Perhaps last week or so, there were rumours of Dish releasing a set-top-box providing local over-the-air channels, Netflix as well as Dish’s very own Sling subscription. Today, it finally became a reality and it is called the AirTV Player, which is an Android TV streaming device.
Dish’s AirTV set-top box is now official
It’s meant to be an all-in-one solution for installing any apps that one might want to install on their streaming device, considering that it’s an Android TV box. According to a report from The Verge, it’ll also support 4K streaming and offer services at UHD resolution. Starting today, users can purchase the bundle of the AirTV which comes with an OTA adapter at $129 or just fish out $99 for just the box. The remote controls which comes with it, offers voice search and also shortcut keys for Netflix and Sling.
What’s unique about the AirTV is that all the channels, no matter how separate their source may be, such as OTA channels, Sling or even Netflix, all of them are integrated into a single channel guide. This makes it easier for users to subscribe to channels, since that way they’ll know what they’re missing out on and what they’re not, depending on the offered content. It’s a great deal, because there doesn’t need to be any separate switching between modes.
The AirTV has been a much-awaited device for all the cord cutters because it offers them the freedom of the channels they want, while maintaining their very own subscriptions. It’s a win-win situation. It’s a good thing that the box is also available sans the OTA adapter, so that those who don’t need over the air channels can save their money and continue with their other subscriptions.
It might not be aesthetically too appealing on the outside, but users will get what they’ve been asking for in a while. According to Ubergizmo, the AirTV could possibly make conventional cable subscriptions defunct and allow for some more flexibility, something that Dish would be happy to provide. It’ll also be able to negate the effects from the competition such as PlayStation Vue, Apple TV and allow freely streaming popular national broadcasting channels like ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC.
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