With more live TV streaming services entering the fray, simply offering a cable-like service over the internet is no longer enough — features matter just as much. One of the advantages services like PlayStation Vue and the upcoming DirecTV Now offer that Sling TV doesn’t is cloud DVR functionality. Soon, however, that will change, and Sling TV’s cloud DVR does away with one major pitfall that mars its competitors’ offerings: the 28-day shelf life on recordings.
“Unlike other OTT services, we’re delivering a true cloud DVR with no 28-day restriction on your recordings, marking another win for Sling TV and our customers,” Sling TV CEO Roger Lynch said in a statement. “Two years ago we became the first live OTT provider, and we continue to innovate and bring the best experience to our customers.”
Cloud DVR functionality is available to subscribers of either Sling Orange or Sling Blue. Instead of limiting how long recordings can be kept, Sling TV takes a different approach, limiting recordings to a total of 100 hours. As capacity reaches the maximum, the service automatically makes room for more new recordings by automatically deleting the oldest recordings that have been marked as watched.
While traditional DVRs are limited by the number of tuners, cloud DVRs have no such limitations, so the upcoming cloud DVR can record multiple programs simultaneously, meaning users don’t need to worry about conflicts. On the other hand, there is one major issue: Sling TV says DVR functionality isn’t available on every channel. There is currently no word on what channels won’t offer DVR functionality, but this shouldn’t come as a surprise, as even now certain Sling TV channels don’t allow fast-forwarding or rewinding live TV.
The cloud DVR service will be limited at first, available only to Roku users who sign up for the beta. The service will launch in December, and Sling TV says it will roll out to additional platforms over the next few months, though it hasn’t specified which platforms will come first. The company also plans to add new features in the future, which could include the ability to upgrade storage space or protect recordings from deletion.
If you’re interested in trying out the cloud DVR beta and own a Roku device, you can sign up at the Sling TV website. If you don’t have a Roku but are interested in Sling TV, the company just launched an offer giving a free Roku Streaming Stick to customers who sign up for a month of its Best of Live TV service.
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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