How To Get Free TV

The book I read to research this post was How To Get Free TV by JJ Riker which is a very good book that I bought from kindle. Actually this book is available on kindle unlimited despite me buying it and is around 50 pages so is quite short. This book is on a topic that will have the cable channels quaking in their boots as it does do what the title implies. Most of these stations don’t even require a TV card on your computer if you choose to watch on it. Some aren’t broadcast in 720 p or High Definition Standard. For some of your viewing you can use a digital aerial and coax cable which is probably obvious. You can also search for Free Online TV in a search engine like Google. You can also often stream these signals say from a router to your TV with a Roku 3, Apple TV or Amazon Kindle Fire TV devices. The Fire TV will also let you stream games from a console. Often these streaming devices have official channels they work with but there are also unofficial ones and often they are free. There is a website at http://twitch.tv & http://playon.tv which work with the Roku 3 and are free. There is also a cut down version of the Roku LT which is obviously cheaper. You can stream free TV to your computer at http://www.netgate.sk/products/freeonline-tv/ and there is also http://itv-player.com which gives to the content broadcast on ITV including many TV series and films. This book is probably more aimed at people in America than other countries but most of it applies to other countries. I did thoroughly enjoy reading and I would recommend it. I think certainly in most countries it is quite legal to watch stuff on these channels and at the end of the day it is a free option. One thing I will mention is if you are streaming to a computer you might need a fast internet connection probably at least 3 MB.

Chromecast

The book I read to research this post was Chromecast User Guide by Lisa Thompson which is a very good book that I downloaded for free from kindle. This book is only 25 pages so probably it is only right it is free. It looks at how to set it up and looks at the other options on the market like the roku and apple tv. It also looks at the channel choices both television and radio. It plugs in the back of the television and is powered by either an extender or USB and plugs in the HDMI port of the television. It works with either 720 or 1080 HD. If you have a CEC television you can operate the Google Chromecast with your remote control. Being Google obviously it is compatible with  YouTube and many video providers like Netflix. It works best with Android but does work with other mobile operating systems to a lesser extent. It only costs $35 as compared to the $99 of the Apple TV. Many of the audio and video providers only work in certain countries which tend to be North America & Europe and maybe Australia. Many provide television programmes as well as movies. Many of these providers are starting to finance their own television programmes. You need a tablet or smartphone to set it up. Chromecast tv only has to be set up once ever and then you simply add devices to it. To set it up go to http://google.chromecast.com/setup.

Digital Home Networking

The book I read to research this post was Digital Home Networking by Romain Carbou et al which is a good book that I read at http://safaribooksonline.com. This book is fairly short and isn’t a how to guide to home automation or networks. It is a kind of taster of what can be achieved and what will be achieved in the near future. Sadly the book is a little dated and makes no mention of technology like Raspberry Pi or Arduino which are key components in home automation. It does mention the concept of the digital life where our whole lifes will recorded or stored in the form of things like digital video and photographs. It could have done with more information on how a home network can be implemented. There is only 11 chapters, most of which are quite brief. There is zigbee for the actual home automation which has been supplanted by open source components. It does also have stuff on computer networking both ethernet and wireless. Normally in a network you will have a wired network as a back up and have wireless so you can get a connection anywhere. You will also integrate television and things like home cinema and game consoles and may have the television double as a computer monitor. Some of the cheaper televisions have a limited resolution in this respect. There isn’t really enough information in this book but it is an enjoyable read. At the time this book came out many of the automated devices used java but that has been replaced by things like python and other languages although many electronic devices that aren’t programmable like mobile phones still use it. I wouldn’t recommend buying this book but if you see it somewhere like a library it might be worth reading. It’s more of an introduction to this subject than anything.

 

Google Chromecast

The book I read to research this post was The Google Chromecast User Guide by Steve Weber which is a very good book which I downloaded from kindle. This book was number 1 on the computing free book chart on kindle. I have also done another blog post on the chromecast at http://scratbag.me which might be of interest. The chromecast basically is a video streaming device priced at $35 that streams video and audio from your router to your television and utilizes the HDMI port. It differs from a lot of similar devices because most of the processing is done by the router freeing up your computer or television. It works with a lot of different services like Netflix & Amazon Prime some officially and some unofficially with various hacks. There is a free software called plex that lets you stream your film and audio especially dvds from your computer to the chromecast. There is another service called crackle that lets you stream free movies from their website but with adverts but there is a paid option as with a lot of these types of service without adverts. There is a service called called vuvo where you pay for individual films priced at from $2-$6. Netflix also does a dvd postal rental service where there is a much wider selection of films for rent and often newer films are included in this. Many studios don’t give permission for there films to be screened so it is probably worthwhile subscribing to this priced at $7.99 a mont for one dvd posted at a time but unlimited how many you can watch. There are additional charges if you have more than one dvd posted at a time. Note the chromecast works with HD & 1080p and also 3d. I did quite enjoy this book and the chromecast clearly is a must have and very fashionable item to have at the moment. Also if you can get this book free you have nothing to loose.