SmartStream

Media streamers and Smart TVs are only as good as the content they can provide. Yes, it's important to have good picture quality, but often the determination of which player you buy comes down to what you can stream to it? If you like TV shows, you want Hulu Plus. For movies make sure you have Netflix or Vudu. Beyond the big-named online streaming services, there is a plethora of special interest websites that stream short-form videos. Thanks to app publisher, Flingo, many of those channels are becoming available on media players and Smart TVs. The Flingo Queue adds the possibility of watching any video you find on the web on TV.

A media controller is not a device or a physical remote control. You can’t go to the store and buy a media controller. "Media Controller" is a DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) certification. Part of a home network streaming media solution, the media controller finds photos, music and movies on connected media servers, and sends (pushes) the media file to an enabled media player, Smart TV or other streaming device. Typically you’ll find that a media controller is an app on a smartphone, tablet or computer.

Mirror your PC wirelessly to a Neo TV Pro for unlimited streaming from the Internet displayed on your TV.

Watching the Olympics on TV was always a frustrating experience for me. Along with the frequent commercial interruptions, I had to sit through hours of weightlifting and shot-putting to see synchronized swimming. (I know, you were sitting through the synchronized swimming to see the shot-put.) But that problem has been solved for the 2012 London Olympics. NBC has created a website and an app for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices that will show live coverage of every sport and match from start to finish.

If you’re in search of the perfect music station, with a little dedication and patience, you can customize Pandora. For the uninitiated, Pandora is a free online music-streaming service. Unlike other “free” online music services, it can be streamed to smartphones, tablets, TVs, media-streaming devices, and more without a premium subscription fee.

In a recent article by Patrick Nelson on the Tech News World blog, he makes the case that Smart TVs are a dumb idea and that they will go the way of the LaserDisc. For anyone unfamiliar with the term, a "Smart TV" refers to a TV that connects to the Internet and your home network, using built-in apps for streaming video, music, photos, games, and more.

I recently cut the cord and canceled my cable TV subscription but kept cable-delivered broadband Internet access. Unfortunately, dropping cable TV didn't work for me because my antenna reception is spotty, so I was glad when someone told me that I could connect my TV to the cable jack and get my local channels. Little did I know that I was being "illicit" and that my circumstances were part of a bigger controversy.