Three exciting new features for PlayOn and PlayLater.

June 11, 2013 | Tracy's Blog

PlayOn just gave birth to triplets…3 new features…introducing, drum roll please, PlayMark, PlayTo and RecordTo!
 
 
PlayMark
We’re so excited. For starters, PlayOn can now let you watch VIRTUALLY ANY web video on your TV. It’s called PlayMark – and it is a web browser extension. Picture this – you’re browsing the web on your PC, you come across a cool video that you want to show to your family later on TV. You click the PlayMark icon in your browser menu to mark the video, and then continue happily browsing the web. Later that evening, you’re in front of the TV looking for something to watch – oh yeah, I wanted to show you guys something! Bring up PlayOn, find the PlayMark folder, click on it and --- in a few seconds you’re watching that same web video you PlayMarked earlier…right on your TV!
It’s in beta now, and if you want to be one of the first lucky ones to give it a test drive – check out the details at www.playon.tv/playmark.
 
PlayTo
PlayMark has this other cool feature integrated into it called PlayTo. Instead of simply bookmarking it for later -- if you have a Roku, Xbox 360 or Google TV (or any Digital Media Renderer (DMR)), you can just click “send to…” and the video will start playing on your TV (well, so long as the Roku/Xbox/GoogleTV is connected to that TV). You can also use PlayTo from your mobile phone or tablet. Just browse through the PlayOn app on your phone or iPad, click the play button, then select the device you want the video to play on and it’ll start playing on your TV, instantly. I know – cool, right?
 
RecordTo
It gets even better. We’re also including, for your convenience, at no extra cost…RecordTo. RecordTo is for PlayOn users who also have PlayLater, or “Bundlers”, as we like to call you guys. It lets you select a video from your phone’s PlayOn app and record it via PlayLater. As long as your PlayOn app is paired with your PlayLater PC and PlayLater is running, it will just add the video to the recording queue on your PC. How convenient is that? Now, using your phone, you can:

  1. Watch on your Phone (PlayOn)
  2. Send to your Roku (PlayTo)
  3. Record in PlayLater (RecordTo)

Yeah baby – all of this right from your phone or tablet.
So – welcome to our feature triplets: PlayMark, PlayTo and RecordTo – we hope you enjoy our new babies!


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Coachella 2013...from the comfort of your couch!

May 17, 2013 | Skip's Blog

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is an annual three-day music and arts festival, featuring many music genres - including rock, indie, hip hop, and electronic music.  Watch full performances from acts like Passion Pit, The Lumineers, Wu-Tang Clan and Vampire Weekend...Dozens of videos ready to stream using PlayOn!
 


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We Did It! We Launched a Brand New MyMedia Channel in Roku!

May 14, 2013 | Tracy's Blog

Many folks have started noticing that there is a new channel in the Roku store called MyMedia. There seems to be some confusion and questions about it. Well - I am here to set the record straight. MyMedia was indeed developed by the developers of PlayOn, but is a FREE channel + FREE PC software app that lets you stream your media from your PC to your Roku (or other device). You can learn more about it here: www.playon.tv/mymedia.
 
The MyMedia Roku channel contains only the “MyMedia” functionality from PlayOn and no additional functionality. While PlayOn has recently made a number of enhancements to the MyMedia functionality, MyMedia is no different in the MyMedia channel on the private PlayOn channel. Recent enhancements include:

  • Improved fast forwarding functionality for transcoded content
  • Ability to include iTunes music playlists (check the Show iTunes playlists box in My Media Options)
  • Better support for sharing media on network shares (NAS, etc.)
  • Include embedded or external subtitles in transcoded output (check the Include subtitles box under Subtitles in My Media Options)
  • Better hierarchy and structure of media file folders and categories
  • Ability to specify file extensions that should be served directly to devices, without transcoding (provided your device supports the format)
  • Generate dynamic cover art for all media, if possible to acquire from online sources
  • Improved efficiency of metadata extraction from media files
  • Checking parental control metadata
  • Samsung TVs: show thumbnail images as well as the ability to directly serve .srt subtitle files

We are excited to have a product in the official Roku channel store and hope that folks find it useful in getting the most out of their Roku experience - and did I mention, it's 100% FREE?!
 


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Take That Big Cable!

May 14, 2013 | Tracy's Blog

We at PlayOn have been cranking away for almost 10 years now (can you believe it?) on giving consumers a way to watch the vast content available on the Internet on their TV's....mostly so they can cut the cord and have an alternative to shelling out thousands of dollars each year to the greedy cable companies.
We're not the only ones -- Boxee and Plex have been at it for a while as well, and new entrants like Roku, Hulu, and Netflix have been changing the game as well in the past 5 years or so. Our aggregate efforts are finally making some headway! When we surveyed PlayOn customers 2 years ago, about 60% used PlayOn to augment their cable or satellite service, while 40% cut the cord with PlayOn. In 2013, that completely flipped -- now 60% of PlayOn customers are cord-cutters. It seems that is bearing out in the macro numbers as well. Variety reports that in Q1 2013, subscriber adds were less than 1/2 what they have been in the prior 3 Q1's.

So - finally we can say - Take that Big Cable!


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FREE on GOOGLE TV

May 8, 2013 | Tracy's Blog

That’s right – we’ve decided to make PlayOn COMPLETELY FREE on Google TV. Why? Well - Hulu and the Networks have been discriminating against Google TV owners by not creating apps that enable folks to watch their content on Google TV – so Roku has Hulu Plus, PS3 and Xbox 360 have Hulu Plus, but poor Google TV = no dice. That means you won’t be able to get content from CBS, ABC, Fox, and Comedy Central on your Google TV.
 
Don't take my word for it -- this has been going on for a couple of years:
http://www.gtvhub.com/2012/08/09/will-hulu-plus-ever-make-it-to-google-tv/
“So the question still remains: why is Hulu Plus [STILL] not available on Google TV?”

So…..we at PlayOn thought, “Wouldn’t it be cool if we enabled Google TV folks to have Hulu, ABC, CBS, Fox, Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, and 50+ more channels for FREE?” So, forget paying $7.99/month for Hulu Plus or $49.99 for a PlayOn license. Use PlayOn and get Hulu.com content on your Google TV – for FREE! Plus 60+ other network and premium channels – all for FREE. So tell your friends, shout it from the tree tops (ok – that’s a little overboard, it’s not likely a Google TV owner will hear you), but do spread the word. Just go to www.playon.tv/googletv and you can download PlayOn to your PC from there. No need to buy a license key – the non-licensed software will just magically work on Google TVs. Then, from your Google TV, go into the Google Play Store and get the PlayOn app. That’s it! [Ok, there are more detailed instructions here www.playon.tv/googletv ].

If you have any suggestions as to how we can spread the word – let us know at google@playon.tv. We want every Google TV owner to be able to watch their favorite TV shows for free!

Small print: This FREE offer is for a limited time only….


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