Save some money and get an Amazon FireTV stick. You can load Kodi onto it if you follow some easy instructions.
It also has it's own apps for things like iPlayer, ITV Hub, 4OD, etc. It's not just for streaming Amazon services. Also has Netflix of course.
That box you link to uses Kodi - so why pay someone so much when cheaper alternatives are available.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Mon 16 Jan 17 at 17:49
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I second Fire TV stick. Costs half the money and backed by Amazon.
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The Kodi stuff isn't backed by Amazon. And it's sometimes really poor quality. And it *probably* isn't legal to get subscription channels for free, just like the thing in the original post.
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All such TV stuff is readily available as apps free of charge for use on desktops/laptops/tablets and mobile phones and can be sent direct to a TV as required.
There are also excellent media servers such as Plex and Universal Media Server on the same basis.
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I'm not sure what pay stuff is available, sin dinero, on these sort of devices. Elucidate :-)
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Android boxes are available for about £30.
Kodi is as legal (or otherwise) as you want it to be. The base software is just a media centre. It all depends what add-ons you install (and therefore what content you consume)
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@ Roger - stuff available as Kodi add-ons include newly released and older movies which someone has uploaded onto a server, streams of subscription sports and movie channels from around the world (i.e. not just Sky), adult stuff - pretty much everything that's broadcast is available through a Kodi add-on.
The interface can be a bit clumsy and it does depend on an adequate WiFi signal (doesn't have to be particularly fast, just stable).
I have one but not being interested in sport or movies (or TV for that matter!) it barely gets used. I often buy stuff like this just out of interest, especially if gthere is a price drop - the FireStick came in just under £30 when I got it. (I also have a Roku box which serves lots of TV but doesn't have the developers all over it delivering additional stuff. Hardly ever even started it up!!)
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>> I'm not sure what pay stuff is available, sin dinero, on these sort of devices.
Elucidate :-)>>
Easy, you can download the BBC iPlayer (and radio version), ITV Hub, All Four, My Five and a range of other catch up or similar services - finding similar apps for a vast range of TV and radio channels is equally as simple. You just need to use your nouse and a little Googling....:-)
Most Smart TVs and phones also provide the means to acquire and use such apps.
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>> Easy, you can download the BBC iPlayer (and radio version), ITV Hub, All Four, My Five and a
>> range of other catch up or similar services
The Amazon FireTV has these without the need for Kodi (XMBC).
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>>The Amazon FireTV has these without the need for Kodi (XMBC).>>
I've never mentioned Kodi. The point I made is that you can download a wide range of apps, including those you mention, for desktops/laptops/tablets/mobile phones and Smart TVs that do the job free of charge (and also relay to a Smart TV if required), whilst my Now TV box is equally capable as well as offering virtually live transmissions of 12 or 13 top Sky channels.
You don't need to spend money on a Fire Stick or Chromecast when it's all available FOC...:-)
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Well its not free is it? Its theft from the film and TV companies because you are effectively watching pirated films.
Mind you, shows your mindset Roger, anything for nothing eh!?
(I write software as a side line and get peed off when someone steals it. I have to add security features that take up more and more of my valuable time because people think its ok to steal it!)
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I'm not particularly interested in fillums. Would a Firestick enable me to watch sports, particularly footie ? I watch on Cricfree atm but the buffering is terrible sometimes.
My sone tried to load Kodi for me yesterday but was unable to do it.
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All you need to do is download Mobdro from Mobdro.com - many hundreds of streamed channels.
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Having recently ditched Sky, I'll need to look into something.
My needs are fairly basic though. Don't watch much but SWMBO has warned any replacement should be capable of getting strictly and masterchef.
My guilty pleasure is walking dead, but I can't even remember what channel that was shown on.
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Previously posted by me, when Kodi came up in a discussion before.
Q. Is Kodi Legal?
A, The simple answer is yes. Kodi is a piece of streaming software designed to display content on a range of devices, and that means it's perfectly legal in the EU.
If we take a look at the law on streaming as it stands (2016) you can stream content from an online source as long as you don't download and save the media.
As long as you're ‘streaming’ and not downloading you are perfectly legal to carry on streaming as you're not breaking any copyright laws.
Q. Is selling Kodi boxes fully loaded legal?
A. No. It's illegal in the EU.
However, end users can install add ons legally.
Taken from
www.entertainmentbox.com/is-kodi-legal-kodi-boxes-illegal/
kodicommunity.com/streaming-pirated-movies-and-content-is-legal/
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 17 Jan 17 at 01:56
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That's a technicality and you know it! The streaming companies are stealing and by watching them you are morally complicit! So like riding in a car that you know was stolen!
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>> That's a technicality and you know it!
I've provided links that back up that "technicality". Can you provide links that say otherwise?
>> The streaming companies are stealing and by watching them you are morally complicit!
So you've never watched anything on YouTube and the like then?
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YouTube pays the copyright holder for each copyrighted video downloaded. I have visited the business units of the two major broadcasters in the UK and have seen the payments from YouTube to them. YouTube will also take down a video if asked to by the copyright holder. Most dodgy streaming sites won't!
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Never said I wanted one!
I have no interest in most sport (Rugby Union excepted).
A lot of TV is ordure these days and I watch very little of day to day stuff - think of soaps, cookery programmes, dancing stuff, Big Brother etc., and you know why.
(Actually the are some BBC daytime programmes which are quite watchable :-0) )
I do watch BBC & ITV detective genre shows, such as Silent Witness, Endeavour and so on - mostly recording them for later viewing, when I can mute the sound and use sub-titles to avoid disturbing my wife who hits the pit earlier than I do, after her consumption of endless East Enders, Emmerdale, Corrie, Doctors, Casualty, Holby City, et al, thus monopolising the TV!
Between our smart TV (Freeview) and Humax PVR (Freesat) I can access and/or record the vast majority of UK TV which I feel I want to watch.
There are some US TV shows I do like, many of which are shown on UK TV, but generally years later,after the series has progressed ,or finished.
There are ways to see the latest of these, of course.
The enquiry was prompted by a Facebook post from one of our friends, met when we were in Spain, saying he was buying one, for use at home in the UK and in his Spanish holiday home.
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Like I said. Can you provide links to backup your claim that Kodi (and also streaming media) is illegal?
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I believe Amazon material is only free on the Fire stick if you have Amazon Prime. Netflix will be on subscription. Neither has much of a showing in films, to our tastes. Goliath is a superior Amazon series (Breaking Bad kind of thing).
I was disappointed with the light quality using Netflix/Apple. All scenes, even those in bright daylight, were overcast with Scandi-type gloom. Fire/Prime is better but not much. Is this a general problem? It does not afflict our TV itself, direct (Freeview) or via satellite (Freesat).
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Yep, Amazon stuff is only available with Prime.
Daughter has fired up her Netflix here once or twice over Christmas for her and SWMBO to watch something, both through the Firestick and through the TiVo and I don't recall them mentioning poor light in films. I think Netflix is also built in to our telly but I don't think they used it that way.
Roger mentioned one of the other attractions of Firestick or similar for telly addicts - you can take your stick on holiday with you (so long as you have a TV with HDMI port and a half decent WiFi connection) and not miss your usual viewing stuff.
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Another benefit - friend has a TV in her conservatory. It doesn't have an aerial and she doesn't want to start running cables from living room sockets.
So has just plugged in the Fire stick and watches the UK channels through Kodi via her wifi.
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>> So has just plugged in the Fire stick and watches the UK channels through Kodi via her wifi.
Why is she watching them through Kodi? The UK channels are available through Amazon's App store (BBC iPlayer, My5, All 4, and ITV Hub) without needing to use Kodi.
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 17 Jan 17 at 13:01
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is that not just catch up as opposed to Live TV?
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BBC & ITV can certainly be watched live, just like on a Smart phone. Not sure about C4 & C5 without checking though.
But the TVCatchUp App can be loaded onto the Firestick, which streams "live" media with only an approx 30 second delay.
tvcatchup.com/apps
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 17 Jan 17 at 13:40
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>>But the TVCatchUp App can be loaded onto the Firestick, which streams "live" media with only an approx 30 second delay.>>
TVPlayer is also an excellent app
tvplayer.com/
along with the various FilmOn apps:
www.filmon.com/
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>> But the TVCatchUp App can be loaded onto the Firestick,
Or at least I thought it could. Tried and failed to install it. Weird that it's in Amazon's App store, confirmed that I added it to my account as was given instructions of how to add it to the Fire TV Stick. I can't even see and install it via the Fire TV Stick itself either.
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>> Like I said. Can you provide links to backup your claim that Kodi (and also streaming media) is illegal?>>
If it was, a top downloads website such as MajorGeeks wouldn't offer it.
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>> So like riding in a car that you know was stolen!
Not really. A stolen car (i.e. physical object) means legitimate owner is deprived of its use when the thief is riding it.
For digital content, the original owner can still use it. So, all the owner lost is the royalty which otherwise could have been obtained had the user watched it by paying it.
The correct term for such incident is "copyright infringement" which is different from stealing (which means original owner is deprived of its use).
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The body which used to police copying and distribution of VHS videos was the Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT). No idea if they still exist...
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Streaming copyrighted media is not illegal unless it is broadcast publically (infringes copyright), or a local copy of it is made and stored (also infringes copyright). The European court of Justice has already ruled that the transient local caching of content that can occur when streaming does not infringe copyright, as it is a fleeting copy that is almost instantly deleted.
Uploading and making it available on the other hand is very illegal, which is why streaming sites come and go, and is also how people get into trouble using torrent clients. When you download something using a bit torrent client, the client makes the parts you have downloaded freely available to others to download (so-called peer to peer connections), effectively sharing the content with others. This is where copyright law is broken - through the upload and sharing, not the download.
As the law stands today, the decision whether or not to use streaming sites is moral, not legal.
Good info here:
uk.businessinsider.com/are-streaming-sites-legal-2014-4
Last edited by: DP on Tue 17 Jan 17 at 14:34
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In another world it's the difference between being a pusher and a user...
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Is the Netflix Fire app truly free, as advertised, or only free for a month, following which a full year's subscription will be charged?
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Free TV stuff? - rtj70
