May 17, 2018 • 5 mins
DirecTV now gets some big time upgrades including Cloud DVR functionality for all subscribers, more reliable on demand programming and redesigned apps.Follow Rich on Social Media:Facebook: http://facebook.com/RichOnTechTwitter: http://twitter.com/richdemuroInstagram: http://instagram.com/richontechEasy ways to listen on your phone or smart speaker:"Hey Google, Play the Rich on Tech Podcast""Hey Siri, Play the Rich on Tech Podcast""Alexa, Enable the Rich on Tech Flash Briefing"
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
DirecTV Now pushes out a bunch of new upgrades, including
a new cloud DVR. I'm Rich Demiro. This is Rich
on Tech Daily. DirecTV Now is kind of like DirecTV
but without the hassle of installing a satellite dish or
signing up for a two year contract. You sign up online,
you download an app to your phone or set top box,
and you're good to go. I've been a subscriber since
(00:26):
day one of DirecTV Now. It launched back in November
of twenty sixteen, and it's been a pretty rough go
up until now. And the only reason I kept the
service this entire time is because I pay thirty five
dollars a month for one of their top packages, including
just about every channel, and they've been promising a cloud
DVR since day one. Well, that day has finally come
(00:48):
and DirecTV Now has relaunched their service with lots of
new features, including that cloud DVR that so far seems
very impressive. So for starters, the apps have an entirely
read his look. Think about it. For years, the cable
companies got to have a pretty big say on what
everything looked like and worked like on screen menus, the
(01:08):
boxes they deliver to customers, and of course the remote controls.
But now they really only get to control the app
that has to be installed on an Apple TV, Roku
or fire TV, and of course the remote control that
goes along with it. So it's a bit trickier for
these companies to design a user interface when they don't
have a dedicated channel up or down button or a
DVR list button on their remote, so keep that in mind.
(01:31):
This was very evident in the original design of direct
tv Now, but I'm happy to say the new app
looks and feels a little bit better. Your most watched
channels and favorite programs are right front and center when
you log in, Plus the video you're currently streaming stays
playing as you browse around the service. The program grid
has also changed. You might like it, you might not.
(01:52):
It has much more colorful station logos and more information
about a program that you want to watch when it
comes to on demand. This was a really sore point
of the service, especially for my wife, who basically gave
up trying to watch any shows on demand. DirecTV Now
says they have twenty five thousand shows on demand, but
now they should actually work because in the past there
(02:15):
have been lots of problems, like when you'd get to
a commercial break, it would just skip back to the
beginning of the show every time, which was very annoying.
DirecTV now says they've added more capacity to on demand,
so if you've had problems with it before, presumably it
should work better now. Plus they also say they're going
to get new episodes of shows on select channels added
right after they air. Arguably the biggest new feature is
(02:38):
the true Cloud DVR, which AT and T is quick
to point out is still in beta. This means that
they're just not going to take responsibility for any errors
you might encounter. So if you lose your entire season
of Legion, no worries. It's in beta, we warned you.
Now I've sampled the DVR for just a bit on
my Apple TV and my iPhone, and I can say
it seems like AT and T did their homework here.
(03:00):
It is legit. Recorded shows load super fast, and you
can skip to any part of the recording instantly, and
you can also jump ahead in fifteen second increments, which
is really handy if you're one of those commercial skippers.
Everything is stored in the cloud, all of your recordings
and customers get twenty free hours of recording time. Shows
are kept for thirty days, so if you do the math,
(03:22):
that's really not that much. These are not amazing numbers,
but what it does allow is AT and T to
upsell us so you can get more recording time and
more storage time that is already in the works. You
can pay to get one hundred hours of cloud DVR
and ninety days of storage for an extra ten dollars
a month. There's also another add on they're offering. If
(03:43):
you need an extra stream, you can now get that
for an extra five dollars a month. DirecTV now has
a limit of two simultaneous streams, so if you want
to watch in three rooms at the same time, you
can upgrade for that. One more new feature, you can
watch local channels while you're on the road. Now. Previously,
I learned this the hard way. I was in a
hotel room. I go to look at ABC or NBC
(04:04):
and guess what they were not even on the program grid. Previously,
you can only watch your local channels when you were
at home. If you were traveling, you were just out
of luck. But now when you're traveling you will get
access to the local channels in the city that you
are in, So keep this in mind. It's not the
same channels that you have at home, but it will
be the Fox, NBCABC or CBS station that's just broadcasting
(04:25):
to the area you're in. The local channel Now. This
is kind of a sore topic for me because the
TV station I'm on KTLA Channel five in Los Angeles
still isn't on direct tv now at all. But I'll
gladly watch other local stations when I'm traveling. In fact,
that's one of my favorite things to do when I'm
on a trip is tune in and see what all
the local news stations are like. It's kind of fun.
So how does DirecTV Now compare to the other cord
(04:47):
cutting services out there? Well, I think it's now the
best since it offers the most channels and the most
DVR features. YouTube TV they have the great DVR feature,
but kind of a lesser channel selection. Sling as a
limited DVR and limited local channels, and Hulu has good
locals the DVR but not so great for user interface
(05:08):
and PlayStation view still hanging in there and that's a
solid offering as well. Directorv nows new features are available
right now on iOS but you do have to update
your apps to get them, and as usual, I don't
know why this happens all the time, but they are
coming soon to Android, Roku and fire TV. No timeframe
was given for that, but hopefully it's sooner than later.
(05:28):
Thanks so much for listening to the podcast. I would
love it if you left me a rating and review
in the Apple Podcasts app if you like what I'm
doing here, that helps spread the word and get the
podcast in front of more eyeballs and I guess more
ears too. I'm Rich damiro links to everything I talk
about here on my website. Just go to richon tech
dot tv. I'll talk to you real soon.
DirecTV Now pushes out a bunch of new upgrades, including
a new cloud DVR. I'm Rich Demiro. This is Rich
on Tech Daily. DirecTV Now is kind of like DirecTV
but without the hassle of installing a satellite dish or
signing up for a two year contract. You sign up online,
you download an app to your phone or set top box,
and you're good to go. I've been a subscriber since
(00:26):
day one of DirecTV Now. It launched back in November
of twenty sixteen, and it's been a pretty rough go
up until now. And the only reason I kept the
service this entire time is because I pay thirty five
dollars a month for one of their top packages, including
just about every channel, and they've been promising a cloud
DVR since day one. Well, that day has finally come
(00:48):
and DirecTV Now has relaunched their service with lots of
new features, including that cloud DVR that so far seems
very impressive. So for starters, the apps have an entirely
read his look. Think about it. For years, the cable
companies got to have a pretty big say on what
everything looked like and worked like on screen menus, the
(01:08):
boxes they deliver to customers, and of course the remote controls.
But now they really only get to control the app
that has to be installed on an Apple TV, Roku
or fire TV, and of course the remote control that
goes along with it. So it's a bit trickier for
these companies to design a user interface when they don't
have a dedicated channel up or down button or a
DVR list button on their remote, so keep that in mind.
(01:31):
This was very evident in the original design of direct
tv Now, but I'm happy to say the new app
looks and feels a little bit better. Your most watched
channels and favorite programs are right front and center when
you log in, Plus the video you're currently streaming stays
playing as you browse around the service. The program grid
has also changed. You might like it, you might not.
(01:52):
It has much more colorful station logos and more information
about a program that you want to watch when it
comes to on demand. This was a really sore point
of the service, especially for my wife, who basically gave
up trying to watch any shows on demand. DirecTV Now
says they have twenty five thousand shows on demand, but
now they should actually work because in the past there
(02:15):
have been lots of problems, like when you'd get to
a commercial break, it would just skip back to the
beginning of the show every time, which was very annoying.
DirecTV now says they've added more capacity to on demand,
so if you've had problems with it before, presumably it
should work better now. Plus they also say they're going
to get new episodes of shows on select channels added
right after they air. Arguably the biggest new feature is
(02:38):
the true Cloud DVR, which AT and T is quick
to point out is still in beta. This means that
they're just not going to take responsibility for any errors
you might encounter. So if you lose your entire season
of Legion, no worries. It's in beta, we warned you.
Now I've sampled the DVR for just a bit on
my Apple TV and my iPhone, and I can say
it seems like AT and T did their homework here.
(03:00):
It is legit. Recorded shows load super fast, and you
can skip to any part of the recording instantly, and
you can also jump ahead in fifteen second increments, which
is really handy if you're one of those commercial skippers.
Everything is stored in the cloud, all of your recordings
and customers get twenty free hours of recording time. Shows
are kept for thirty days, so if you do the math,
(03:22):
that's really not that much. These are not amazing numbers,
but what it does allow is AT and T to
upsell us so you can get more recording time and
more storage time that is already in the works. You
can pay to get one hundred hours of cloud DVR
and ninety days of storage for an extra ten dollars
a month. There's also another add on they're offering. If
(03:43):
you need an extra stream, you can now get that
for an extra five dollars a month. DirecTV now has
a limit of two simultaneous streams, so if you want
to watch in three rooms at the same time, you
can upgrade for that. One more new feature, you can
watch local channels while you're on the road. Now. Previously,
I learned this the hard way. I was in a
hotel room. I go to look at ABC or NBC
(04:04):
and guess what they were not even on the program grid. Previously,
you can only watch your local channels when you were
at home. If you were traveling, you were just out
of luck. But now when you're traveling you will get
access to the local channels in the city that you
are in, So keep this in mind. It's not the
same channels that you have at home, but it will
be the Fox, NBCABC or CBS station that's just broadcasting
(04:25):
to the area you're in. The local channel Now. This
is kind of a sore topic for me because the
TV station I'm on KTLA Channel five in Los Angeles
still isn't on direct tv now at all. But I'll
gladly watch other local stations when I'm traveling. In fact,
that's one of my favorite things to do when I'm
on a trip is tune in and see what all
the local news stations are like. It's kind of fun.
So how does DirecTV Now compare to the other cord
(04:47):
cutting services out there? Well, I think it's now the
best since it offers the most channels and the most
DVR features. YouTube TV they have the great DVR feature,
but kind of a lesser channel selection. Sling as a
limited DVR and limited local channels, and Hulu has good
locals the DVR but not so great for user interface
(05:08):
and PlayStation view still hanging in there and that's a
solid offering as well. Directorv nows new features are available
right now on iOS but you do have to update
your apps to get them, and as usual, I don't
know why this happens all the time, but they are
coming soon to Android, Roku and fire TV. No timeframe
was given for that, but hopefully it's sooner than later.
(05:28):
Thanks so much for listening to the podcast. I would
love it if you left me a rating and review
in the Apple Podcasts app if you like what I'm
doing here, that helps spread the word and get the
podcast in front of more eyeballs and I guess more
ears too. I'm Rich damiro links to everything I talk
about here on my website. Just go to richon tech
dot tv. I'll talk to you real soon.
Host
Rich DeMuro
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