Michael Antonoff

Streaming Device Reviews
Lirpa Labs Mob Cam VR App
Michael Antonoff  |  Apr 01, 2016  |  0 comments
Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE Free (App); $5 to $20 per hour

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Eliminates airfare, hotel, and dry-cleaning bills
Diffuses “line rage” caused by waiting in too many lines for too long
Lets you bypass prickly security checks
Minus
Vertically held camera phones result in narrow, picket-fence-like view on widescreen
Surge pricing and data overage charges passed onto consumer quickly add up
Lacks 4K video and 7.1- channel audio support

THE VERDICT
Mob Cam VR will appeal to the weary, the non-ambulatory, or anyone so disgusted with the idea of returning to a massive trade show that they’d do anything to opt out.

Mimicking business plans pioneered by Uber, Airbnb, and TaskRabbit in which anyone with a car, room, or broom can offer transportation, a bed, or cleaning service to strangers, the Lirpa Labs Mob Cam VR is a new app that empowers smartphone owners everywhere to work as on-location cameramen for one or more distant viewers willing to pay for a live video feed.

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Apptitude
The Apps of My Eye: 7 Apple TV Apps
Michael Antonoff  |  Mar 02, 2016  |  0 comments
Apps are often referred to as “mobile,” which an Apple TV decidedly is not. Fixed to a big-screen TV, the media receiver (Gen 4) and Apple TV App Store offerings are meant to be enjoyed from the sofa, though there are some games and workouts best deployed off the couch. The store has seven departments: Games, Education, Entertainment, Health & Fitness, Lifestyle, News, and Sports. Here are my favorite apps, several of which you’ve probably never heard of.
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Apptitude
Lost Your Remote? The Tile App Can Help
Michael Antonoff  |  Feb 10, 2016  |  0 comments
Have you heard about the sequel to the TV series, Lost? It’s called Found, and the premise is that the island is where all things lost end up: a missing sock, a runaway drone, a lost shaker of salt. Tourists arrive, and the lucky ones are reunited with their stuff.
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Media Server Reviews
Apple TV Streaming Box Review
Michael Antonoff  |  Feb 09, 2016  |  13 comments
Performance
Features
Ergonomics
Value
PRICE $149 (32 GB), $199 (62 GB)

AT A GLANCE
Plus
Touch surface remote
Dedicated App Store
Snazzy photo slide shows
Minus
Arduous ID and password entries
Weak implementation of Siri
Lacks 4K video support

THE VERDICT
Apple TV Gen 4 brings a better remote to the table but fails to soar above other top streaming devices.

When Apple TV debuted in 2007, dozens of rival media receivers were already in place. At a time when TVs were too dumb to do their own streaming, Apple TV came along mainly to benefit iTunes users. Since then, other media players have come and gone, but Apple has persevered. The company recently shipped Gen 4.

What’s different in 2016 is that most consumers now own a smart TV, media receiver, game console, or Blu-ray player connected to the Internet. Unless Gen 4 can deliver a richer experience over other Internet appliances, notably the Roku 4 Streaming Player (see review, this issue), Apple TV will be a tough sell.

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Apptitude
Get Thee to the Abbey
Michael Antonoff  |  Dec 16, 2015  |  0 comments
Back in 2001 when the M.I.T. Media Lab unveiled a demo about social media and TV, it presaged greater things to come. At the bottom of the TV screen, viewers’ live comments appeared for all to see, demonstrating the potential of instant feedback shareable by everyone. My eyes opened wide as I experienced the idea of social media at a time when tweets were still for the birds and Facebook wouldn’t launch for another three years.

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ApptitudeAudio Video News
Live Theater to the Home Theater
Michael Antonoff  |  Dec 14, 2015  |  1 comments
Successive Thursday night offerings in December of live musicals to the home were as different as could be: The Wiz featured a big cast and attracted an audience of millions through its broadcast on NBC; Daddy Long Legs was performed by two actors and seen by thousands via the Internet. Yet it was Daddy that made history as the first off-Broadway show streamed live from New York.
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Apptitude
Eyes in Back of Your Head
Michael Antonoff  |  Oct 28, 2015  |  0 comments
Techno-lust rises during the holidays, especially for action cams that take selfie-friendly video to a whole new level. Driving my hormones this season is the V.360º, a wireless camera with companion apps for Android and iOS devices. Though its manufacturer, VSN Mobil, likens the cylindrical cam to a 9-ounce can of Red Bull, the immersible camera captures a 360-degree view—8MP photos and 6480 x 1080 video—without stitching.

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Audio Video News
The Pause That Astonishes
Michael Antonoff  |  Oct 26, 2015  |  6 comments
TiVo users have been aware for years that the company had found another revenue stream by selling banners that superimpose themselves on paused programs. Click the Select button on the TiVo remote and a previously downloaded commercial plays. But when is an ad superimposed on a paused show wildly inappropriate?
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Apptitude
Apple Music: Is It Worth It?
Michael Antonoff  |  Oct 07, 2015  |  3 comments
I was skeptical that Apple’s all-you-can-queue subscription plan, Apple Music, would cause me to abandon online services like Spotify that also boasted 30 million songs. Not an Apple acolyte, I use a Windows computer and an Android smartphone. I boycotted buying anything from iTunes when a $50 credit in my account was hacked and Apple refused to restore it the second time it happened. But I also own an iPod touch, two iPads, and an Apple TV, and the iTunes Store on my PC continued to be the place for sampling free music—typically after discovering the songs on radio stations streamed on iTunes.
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Apptitude
NBC in Your Pocket
Michael Antonoff  |  Sep 16, 2015  |  0 comments
With the small screen going mobile, TV networks are chasing viewers. The number of people who subscribe to Comcast’s Internet service surpassed its video subscribers for the first time this year. As the owner of NBC, Comcast is likely hearing, “Philadelphia, we have a problem.”
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