This week Josh is joined by long-time friend James Montemagno. Spotify has good news for free users, but once the guys covered that it was all gaming news. Microsoft had a lot more in store for their XO18 event than anyone could have expected! They acquired two more studios, announced a bunch of games coming to Xbox Game Pass, and shared more d ...…

While the country may segment itself into blue and red during election week, gamers tend to fall into blue or green groups. In our gaming news segment, we’re completely bipartisan! Before Josh gets to the gaming section though he and Richard have other audio and video topics to cover. Xbox is losing its ability to stream live TV to mobile devic ...…

This week Josh and Richard are joined by a very special guest, Rob H., from the AV Rant Podcast. When Dolby Vision was announced for the Xbox One the guys thought it would be a pretty simple situation. If your TV, AV receiver, and Xbox all support Dolby Vision then it should just work, right? Well, Josh and Richard were wrong. Fortunately, when ...…

It was a very light news week, but there were still a couple big things to share in the world of consumer entertainment technology news. First off Google has joined Apple in automatically upgrading previously purchased HD movies to 4k. They are also bringing their movie purchase prices more in line with Apple. Roku OS 9 is slowly rolling out to ...…

This week the guys get started with a controversial piece of feedback they received about piracy. The listener breaks down why he feels he’s ethically pirating content. Josh and Richard, of course, weigh in on the topic at great length. Microsoft also released the major fall update for the XBox One, but how major is it? Hulu looks to offer a ne ...…

This week Microsoft pulled the wraps off Project xCloud, the video game streaming service they’ve been teasing. Amazon announced a new low-cost 4k streaming stick of their own, and it’s got a leg up on the Roku we discussed last week. YouTube TV’s DVR received a welcome update that might be enough to move it to the top of many viewers’ list’s. ...…

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for consumer entertainment technology! Amazon announced an appealing OTA DVR. TiVo also took the wraps off their newest Bolt OTA DVR with 4k streaming. Roku launched new 4k Premiere streaming boxes. Carve is back with a mew intelligent universal remote at a significantly lower price than their initial offering. ...…

Dolby Atmos has arrived on Richard’s Apple TV, and one of his favorite channels, NASA TV lands on Roku. Networks from Discovery are coming to Sling and Hulu. We’re on the verge of fall TV premiere season. The guys talk about how they are preparing for it. Early benchmarks have leaked for the NVIDIA RTX 2080. Josh gives his opinion on what they ...…

Richard is back from the CEDIA Show with a wealth of consumer entertainment technology news. He even found a rather impressive home theater PC-based solution! Josh has a brief first-look at the ModMic 5. Alexa can now control your Xbox, and Plex is closing down their Plex Cloud service. Join us most weeks for the live recording of Entertainment ...…

This week Microsoft is giving Xbox One Insiders access to Dolby Vision on the gaming console. It isn’t a complete solution, but Josh has all the details to get you squared away with the HDR goodness. 8K TVs made a lot of headlines this week, but should you be opening your wallet for one yet? An app is also headed to the Xbox One that will allow ...…

The biggest news of the week is from Microsoft’s Xbox division. They think purchasing video game consoles should more closely resemble how most Americans purchase phones. Xbox All Access is the name of the new offer, and Josh and Richard weigh all its pros and cons. Thanks to news the guys reported recently, Microsoft’s current sale on movies a ...…

This week the guys were shocked to see that SiliconDust, makers of the HDHomeRun line of TV tuners, released a premium TV streaming service! They’ve had some time to check it out, and they go into all the details of the new offering. This week is also what many consider to be the second biggest gaming conference of the year: gamescom. NVIDIA wa ...…

The biggest news of the week is a story we’ve been hoping for but weren’t sure if it would ever come. Microsoft has finally joined Movies Anywhere! We break down what it means and how to get it all set it up. Tablo has a big update to their OTA DVR software for Apple TV and Apple Music has a great new social feature. The Xbox interface gets ano ...…

Josh and Richard are back with the latest entertainment technology news, and the listeners are back with great questions too! One listener needs tips on file naming conventions for Plex media libraries and another needs help getting access to his media from a lake house with slow internet access. DC Comics’ forthcoming service finally has a pri ...…

While we’ve known for a long time that Microsoft’s Xbox One S console is one of the best values in 4k set-top boxes, this week we found out that it’s about to get even better! Dolby Vision, arguably the best format for HDR video, is coming soon to the gaming console. Walmart might be getting into the video subscription service game. My Movies h ...…

This week Josh and Richard start the show with two great pieces of listener feedback. The first one requires a large deep-dive into the history of the Xbox One, and whether Microsoft’s previous decisions and current direction are alienating too many users. After the feedback, the guys discuss a rumor they never expected to be real, that Microso ...…

It’s a podcast full of firsts for Josh and Richard (as hard as that is to believe after 451 episodes!) In the news it seems as though all of the major streaming TV providers are raising their rates by the same amount at the same time. Philips has an amazing new 4k HDR desktop monitor. That Halo TV series that was announced years ago apparently ...…

It is the week of E3, the largest video game conference of the year, but that doesn’t mean Josh and Richard are only going to talk gaming news. No, quite the contrary. After a great piece of listener feedback, the guys discuss the surprise announcement from Plex that they are now offering a grid guide! In addition to that, Amazon has a new stre ...…

While we tend to focus more on video content, there is a lot of audio news to discuss this week! YouTube Music is becoming a stand-alone service, and with it comes a shake-up to Google’s other audio and video offerings. Plex has added podcasts to their media library app. Pandora makes the jump to supporting family plans too. E3, the largest vid ...…

Josh and Richard are back to cover the latest consumer entertainment technology news from the Microsoft space. Hulu and Plex are both back in the video news. Hulu Live has added an on-screen guide to their Xbox One app, and Plex has brought HDR support to theirs. iTunes is now available in the Microsoft Store, but does it even matter? Plex has ...…

Richard is away this week (nerding-out about light bulbs), so Josh covers this news on his own. The show is kicked off with a great question from a listener about Microsoft Movies & TV, and whether Microsoft might ever release a video streaming set-top box. That leads to a discussion about what Microsoft showed, and didn’t show, at their bigges ...…

The next Windows 10 update still hasn’t arrived for PCs, but this week saw the release of the April Xbox Update and it’s packed with features. After breaking that news down, Josh and Richard quickly cover a few smaller news stories. SiliconDust has an update to their HDHomeRun app that will allow users to pause live TV even if they don’t have t ...…

Josh and Richard are back, and there are quite a few small stories to cover this week. SiliconDust, the makers of the HDHomeRun tuners, has some good news for iOS users. Tablo has introduced a new product and service. Hulu is involved in two sweet new deals. One can get you HBO for dirt cheap, and the other will actually land you a reduced cost ...…

As is so often the case, this episode starts with listeners helping other listeners. Many people wrote in with great tips for ripping Blu-ray discs. The biggest news of the week was the Microsoft reorganization that split Windows into two divisions and left Terry Myerson looking for a new gig. It’s happening right as the company is about to rel ...…

Josh and Richard are back for another week of Microsoft entertainment technology news discussion. The much-loved Movies Anywhere service dominates the video news this week. Rumor has it that Microsoft may be considering joining the service. Fandango Now also linked their library with Movies Anywhere. VUDU has changed how their disc-to-digital c ...…

This week’s episode brings with it a boat-load of listener feedback! Some listeners had questions, others had comments, and some even had potential solutions to problems! There wasn’t a shortage of news either. Microsoft has figured out and fixed the HDR issues when watching 4k Blu-ray discs on the Xbox One, and they did it just in time for Ama ...…

This week Josh and Richard go over the first steps you should take after purchasing a new TV. You won’t end up with a professionally calibrated picture, but you should see a significant improvement in picture quality. Formula 1 is launching their own OTT streaming service. The ESRB has us checking out the Xbox’s parental control features. Speak ...…

Plex DVR is back in the news because they’ve brought it to the Apple TV. Unfortunately for many of our listeners, the Apple TV experience is even more full-featured than what’s available on the Xbox One. If Plex isn’t your preferred solution, maybe Channels is. It’s now available on Android TV. In our gaming news, Microsoft explains why keyboar ...…

Josh and Richard are back this week, and in news that won’t surprise anyone, Plex has the biggest story of the week. They have brought some of their live TV capabilities to the Xbox One, and they’ve also redesigned a part of their user interface that has annoyed countless users. VLC has reached version 3.0, and it’s brought with it a bunch of n ...…

The guys started off this week by responding to listener feedback about wi-fi access point solutions. They had some great suggestions for strengthening your home network without breaking the bank. The main feature centered around watching the Winter Olympics for cord cutters. There are a lot of options out there, but Josh and Richard waded thro ...…

Josh and Richard start the show with some great feedback and questions from other listeners. Their answers should give you some insight into video conversion and home networking. The big news of the week is the huge change to Xbox Game Pass. Having access to AAA first-party games on release date could shake up the whole industry. There have bee ...…

The guys are back from Las Vegas, but Richard wasn’t able to join Josh for the recording of this episode. Unsurprisingly, the episode starts with some news out of Plex as the Xbox One client has been updated. There was also one CES announcement that the guys didn’t cover last week. NVIDIA is working to produce some crazy computer displays. They ...…

It’s the craziest time of the year again, that’s right, CES! Josh and Richard are on site in Las Vegas taking in all the latest consumer electronics announcements. The guys go over some of the crazier things they saw before jumping into the latest display technology including a laser projector, the latest OLEDs, and an HDR monitor. There were a ...…

Welcome to 2018! You’d think that the week before CES, the largest consumer electronics show in the world, that technology news would be scarce. However, it isn’t! Kodi has come to the Xbox One. A trusted Blu-ray reviewer has found the Xbox One S to have some serious HDR issues. There’s a new standard intended to help consumers pick the perfect ...…

Josh is excited this week about the release of the HDMI 2.1 specification. Maybe he just needs to get out more, or maybe it actually does have nice new features. Plex has launched a new side project called Plexamp. It’s a stand-alone music player. Amazon seems to be quietly killing their music storage service. Rounding out the newest is the alm ...…

The show starts with a great question about a topic discussed frequently on the show, but one that many of us could use a refresher on from time to time. Then the guys dug into the news, start with a breaking story from Axiim. They’ve announced a wireless surround-sound speaker product that alleviates the need for a big complicated audio/video ...…

The guys are back from a week off to celebrate Thanksgiving. This week starts off with two great questions from one listener. Plex frequently leads the news, but we weren’t expecting Plex commercial skipping. Vudu has brought HDR content to the Xbox One. Xbox Insiders are seeing much-needed filters in the store. Everyone received an optional Xb ...…

The guys are back, and this time Josh has his Xbox One X. Unfortunately the show starts with some bad news related to the new game console from Microsoft. It’s having some HDR issues. It’s selling incredibly well though, even in markets where the Xbox doesn’t traditionally perform very well. SteamVR is now available for Windows Mixed Reality he ...…

It seems as if most of the tech industry was attempting to give deference to the launch of Microsoft’s Xbox One X this week. Other than the release of the most powerful game console in history, there wasn’t a lot of other big news. That didn’t stop Josh and Richard from digging up some useful tools and deals though! There’s a site that promises ...…

It may be Halloween week, but those ghouls you see walking your streets are only there because their home froze over. That’s right, Google actually released something for a Microsoft device! YouTube TV is coming to a slew of set-top boxes including the Xbox One. Microsoft’s game console has also joined forces with WISA to potentially support wi ...…

Harman Kardon has finally released the long-awaited Invoke. It’s a smart speaker powered by Cortana. Reviews are popping up all over, and we even have one from an enthusiastic listener! Plex has completely redesigned their Xbox One app, and Richard has plenty to say about it. Microsoft’s Xbox team has done something that Josh never expected: th ...…

Richard is back from two weeks away, and while he missed some big news, there’s a lot of things happening this week to cover too. Starting off the show we have listeners helping listeners and an interesting question about voice assistants. In the news, Disney has launched a major new service called Movies Anywhere. Does it signal the end of the ...…

This week Josh is flying solo as Richard is at the Smart Kitchen Summit. There are a few great listener messages to go through before diving into the week’s news. Roku has a 4k streaming stick, and Amazon has also released a new 4k streaming device. The Harman Kardon Invoke looks to be releasing soon, and we’ve got all the details. Pandora has ...…

This week’s show starts with a few live interviews from Meetup 2017. Josh and Richard sat down with a few of the guys to discuss their home theater PC setups and the current state of the market. SiliconDust thought they could quietly sneak out a couple of new tuners, but Josh found them right away.There’s a revamped two-tuner model coming, but ...…

It’s late September, and that means that new television premieres are airing practically every night! Is your home theater PC or DVR ready? Josh and Richard offer some tips to make sure you don’t miss a single episode. There’s a new, less expensive, option for getting an NVIDIA SHIELD TV. The HDHomeRun app has a new feature that Josh loves. Ple ...…

This week Josh is joined by a very special guest, Rob H of the AV Rant Podcast. He’s come back to get us caught up on the latest HDR standards and how they might impact your equipment purchasing decisions. He and Josh also look at what’s required to build a home theater PC that’s capable of playing 4k UHD Blu-ray discs. Rob also has some advanc ...…

As is so often the case, an update from Plex kicks off the video news. They’ve brought their live TV and DVR functionality to even more platforms. Disney Movies Anywhere has broken up with Microsoft Movies & TV. While that relationship is ending, a beautiful new college romance is budding between Spotify and Hulu. Microsoft unveiled a slew of c ...…

Once again, Plex is back in the news. This time with an update for their desktop, or should we say HTPC, app: Plex Media Player. It’s got a brand new look and feel, but will it solve all the issues Plex is hoping for? A couple of often requested features are coming soon to the Xbox, while the console gets a deep discount. Mixer fans can now tak ...…

After a week off, Josh and Richard are back to catch you up on all the late summer Microsoft entertainment technology news. Microsoft was at GamesCom to finalize details around the Xbox One X and many of their upcoming games. Microsoft Groove has a couple of great offers going on right now. There’s really no reason not to check out the music se ...…

We’ve talked for a while now about having an episode focused on cord cutting, and here it is! We invited Jared Newman, the writer of TechHive’s Cord-Cutter Confidential column, to enlighten us about the state of curd cutting today. Josh couldn’t join us for this one, but Richard has plenty of opinions to share, while Jared politely steers us ba ...…