Google’s new Chromecast debuted last September with a brand new design, a fresh new app, and a promise: Sling TV is coming. Today the device made good on that promise, as Dish’s Internet TV service announced support for Chromecast on both its Android and iOS apps.
To celebrate the new launch, Sling TV has a deal for Chromecast owners, as well as those new to the device: Those without a Chromecast can get one free (a $35 value) when they sign up for 3 months of Sling TV service at $20 per month. And those who already own a Chromecast can get a deal as well later today, as the service will be offering two months of free Sling TV service to all Chromecast owners.
Sling TV has been redefining the Internet TV paradigm since it debuted last January at CES. The service has built up its core channel listing from a handful of channels to around 20, including major assets to the cable-impaired, including AMC, HGTV, CNN, A&E, and the kicker, ESPN and ESPN2. Landing on Chromecast, which costs just $35 to get in, makes the service by far the most affordable way to bypass your cable or satellite provider.
Adding in bonus packs for $5 per month with themes like news, movie, and kids channels brings a la carte shopping to the package, allowing frugal-minded viewers to pick and choose their channels while steering well clear of high cable and satellite packages with similar channel offerings. It’s a strange gamble for a satellite TV provider, but Dish has always played close to the edge, looking for ways to disrupt the status quo and out-fox DirecTV and cable foes like Comcast, and TWC.
Chromecast support seems to be the logical next step for Sling TV, which is now available across a majority of top streaming devices, save Playstation and Apple TV, the latter of which is still holding out for a Cupertino-baked Internet TV service of its own. Apple’s rumored offering is expected to cost around $40 per month, but has stalled out over contract negotiations.
While Sling TV is not without its problems — the service had trouble with stuttering and outages during high traffic events in its early days — it currently represents the easiest, most affordable way for cord cutters to get their live TV fix. So, if you’ve been eyeing Sling TV, or you’re just looking for a way out of your bloated cable or satellite package, today seems like as good a time as any to get on the Sling TV bandwagon.
Sling TV Offer: Try Sling TV Free for 7 Days
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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