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Saturday, May 25, 2013

Testing Aereo Boston: Live Broadcast TV Streaming Online to My Computer

I pre-registered for Aereo, so I've got exclusive access to Aereo before it becomes available to the general public in Boston.

Aeroe: Live TV Online
Image: Aereo: Live TV Online

Aereo allows you to stream live TV to your computer.

This is something I've wanted for a while. You know when breaking news happens and twitter starts being filled with live reports? Many times, the best place to see what it happening is on live TV.

That means stepping away from the computer, and moving to a TV. It's a first world problem for sure.

But Aereo seems like it could be a solution for people without subscriptions to cable TV, or those that want to use their computer as a TV replacement. Existing solutions require the purchase of add on hardware tuners.

So here we go. Let's see what Aereo looks like.

SIGN UP
You have to sign up with a valid credit card which has a Boston billing address. That's straight forward.

Once signed up, the Aereo home screen shows up.

Aereo: Home Screen
Image: Aereo: Home Screen

RECORDING
Oh look, it's SMASH! One of my favorite shows. I'll be sad to see it go. That's onw of the featured shows, and oh look, you can record it like a TiVo.

Let's try that.

Aereo: RECORD a SHOW
Image: Aereo: RECORD a SHOW

My options are to Record:

- Jut this oncee
- Every New Episode
- All Episodes
- Cancel

Optionally, I can share to twitter.

Since this is the last episode ever, I'll choose Just this once, and I'll share to twitter.

Oh look, recording options.

Aereo: RECORDING OPTIONS
Image: Aereo: RECORDING OPTIONS

Very nice. I'll just click SAVE.

Cool. Now it shows up as a scheduled recording.
Aereo: RECORDINGS
Image: Aereo: RECORDINGS

I have a total of 20 hours of recording space at the $8/month subscription rate.

WATCHING LIVE
Now let's get back to watching live TV.

Let's watch that show about BBQ.

Aereo: WATCH
Image: Aereo: WATCH

OK, I'm watching Live.

Aereo: Watching LIVE Buffering...

No wait.

I'm watching Buffering... live.

This isn't so good.

Let's see if it clears up.

Aereo: More buffering
Image: Aereo: More buffering

Mmmm...

Aereo: And more buffering
Image: Aereo: And more buffering

Coffee-crusted pork tenderloins! Sounds good, but the buffering makes this unwatchable.

Let me check the Support FAQ to see what's happening. Maybe it's getting slammed buy everyone from Boston trying it at the same time.

Here's my SpeedTest results:


Should have no bandwidth problems.

Let's try another channel.

How about Track and Field?

Aereo:Track and Field
Image: Aereo: Track and Field

OK, now that's better. No buffering. HIGH quality and great sound.

Let's watch for a while.

No buffering now. This is working very well.

Now I'm watching I SPY on Retro TV. Hey, it's secret agent Bill Cosby!

Aereo: I SPY
Image: Aereo: I SPY

I didn't even know there was such a thing as Retro TV. ;-) Tonight on Retro TV, The Saint and Route 66. Nice.

Despite the initial buffering problems, everything is running smoothly now.

Do you have Aereo? What's your experience?

Update:

I'm back.

Golf is buffering.

Aereo: Golf Buffering

Update II:

I'm back.

Golf isn't buffering.

Aereo: Golf

Update III:

I'm back again.



AereoTV: Martin and Lewis

Oh this is great!

Read more: Aereo TV works on an iPad too.