Content
Any plan to ditch cable should begin with a trip to Antenna Web. After plugging in your location information, Antenna Web will identify the TV signals you have the potential to pickup with an antenna. If you are in an area where an antenna will not pick up any/few stations, the decision to cut the cord is much more difficult. For me, I live in an urban area within range of all the local TV station signals. I only tried one antenna in my cable free setup and have been happy with that choice.

My journey to cable freedom began with purchasing the Mohu Leaf antenna. Since I was unsure if it would work, I bought the antenna while I still had my cable subscription. I wanted to be sure I had a workable solution before cutting the cord.

The Mohu Leaf looks like a laminated sheet of paper with a cord hanging out one side. When you first open the box, you can’t help but wonder if this antenna is actually going to pick up broadcast signals. I’m here to tell you it will. After attaching the antenna to my TV and positioning it, I received over 30 channels including all my local stations. I watched a beautiful HD picture on my TV for a few minutes and turned off my TV thinking my work was done. I was partially correct.

My wife likes to watch the news in the morning before she goes to work. When I came home the day after installing the antenna, she said the picture kept breaking up so she switched back to cable. I turned on the TV and watched it for a few minutes. Sure enough, the picture was clear for some period of time, then it began to pixelate and sometimes drop completely. My plan to ditch cable hit the first snag only a day after it began.

As it turned out, my iPhone helped me solve this issue. One piece of information Antenna Web gives you is the location of the station signal relative to your home, in the form of degrees. I took out my iPhone and opened the compass app. I found nearly every station was being transmitted from a location facing the rear of my home, not the front where the antenna was located. After testing the antenna with my Macbook Pro (more on that later), I was able to receive crystal clear HD signals that did not drop out. After I found a location suitable to hang the antenna in the rear of my home and ran the coaxial cable from the antenna to my TV, my plan to ditch cable really began to take shape.

DVR
Elgato makes great hardware and software and I use the EyeTV Hybrid as a replacement for my cable DVR. I purchased a second Mohu Leaf antenna and hung it on my office window facing my backyard. I’m able to pick up all the same channels as my living room TV and I use the EyeTV software to record them on my Mac. After encoding them into an iTunes compatible format, I’m able to play them back on a variety of Apple devices.

Apple TV
In all honesty, the Apple TV is probably the single most important piece in our cable free setup. Between my wife and I, we use the Apple TV at least a few hours per day. We subscribe to Netflix to get additional content like TV shows and movies. We use it to stream audio and video content from iTunes on my Mac. We also subscribe to iTunes Match so my wife can play music if my laptop is turned off. With the MLB.TV application on the Apple TV, I’m able to watch my Atlanta Braves battle for the NL East crown.

iPad/iPhone
I use my iOS devices with AirPlay to stream a lot of additional content to the Apple TV connected to our living room TV. In addition to streaming local content from your iPad to the Apple TV, the App Store has a lot of apps that provide additional content to stream or watch on the iPad itself. Apps like ABC Player, PBS, VEVO HD, TED, Vimeo, YouTube, and NPR Music provide a lot of quality content for free. I’m also able to watch the Braves play on the MLB At Bat app on my iPad.

Additional TVs
Due to the placement of my antenna, I was able to split the signal and run it to both the living room TV and the TV in my home bar. If your setup does not allow you to split the signal, you can replace additional cable boxes with another antenna or a set-top box like the Apple TV, Roku, or other device. You can also use the Apple Digital AV Adapter to hook up your iPad or select other iOS devices to most any TV in your home.

What’s Missing
There are only a few things I have not been able to replace in my cable free setup. The first and most missed are cooking shows. My Saturday mornings used to be filled with a relaxing breakfast and a few cooking shows on either Food Network or the Cooking Channel. I haven’t found an alternative method to obtain cooking shows. To a lesser extent I also haven’t replaced home improvement type shows (HGTV or DIY Network), though they were not something I watched all the time. I stopped frequently watching ESPN several years ago so I don’t really miss that in my cable free setup.

Overall
My wife and I have been pretty happy with our cable free setup. Between the antenna, the Apple TV (Netflix), and iTunes, we can get the vast majority of content we received via cable for a much lower cost. Our cable plus internet bill was $135. Our internet only bill is now $45. The savings in our monthly cable bill allowed us to spend a little extra money to purchase seasons 1-3 of Chuck on DVD. We started our re-watch of the series in February.

Besides the cost, one of the reasons behind ditching cable was to take back some of the leisure time in our lives. I’ve found myself watching less TV and I’ve replaced that viewing time with other hobbies like reading, woodworking, learning to code, and more. I’ve also been playing a number of iPad games and catching up on my Instapaper queue. If you can find a hobby you enjoy, you’ll miss cable even less.

So that’s how I cut the cord. Have you cut the cord? Share your success story, or lack there of, in the comments below. I’d like to hear what products or services you are using in your cable free setup!

This Friday at 8PM Eastern, perhaps my favorite TV show of all time will begin for the last time. Chuck, on NBC, ends its five season run Friday. I’ve talked about Chuck quite a few times on this website.

Why has a show with mediocre ratings become one of my favorite TV shows ever? Simply put, the show is a joy to watch. Action, comedy, drama, romance, geek references (some of which even go over my head), and heart. The two main characters, Chuck and Sarah, are the heart and soul of the show. Whoever cast Zachary Levi and Yvonne Strahovski in the lead roles should have definitely received a raise. The Chuck/Sarah relationship, while at times complicated, became the heartbeat of the series.

While Chuck has little to do with Apple, many Apple products have made it into the show through the years. Chuck was the first show I saw the iPhone make an appearance. An Apple Cinema Display and Mac Pro played a vital role in the Pilot. The iPad has shown up in several episodes of season 5.

Chuck will be the first show I’ve watched from Pilot all the way to final episode during the original airing. I still remember sitting down on my couch the first Monday night it aired and having one hell of a good time. Watching Chuck is easy, and that’s one of its greatest strengths. I’m going to be extremely sad this weekend as the show ends, but I’m thankful it got to go out on its own terms. Not many shows get that chance.

Despite being on the chopping block nearly every season, it survived to reach season 5. The show was beloved by critics and fans alike. Chuck even has its very own podcast. Here’s to Chuck, the little show that could for five seasons. If you haven’t watched it, what are you waiting for?

Apple’s recent purchase of Lala has many intriguing ramifications for Apple users.

Lala is a music site that lets users stream music.  Lala scans your hard drive to see which music you already own.  If songs match what is in their library, or you upload your tracks, you can listen to that music an unlimited amount through their web site.  If you don’t own the tracks, you can listen to them once.  After that you can buy a web version that can be streamed forever or “upgraded” to a downloadable version.  The streaming component flies in the face of Apple’s “download-and-own-forever” model.  Apple sees that music consumption may evolve and they are preparing for this change.  It is unknown whether Apple will keep Lala’s current model or alter it to a “all-you-can-eat” subscription.

There is no way the Lala iPhone app sees the light of day, presuming that Lala isn’t kept as a separate service that is away from Apple’s ecosystem.  Streaming content could be provided through the music app on the iPhone/iPod touch (and hopefully Apple’s potential tablet) with optional caching for offline playback.  It would be nice to have downloadable music for iPods lacking WI-FI, with music files that time-expire.  Syncing through iTunes could then verify service membership (i.e. once a month).

There have been endless debates on the value proposition of MobileMe, especially in light of alternative free services that can be combined to be similar to what MobileMe offers.  Adding a streaming music service to MobileMe would increase its value significantly.  I would assume that being a subscriber to Apple’s music service would not require being a MobileMe member.

It would be great to have my music stored in the cloud from anywhere with a Internet connection.  Any Lala web site functionality will probably be rebranded as a Apple product and thus become iTunes in a browser.

Apple TV has not sold well.  Coupling this music service with the proposed video subscription deal that could be occurring soon and I would be far more interested in getting an Apple TV.  Content is king, and the variety and amount of music and video available will be key to increasing Apple TV’s popularity.

Many music services I have tried have left me wanting more.  Hopefully Apple’s will have enough content to please me.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal discusses Apple’s interest in competing with Nintendo in the portable games market.  If I were Nintendo, I would be worried.

Nintendo has been able to beat previous handheld competitors, such as the Sega Game Gear and Atari Lynx, but Apple is different.  Previous competition was focusing on games only, whereas the iPhone/iPod touch can do so many things very well.  The Sony PSP does do a lot too, but not nearly as much or as well as the iPhone/iPod touch.

iTunes has helped Apple effectively sidestep brick and mortar retailers to provide digital content, which is the future of content distribution.  Nintendo has few digital offerings, but these downloads are limited to the DSi, which makes up a small percentage of Nintendo’s handheld sales.

Developers of all sizes do not have to pay much for development costs and have a far easier time getting on the iPhone/iPod touch platform.  Apple’s review process has been arbitrary and lengthy at times, but less restrictions have been placed for apps compared to DS games.  There is also far more variety in content then the DS provides.

There is already a large library of games for the iPhone/iPod touch.  There are poor titles in iTunes, but there are also many great games.  These games are also priced cheap, which is attractive for consumers.  DS games usually cost upwards of $30.

Apple does face some obstacles.  Like the Wii, many developers have not designed games for the iPhone/iPod touch’s unique controls in mind and have ported games from other platforms that had “regular” controls.  It is a way for large publishers to milk successful franchises.  Publishers have been focusing more and more on popular franchise that do not stray to much from what made them successful, so care is not taken when brining games to the iPhone/iPod touch.  At least for Nintendo they can make good games for the Wii’s controls.  Apple must rely on third-party developers to make games that work well with the touchscreen.

The iPhone/iPod touch does not have as many great games as the DS.  With Nintendo’s franchises on the DS, this is not surprising.  The App Store has not been open for long (since July 2008), and with larger developers making a bigger push to bring popular franchises to Apple’s handheld, the gap will close between Apple’s and Nintendo’s portable game offerings.

It is hard to compete with a device that does many things well, which is why some companies have made devices that do one thing very well (the Kindle for example).  Apple has been able to make a great multi-functional device, while Nintendo has not shown this yet. It will be interesting to see what Nintendo does to maintain dominance in the handheld market to ward off Apple.

After downloading Twitterrific for iPhone, I thought it would be my Twitter app of choice.  The interface is great and the app looks very appealing.  Tweetie 2 has changed all this.

There are many great features within Tweetie 2.  Multiple Twitter accounts can be logged into simultaneously.  Tweets can be viewed offline by caching them or sending them to Instapaper.

Sometimes I want to just put down my thoughts before tweeting them.  Drafts can be done within the app instead of using an app like Birdhouse.  If you use Birdhouse, drafts can be sent from Tweetie 2 to Birdhouse.

My favorite feature is that Tweetie 2 can show nearby tweets on a list or map.  It is great to see exactly where and who is tweeting near you.  Seeing local tweets is more interesting to me.  It feels like I have more a connection with people that live in my area versus them living far away.

There are a few downsides to the newest Tweetie.  There are no push notifications, which mean constantly checking Tweetie 2 to see if new tweets have arrived.  Alternatively, an iPhone app like Notifications (iTunes link) can be used to send push notifications when a new tweet appears for you.  The appearance of Tweetie 2 is rather plain looking.  It is not an eyesore, but more attention could have been made to make it look better.  Also, Tweetie 2 is not available for Mac yet, which is unfortunate because it will be great to see how the Mac and iPhone versions work together.

Much has been made over the pricing of Tweetie 2.  It costs $2.99 whether or not the previous version was purchased.  What is controversial is that some people feel there should be free upgrades if the original Tweetie was bought.  This view is rather troubling.  Tons of hard work goes into developing apps and developers should be rewarded with pay if they want to charge for their software.  Certain things probably should not be charged for, such as bug patches.  Overall though, if there are feature upgrades that are worthy of payment, by all means consumer should pay for them if they want the features instead of feeling entitled to free upgrades for life.

The price of Tweetie 2 is not high.  The developer, Loren Britcher of Atebits, is not forcing users to upgrade from the original Tweetie.  Britcher was on a Macworld podcast talking about this issue and will be providing support for the first Tweetie “for the foreseeable future.”

Tweetie 2 is compatible with iPhone OS 3.0 and above is available now (iTunes link).

Browsing through my inbox today, I found a link I emailed myself quite some time ago. The gist of the video linked below is how the iPhone interacts at a “cell phone reunion”. The video might not be new, but it’s definitely funny. As info, the video is definitely NSFW.

The animated video can be seen here on CollegeHumor. Enjoy!

Finally, after months of waiting, Dropbox has officially released an iPhone app.  The wait was worth it.

For those who are unaware, Dropbox is the wildly popular software that lets you sync, store, and share files online, between computers, and mobile phones.  Previously, the only way to access Dropbox on the iPhone was via a mobile website.

Dropbox is not slow like iDisk.  Deleting files off the free Dropbox iPhone App (iTunes link) instantaneously removed them from my MacBook.  It was unbelievable how fast it occurred.  Adding or deleting files from my MacBook did not change any files in the Dropbox app unless I closed the app and opened it again or switched between windows within the app.  Again, the changes happened very fast.

Any files marked as “Favorite” in the app are downloaded for offline viewing.  This is great because my carrier coverage can sometimes be spotty and I may need my critical files at anytime.

Pictures can be shot from within the app or selected from your iPhone Photo library and uploaded to Dropbox.  These photos will be put into a folder if you are in the “Pictures” folder when uploading the picture.  It would have been nice to have any photos automatically put into the “Pictures” folder.

There are a few downsides to the Dropbox iPhone app.  Folders cannot be added to organize files unless you are on your computer.  Also, files cannot be reordered unless they are in the “Favorites” window.  This is a 1.0 release, so presumably these shortcomings will be fixed.

Dropbox is a great iPhone app and has set a high bar for competing syncing software to measure up to.  The iPhone app and the Dropbox service itself are both free.  The free Dropbox account includes 2GB of storage.  For $9.99 or $19.99 USD  a month, you can upgrade to get 50GB or 100GB of Dropbox storage.

App rearrangement is a simple process. First, upgrade to iTunes 9.0 and iPhone OS 3.1. Connect your iPhone OS device to the computer and select it in iTunes. Choose the “Applications” tab and iTunes now displays your app pages as they appear on your iPhone or iPod touch. Apps can be moved around or deleted however you please. Pages can also be rearranged. Sync when you are happy with the order.

The “Applications” tab also lists apps by category and entrance into the App Store. Originally, it was sorted by name only. They will not automatically sync in this order though.

There are a few other limitations. Web apps or apps that came with your device cannot be deleted. Web apps must still be deleted on the device. Both these types of apps can still be moved around within iTunes.

Though far from perfect, being able to rearrange icons in iTunes 9 is a great feature and makes my life easier.

The process to enable MMS is simple. Make sure iTunes is version 7.7 or later and that the iPhone is 3G or 3GS with iPhone OS 2.0 or later. Connect your iPhone to your computer and you will be prompted to update your carrier settings. If you are not prompted, choose your iPhone in iTunes, hit the “Summary” tab, and hit the “Check for Update” button. The update is quick and you will have to restart the iPhone.

After the update is installed, a camera icon will appear next to the text field in the Messages app.

iPhone users can send an MMS to any phones that have MMS enabled. MMS messages count against iPhone texting plans, so there will not be another fee to use this feature.

MMS sending has improved for me since launch day. Previously sending an MMS would stall and it would have to be resent a few times. I was not able to test a video MMS because I own a iPhone 3G.

The big reason why AT&T delayed the iPhone MMS launch is concerns about how their network would hold up. With the popularity of the iPhone, AT&T was concerned these users would bog things down. Other phones on the AT&T network have had MMS enabled for a long time, but iPhone users will theoretically be using MMS far more. iPhone users on other networks have been able to use MMS since day one.

Building a network is costly, but iPhone customers should not be treated like second-class citizens when they are trying to use their “unlimited data” plans. iPhone customers are paying high monthly bills and should not have to deal with this.

One more thing AT&T: where is tethering?

The video above is from one of my favorite TV shows, Chuck.

I enabled Auto-Lock on my iPhone as an extra precaution against random button pressing. To enable Auto-Lock, go to Settings | General | Auto-Lock.

Of all the Apple products I own, perhaps my favorite is the Apple TV. The Apple TV along with iTunes, VisualHub, and Handbrake make for a fantastic media experience. Despite nearly every Apple TV owner absolutely loving their device, the product remains a “hobby” to Apple. Though I don’t believe sales figures for the Apple TV are publicly available, a “hobby” isn’t exactly a glowing indicator of sales.

I purchased my Apple TV after the Macworld 2008 price drop and news about the 2.0 software. Originally the unit was too expensive and lacked features. The $229 price (40GB version) was much more attractive as was the 2.0 software which brought movie rentals and the ability to act as a stand alone device (no PC or Mac required). I dropped my $199 bucks down on a refurbished Apple TV and have used it nearly every day since. I really enjoy watching TV shows, video podcasts, movies, and pictures on my Apple TV. My wife absolutely loves it too!

While I gush about how much I like the Apple TV, I seem to be in the minority of Apple fans, as many do not own one. You rarely see ads for the device anywhere and I think a lot of people aren’t really sure what the Apple TV actually does. And really, how much can a “hobby” add to Apple’s already large chest of cash?

I have a solution to raise the demand for Apple TV. In fact, Apple has already implemented this solution with two of the other main product lines, the iPod and iPhone. Apple needs a Made For Apple TV program and a SDK and App Store for the Apple TV.

SDK: Imagine if NBC released a Hulu application for Apple TV. What about Google Earth for Apple TV? NetNewsWire, NYTimes, WeatherBug, Wikipanion, and Last.fm for Apple TV? The ability to set Apple TV to play music/video while you are on vacation would be a nice security feature. The list could go on for possible applications for Apple TV.

Made For Apple TV Program: Imagine the Apple TV as the central nervous system for a wireless home music/video automation system. The ability to interface with the unit via third party controls, wall units, wireless keyboards, etc.

Not only would Apple move more Apple TV units, they would also receive additional revenue with App Store sales and third party accessories (like they do with many iPod accessories). These moves would open up the device to third party developers and create an iPod like ecosystem. This would be a win-win for Apple and their partners/software developers.

Do you own a Apple TV and love it? If not, would you want one if third party accessories and software were available for it? Sound off below with your comments about my idea or your thoughts on the Apple TV.

Got an iPhone? Help Technologizer get to the bottom of iPhone owner satisfaction from around the globe. After crunching the numbers, they’ll report back on the findings.

Update: That was quick, the survey is now closed.

Did you ever think that charging your iPhone or iPod could be fun? If it’s up to Peter Thuvander, charging those devices might soon indeed become fun. Peter has posted some pictures and conceptual diagrams of the iYo on his website. The iYo is an induction powered yo-yo that stores the energy created by yo-yoing. The energy is stored on a Lithium Ion cell. Once you have enough energy stored, you plug your iPhone or iPod connector into the device and it charges it.

Though the device doesn’t seem to be in production, the concept itself is pretty amazing. Head on over to Peter’s website and watch a short video and read a little more about the device. In places where electricity is scarce, this could be a lifesaver for those who just can’t put down their iPhone.

[Via TreeHugger]

If you’re in the market for a case for your 1st generation iPhone, case-mate is having a big sale on two of their cases. The Leather Flip Case and Signature Leather Case are both on sale for $6. The regular price of these cases are $35, so this is a very good deal. No word on how long the prices will last. You can get more information about the two cases on sale and other 1st generation iPhone cases here.

I finally purchased something from the App Store yesterday. I ponied up my $4.99 for FileMagnet (iTunes link). Up until this purchase I had refused to purchase demo-less software from the App Store.

I’m going to Boston later this month and wanted the ability to carry and view some files on my iPhone. Files like ticket confirmations, hotel numbers, and subway routes would be great to have access to while around town. I could have printed them out but that seems like such a waste. Sure, I could have also emailed the files to myself but that still requires a network connection to view the files. I wanted the ability to view the files offline. Currently the only way to do this is on my non jailbroken iPhone is with one of a handful of 3rd party apps available from the App Store. Files, DataCase, and FileMagnet are the three apps that I was familiar with that allowed this capability.

So what made me choose FileMagnet over the other two? It was part ease of use, price, and a video. FileMagnet has a dead simple uploader for getting files onto your iPhone. Just open the file uploader, drop the files into the application, and open FileMagnet on your iPhone. Provided you’re on the same wi-fi network, the files will automatically begin copying to your iPhone. It’s that easy to use. From the uploader application you can also remove files from your iPhone and download them to any Mac running the uploader.

While not a big deal, the fact that FileMagnet was $2 less than both Files and DataCase was a factor in my purchasing decision. Normally I wouldn’t care about $2, but since I was purchasing an application that I had never used before, I wouldn’t feel as ripped off if the application didn’t work.

As for the video, this YouTube video shows just how easy it is to use FileMagnet. I think every iPhone application website should have a video demonstration like this. A video showing the application in use is a GREAT way to demo the application. In my case, it was this video that put me over the top and gave me the confidence to purchase FileMagnet.

Using FileMagnet has been a breeze. After I downloaded the previously linked file uploader, I dropped a file into the uploader.

Once I had the files I wanted to transfer queued up, I opened FileMagnet on my iPhone. As soon as you open the app on the iPhone, the files begin transferring. Within a few seconds the files were on my iPhone.

FileMagnet on the iPhone gives you a view like the one below. Once you see the file you want to look at, just tap it. You can also upload entire folders and the iPhone will allow you to browse through them. FileMagnet also gives you the ability to delete files from within the application.

FileMagnet allows yo to view iWork files, Office files, PDF, text, images, sounds, videos, and more. Depending on the file size and type, the speed of the application can vary. Opening up a 360KB PDF file took about 5 seconds.

While I like FileMagnet, I do have two minor complaints. While browsing a 360KB PDF file of the Boston transit system, zooming in and out on the file seems slow at times. There is a noticeable delay while you wait for the file to refocus. I hope file viewing will get faster in future versions of the software. My other complaint is that you can’t rearrange files within the FileMagnet application. If you want to add a file to a previously uploaded folder, there is currently no way to do this. To their credit, the developer says they are currently working on the ability to rearrange files.

Would I buy FileMagnet again based on what I know about it now? You bet! The ability to wirelessly transfer and view files on my iPhone for $5 seems like a fair price to me.