![]() ![]() The My Channels category allows you to add and prioritize your favorite channels, making your most-used channels a breeze to access. The ever-important user interface is easy and intuitive to navigate, with a menu that comes up on the left of the screen where your channels are grouped into categories such as movies, news, Web TV, Music and Photos, and Games. Moreover, it uses an external power supply while the Apple TV doesn’t. Cosmetically, the NeoTV is sort of a slightly larger copy of the Apple TV, assuming the same shape but lacking that bit of “extra” industrial design. That’s the only way to connect the device there are no other video outputs, but the NeoTV does offer an optical audio output for your audio system. Still, it beats the heck out of 720p services.īesides making the wired or Wi-Fi network connections, setup of the NeoTV was straightforward, requiring only power and an HDMI connection. Instead of access to an uncompressed digital soundtrack like that found on Blu-ray Discs, the audio is encoded with Dolby Digital Plus. Darks can get a little blocky and muddy, but they were far better than with broadcast services, which all send 1080i, or in some cases, depending on the channel, 720p. At first glance, picture quality looks fantastic however, details can get lost in low-light scenes. Quality at 1080p was extremely good, but it’s not yet rivaling Blu-ray perhaps it’s just a matter of time before it does. I used the $5.99 credit provided by Vudu when you first use the NeoTV (whether you have an existing account or not) to watch Captain America. As noted, this is the only paid service currently streaming full 1080p HDTV, although it offers three resolutions, including standard def and 720p, and charges accordingly. If you are someone who likes trolling through cable stations late at night, this should thoroughly satisfy your wanderings. There’s the White House channel, the TED channel, your daily dose of celebrity gossip with TMZ, plus podcasts for your favorite Showtime series. There are music services such as Pandora, social networks Twitter and Facebook, photo sharing with Picasa, and video sharing on YouTube, and Vimeo. Indeed, there seemed to be far more channels available through the NeoTV than I’ve seen on many other streaming players. Partnering with Flingo, a company that specializes in app creation and user interfaces and other content services, Netgear put together a comprehensive and impressive list of content partners that includes the ubiquitous Netflix and the only 1080p streaming service, Vudu (owned by Walmart), among dozens of others. The actual streaming quality is dependent on your Internet connection (which Netgear suggests should be no less than 3-4 Mbps for 720p, though I’d say 6 Mbps is safe for 1080p). When evaluating these units, the most important aspects are the services and channels provided, along with the user interface. With so many TVs and BD players offering streaming services these days, I didn’t think there would be a lot of demand for standalone units yet, they keep coming, presumably for those still watching older equipment without this feature. Control device with free iPhone or Android app.Price: $50 At a Glance: Streams a wide variety of content from various paid and free services
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