Airtame Wireless HDMI review

I was contacted by Airtame recently and asked to review their wireless HDMI device which allows mirroring from any mobile device or computer to a projector or monitor/TV.

Airtame was a successful Indiegogo project back in 2014, and has continued to improve and update the device as technology advances. It is available for purchase from many of the vendors we use in education.

Airtame is intended for enterprise situations like schools and businesses since it includes a cloud-based management tool to monitor multiple Airtames on a network and, more importantly, it works with WPA2 Enterprise and WPA Personal networks.

The Airtame would eliminate cables being run from the ceiling-mounted projectors to the teacher’s computer and the teacher could roam with any mobile device and share with the class via the projector. It is perfect for a BYOD environment because it works with any mainstream mobile device students might bring in. In addition, adding an Airtame to a projector on a mobile cart would allow mirroring anywhere in the school!

Here is a quick overview of how it works.

I can also see it being used at a faculty meeting, attached to the projector, and allowing teachers to share presentations and apps while in their seat using their mobile device running the Airtame app.

There is much more information on their site (airtame.com) including pricing, information for your IT department dealing with the technical and security side of things, and some ideas for use in education.

Their site also contains a section comparing the Airtame to the other casting, mirroring, and streaming devices on the market which provides a sensible overview of the differences.

Airtame will be exhibiting at #ISTE18 in Chicago, so, if you are attending, stop in and see them! You can follow them on Twitter at @airtame for updated news on the product.

Review written on April 17, 2018
Kathy Schrock
kathy@kathyschrock.net
@kathyschrock
http://schrockguide.net

Brenthaven Edge™ Carry Case for Apple iPad 9.7 Review

With the exciting announcements recently about Apple's renewed focus on the educational market, and the release of the new iPad 9.7" with Apple Pencil support, now is the time to start thinking about cases for your staff and student iPads!

I have long been a fan of Brenthaven bags and cases to protect my technology. Brenthaven has over 35 years of experience ensuring that your items are protected -- initially for hikers and now for the mobile devices of individuals, businesses, and schools!

I am the owner of a few of their bags, with my favorites for the 13" MacBook Pro being the an older Vertical Messenger Bag (now replaced by their Collins Vertical Messenger Bag) and the Medina Fold-over Messenger Bag.

For my current 10.5" iPad Pro, I use the Edge for 10.5" for iPad Pro because it protects the device as well as allows me to use the Smart Keyboard or Apple Smart Cover to protect the front of my iPad.

However, my choice of coverings and cases for my devices are based on the fact I am very careful with my devices. I never drop them, never scratch the screens, and carry them carefully when out of their carry bags.  Past experience has taught me that this is not usually how the students treat their technology.

Schools are looking for an iPad case that is sturdy, protects the glass screen, can be tilted up for easy typing and drawing, and has a built-in carry handle. This week, Brenthaven sent me one of their new cases, specifically designed for the education market -- the Brenthaven Edge™ Carry Case which fits the 9.7" iPad (5th gen 2017) and the newest 9.7" iPad (2018).

The features of this case meet all the needs of IT departments, students and teachers!

FOR IT

The IT department will be happy with the fact the Brenthaven Edge™ Carry Case screws together easily with an included tiny Allen wrench, which keeps the students from removing the device from the case. A nice feature for the IT department is that the screws stay in the case when the case is unscrewed, so there is little chance one of the four screws will get lost. (Two extra screws are included just in case!)

In addition, the back of the case is clear, so any asset tags or barcodes on the iPad can easily be seen. There is a protective clear overlay screen on the front with a cut-out for the home button which should eliminate any accidental scratching of the screen.

The access to the Lightning port for charging and syncing the iPads is oversized and should fit any charging cart connection. The size of the Edge™ Carry Case is 10.8" H x "7.6" W x 1.25" D and it weights 8.3 ounces.

FOR THE STUDENT

The Edge™ Carry Case has a ton of features that make it perfect for any age student!

First, the clear overlay screen is very responsive to the touch, whether tapping with a finger or drawing with a stylus. (I don't have the newest iPad 9.7" with Apple Pencil support but I set the clear overlay from the Edge™ Carry Case on the screen of my 10.5" iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil worked great!)

Secondly, the case is very protective, with no buttons showing except the home button, but the built-in rubber buttons for volume and up/down and turning the device on/off are well-crafted and work great! The headphone port is easily accessible and the speaker cut-out at the bottom of the case lets the sound out well.

Thirdly, the kickstand feature on the back folds flat into a recessed area on the back of the case, and does not add any bulk. When folded in, it will not get caught on anything when being put in or taken out of a backpack.

Fourth, and a wonderful feature, is the built-in handle on the side of the Edge™ Carry Case. When carrying the iPad by the handle on the case, whether the student is in kindergarten or 12th grade, the iPad is secure and should avoid the drops that occur in schools. The Brenthaven Edge™ Carry Case is also drop tested to protect the iPad against falls from up to six feet!

The handle serves another purpose, too. When students are using their iPad in the field, when in front of the class sharing a presentation, or are reading their textbook on the bus ride home, by putting one hand's fingers through the handle, it allows them to have a secure grip on their device.

FOR THE TEACHER

Using the handle on the Edge™ Carry Case to hold the iPad securely is a great feature for teachers and administrators, too, as they roam the classroom or hallways of the school. In addition, teachers can easily hold the iPad in the Edge™ Carry Case in one hand and use their finger or a stylus to teach over AirPlay or Reflector. In addition, with its light weight (8.3 ounces), the iPad in the case will be easy to hold for an extended period of time without the hand getting tired.

Having the asset tags or student names visible through the clear back of the device, to easily identify a student's iPad or the cart the device belongs on, is helpful for the teachers of the younger students for plugging-in the devices to the correct charging cart. The case is thin enough (1.25") that it should fit in any charging cart slot.

PRICING

The Brenthaven Edge™ Carry Case for the 9'7" iPad (2017/2018) is available now on their site where you can request a quote for the number you require and receive a free sample of the Brenthaven Edge™ Carry Case.

Find your ed tech passion

I feel technology should always support teaching and learning in a meaningful way. And I know you do, too. As educators, we try new ideas, hardware, and software as they become available. But how do you decide on your real passion in the area of educational technology?

I challenge you to step back from your experimentation with the “cool new thing”, whatever that might be, and go deep into a topic you are interested in and passionate about. It’s time to find your ed tech passion!

Once you do that, I want you to share that passion with others. One way to do that is to sign up to give an Ignite session at a regional conference. (My blog post from 2/1/17 includes ideas from the Discovery Educator Network on developing an Ignite session.) I promise you will have no problem talking about your passion!

Here’s an “Ignite-like” talk I gave on my passion for the origin of words.

HOW TO IDENTIFY YOUR PASSION

My favorite definition of passion comes from my Alexa device- “An irrational but irresistible motive for a belief or action”.  What makes us passionate about one top and (yawn) feel ho-hum about another topic? What are some questions you can ask yourself and some things you can do to help identify your passion?

Here are some questions, adapted from the online article, “Find your passion with these 8 thought-provoking questions“.

• What is something you believe that almost nobody agrees with you on?
• Who have you been, when you have been at your best?
• What are your superpowers? 
• What did you enjoy doing at age 10 that still resonates with you today?
• How do you continue to develop new passions?
• What is your sentence? 
• What are some methods you use to embed your passion in to your teaching?
• Do you have some strategies to help fuel your creative juices?

And, this article on The Muse site suggests some methods to help you escape the frantic pace of everyday life and make the search and exploration of your passion your priority.

• Slow down.
  • Get away from the “noise” of your daily life.
  • Nurturing your mind and body can lead to more creativity and energy.
• Be your own life detective.
  • Notice the things that make you the most happy.
  • Use a journal to jot these things down for a week and see what strands emerge.
• Give yourself permission to explore.
  • Use your journal notes to look for more activities you love.
  • If something does may you feel as interested as you thought, drop it!
• Reach out to people.
  • Find others, online or in person, who are already “experts” in the topics you decide to nurture.
  • Ask them questions and have them guide you to other related topics, too.
• Stay open and flexible.
  • Remember to “go with the flow” because you may wind up on another passion path than the one you thought you were going to develop.

One really neat way to give yourself the permission to develop your passion is to participate in the 30 Day Challenge. Matt Cutts’ short TED talk on this topic is brilliant and includes some great tips for completing a 30 Day Challenge!

FINDING YOUR EDTECH PASSION

I have developed some very powerful ed tech passions over the years. I would study a topic I was passionate about for  year and then present about it.  Some of my favorite passions over the years include:

• Infographics as a creative assessment
• The importance of developing the inventiveness mindset
• Sketchnoting as a learning tool
• Respect for the intellectual property of others
• Virtual and augmented realities
• Teachers using digital storytelling to teach content
• The development and sustaining of a personal/professional learning network
• Student use of technology for creation to showcase their acquisition of content knowledge
• Information literacy

However, my challenge to you is for you to investigate, research, and experiment to find a single passion and share that with others, as well as encouraging them to find their own passion!

HELPING STUDENTS DEVELOP THEIR PASSIONS

Students should be able to research, investigate, experiment, and use their experiences to develop their passion. One popular model for allowing them the time while at school is called “20% Time” or “Genius Hour”.

The 20% Time model comes from the early days of Google. “We encourage our employees, in addition to their regular projects, to spend 20% of their time working on what they think will most benefit Google,” Page and Brin, the Google founders wrote, “This empowers them to be more creative and innovative. Many of our significant advances have happened in this manner.”

This 20% Time model gave employees the time and latitude to pursue a passion. There were a lot of neat tools that came out of this passion-based model, and, with the Google Labs initiative, the rest of us were always given access to the beta versions of these creations. However, I personally have benefited from the 20% Time model at Google (as many of you may have, too) since the Google Certified Teacher program was the brainchild of  Cristin Frodella, who was in the marketing department back then (and still is as the Head of Marketing for Google Education). Her 20% Time project was to develop a program to help teachers use the Google tools in a way to impact instruction, and the GCT program was launched!

Genius Hour is another popular model for giving students a more unstructured time period to explore their passions. Some educators have a Genius Hour once per week at the same time and others split up the time over a number of days of the school week.

Here are some links to articles of successful classroom practices with Genius Hour.

• Genius Hour in elementary school
• Your top 10 Genius Hour questions answered
• 6 tips for getting started with Genius Hour
• Genius Hour in the primary classroom

FOLLOW-UP

Back in 2013, Paula Naugle (a DEN Star) created a 10 Day Passion Challenge project. The questions she created for students to investigate their passions work just a well for educators. Pick one or more of these questions to answer and leave a comment or an idea.

• What is your passion?
• When did you realize this was your passion?
• Do you know anyone else who shares your passion? Tell us about them.
• How much time do you spend a day, a week, or a month pursuing your passion?
• What or who helps you pursue your passion?
• What things do you own or would like to own to pursue your passion?
• What interferes with you pursuing your passion and why?
• If you could interview an expert about your passion, who would you choose? Why?
• “Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion.” (Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel) How do you feel about this quote?
• What do you think might cause your passion to change as your career advances?

Do you have an edtech passion? Share it with us on Twitter! #kathyschrock

Augmented reality (AR) in the classroom

This blog post originally appeared on the Discovery Education site in my blog,  Kathy Schrock's Katch of the Month in August of 2017. It is reprinted here with permission.

I have much more information and updated AR apps on my Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything AR page.

________________________________________________________________

Last year, I wrote a blog post dealing with the use of virtual reality resources to support the instructional process. I started the article with an explanation of the difference between virtual reality and augmented reality, which I feel is important to include again since, this time, the post will be about the use of augmented reality technology to support teaching and learning. The Augment site includes a well-stated overview of the two technologies.

Augmented reality is a technology that layers computer-generated enhancements on top of an existing reality in order to make it more meaningful through the ability to interact with it.

Virtual reality is an artificial, computer-generated simulation or re-creation of a real life environment…It immerses the users by making them feel like they are experiencing the simulated reality firsthand, primarily by stimulating their vision and hearing.

WHY AUGMENTED REALITY?

Touchstone Research presents an infographic that showcases how various professions use AR to support learning, access important information in real-time, and for marketing purposes. With the wide-spread use of AR, our students should be provided with the opportunity to become familiar with the the technology and use it in the classroom.

HOW DOES AR WORK?

The basic use of AR requires a few things– a smartphone or tablet with a back facing camera, an augmented reality app, and a trigger image. An Internet connection is needed for real-time overlaying of information. The triggers can be something as simple as a QR code, which launches an AR event on the smartphone or tablet, or can be a special printout or photographic images that is viewed through a specialized app. The continued development of great new apps seems to indicate that the use of the app to view a specialized trigger image may be the way things are moving in the AR arena.

One fun app that is popular in schools is Quiver (formerly ColAR Mix) which uses a printed-out and colored-in page to present the student with an interactive experience when viewed through the app. The Quiver Education app (US iOS app store: $7.99 and available on the VPP), includes coloring pages specifically designed for the education market including those for cells, organs of the body, and a specialized set for celebrating “International Dot Day“.

Here is a video demonstrating how this app works.

The EON Experience VR app (iOS and Android), uses a target to bring the hundreds of simulations included in the app to life. Many simulations can be viewed using both AR and VR. The users simply download the data for the simulation and, through the app, point their smartphone at the target. The great thing about this is the target can be used even from the computer screen!

EON Experience VR app

Marketing agencies have taken to AR to the next level to allow the user to layer furniture, paint, and much more over a live image of a room. IKEA, Houzz, and Home Depot are only some of the many companies using augmented reality to support consumers. Project Color, from Home Depot allows you pick a paint or stain color and virtually paint your home’s walls, as demonstrated in the video below.

[Commercial] The Home Depot – Project Color App ‘Virtual Test Drive’

AR is even used in real-time at this kiosk in a Lego store which shows the customer the completed Lego project by simply holding up the box of Legos to the mirror.

WHY USE AR IN THE CLASSOOM?

Adding interactivity to a classroom learning experience always enhances student engagement. To be able to view and manipulate a object being learned about can lead to deeper understanding and further exploration and questions. Drew Minock, in an Edutopia article, outlines some ways augmented reality can support instruction. Here are a few of them.

• Book Reviews: Students record themselves giving a brief review of a novel that they just finished, and then attach that “aura” (assigned digital information) to a book. Afterward, anyone can scan the cover of the book and instantly access the review.
• Word Walls: Students can record themselves providing the definitions to different vocabulary words on a word wall. Afterward, anyone can use the Aurasma app to make a peer pop up on screen, telling them the definition and using the word in a sentence.
• Lab Safety: Put triggers…all around a science laboratory so, when students scan them, they can quickly learn the different safety procedures and protocols for the lab equipment.

There are some great educational AR apps to support teaching and learning available.

• DAQRI Anatomy 4D showcases the human anatomy in augmented reality. (iOS | Android)
• Science AR has the teacher printing out the trigger Science AR posters which come alive with animation as students use the app to view the posters.
• Amazing Space Journey allows students to take a trip through the solar system. Available for iOS and Android.
• Star Chart projects the night sky with all the constellations, planets, and other facts while viewing the sky through a smartphone or tablet. (iOS | Android | Windows)

There are also some fun AR apps that allow the creation of place-based AR pop-ups. Two that are easy to use for teachers and students are Metaverse and Traces. Users can create quests, descriptors for places, and much more. Imagine the incoming freshman walking around the school and learning all about the building, or a student creating an AR overview of the local businesses as a service learning project. If you are familiar with PokémonGo, you will realize how engaging these pop-ups would be for students to create and share! Below is a what a place-based locator looks like when found in the program.

INTERESTING  IDEAS

There are many other ways teachers and students are using augmented reality in schools. Here are two creative examples that I discovered.

Northwest High School made  the use of Aurasma  (no longer in use) an integral part of their school culture when it first was released.

This educator provided a unique way to use Aurasma and Powerpoint to create interactive experiences.

There is also a new type of reality called “Mixed Reality” or simply MR, which combines some of the aspects of both VR and AR. Dr. Simon Taylor, the Co-founder of Zappar which has created ZapBox, an MR solution, states “in MR, virtual  objects or environments are anchored to things in the real world providing a new and intuitive way for users to interact with virtual content”. This started as a Kickstarter project and is now available for a very low cost.  Watch the video below to get a feel for the exciting new projects that are coming to schools soon!

Do you currently use AR apps in your classroom? Which ones are your favorites and why? Are you having students create auras to share their work? And what are your suggestions for developers for mixed reality projects which would be useful for the classroom? Share your thoughts on X or Threads! #kathyskatch

Finding and citing online images

I am passionate about students using online tools and standalone apps to create. I truly believe creation allows students to showcase how they have turned the content into their own knowledge. Many of these tools require the use of images for creation of the product. These images can be photos taken by the student, drawings done by the student, or images found in online collections.

It is important for students to realize which online images they have permission to use and how to give credit to the creator. Here are some links, tips, and tricks to help make this easy for them!

SITES WITH FREE IMAGES

There are many sites that have free images and allow users to download, edit, and use the images without any attribution to the creator.

Pixabay, which includes photos, illustrations, and vector graphics, allows users to “copy, modify, distribute, and use the images, even for commercial purposes, all without asking for permission or giving credits to the artist.”

Flickr: The Commons is made of images shared by member institutions that have “no known copyright restriction.” The items may be in the public domain or owned by the institution itself, which is not claiming the copyright on the images. One tip: don’t have students search in the Flickr search box at the top of the page. Look down the page for “The Commons” search box.

The Flickr group, Internet Archive Book Images, is a collection of over 5.2 million historical photos and images from the books in the Internet Archive. Each image carries a “no known copyright restriction” license, so can be used for any purpose and edited. There is no requirement to cite the images, but enough information is included in the description to do so.

SITES WITH FREE IMAGES THAT REQUIRE ATTRIBUTION

Pics4Learning is targeted to student and teacher use of images and includes curriculum-related items that can be used for projects, on the Web, and in portfolios. The collection is comprised of user-contributed images. Images all include this usage information- “This image may be used by teachers and students in school and classroom activities for the express purpose of improving student educational opportunities. The photographer retains the copyright to this image.” Each image includes the full text citation for the image. I could not find this expressly stated on the site, but I am assuming, if the photographer holds the copyright to the image, the images should not be edited without the permission of the creator.

OpenPhoto is a collection of images primarily for artists, developers, students and teachers. The photographers freely license the images and the attribution code is included.

Wikimedia Commons includes millions of free images, sounds, and videos to use. The usage page states: “Everyone is allowed to copy, use and modify any files here freely as long as they follow the terms specified by the author; this often means crediting the source and author(s) appropriately and releasing copies/improvements under the same freedom to others.” What is great about this collection is that it can be searched in many different languages, making it a tool that can be used effectively by all learners.

FINDING FREE 360° IMAGES

With the growth of the use of VR to support teaching and learning, here are some online places to find 360° images to use with a simple head-mounted display. Again, students would have to search for images they are allowed to use by checking the licensing and usage rights.

The Flickr 360°group includes almost 30,000 images with many students can download and use with a headset or a 360° viewer app.

The Flickr Equirectangular group includes images that are taken or created in the 2:1 format that make them usable with a VR headset.

I have created a Flickr group, 360° Images for Schools, to collect Creative Commons-licensed 360° images from teachers and students around the world. The collection is growing to be a depository of images that can be downloaded and used in schools.

CREATIVE COMMONS

In March of 2015, my h blog post dealt with information literacy. One section of the post included information about the Creative Commons project, and it is worth reposting here!

The Creative Commons project has helped immensely with the ease of finding images that can be used in a research report or project.  The Creative Commons project allows content producers to explicitly state how their content may be used. These creators make a determination of whether their asset may be used commercially or just non-commercially, can be transformed into a new product by someone else, and, if they allow transforming of their work, the creators can also require the person who made the changes to apply the same Creative Commons license to their new creation and allow others to edit the new work.

When creators upload images to Flickr or a video to  YouTube, they can pick the combination of permissions they want to allow for the use of their creation, and the Creative Commons license is published.

The Creative Commons site has a search engine that allows students to search by license terms, but the three places that students usually search for information and images — Google, Flickr, and Bing — also have Creative Commons-licensed image searching built right in. It works pretty much the same way in each of these tools.

CITING IMAGES

It goes without saying that students should include citations for images they use in a project on a works-cited page. Another idea is to place the citation directly on the image, so it stays with the image if it is used again. This can easily be done in any of the meme apps or tools that allow text to be put on top of an image or in any traditional image-editing software. Another easy way to do this is for students to locate their images and save them on separate slides in Keynote, PowerPoint, or Google Slides. Then they can use the text tool to add the citation to the picture on the slide. When done collecting and adding citations to the images, students can simply export/save the slideshow out as JPEGS and the images are all set to use!

It is rare, on most image collections sites, to be able to identify all of these components in an attribution. The student should include as much information as possible and always include the URL of the image. In Flickr, when looking at an image in a collection, the student should go back to the original image and use that URL. For instance, an image in the 360° Images for Schools group will have a URL that looks like this:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/141855263@N03/27492650579/in/pool-360images4schools/

If I simply remove everything before the reference to the group, shown above in red, I am led to the creator’s Flickr account and the actual URL of the image which is https://www.flickr.com/photos/141855263@N03/2749265057 which is the URL that should be used in the image citation.

In addition, in Flickr, when looking at all sizes of the photo in order to download one that is the needed size, the URL changes, too. When picking the 1600×800 version of the image, as shown below, the URL changed to https://www.flickr.com/photos/141855263@N03/27492650579/sizes/h/ 

Again, simply delete the information after the photograph’s number, as indicated in red above, and use the URL of https://www.flickr.com/photos/141855263@N03/27492650579 in the citation.

There is one interesting Creative Commons image search engine designed for schools called Photos for Class. When a student does a search, and finds an image to download, the image downloads with the citation attached in a black bar at the bottom of the image (shown below). The citation includes the name of the creator, the title of the photo, and a clickable URL to the original image, and the Creative Commons license.

I think the site makes it easy for students to find images they have permission to use (even commercially) and have permission to edit. However, since the search engine only searches images that have this same license (CC BY 2.0), students are missing out on images that don’t allow editing, don’t permit commercial use, or  those requiring students to share their new work with the same license.

Do you have any favorite image sites to share or ways in which you teach students to search for and cite images? Please share on Twitter! #kathyschrock

Unplugged!

With cable television and Internet at two homes, I was paying a total of $378 per month to the cable providers. I knew there had to be a way to trim that cost. 

I spent the last week investigating some options that would meet my needs. I wanted to share what I found out, in case you are considering doing something similar. One caveat: all of the options are updated quite frequently and some options are locale-specific, so your experience may differ! 

I did not have a list of questions I wanted answers to before I started the process, but now that I have settled on a option, I realize the questions to ask may help you out!

1. Can the service be cancelled at any time?
2. Can the service be used in more than one location?
3. What networks does the service offer?
4. Are local network channels (ABC, CBS, and NBC) available through the service?
5. Do I need any hardware to use the service?
6. Can I share the service with another family member outside of the house?
7. Is there a DVR option available with the service?
8. Are there add-on packages for specific wants?
9. What is the cost of the service?
10. What is the cost of the add-ons?
11. Is there a free trial of the service?
12. What devices can be used to access the service?
13. How many family members can use the service at one time?

My goal was to no longer use Comcast (in MA) and Charter Spectrum (in CT) for my television providers. There were many channels I never used, and I felt the cost was too high.

LATEST UPDATES FROM 1/12/18, 1/19/18, 1/22/18, AND 2/218 ARE IN RED


SlingTV

I have used a Slingbox for many years to watch my home TV while I was traveling, so I had trust in Sling. Their service is interesting. There are two choices, Orange ($20) and Blue ($25). There are some channels that are in both choices, but the main difference is that Blue allows three streams of channels at once (for example, for a house that has three TV's or mobile devices) and the Orange option only allows a single stream. You can use a mobile device while on the road to use the service, and, Airplay with a TV-connected Apple TV. Some smart TV's also have the SlingTV app included.

The channel lineup, when purchasing both Orange and Blue ($40) and the DVR ($5) met most of my needs, but there were no local versions of the big three network channels (at least in my area). Matter of fact, there was no ABC or CBS at all, and NBC was only "on demand". 

There is a cloud DVR available for $5 more per month. I tried the service for a few days of the free trial, and I liked the interface, which includes a grid as well as a search and a browse function.

There are also add-on packs that are available for SlingTV for specific wants such as sports, news, comedy and kids. However, because I really wanted to be able to watch local news, and did not want to keep the basic channel package from the cable company, I looked for another option.

Hulu Live TV

Hulu has been an established provider of archived TV shows and movies for a few years. A Hulu Live TV subscription ($40) includes all of that archived streaming service (with limited commercials) as well as live TV on many of the same channels offered by the Blue and Orange package from SlingTV. (The only channel I wanted that was missing from Hulu Live TV was ESPN3. However, I have found out I can authenticate the WatchESPN iOS app with a Hulu login.) 


There is a DVR included, but there is an extra cost for a larger one with the ability to fast forward, pause, and rewind a recorded programs. ($15)

I decided to go with Hulu Live TV because it did include all the major networks and the local versions of these channels when I was in either house -- Boston channels and Hartford Channels. I was able to cancel both the Comcast cable service and the Charter Spectrum cable service. 

After a week with Hulu TV, I cannot ignore my loathing of the interface. Maybe because I like a grid, but I find the Hulu apps really hard to both navigate and find things. There are WAY too many clicks. However, it still is the service that best meets my needs.
Update 1/22/18: Hulu announced at CES that they WILL be putting in a grid screen in spring of 2008! Yay!

However, Hulu Live TV is tied to your zip code as your "home". The company gives you the ability to change your "home" location four times per year. This is for great for people who move, but can also be useful for those that spend extended time in another locale.
The home location means you can use Hulu Live TV on the app of one smart TV or via the Hulu app on an Apple TV. You can use any device in your home to watch TV, but only one one person can stream Hulu content at a time.

When I am away from my "home" base for Hulu Live TV, I can stream from a single mobile device through a Google Chromecast attached to a television, or simply just watch content on the mobile device (while a person at home can still use the "home" stream). Apparently Hulu is working on the ability to use an Apple TV and Airplay from a mobile device, but it is not available yet. 

There is also a beta version  of Hulu Live TV service which allows you to watch live television and the DVR recordings within the Web browser on a computer. Once it is in the Web browser, you can Airplay it to the television screen via the Apple TV.

PlayStation VUE

I did not investigate PlayStation VUE last week since I read online that, unless you were using the VUE service on a PS3 or PS4 gaming machine, the interface was not very good. One of my friends wrote to tell me the interface had been updated, so I thought I would give it a try.

The Playstation VUE service does include, at least here in Boston, the local news affiliates. (You can get a 5-day trial to test it out in your area.) In addition, in the Boston area, we also get NESN, the New England Sports Network. 

PlayStation VUE has four different plans to pick from-- 

• Access: popular live tv ($39.99)
• Core: sports and popular live TV ($44.99)
• Elite: movies, sports, and popular live TV ($54.99)
• Ultra: movies, sports, popular TV and premium channels ($74.99)

I signed up for the trial of the Core service, since I already have Netflix and Amazon Prime for movie-watching. (It had all the channels that I wanted except the CW, and I probably should not waste any more time watching Riverdale, anyway, so it was no loss.)

I can log into WatchESPN with my credentials, so I would be fine getting the games I want to watch on ESPN3. And PlayStation VUE allows you to authenticate with your credentials in many mobile TV apps.

There are a few weird things about PlayStation VUE. If you want to use a mobile device to use PS VUE while you are away from home, you first have to open the app while on your home network and it will authenticate with a PS3, PS4, Roku, or FireTV. So you would have to have one of these set-top boxes/sticks  in your home. There is a Playstation VUE app you can use on Apple TV, but the Apple TV cannot be used for authenticating a mobile device.

Differing from Hulu, if you log-on to the app when you are away from home, you cannot get CBS, NBS, ABC, or FOX in the PS VUE app. You can authenticate to the network mobile apps with your PS VUE login,, but cannot watch live TV. For my purposes of watching live TV while I am at the condo in CT, this does not work.

The Playstation VUE service allows 5 local streams. However, if you need to have more streams while at home, you have to log-out of a set-top box and wait 3 hours to use the other device. Sounds like a "first world problem", and re-authenticating is not hard, but waiting three hours could be a problem if you want to watch a specific television set in your home. There are three mobile streams available and I am unsure if they count as part of the 5 when in the home. I am a little weary of testing at this time!

YouTube TV

YouTube TV is another cutting-the-cord option. (Initial channels here. There is an app for Roku, Apple TV, newer Samsung TVs, and other devices. You can also use your Chromecast to cast from your phone or computer. It is $35/month with unlimited DVR storage (programs available for 9 months) and includes local news channels in some geographic areas. 

The service can be shared with six family members, who have to authenticate their device once every three months, and can streamed by three members at a time. Some channels are not included, such as HGTV, CNN, TBS, TNT, History, AMC, A&E, and Comedy Central.

Thoughts

When eliminating the cable box on both Comcast and Charter Spectrum, each company charged more for the "Internet alone" option since the Internet was no longer a part of a bundle. However, on Comcast, my costs dropped from $277 to $102 per month. On Charter Spectrum, the costs went from $101 to $65 per month. So, the savings from cutting the cable company "cord" was $211 per month. Not too shabby!

The cost for the Hulu Live TV service with the expanded size cloud DVR is $55 per month. So, my net yearly savings from all of these changes is $1872 per year!

For a family, I would probably recommend the SlingTV Blue and Orange services and the shared DVR, which would allow several family members to watch television at a time. However, most families may want to keep the "basic cable" package to have access to their local big three networks and PBS.

Some of my friends have suggested other options, too, like DirectTV Now, and the use of an HD over-the-air antenna for the local channels (if that is available in your area) and adding on a streaming service. 

It is like comparing apples and oranges since it depends on where you live, if you have decent Internet bandwidth, and the type of networks you are interested in. 

One other thing to be aware of. Some cable providers have a monthly cap on streaming usage. Xfinity does in some states. You can find out more about the 1 TB cap from Xfinity here. If you want to see your current data usage on Xfinity, log-in to your account, pick the SERVICES tab, the INTERNET choice, and you will see VIEW DATA usage on the right.