Well, this was an interesting story to report on. Over the past few weeks, I've gotten wind of a few new live TV streaming services, all with similar channel lineups and similar pricing in the $30 to $35 per month range. Some of them even had nearly identical websites, and they all have the same note--"delivered in Cooperation with Omniverse One World Television Inc."--at the bottom.

After doing some digging, I discovered that all these services--which include SkyStream TV, Flixor TV, TikiLive TV, VivaLive TV, and NKT.TV--all trace back to a sales and marketing entrepreneur in Kansas City, who apparently gained the streaming rights to dozens of channels through an old cable operator contract. It's certainly an unusual arrangement, as the companies involved aren't working directly with the TV networks they're offering, but it's not a scam or a case of piracy. I tried one of the services in question, and confirmed that it works as advertised.

That said, you might still want to steer clear of these services for now. While they are a bit cheaper than more established live TV streaming services such as YouTube TV and DirecTV Now, their apps aren't nearly as polished, and they lack certain features such as local broadcast feeds and robust on-demand catalogs. Paying a little more will give you a vastly better experience. Read the full column on TechHive
 

Roku's new hardware: Roku has added a couple more streaming devices to its lineup, both with 4K HDR video support. The new Premiere costs $40 and has an infrared remote, which requires line-of-sight to the television. The Premiere+ costs $50 and has a point-anywhere RF remote, which also has voice controls and built-in buttons for TV volume and power. (If those names sound familiar, it's because Roku also offered a Premiere line of 4K players in 2016.)

On the downside, both players also use aging 802.11n single-band Wi-Fi, so they can't support faster connection speeds on the 5 GHz Wi-Fi band of newer routers. The $50 Roku Streaming Stick and $70 Streaming Stick+ are sticking around if you want a more portable device with 802.11ac Wi-Fi, though only the latter supports 4K HDR video. The Roku Express ($30) and Express+ ($40, with composite video output for older TVs) will also remain available as low-cost 1080p video options, and the $100 Roku Ultra will still provide bells and whistles such as a USB port, a MicroSD slot, Ethernet, and a remote with a headphone jack for private listening.

As I wrote this week for Fast Company, Roku also quietly acknowledged that its ambitious voice assistant and whole-home speaker plans have been delayed until 2019. The company didn't offer much of an explanation, but in the meantime, Roku is planning to add some basic support for Google Assistant. That means you'll soon be able to ask a Google Home speaker to pause, rewind, and launch apps, and Roku TVs will support hands-free TV volume and power controls as well. You just won't be able to launch apps directly this way, like you can with Google Home and Chromecast or Amazon Echo and Fire TV.

A new TiVo in town: TiVo is finally upgrading its cord-cutting DVR hardware with the new Bolt OTA. Like the existing TiVo Bolt, the over-the-air  version supports 4K HDR video (through built-in apps like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video), can stream TV to your phone without additional Tivo Stream hardware, and is much faster than TiVo's old Roamio DVRs. It also has 1 TB of base storage and can record up to four channels at once. The main difference is that the Bolt OTA only has a coaxial input for an antenna, so you can't use it with cable service. In exchange, the hardware is $50 cheaper than a 1 TB Bolt at $249, and service costs $7 per month instead of $15 per month. (You can also pay $70 per year or $249 for lifetime service.)

The announcement comes a week after Amazon revealed the Fire TV Recast, a Tablo-like networked DVR that streams video from an antenna to Fire TV devices. Amazon's four-tuner, 1 TB model is $30 pricier than the new TiVo, but it doesn't have any subscription fees. And while TiVo's multi-room DVR solution requires a $180 TiVo Mini Vox for each TV, additional Fire TV devices cost as little as $40. (TiVo says it will support streaming to Fire TV, Roku, and Apple TV in the first half of 2019.)

Still, TiVo has the advantage of providing pristine broadcast quality to whatever television it's hooked up to, and its recording capabilities are still best-in-class. I'm glad the Roamio OTA is being replaced with a more modern option, and I'm looking forward to reviewing the new Bolt OTA soon.

Amazon is now offering discounts across its entire Fire TV line. That includes the Fire TV Stick for $30 (reg. $40), the 4K HDR Fire TV pendant for $40 (reg. $70), and the Fire TV Cube with hands-free Alexa voice controls for $80 (reg. $120). Te Fire TV pendant sale price is only for Amazon Prime members, but the other devices are on sale for everyone.

I still believe Roku's Streaming Sticks are the best options for most people, but Fire TV is compelling if you're all-in on Alexa voice controls, subscriptions through Prime Video, and perhaps the upcoming Fire TV Recast DVR.