android/Google TV, I'm going to take a minute and talk about the two top platforms, Roku and Fire TV. Many new streamers want to know which is better: Roku or Fire TV. The answer to that isn't simple.

The choice between Roku and Fire TV often depends on your personal preferences and and what you are looking for in a streaming device. Both Roku and Fire TV offer a range of streaming devices from which you are able to access the popular streaming services, including Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video, Disney Plus, Max, Paramount Plus, Peacock TV, and more.

So, what's the real difference?

Interface

• The Roku interface is much simpler and very easy to navigate. The Roku interface easy of use.
• The Fire TV interface is also user-friendly. As mentioned, it works well with Amazon content. The design is more cluttered, but offers content suggestions if you want to find something new to watch. The suggestions don't work as well as Google's, for instance, but if you want suggestions, Fire TV offers this that Roku doesn't have.

Apps

• Roku offers a wide range of apps, including all the top streaming services. Generally, Roku is does not favoring any particular content provider, other than Roku Channel. Even then, it's not as in your face as Amazon.
• Fire TV devices are closely integrated with the Amazon ecosystem. This actually is an advantage if you are an Amazon Prime member and use a lot of Amazon services. The app catalog is not as large as the Roku catalog, but it's pretty darn big.

Device Selection

• Roku has a wide range of streaming devices, raning from budget-friendly options to high-end devices such as the Roku Ultra.
• Fire TV also has a variety of devices, including the Fire Stick and Fire TV Cube. The low end items are inferior to the comparable Roku devices. The high end devices are roughly equivalent.

Voice Control

• Roku has voice search and control through the Voice Remote ($20) and Voice Remote Pro ($30). High end (more expensive) Roku TVs have this as well. The cheapest Roku devices with the Simple Remote don't include this.
• Fire TV utilizes the Amazon Alexa assistant. You can contron the interface and some compatible smart home devices. I've found this feature hit and miss, but the functionality is greater than that of Roku.

Gaming

• Roku does offer some games, but it is not a gaming platform, to put it bluntly.
• Fire TV devices, particularly the Fire TV Cube, have more gaming capabilities. It is possible to play a variety of games through the Amazon App store. However, it's not Xbox or PS5.

Working with Other Devices

• Roku works well with a variety of devices, such as Google Home and Amazon Alexa. Roku has expanded their catalog of devices to include smart home devices, such as home monitoring, cameras, doorbells, lights and such. I've used some of them and they work fine.
• Fire TV integrates smoothly with Amazon devices, including Echo speakers. The Fire TV Cube, for example, includes Alexa home assistant, which makes for a more connected experience for your smart home.

The bottom line is that the better choice depends entirely on your specific preferences. If you are already heavy into Amazon Alexa, then Fire TV is probably the way to go. If not, Roku is an excellent choice. Both Roku and Fire TV are excellent platforms, and either could be a good choice based on your needs and preferences. My Streaming Life utilizes Roku more than Fire TV, but if Fire TV has been around in 2010, I may have gone that way instead.

New Walmart Onn Streaming Stick released

Walmart has finally released a new Onn Streaming Stick. They are calling it "onn Google TV Full HD Streaming Device (NEW, 2023)" which kinda explains it all.

There was word back in July that Walmart would release a new streaming stick. That rumor came a few weeks after the retailer released a new streaming box. Now it's no longer a rumor, but a fact.

The box was a huge improvement over the previous box from two years earlier. I'm hoping the stick will be a good upgrade as well.

I will be getting one to test. Whether or not I'll use it regularly, I don't know. I have a perfectly good Roku, Fire TV Cube, NVIDIA Shield, Apple TV, and Chromecast 4K. I have more streaming devices than I have TVs. But, since it's under $20, I'll give it a shot.

My Streaming Life usually involves higher tier devices. I'll try the cheap ones, but have found that the more expensive ones often perform better. Not always, but usually. The Walmart Onn stick might be something worth using more than once. It may be a great little stocking stuffer. Who knows?

Nvidia Shield testing continues

I've been using the NVIDIA Shield for a couple of weeks or so. As I mentioned several days back, the interface on the NVIDIA Shield didn't look exactly like the Chromecast interface. Close, but some differences. That surprised me.

Turns out that the Chromecast is running a newer version of Android TV OS, version 12, while the NVIDIA Shield runs version 11.

Of course, Android OS is what's underneath. The interface itself it separate. Chromecast uses the Google TV interface. NVIDIA Shield uses the Android TV interface. That's the reason for the different appearance.

Mind you, the differences aren't great, but the differences are enough that noticed it right off the bad. I like the Google TV interface better.

In the meantime, I'll continue to use the NVIDIA Shield as my primary box. Travel, being under the weather, and the holidays have interrupted by streaming habits. I'm going to use it for another week or two then give my thoughts on it. I like parts of it, but other parts I don't like. Over these next couple of weeks, I'll see just how much I like and don't like the various things.

My Streaming Life has usually involved using Roku. However, I've really enjoyed Chromecast, and some people I know have raved about the NVIDIA Shield. I understand why they like it. I'm not sure if I'll go back to Roku or not. But I do like Roku.

Why I stopped using CCleaner years ago

There is a computer optimization program called CCleaner. A lot of people swear by it. Lately, they should be swearing at it, not by it.

CCleaner is a bad idea. If you have been using it, you should watch this video. Ff your family/friend computer expert uses it on your computer, or recommends you use it on your computer, have your expert watch this video.

[YouTube]

Keep in mind that your local expert may reject the video. Some egos can't handle finding out they were wrong. What they don't think about is that CCleaner, and other utilities, change over time and sometimes they get worse. This is what has happened here. CCleaner keeps having problems, and they are major problems.

My Streaming Life rarely uses my computer, and when I do, it's rarely a Windows computer. Beyond streaming, if you use Windows, be aware that this utility has major issues.

Why the local station blackouts?

Have you wondered about local channel blackouts on cable, satellite, and even live streaming services?

Tyler the Antenna Man tells why.

Nothing is ever simple is it? My Streaming Life includes a TV antenna, and I've overall been happy with it.

Watching College Football in 2023: Week 13

Week 13 of college football for 2023 has begun. There are 71 Division 1-A/FBS games on tap this week, with three already played (two Tuesday, one Thursday night.

There are 13 games today and 55 games tomorrow scheduled. There are two games that feature two Top 25 teams playing each other:

• Oregon State (16) at Oregon (6) - today
• Ohio State (2) at Michigan (2) - tomorrow

There are many other rivalry games on the schedule this weekend.

All ranked teams are in action this weekend, with the rest of the Top 25 all play unranked teams.

Today's games will be broadcast over several networks. Here are the channels or networks you'll need to watch all the games:

• ABC
• ACC Network
• Big Ten Network
• CBS
• CBS Sports Network
• CW
• ESPN
• ESPN2
• ESPNU
• ESPN+
• Fox
• Fox Sports 1
• Longhorn Network
• NBC
• NFL Network
• Pac 12 Network
• Peacock
• SEC Network

Note: No games are on Longhorn Network or Peacock this week.

Between this weekend's games and next Saturday, there are two games involving Division 1-A/FBS teams, with three ranked teams playing: The Conference USA championship and the Pac-12 championship:

• ABC
• CBS SN

Here's how to get all the networks:

ABC

• Antenna (free)
• Sling TV (8 markets only) ($45/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($85/month)

ACC Network

• Sling TV (Orange + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($116/month)

Big Ten Network

• Sling TV (Blue + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($116/month)

CBS

• Antenna (free)
• Paramount Plus (Premium) $12/month
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($85/month)

CBS Sports Network

• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Ultimate) ($146/month)

CW

• Antenna (free)
• Not available streaming.

ESPN, ESPN2

• Sling TV (Orange) ($40/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($85/month)

ESPN+

• ESPN+ (standalone) ($10/month)
• Disney Bundle ($15/month)

ESPNU

• Sling TV (Orange + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro + Fubo Extra) ($83/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($116/month)

Fox

• Antenna (free)
• Sling TV (18 markets only) ($45/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($85/month)

Fox Sports 1

• Sling TV (Blue + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($85/month)

Longhorn Network

• Sling TV (Orange + Sports Extra) ($51/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($116/month)

NBC

• Antenna (free)
• Peacock (Plus) ($12/month)
• Sling TV (11 markets only) ($45/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Entertainment) ($85/month)

NFL Network

• Sling TV (Blue) ($40/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($116/month)

Pac 12 Network

• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)

Peacock

• Peacock is its own service, and can be used to watch NBC live programming with the $12/month plan.

SEC Network

• Sling TV (Orange) ($40/month)
• Vidgo (Plus) ($70/month)
• Hulu+Live TV ($77/month)
• YouTube TV ($73/month)
• Fubo (Pro) ($75/month)
• DirecTV (Choice) ($116/month)

That's this week in Division 1-A/FBS college football, and covers all the networks that are carrying college football games in 2023. My Streaming Life focuses on college football during this time of year.