The WD TV Live player and the WD TV Live Hub can now be used to watch and record live broadcast television, thanks to added support for Hauppauge over-the-air tuners. Here’s a quick first look at the new feature:
| Previously on Cord Cutters: |
|---|
| Testing Boxee TV: First impressions, screenshots and unboxing video |
| Simple.tv, the DVR for cord cutters, reviewed |
| Our review of Vizio’s Co-Star Google TV box |
| Our review of D-Link’s MovieNite, a budget Netflix streamer |
| Our video review of the Nexus Q |
| Browse the show archive for a complete list of episodes, and subscribe to the Cord Cutters podcast RSS feed so you don’t miss any future episode. |
Show notes for this episode:
- Support for live TV viewing was added to the WD Live TV and the WD Live TV Hub with the latest firmware update (1.12.14). More info on that update can be found on the WD website.
- To watch live TV on the WD TV, users need to plug in a USV TV tuner adapter from Hauppauge. Officially, only two models are supported – but I found that the Boxee live TV dongle works as well.
- Check out our previous review of the WD TV Live.
- Also worth reading: Our story about Skitter, a service that streams live TV to WD devices.
- To learn more about over-the-air broadcast and DIY DVRs, check out our new e-book Cut the Cord: All You Need to Know to Drop Cable, which is now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iTunes.
Are you watching over-the-air TV? And if so: what does your setup look like? Please share your thoughts in the comments, get in touch with us on Twitter (@cordcutters) or email us at cordcutters @ gigaom.com.
Single tuner? Or can you use more than one?
Feels like WD and Boxee are going backwards. I can appreciate the struggle to keep your head above water when no one wants to give you their content but why in the world would I want to install an over-the-air TV tuner on an OTT device? I thought the idea was to cut the cable?
You are combining OTT content (Apple TV, Hulu, etc., with OTA (over-the-air) TV (CBS< ABC< FOX, etc.) giving you streaming content combined with the very best quality HD TV content of your local TV stations. Pretty simple, really
@ Bob – The idea is to cut the cable. OTA is free, just the need for a tuner and antenna. Simple!
I just bought a Boxee. I like the TV guide but I cannot record to USB.
Exactly why I didn’t like Boxee tv. Hate monthly fees, option to record locally would be nice.
What is the point? my TV already has a tuner capable of OTA…. why do I need this other stuff?
To record your shows.
This is awesome, any news on whether it will support two tuners for simultaneous recordings?
I don’t think it will… first of all there is no real guide that would allow you to schedule two recordings. Secondly, the WD LIve TV only has two USB ports, which means that most people will use one for storage and one for the tuner.
The best basic cord cutting device I have found, and love, is my OTA DVR that I bought at Walmart. It is a DVR with a built in programmable over the air tuner for local digital TV. I dont pay anything per month for digital TV, and can watch it anytime I want with the DVR. Its the Magnavox MDR513H.
Rick , how is the scheduling capability of that recorder? Can you record every new episode of a given show, or do you have to schedule by time slot (e.g. every Wednesday at 8pm)?
Here is what my setup looks like.kishanrathod.blogspot.com/2012/06/ota-antenna-and-dvr.html?m=1
how can i get this to work with my HDHomeRun?
I would like to know this as well
I don’t think you can. The app is specifically for Hauppauge tuners.
So nothing for us old WDTV Live and Plus supporters (again)? Maybe we need a better hacker community for these boxes. OTA no help in rural areas like mine as I get only 3 channels, one of which is a kid’s educational channel. Cutting the cord not so easy under those cicumstances…