Author Archive
July 3rd, 2009, 7:58 am by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
Sooner than later, Orange County cable TV customers may notice a lot more high-definition channels.
This is not an easy task, by the way. Cable providers have struggled to offer more HD channels because their aging systems are near capacity. Now, thanks to new technology called switched digital video, they have figured out how to get more room: Stop broadcasting every single channel 24/7.
By turning some of the least popular channels into on-demand channels, cable companies can use that newly opened space to squeeze in more HD channels. Channels that do go switched digital are still accessible. But there may be a slight delay after turning to that channel, as the cable box sends the request back to the main station. The delay should be just a split second and unnoticeable to viewers, the cable companies say.
But one reader from Yorba Linda, who uses a CableCARD and TiVo to watch cable TV, alerted me that some switching might be going on in his neighborhood. He woke up one day to find very few channels showing up on his TV — Food TV yes, but not the HD version; no Bravo and absolutely no HBO. A Time Warner customer service representative mentioned to him the cable provider was switching to this new technology.
I checked with both local cable companies — Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications — and both plan to implement this technology. But Time Warner has not yet. Cox, however, is testing it out in Orange County. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Video & TV • CableCARD • Cox • Cox Cable • switched digital video • switched video • Time Warner Cable • TiVo | 7 Comments »
July 2nd, 2009, 3:21 pm by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
 The North Orange County Computer Club, which answers the weekly ‘Stump the PC Club‘ will meet this holiday weekend on July 5.
Club member, and former Internet Security group leader, Dave Keays, will speak about how to use Web 2.0 correctly.
::Event Details::
What: NOCCC April meeting
When: Sunday, July 5, 2009
Where: Chapman University, 333 N. Glassell Street in Orange. Here’s a MAP. The room is the Hashinger Science Center and Irvine Hall, located near the Northwest corner of Center Street and Palm Ave.
Time: The main meeting is at 2 p.m. Earlier sessions on digital photography, Linux, beginner courses and more start at 9 a.m. Stump the PC Club contributor Ed Schwartz will lead a session on Metadata, the best way to manage a collection of photos.
More information: E-mail club president Jim Sanders at president@noccc.org. Also, more details are in the NOCCC’s monthly newsletter HERE.
Visit the Gadgetress’ PC Club page at ocregister.com/link/pcclub. To get answers delivered to your computer automatically, sign up for the e-mail update HERE. Recent PC Club answers:
Posted in: Stump the PC Club • PC Club • PC Club meeting | Post a Comment »
July 2nd, 2009, 7:37 am by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
 Verizon FiOS snuck in six more HD channels recently, all from Viacom:
- MTV
- VH1
- CMT (Country Music Television
- Nickelodeon
- Spike TV
- Comedy Central
The channels were chosen because they are “some of the most watched channels on FiOS,” said Jon Davies, a FiOS spokesman. That brings Verizon’s HD count to 127, making it Orange County’s TV service with the most HD channels. Here’s my chart:
| TV company |
Jul-09 |
| Verizon FiOS |
127 |
| DirecTV |
124 |
| AT&T U-verse |
112 |
| Dish Networks |
93 |
| Cox Cable |
62 |
| Time Warner |
55 |
Not sure when FiOS started offering the channels, but according to a FiOS forum board, some subscribers spotted them this week, although some folks had problems tuning in.
The new Viacom channels also are showing up nearly one month ahead of the rollout by Cox Communications, which plans to add nine new HD channels on July 28 (Read: “Cox Cable adding 9 HD channels in Orange County“). Now that I’m typing this up, I noticed that two channels Cox plans to offer aren’t available to FiOS users — Viacom’s BET HD and Time Warner’s Cartoon Network HD. The third channel, News Corp.’s FX HD, is already offered by FiOS. I’ll have to get an explanation on this.
Of course, Verizon isn’t available in most cities in Orange County. But Davies, with FiOS, wanted to clarify to readers that the fiber-based TV and Internet service isn’t really slowing down, as I’ve reported in the past (read: “Verizon’s FiOS TV rollout slows in So Cal.”) Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Video & TV • FiOS • FiOS HD • HD channels • Verizon FiOS • Viacom | 1 Comment »
July 1st, 2009, 5:45 pm by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
 Since I mentioned that Cox Cable was hosting a job fair over the weekend on this blog, I wanted to tell readers that I just wrote the update for our Handling Hard Times blog. Some 750 showed up! For 60 jobs! Read the update, “750 people show up for 60 Cox jobs.”
Interestingly, I just checked Twitter and couldn’t find any of those 750 people tweeting about waiting in line for an interview. One guy did comment on this blog that he was there: “Was a LOT of people there. They updated the internal site showing all the listings last night / this AM. There were some sales spots and some in customer retention.”
I also noticed that Cox’s career page still has a few O.C. openings on its career site, with no mention wehther they’ve been filled. Likely, Cox is still browsing through 750 resumes. Some jobs advertised in its site (which could be the same ones from last week):
- Sales Solution Store Concierge, part-time, 30 hours/week, $12.69/hour
- Sales Solutions Specialist, part-time, 30 hours/week, $13.85/hour plus commissions
- Internet Manager in charge of product management, development and strategy. No salary posted.
Anywho…
Posted in: Video & TV • Cox • Cox Cable • jobs • Rancho Santa Margarita | Post a Comment »
July 1st, 2009, 7:21 am by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
 Orange County’s Cable TV companies slowly plod along in the high-definition race. Cox Communications in Rancho Santa Margarita plans to add nine new high-definition channels beginning July 28. The new HD channels will be available to customers with digital cable and HDTV service.
This brings the number of Cox’s HD channels to 62, by my count, which is still above Time Warner’s approximately 55 HD channels (a number that is higher or lower depending on what city you live in).
Overall, Verizon FiOS still ranks at the top of the HD heap with 127 HD channels. DirecTV is a close second with124 HD channels (DirecTV’s number includes 20 “regional sports channels”). Anyway, here’s the latest tally, according to my research:
| TV company |
Jul-09 |
| Verizon FiOS |
127 |
| DirecTV |
124 |
| AT&T U-verse |
112 |
| Dish Networks |
93 |
| Cox Cable |
62 |
| Time Warner |
55 |
For Cox customers, the new channels come from Viacom, which were also recently introduced to FiOS customers (and I haven’t mentioned yet). The new channels are: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Video & TV • Cox • Cox Cable • Cox HD • HD channels • Rancho Santa Margarita • Viacom | 4 Comments »
July 1st, 2009, 6:09 am by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
 AT&T U-verse customers in Orange County and Los Angeles should find an upgraded Total Home DVR this morning.
As mentioned earlier, the Total Home DVR, which allows subscribers to access the same recorded TV shows from any room in the house where there is a U-verse receiver, will now enable any box in the house to record, delete or schedule recordings instead of relying on the main DVR box to do so.
Also, speeds for U-verse’s High Speed Internet Max will increase 20 percent to 12 megabits per second, from 10 Mbps.
Read about other changes and improvements at “New perks from AT&T U-verse sure to make cable users jealous.”
More U-Verse news:
Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local TV services
Posted in: Video & TV • AT&T U-Verse • DVR • U-Verse | 12 Comments »
June 30th, 2009, 12:43 pm by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
 Nearly 70 percent of 600 people surveyed recently said that yes, their next house better have that speedy fiber-optic based Internet service, such as Verizon FiOS.
And these are people who can’t order FiOS, like most of us in Orange County, even if we dangled a $100 bill in front of a Verizon installer!
When it comes to buying a house, this speedy Internet, which requires a company to connect cables from its facility all the way to a consumer’s front door, was more important than having nearby jogging trails, 24-hour security, a community pool or a neighborhood fitness center, according to report commissioned by the Fiber-to-the-Home Council and conducted by Oklahoma consulting firm RVA Market Research and Consulting.
Fiber lets companies like Verizon offer its speedy FiOS network of super-fast Internet (up to 50 Mbps downstream, 20 Mbps upstream to upload videos, photos), TV service, phone and pretty much anything else it wants to offer customers at home. Many in Orange County have been salivating for the service, or so it seems.
In reality, though, will people really buy a house because it has FiOS?
———————————
What feature is absolutely necessary in your next house?
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Verizon recently acknowledged that it slowed FiOS expansion plans in Southern California because customers who could order it, weren’t. Said Verizon at the time, “… In order to get the return on our investment we need to focus on areas that we’ve already built.” (Read the earlier story, Verizon’s FiOS TV rollout slows in So Cal.)
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Video & TV • AT&T U-Verse • fiber internet • fiber optic • FiOS • FTTH • RVA • U-Verse • Verizon FiOS | 4 Comments »
June 29th, 2009, 4:31 pm by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
 Cell phone companies have been talking about offering coupons on mobile phones for years but have mostly left it up to third-party providers like Cellfire to offer the service. Today, T-Mobile jumped in, launching its own digital coupon service.
Called “Green Perks,” T-Mobile’s coupon program is intended to promote the company’s “green” efforts by offering discounts on environmentally conscious products from Method, Jamba Juice, Volcom, Roxy and Quiksilver, according to the press release.
The point of a cell phone coupon is to pull it up on your phone’s screen, show it to the store’s cashier and leave with a discount on your purchase. No printing, no paper necessary — very green, get it?
As a T-Mobile subscriber, I downloaded this myself. Oddly, T-Mobile didn’t create an app for Google Android phones, so G1 users like myself need to go to the phone’s settings and allow “unknown sources” to install non-Android Market applications (scary!). Full instructions are HERE.
  
Only six coupons showed up for me, including 20 percent off a Volcom V-Co. Logical item at Volcom Brand Stores. That was the only in-store discount. Deals for Roxy, Quiksilver, CatSwell, DogSwell and Method cleaning products were only available through official company Web sites, which defeats the purpose of getting the discount on the phone. No Jamba Juice coupon to be found, by the way. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in: Cell phones • CellFire • coupons • digital coupons • Gadgetress review • Gadgetress reviews • mobile coupons • T-Mobile | 4 Comments »
June 29th, 2009, 11:39 am by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress
 Time Warner Cable’s strategy to get customers to sign up for a bundle of services appears to be paying off — 4 million customers order digital phone service from the cable TV company.
The company, which announced Monday that it signed up its 4 millionth residential phone customer, has been in the telephone business since at least 2003, or a few years longer than telecom rivals Verizon and AT&T have offered TV service.
Its phone service alone costs $44.95/month, which includes unlimited nationwide long distance. But for $55 more per month, customers also get cable TV service and high-speed Internet.
Buying the service bundled seems like a better deal, not to mention everything is packaged in one convenient bill. That’s the thinking Time Warner and others are using to lure customers. For Time Warner, bundled services are such a huge push that they were highlighted in the company’s last earnings report (read the earlier, “Time Warner Cable makes $184 million, gains subscribers“). Time Warner credited gains to the growth of 60,000 customers for its double-play bundle and 146,000 customers for the triple-play pack.
There has been some discontent with Time Warner’s phone service, such as the L.A. Times story on Sunday about Time Warner charging $0.99 to customers wishing to remain unlisted in a public phone directory (this is new?). But I haven’t heard too many complaints from readers about Time Warner’s phone service (I’m listening…). And according to customer-satisfaction analysts at J.D. Power and Associates, Time Warner is, well, not the worst telephone provider out there.
In last year’s telephone service provider rankings, J.D. Power’s didn’t include Time Warner in its Western roundup (where Cox beat out AT&T and Verizon). But in the south, Time Warner was in a four-way tie for the lowest ranked service overall, scoring 2 out of 5. Time Warner did slightly better in the North Central region of the United States and ranked the second highest on the East Coast.
Recent Time Warner Cable news:
Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local TV services.
Posted in: Video & TV • JD Power • phone service • subscribers • telephone • telephone service • Time Warner Cable | 3 Comments »
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Tamara 'the Gadgetress' Chuang
