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Cox, FiOS, DirecTV offering free HBO this weekend

June 10th, 2009, 6:52 pm by

HBO free preview coming...UPDATE: DirecTV’s freebie is next weekend. See details below.
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As a customer of Time Warner, some of the most important information (free HBO this weekend!) comes to me via e-mail or snail mail, not as a reporter. For other TV services, I’ve got to hunt around.

Apparently, much of O.C. will get access to free HBO this weekend, starting Friday and ending, for most, on Monday. I’ve checked with the companies themselves, for the most part. See below for details.

YES: Cox Cable. HBO only (updated 6/11/09). Says the company, “All digital cable customers will have access to all HBO channels and HBO OnDemand.  All Cox Digital Cable customers are eligible for the free preview.  The offer runs from Friday, June 12- Monday, June 15. Also, digital cable customers that have HD service will also have access to the two HBO HD channels during this time. (Channel 700 & 701) Channel numbers that are open for viewing this weekend are HBO on 200,201, 206,207,208,209,210,211, 212 and HBO On Demand on channel 1.” Typically, Cox charges $12.99 for HBO, while two premium channels cost $18.50.

YES: Verizon FiOS will be offering the free HBO preview, from June 12 to June 16, or Friday to Tuesday.

Yes: DirectTV, but I haven’t gotten confirmation from the company. According to FreePreview.TV, a good source of what’s coming up for free. The site also says DirecTV users will get free Showtime, Starz and SportsPack channels, in addition to HBO and Cinemax. UPDATE: Commenter Eric Cooper (thanks Eric!), as well as FreePreview.TV, says the HBO promotion will be next weekend, June 18-21. 

Also, FreePreview reports that Comcast subscribers are in luck, although the cable service is not available in Orange County.

And, of course, Time Warner Cable will be offering the free HBO/Cinemax preview. See earlier story.

Not happening: AT&T U-verse and Dish Network. Sorry folks.

More TV news:


Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local TV services

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • | 12 Comments »

FREE digital TV converter box installation to first 10,700 people

May 29th, 2009, 10:05 am by

UPDATE, 3:09 p.m.: What exactly is free? Not to taint the effort, but just so you know how Geek Squad is able to offer this service for free, I did more research. Here’s the answer: “Taxpayers paying $99 per ‘free’ Geek Squad DTV installation”

Geek Squad offers free digital converter box installation.With 14 days to go before the nation’s TV networks switch to digital broadcasts (thus leaving many older, analog TV watchers in the dark), I wondered if someone was going to step up and offer to install digital converter boxes.

Well, Best Buy’s Geek Squad has stepped up. 

And it’s offering digital converter box installation for FREE to the first 10,700 people. That’s right, totally, absolutely free. No purchase from Best Buy required. Those who take the Best Buy’s tech support up on its offer can use a box they bought from a competitor. And it could be a box purchased last week, last month or even last year. 

“The even better news is that (Geek Squad) will hook up converter boxes purchased from any retailer at any time,” confirmed a Best Buy spokesperson.

Digital TV transition delayed to June 12, 2009.So, here’s the deal:

From now until Tuesday, June 30, Geek Squad will connect up to two DTV converter boxes per house free of charge to the first 10,700 people nationwide. First come, first served. The Western region, which includes Orange County, can handle up to 4,200 installations. The only requirement: the consumer must live in a Geek Squad service area (see below for locations). Besides the box installation, Geek Squad will:

  • adjust existing antennas
  • scan and rescan converter boxes to locate the maximum digital broadcast channels available
  • integrate an existing VCR
  • provide guidance on the operation of the converter box

The integration with a VCR is a nice touch I’m sure certain readers will be interested in. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • | 3 Comments »

Time Warner’s channel changes, freebies

May 25th, 2009, 12:30 am by

Time Warner CableTime Warner Cable channel changes that may affect Orange County subscribers, as reported by the company:

Effective May 27, 2009, FSN HD (part-time) on channel 413 be removed from the channel lineup and will be replaced by Fox Sports West HD (24/7) on channel 463 and Prime ticket HD (24/7) on channel 464. (Previous story)

Effective May 27, 2009, KCOP (MyTV) HD will move from channel 410 to channel 413.

Effective May 27, 2009, HDNet will move from channel 420 to channel 459. (This could be updated later since Time Warner recently announced it will no longer carry HDNet.)

Effective May 27, 2009, Smithsonian HD will be launched on the HD Tier (an HD box is required) on channel 420. (Previous story)

Effective May 27, 2009, KPXN (ION) HD will be launched on the Broadcast Basic service level (HD equipment is required) on channel 410. (Previous story)

Effective May 27, 2009, MLB Extra Innings/NHL Center Ice will be removed from channels 701 through 710.  These same channels will continue to be available on channels 755 through 768.  No programming will be lost. 

Effective June 3, 2009, Lifeskool On Demand and Kid’s Club On Demand will be discontinued in all areas. Lifeskool On Demand is also carried on channel 1044 in some areas.  Kid’s Club On Demand is also carried on channel 1024 in some areas. 

And mark your calendars for a freebie next month:

Free stuff!From June 12-15, 2009: Free access to HBO channels 427 and 502-512, Cinemax channels 430 and 522-531 and HBO and Cinemax On Demand on channel 1 for all customers through a free preview.  HBO On Demand and Cinemax On Demand are also carried on channels 1004 and 1005 respectively in some areas.  Some programs have adult content.  If customers do not want to see the free preview, they can activate the parental controls on these channels or call 1-888-TW-CABLE (888-892-2253) for more information.

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • | 4 Comments »

Boost offers free access to taxi service on St. Pat’s Day

March 16th, 2009, 7:34 am by

Unwilling to completely ditch its cheeky reputation, Boost Mobile’s latest promotion targets those who plan to get wasted this St. Patrick’s Day. Drunken revelers who need a simpler way to get a ride home Tuesday can get free access to taxi service.

It’s not a free taxi ride but free call to a service that will send the first taxi to, borrowing from Boost’s former ad  campaign, where you at. 

Subscribers of the pre-paid service just need to dial #TAXI (that’s #-8-2-9-4) on their phone to be connected with the first available cab company in the area. The taxi call service, created by CellWand Communications, usually costs $1.29.

The Irvine company last offered this to customers on New Year’s Eve. 

By the way, the #TAXI service is also available to AT&T Wireless customers for $1.79 and Verizon Wireless and Alltel customers for $1.50. Or, for free, you can just dial 1-800-829-4222 (1-800-TAXI-CAB) and get connected to a local taxi company.

Recent news related to Boost Mobile:

Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local cell phone services. 

Posted in: Cell phones • • • • • • | 4 Comments »

Recycle e-waste, get free tickets to Toshiba golf tourney

March 7th, 2009, 12:08 am by

Consumers should by now know better than to toss old computer monitors in the trashcan (it’s hazardous waste!). But if you need more incentive to be good to the earth, take your unwanted electronic waste to Newport Beach and get into this weekend’s Toshiba Classic golf tournament.

Consumers who recycle any electronic waste at the ”Swing for the Green” event will get two free tickets good for any day of the tournament, which starts today and ends Sunday.

Toshiba, which is based in Irvine, wants to collect thousands of pounds of waste at the event to surpass last year’s 6,500 pounds of e-waste.

::details::

WHAT: Toshiba’s Swing for the Green recycling event

WHEN: Friday, March 6 to Sunday, March 8
8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. each day

WHERE: Newport Dunes (satellite parking lot of the tournament), 1131 Back Bay Drive in Newport Beach.

WHY: Recylce old electronic equipment responsibly. Items accepted include desktop PCs, laptops, computer monitors, printers, camcorders, fax machines, cell phones, VCRs, DVD players, rechargeable batteries, MP3 players and stereos.

MORE: explore.toshiba.com/adps/swing-for-the-green

Past green-tech posts:

Posted in: news • • • • • • • • • • | 1 Comment »

DTV update: Who needs a free digital converter coupon?

March 3rd, 2009, 8:41 am by

The clocks have been reset. Budgets have been approved. TV broadcasts are (finally) going digital on June 12. Most of the nation is ready but there are still millions who are hoping to get one of those government-issued coupons, good for $40 off a digital converter box.

New numbers out Monday show 4.3 million people are on the waiting list for a coupon. This includes 153,646 households in the Orange County and Los Angeles area, or 6.3 percent of the total. This is the highest percentage across the country — higher than New York City’s 6.1 percent, Chicago’s 4 percent, Dallas’ 2.5 percent and Boston’s 1.4 percent. Check out the official stats yourself on this PDF file HERE.

The coupon program ran out of money in January but thanks to the economic stimulus bill, millions more will be added to the program. When? Dunno. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which manages the coupon program, has not yet announced when it will start sending out more coupons.

But thanks to reader Elvin P Miali, I have two coupons to give away to the first readers who simply ask. These expire in April so if you need one, send me an e-mail or comment on the blog. I’ll give the coupons to the first two readers who request one. (Remember, you don’t need a converter box is you already have a digital TV or pay for cable or satellite. Read more about what you will need at my “Guide to the 2009 digital TV transition.”)

If there are other readers out there who have valid coupons and no longer need them, I’d be happy to unload them to the needy. Send me an e-mail.

Everyone should expect to see more ads and education efforts by TV stations and organizations, like the National Association of Broadcasters. The NAB relaunched an updated campaign on Monday with TV commercials, ads on buses and in gas stations and the web. In all, the group and its member stations have invested more than $1.2 billion on informing consumers about the DTV transition, said Linda Yun, an NAB spokesperson.

More digital TV transition news: Check out the Gadgetress Guide to the Digital TV transition.

Latest headlines:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • | 6 Comments »

This weekend: Time Warner offers 40 movies for 1-cent each

February 13th, 2009, 5:01 pm by

**UPDATE: Feb. 15 ** Read the new post, “Time Warner Cable apologizes for 1-cent movie mess.“

**UPDATE, 11 p.m., Feb. 14 ** What a mess! For customers trying to take advantage of Time Warner’s 1-cent customer appreciation movie deal, the deluge of requests has apparently taken out the system. Readers are complaining that they cannot access the movies, plus other promised movies (mostly HD) are now missing!  As of 11 p.m., only “Hamlet 2″ is available in HD. 

If you call Time Warner’s customer support line, at 1-888-TWCABLE, a recording says that it is aware of the video-on-demand issues and engineers are working on it. After 30 minutes on hold myself, a polite customer service representative offered me two coupons for free movies in the future and explained that HD movies were removed because they weren’t coming in clearly (?). She didn’t expect issues to be resolved tonight but was told by her supervisor that we should check the lineup at 8 a.m. on Sunday. The missing HD movies should also be added back.

I have asked Time Warner’s local officials for an official response and will post an update as soon as I hear from them.

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**UPDATE, 12:30 a.m. Feb. 14** If the “Thank You” category isn’t showing up on Channel 1 within the “Movies” section, just go to the “HDTV movies” or “Movies on Demand Classics,” and the “Thank You” category is available.

Looking for a cheap Valentine’s Day date this weekend? How about dinner and a movie — at home? 

Time Warner Cable is offering 40 movies on demand this weekend for 1 penny each during its “1 Cent Love N’ Movies Deal.’  The 40 movies, including a handful in HD, will be available beginning at 12:01 a.m. Saturday morning, Feb. 14. The special sale ends Sunday, the 15th at 11:59 p.m.

Consider it a customer-appreciation weekend for the rough year cable customers experienced. BUT only for customers in the SoCal region, which includes us in Orange County and Los Angeles.

For a list of movies, see the chart below. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • | 23 Comments »

Time Warner Cable offering 1-cent movies

February 6th, 2009, 5:18 pm by

Possibly to earn goodwill among growing legions of disgruntled customers, Time Warner Cable is offering 1 cent movies next weekend.

Dubbed the “1 Cent Love N’ Movies Deal‘ in honor of Valentine’s Day weekend, 40 movies will be available for one penny beginning at 12:01 a.m. Saturday morning, Feb. 14. The special sale ends Sunday, the 15th at 11:59 p.m.

Customers began getting an insert in their monthly bill (image courtesy of the deal-hunting Fast Food Maven) to let them know of the special. It’s also posted on Time Warner’s Southern California page HERE. Here’s a PDF of the page: 1-cent movies from Time Warner Cable.

In the upcoming press release, Time Warner appeals to customers affected by the current economy. 

“Instead going out and spending excessive amounts of money, our customers can dine in, snuggle with that special someone and watch a 1 cent movie right in the comfort of their own home, and save a ton of money in the process,” says Time Warner Cable West Region Executive Vice President Stephen Pagano. 

I think this is an excellent move on Time Warner’s part and not just because it’s offering movies on demand for one penny. But it’s a way to encourage customers to try out its “Video On Demand” offering, which already has a bunch of free stuff, including free movies. 

To order the movies, go to Channel 1, then “Movies,” and then “Thank You 1¢ Movies.”

It’s an interesting mix of movies — “Hellboy II,” “The Mummy 3″ or “Hulk Vs.” anyone? There aren’t as many sappy comedies as I would expect, and none that are Valentine’s Day themed. (Wait — are there even any Valentine’s Day-specific movies?) 

Anyway, here’s the list of movies (and more details on TWC’s site): Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • | 5 Comments »

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