Ready to cut your cable? There’s plenty of video content available on a variety of websites, mobile apps and other sources that can potentially [...]]]> Today’s article is a guest post by William Taylor. William is interested in mobile tricks, latest hacking tips, ubuntu and internet. You can check out his site at ” simonly.

Ready to cut your cable? There’s plenty of video content available on a variety of websites, mobile apps and other sources that can potentially save you a ton of money wrapped up in your cable bill. Finding content by using the countless sites is simple, but keeping track of all the sources is an absolute pain.

5 Functions: iPad to TV, PC to iPad, Friends, Watch Later and Featured

You will find the new iPad application pairs with Boxee Media Manager enabling you to stream videos from your PC to iPad. This feature provides “Watch Later” bookmarklets and new firmware for the Boxee Box 1.2.

iPad to TV 
Have you ever been watching videos on your iPad, but wish you could view them on a larger screen? Now you can send videos to your TV via a Boxee Box so everyone in the living room can enjoy the videos. You can even play games on your iPad simultaneously while watching videos. This goes over well with parties.

PC to iPad
You can literally waste hours syncing and converting videos for your iPad. Boxee streams videos from your PC/Mac to your iPad via a Wi-Fi connection. You can choose your video (Boxee supports a variety of formats) and play it directly on your iPad. Boxee Media Manager makes this capability possible. The “manager” is a lightweight utility for your PC/MAC, and it works magically on video files.

Friends
The Friends feature delivers new videos from friends on Twitter, Tumblr and Twitter to your iPad. This task is quite simple, letting you administer with just two taps.

Watch Later
Watch Later is a bookmarking option for internet videos. You can have them conveniently waiting for you on your iPad. Gone are the days of searching endlessly for videos or shows. Now, you can create playlists for your viewing pleasure.

Featured
This feature contains useful, entertaining and innovative videos shared by the Boxee editorial staff. You can keep yourself up-to-date on the best material available on the Internet through these helpful recommendations.

Boxee 1.2 version
This update includes the following:
• Ability to receive “Beta Releases” of firmware
• AFP and NFS support
• Updated software categories
• “Featured software” section
• Filter of premium sources in library
• OS X Lion will be supported as a source for video files
• Improvement with HTML5 browser support

Boxee Labs
The company has been experimenting with AirPlay, which is now included in the Beta phase of the release. Simply click on AirPlay located on your iPod Touch, iPad or iPhone and you will see your Boxee Box.

Boxee for iPad is loaded with features. Let’s recap a few good reasons you should check out Boxee!

• Boxee provides bookmarking from your computer at home/work
• You can watch whatever you bookmarked on the bus or subway going home
• You can send content to your Boxee Box, so it’s ready for you to watch when you get home
• Boxee lets you use your iPhone to control your Boxee Box

The article is contributed by William Taylor. William is interested in mobile tricks, latest hacking tips, ubuntu and internet. Visit his site for ” simonly.

If you’ve watched any of your favorite shows on FX lately, chances are you’ve seen anti-DirecTV ads about FX and FOX Network channels being taken off the air for DirecTV subscribers beginning November 1st. DirecTV and FOX Network are in a heated battle over [...]]]> Update: 31 Oct 2011 @ 10 pm EST, agreement reached! No interruption!

If you’ve watched any of your favorite shows on FX lately, chances are you’ve seen anti-DirecTV ads about FX and FOX Network channels being taken off the air for DirecTV subscribers beginning November 1st. DirecTV and FOX Network are in a heated battle over carriage fees. If not resolved by November 1st, shows such as It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, American Horror Story and Sons of Anarchy, along with content from FOX Network channels would be taken off the air with remaining episodes going unaired.

Both DirecTV and News Corp have dedicated sites to tell you “the truth.” However, “the truth” doesn’t quite match as you’ll find by visiting each respective site.

DirecTV’s Side Of The Story

DirecTV’s site is OurPromiseToYou.com, where they provide a short video clip from spokesman Mike White along with seven different “Fox myths,” they claim News Corp is telling its’ subscribers. Along with the “Fox myths” are the “DirecTV Truths.” DirecTV claims the following…

• FOX, NFL on FOX, local FOX stations, and the Fox News Channel are not part of the contract dispute, so you’ll get to watch all shows on these channels without interruption.
• Switching to another provider will help FOX charge a higher price no matter who you get your service from.
• They are sticking by their statement that News Corp is asking for a 40% increase
• DirecTV says they are willing to keep the prices/terms for their customers the same

FOX and News Corp’s Side Of The Story

In the other corner is FOX and News Corp, who have had show creators and stars help paint a different picture. Glee and American Horror Story creators Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy have urged fans to visit KeepMyNets.com, where they tell their own story.

• In some markets you may lose your local FOX station and later lose FOX News Channel.
• They offered to keep the channels on during the negotiations and DirecTV said No.
• DirecTV’s claim that they are asking for a 40% increase is false.
• DirecTV launched a public attack before allowing them to respond

While there is quite a bit of pressure on both sides to come to settle, DirecTV is known for playing hardball as they previously have done displayed with earlier Versus negotiations.

Some of my favorite shows are on FX, so losing Sons of Anarchy, American Horror Story and It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia would be a major blow to me and many others.

What do you think about the dispute? Will it be resolved before November 1st? If not, who do you think is at fault?

Sports fans, who are [...]]]> Ordinary TV channels, whether supplied through cable or satellite, are becoming more expensive each day. In spite of the multitude of channels, fewer and fewer programs worth watching are being shown. To make things even worse, shows actually worth watching often have to be paid for separately.

Sports fans, who are typically already paying more on their subscription packages for sports channels, are often forced to pay more to watch certain sporting events. Movie channels, which are also typically paid for in the subscription fees, are showing the same old movies over and over again. New films have to be paid for again.

This is one of the many reasons people are taking to watching Internet TV. Not only is it free, but you can find and stream most sporting events, movies, shows, news, etc. without the extra costs.

As Internet TV can be watched on laptops, mobile devices and smart phones, it’s far more convenient than your living room TV. With a portable device, such as your laptop, you never have to miss an episode of your favorite soap opera, crime, documentary, etc regardless of whether you’re at home or not.

Finding Internet TV channels couldn’t be easier. There are literally hundreds of sites providing films, episodes of series, documentaries and so on. You’ll also find plenty of links to various TV channels around the world.

Keeping up to date with real, uncensored news reports, while finding the best shows, films and documentaries around the world has never been easier….and it’s free.

Whether the kids want to watch the last few episodes of Buffy, mum wants to see the latest instalment of her favorite history series or dad wants to watch the Formula 1 racing event, with Internet TV you can manage it.

You can even organize it so every family member can watch what they want at exactly the same moment in time. Since Internet TV is so easily installed and free your PC, laptop and mobile device can become your new TV screen.

Say bye-bye to remote control battles and welcome peace and quiet. The advantages of Internet are countless, but this this is among the best! No more screaming and howling because the kids are missing their favorite cartoon while dad watches his football.

Signing up for Internet TV is easy, free in most cases and certainly offers a whole lot more entertainment, education and more. You’ll soon find ordinary TV channels are available for free or at a reasonable price.

Keeping people informed, giving a greater understanding about the world as a whole, teaching about different cultures in far away countries, creating new friends and promoting peace both at home and around the world helps make internet TV the best technological invention in some time. Did I mention the ability to watch the latest movies, TV shows, documentaries and all the other great content you can stream?

Author Box

The article is contributed by Calvin Scott. Calvin is enthusiastic about new technology and expensive gadgets. His collection for consumer electronics is worth appreciating. Visit his site for interactieve tv van kpn and internet en tv.

While Netflix, Hulu Plus, HBO GO and MAX GO are among the [...]]]> With the latest relaunch of the NBC app, which added full television shows just two days ago, I thought it was time to re-explore the best iPad apps to stream and watch full episodes of your favorite shows online.

While Netflix, Hulu Plus, HBO GO and MAX GO are among the best iPad apps available to stream content, they all require paid subscriptions. This list is for those who intend to watch tv completely free of Satellite Cable or any other paid subscription.

The apps below are the absolute best I found and are in no particular order.

NBC

FREE at the iTunes App Store

Features: Offers full episodes for the current season and most recent episodes of each show, a TV guide-like schedule and ability to personalize a dashboard view (myShows). AirPlay is not currently supported.

Top Shows: The Office, Parks and Recreation, America’s Got Talent, Chuck, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live, The Voice, 30 Rock and more!

Crackle

FREE at the iTunes App Store

Features: Hundreds of movies and 50 (mostly older) shows with 30 second ads integrated. Crackle offers entire seasons for some of the older series such as Charlie’s Angels. AirPlay is not currently supported.

Top Shows: Seinfeld, Rescue Me, Married With Children, The Three Stooges and more.

Top Movies: Pineapple Express, Bad Boys, Gridiron Gang, Resident Evil, Rudy, Mr. Deeds and more.

ABC Player

Free at the iTunes App Store

Features: Full episodes from every ABC show, but this app mostly only offers the current season and latest episodes. View weekly or daily schedule of shows. AirPlay is not currently supported.

Top Shows: Modern Family, Cougar Town, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Shark Tank, Wipeout and more.

theChanner

Free at the iTunes App Store

Features: Stream live web TV channels from around the world. Save your favorite channels, rate and share via Facebook and Twitter. AirPlay is not currently supported.

Top Channels: Miami TV Models, Fox 11 LA, Fox 5 New York, Bloomberg US, TVKnob 7 FLX Movie, TVU Live, 7News Boston, C-SPAN, Fox 4 Dallas, CBS News 2 and more.

Livestation

Free at iTunes App Store

Features: Watch live news channels from around the world. AirPlay IS supported.

Top Channels: Al Jazeera English, NASA TV, RT English, Press TV, FRANCE 24 and more.

FilmOn Live TV

Free at iTunes App Store

Features: Stream live television, with channels sorted in categories such as News, Sports, Movie and more. AirPlay IS supported.

Top Channels: AP Breaking News, NASA HD, Pentagon, X-Treme Sports, @Sports, ComedyTime TV, RockOn TV and more.

YUPPTV

Free at iTunes App Store

Features: Stream and watch live Indian TV Channels, categorized by language to include English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. AirPlay IS supported.

Top Channels: Fun Asia, Topper, TV5, MahaaTV, Raj Musix, StarVijay US, People TV and more.

Note:  There are several different devices and applications to use, but I chose to share [...]]]> Earlier this month, I made the decision to cut my cable. I now save approximately $123 per month by dropkicking my Direct TV out the door in exchange for Roku, my computer and an Internet connection.

Note:  There are several different devices and applications to use, but I chose to share the ones that have worked the best for me. Just last month, I had a DirecTv Bill that cost me $140 per month and another $60 for cable internet. $200 a month is a ridiculous bill to have with all the free alternatives available. I kept my cable internet and now only pay $17 per month for movies and tv shows using the options below.

Devices To Hookup To Your Television

Though I have both a Roku and Apple TV, there is no way I would have cut my cable without Roku. This device requires a high speed wireless connection. It connects directly to your television and streams content to your television from countless channels that include Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon On Demand, Pandora, Flickr and more. While you won’t find YouTube in the channel lineup for the Roku player, you can manually add this awesome channel using these simple setup steps. You could get by with the Roku alone, but let me show you some more options.

I keep my laptop connected to my television using a HDMI cable. You would be amazed to see how many of your favorite shows are available for free online. I am a big Survivor fan and can simply go to CBS.com the day after Survivor airs to stream the newest episode. With my computer connected to my television, it’s just like watching it on TV.

Roku cost me $100 to purchase and there is no monthly or additional fees. Some of the channels available requires a pay subscription to use. I pay $9 per month to stream movies from Netflix and $8 each month to stream television shows. If I can’t find content on either of these channels, my next option is to see if it’s online.

You can turn your computer into a media server by downloading some pretty awesome free applications such as Windows Media Center or XBMC. Windows Media Center has an Internet TV window channel does the work for you by finding great shows from online sources.

If it’s not online and it’s a show or movie I really want to see, I can pay to rent it from the Amazon On Demand channel. An episode typically cost $1.99.

Want to still get free local channels? By using the AntennaWeb tool, you can see what the ideal Antenna would be for you to purchase. Based on my area, once I have my Antenna set up, I should get more than 20 channels (including HD) free. My Antenna cost $35 from Amazon.

Want to Stream More Free Movies And Television?

While I could provide an exhaustive listing of free movie and tv sites, I’m going to instead point you to an amazing resource. OVGuide shows you all the best free movie sites and by using the useful search button, you can find movies and television shows you want to watch.

A Last Resort

If you decide you just can’t cut the cord on your cable or satellite, at least take some time and search online for better deals than you’ll get through Best Buy or over the phone. Many third party service providers like TvByDirect.com offer local specials that include free channels. While not as cost effective as going full-streaming, you can definitely cut a large portion of your bill.

If you’ve never watched this amazingly funny show, you’ve been missing out. Here’s a [...]]]> This week, I’ve been taken advantage of Netflix and watching reruns of Chappelle’s Show. This sketch comedy series premiered 8 years ago on January 22, 2003. The show ran for 2 seasons and released a third that featured Lost Episodes.

If you’ve never watched this amazingly funny show, you’ve been missing out. Here’s a few of my favorite clips from (in my opinion) one of the funniest shows in the last decade.

Charlie Murphy’s True Hollywood Stories – Rick James Part 1

Charlie Murphy’s True Hollywood Stories – Rick James Part 2

Wayne Brady Terrorizes Dave Chappelle

Dave Chappelle As R. Kelly

Mad Real World

Were you a fan of Chappelle’s Show? Be sure to share your favorite clips.

This week, I asked “what is the best cable/satellite TV alternative?” With new and [...]]]> Each week,  a new poll is introduced at FiveFreeApps to get your take on a topic that’s on many of our minds. Though the poll provides a small sample size, the results never fail to surprise me.

This week, I asked “what is the best cable/satellite TV alternative?” With new and exciting gadgets launching such as Apple TV, Google TV, Boxee Box and more, there is no all-in-one solution yet which makes it’s a challenge to determine which to use or whether to wait. I discussed these options in my weekly posting at madTREEHOUSE.

In this economy, our cable bill is one of the few bills that continually rise as cable companies are beginning to price themselves out of our living rooms.

The results were overwhelmingly in favor of using home PCs as the alternative, but let’s take a closer look.

What’s the best cable/satellite TV alternative?

Over 43% of respondents would choose their home computer to take the place of their cable or satellite service. Finishing in a distant second, 17% preferred Google TV even though all the major networks are blocking their content from Google TV. Over 13% liked their XBox 360 as an alternative, while approximately 9% would rather use the Boxee Box.

Perhaps the most shocking results in my opinion was the lack of interest in the Apple TV, Roku, Playstation 3 and Wii, which never garnered nearly the amount of votes the big three had.

This Week’s Poll