Ahead of the launch of the much-anticipated Apple’s online TV service, Comcast announced a beta test of its new streaming cable service called Stream. The new service requires no extra device or additional equipment… or even a TV.

With Stream, Xfinity internet customers can watch live TV or on demand content from about a dozen networks – including all the major broadcast nets and HBO – on laptops, tablets and phones in their home.

It includes thousands of on demand movies and shows to watch home or away and even comes with access to TV Everywhere and a cloud DVR so you can record all your favorites and watch them later.

Stream will be available to Xfinity Internet customers for $15 per month. Comcast is launching the service in Boston at the end of the summer and they will take it to Chicago and Seattle next, with plans to make it available everywhere in their footprint by early 2016.

The Wall Street Journal reported back in March that Apple was planning to launch its own online television service that would include about 25 channels from broadcasters such as ABC, CBS and Fox and would be available on Apple TV as well as on iPhone and iPad.

Apple Web TV service is expected to be priced at $30/$40 per month and it’s reportedly scheduled to be launched in September.

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So the Super Bowl Sunday is here and everyone is getting their popcorn ready. For those who haven’t been able to get a ticket into the stadium nor have a supported cable subscription, here is huge news: you will be able to live stream SuperBowl XLIX this Sunday and that too for free. It is all thanks to NBC Universal who are broadcasting the whole event for the public to promote their TV Everywhere service.

Not only the game, but also the pre- and post-match shows, a Blacklist episode and even the Half Time program featuring Katy Perry will be available for free streaming.

Unfortunately, no Apple TV channel has sufficient rights to distribute the game and hence, we will have to rely on AirPlay to watch the iconic event on the big screen.

In this post, we will be covering four methods to watch the Super Bowl 2015 on your Apple TV, using AirPlay from different devices.

A. How to watch Super Bowl XLIX on Apple TV using iPad or iPod touch

The NBC Sports Live Extra app can help you there. This official app from NBC will cover the event and it also supports AirPlay mirroring.

Sunday night, fire up the app, choose the game and play the video stream, slide up the Control Center and choose your Apple TV. Now sit back and enjoy the game.

Get NBC Sports Live Extra app from the App Store for free.

This is probably the easiest of all methods. Unfortunately, this service is available only on iPad and iPod touch but not the iPhone, thanks to Verizon’s exclusive broadcast rights for smartphones.

B. How to watch Super Bowl 2015 on Apple TV using Mac or Windows PC

NBC has confirmed that they will live broadcast the entire event on their website, too. You can browse the site on your computer and AirPlay the video from there to the Apple TV. Bookmark this link if you’re planning to use this method.

On a Mac, the AirPlay capability is built right in and you just need to select your Apple TV from the top bar to get things going.

But if you’re on a Windows machine, you’ll need a third-party software to do so. AirParrot is a fairly popular one and also comes with a 7 day trial. You can check out our review of AirParrot or download it here.

C. How to watch Super Bowl 2015 on Apple TV using iPhone

If you’re on a Verizon iPhone, you can download their NFL Mobile app. The app will surely cover the Super Sunday but as you can see in the screenshot above (right), many videos in the app block video playing over AirPlay. Hence, it is unclear if the app will allow broadcasting of the game to your Apple TV. If they do, even non-Verizon users can use it but for a $4.99 subscription.

The best part is that the app will support our favorite Super Bowl ads, too.

The NFL Mobile app is the simplest method for iPhoners but since its availability is uncertain, there is an alternative way: this would be to use the website stream like we did with the computers.

Just use Safari to reach NBCSports. Stream the event and simply turn on AirPlay Mirroring to your Apple TV. If you need a more intuitive experience, you can try AirBrowser, a browser app designed for Apple TV.

D. How to watch Super Bowl XLIX on Apple TV outside the US

1. Those who want to watch the game from abroad can do so by buying an NFL Game Pass from here, but it will cost you $9.99. You will be able to watch the game on your PC or Mac and AirPlay it to your Apple TV (see above).

2. On an iOS device, you can use apps like TunnelBear to VPN your iPhone into a US server, in under a minute. However, this would set you back 3 dollars for the month. Once your device is US-ified, you can follow any of the above (A and C) methods to watch Super Bowl XLIX this Sunday.

3. If you’re residing in a country where a channel is officially broadcasting this Super Bowl, it is likely than the provider has an iOS app which can be used to stream the game and AirPlay to your Apple TV.

Here is the list of various broadcast partners around the world.

E. Sources supporting Super Bowl commercials

Admit it, the ads make the Super Bowl more worth watching and I know that many of you’re wondering if they can be enjoyed on Apple TV. Unfortunately, only the NFL Mobile app will carry these commercials along the game.

Others will have to enjoy them later via this channel on YouTube.

Summing up

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We first heard about AllCast more than a year back when it was shown off in beta on Android. Coming from the Cyanogen Mode developer Koushik Dutt, it promised the ability to mirror your phone to a variety of devices including Apple TV. Last month, it went out of beta on Android and a few days back, popped up on the App Store.

AllCast iOS app lets you stream photos, slideshows, videos and music to your television from your iPhone or iPad. But what makes it unique and different from the native AirPlay feature, is the wide range of devices and services that it supports.

The devices to which AllCast can push your media include Apple TV, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Roku, WDTV and Chrome. Besides, all DLNA receivers and smart televisions from Samsung, Sony and Panasonic are supported.

On the other end, your media can come from a variety of sources and services like your Camera Roll, Music app, Google Plus library, Instagram account, Dropbox album, Google Drive files and any media servers.

The AllCast app is avaialble for free on the App Store. However, this version is ad supported, has a limit on streamable video length and a splash screen, all of which can be removed with an in-app purchase of $4.99.

So, if you have a wide range of media devices in your living room or have your photos and videos spread across multiple cloud storage services, AllCast is for you.

Get AllCast from the App Store.

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Microsoft Xim, launched back in October, brings a very useful concept to life – sharing photos across devices, just for viewing. Instead of a dozen friends hurling around to see the party pics on my phone or mailing the vacation photos to all my family members, I could just stream it to all of their phones at once and view them together.

ALSO CHECK OUT: The Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide for Apple TV users

All connected users can pan, zoom and swipe together and add messages for a synchronised experience. It is available on iOS, Android and Windows, and fortunately, only one of the users in the group needs to have Microsoft Xim installed. The Xim photos expire after sometime, in case you’re wondering.

The app today received its biggest update yet, bringing support for streaming photos to various media devices and of course, Apple TV also gets a bite.

Now you can share the photos directly to the HDTV via Apple TV and enjoy with your family, even if it’s being shared to you by your brother miles away. Or you can slideshow the pictures shared with you by your client, for your colleagues over AirPlay on the over-the-head display.

Here is the complete changelog for the Microsoft Xim update 1.3:

• Now playing on the big screen! Display support for browser, Xbox One, Google Chromecast, AppleTV, Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick
• Xim expiration set to one hour
• Bug fixes

Download Microsoft Xim for iOS for free.

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At the Time Warner annual investor meeting, Richard Plepler, the CEO of HBO, announced that the company will launch a standalone HBO streaming service in 2015, enabling HBO fans to finally cut the cord. And according to analysts, this might be the break the set-top box industry, especially the Apple TV, has been waiting for.

Though the details were scarce, Plepler did mention that the service will begin with “current partners” and from the looks of it, that could directly refer to Apple. HBO’s current streaming service is HBO Go, which requires you to sign in with a supported cable subscription account for access. It is already available on iOS devices and on Apple TV, making Cupertino a worthy candidate to be the above mentioned partner.

New Apple TV in 2015 rumors. HBO offering stand-alone subscription in 2015. Hmmmmmm…

— Serenity Caldwell (@settern) October 15, 2014

Also, Plepler specifically mentions that:

There are 80 million homes that do not have HBO and we will use all means at our disposal to go after them.

With well over 20 million Apple TVs out in the world, the Apple set-top box seems to be HBO’s best route into the cord-cutting industry.

Besides, the Apple TV 4 is expected to come out in early 2015, which is roughly the same time when HBO new streaming service will be launched.

We have long been hearing that Apple is having serious discussions with HBO (Time Warner) to bring their content to Apple TV and it seems, they have finally struck a deal.

Exact details regarding the release date, subscription rates and whether the whole HBO catalog will be available over the service, are still a mystery. However with a network like HBO coming forward to break the cable-only norm, it will surely force the competition to follow. Hence, it is likely that we will see more media giants doing the same in the coming weeks and hopefully, the Apple TV 4 will come packed with them all.

Be sure to follow Apple TV Hacks on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ for all the latest Apple TV-related news.

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Apple is planning to get the most out of their 3 billion Beats acquisition by making its streaming service available to as many as possible. With the 7.0 software update, they’ve added a brand new Beats Music channel to Apple TV, which corresponds to the app of the same name on iOS.

The channel begins by inviting you to a 14-day free trial, unless you already have an account. After two weeks of streaming unlimited music, you can opt to subscribe for $10 a month or $100 per year, which will be charged directly to your iTunes account.

Beats Music channel is similar to its iOS app in almost all aspects, except that the former shows up in 1080p.

My Library is pretty much self explanatory while Just for You features a playlist curated especially for you based on your song habits and interested genres. You can Browse their catalog or Search for more songs based on Artist, Albums, genres or even by Awards and Events at the Highlights tab.

Stream unlimited, ad-free music anytime you want with Beats Music. Choose from over 20 million songs from nearly every genre imaginable. Not sure what to play? The Beats in-house curators can guide you.

However, a major left out in the Apple TV channel when compared to the Beats Music app is the feature called “The Sentence”, where you can enter exactly what you are doing at a particular moment, and get a custom playlist right for the mood. That was a really cool feature and will surely be missed.

The app is a little pain to set up initially since there is a lot of typing involved. You might want to download the official Remote app, especially if you are Signing up for the first time. But once set up, the overall experience is pretty good with a minimal UI and unobtrusive streaming sessions.

So what’s the take away? Beats Music does exactly what it is supposed do and the major decision lies in whether you prefer Beats Music over countless other services and whether you’ll be comfortable streaming songs to your television.

If you already have a Beats Music subscription, it would be unwise not to setup your account on Apple TV too. Else, you might want to make use of that 14-day trial on your iOS device before jumping into a subscription on the big screen.

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Judging from the reports so far, Apple is planning a huge keynote for this Tuesday. They’ve chosen to build a tall new building for the event (in front of the Flint Center), as opposed to the usual Yerba Buena Center and its Town Hall Theatre. Also it is worth remembering what Eddy Cue commented on this year’s releases, “the best product pipeline I’ve seen in 25 years.” Though we can never be sure, it is expected that Apple will release two new models of iPhone and an iWatch at the event, along with iOS 8 HomeKit and HealthKit.

Unfortunately, there is not enough speculations suggesting an impending Apple TV refresh. In fact, you may have to wait till early next year to get your hands on the Apple TV 4, according to this rumor.

However if it is any consolation, Apple TV users will be able to live stream the event on Tuesday. If things follow as before, Apple TV will gain a new channel called Apple Events in a couple days, which will bring the live keynote to your television.

Live video from our special event will be right here. And so will a whole lot more.
Join us at Apple.com on September 9 at 10 a.m. PDT to follow every moment.
Live streaming video requires Safari 5.1.10 or later on OS X v10.6.8 or later; Safari on iOS 6.0 or later. Streaming via Apple TV requires second- or third-generation Apple TV with software 6.2 or later.

The event is scheduled to be held on September 9th, at 10am PST. Apple has a countdown setup at the announcement page with a link to easily add a calendar event. If you think you’ll be enjoying the keynote, be sure to make use of that.

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Just a  week after getting added to the WatchESPN iOS app, the SEC and Longhorn programmes are now available on the Apple TV channel too. Both streams deal with college sports and should enable students to follow their teams’ games via Apple TV.

SEC content on WatchESPN is a result of the quite recent partnership between SouthEastern Conference Network and ESPN, which will be covering over 1000 games each year in 21 of their sporting events. The content is distributed as SEC Network which is the same stream as their television channel and the SEC Network+ which features extra content.

SEC Network + — exclusively available on SECNetwork.com and via WatchESPN — will add live and on-demand coverage of more than 550 digital-exclusive sporting events to the SEC Network multi-screen output in the first year. Ranging across multiple sports from all member schools, SEC Network + events will all be high-quality, multi-camera productions – enabled by extensive new technological and production capabilities built out by ESPN and SEC schools in support of the SEC Network launch.

Longhorn Network has been around for about 4 years now and deals exclusively with broadcasts of University of Texas athletic meets.

The Longhorn Network features events from 20 different sports involving the Texas Longhorns athletics department, along with original and historical programming. The network also features academic and cultural content from the UT Austin campus.

However cord-cutters won’t be able to enjoy these programmes as both SEC and Longhorn require you to sign in via a supported cable subscription accounts.

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One of the unique announcements Apple made at its WWDC, 2014 was the new Continuity suite of features for iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, which will enable users to easily switch between any of their Apple devices. For instance, you could start typing an email on your iPhone and just open your Mac and continue typing there, right from where you left. And as it turns out, Apple TV will also receive a piece of this innovation just like we predicted.

As reported by 9to5Mac, notifications like below are popping up on Macs of developers who are connected to the same network as Apple TV running the latest 7.0 beta firmware. Hence it’s been confirmed that Apple TV will carry a portion of the Continuity suite in the next major public update, but it’s still unclear as to what features are being introduced.

At this time, only speculations and guesses by developers are out in the web and they expect Continuity on Apple TV to be AirPlay taken to the next level. No need for manually connecting to your set top box every-time you need to airplay; Apple TV could sense whenever you’re in the vicinity and if you’re watching a video or listening to a song or viewing some pics, “Presto!”, its now showing on your HDTV. Even Apple TV channels may be able to work along side their corresponding iOS apps, like Netflix. Start watching Breaking Bad on iPad in your bedroom and walk into the living room only to see that it automatically pops up on your TV. Sounds exciting!

The fact that Continuity needs Bluetooth 4.0 to work with and that the latest Apple TV 7.0 beta has dropped support for Apple TV 2 (no Bluetooth 4.0) also reinforces our assumptions. Anyway, Apple is always full of surprises and only a couple of months through the calendar will tell us what they’re actually planning.

Read more on the other new iOS 8 features for Apple TV – Peer-to-peer AirPlay and iCoud Family Sharing
So what do you guys thinks about Continuity on Apple TV? Let us know in the comments section below. And be sure to follow Apple TV Hacks on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ for all the latest Apple TV-related news.

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With just a day left for the FIFA World Cup 2014 to kick off, everyone is busy buying popcorn and coke and figuring out the best way to enjoy the game. For Apple TV users, seeing the clash of legs on their HDTVs is a tempting option. So here is a guide on how you can catch all the World Cup action on your Apple TV.

Method 1. Watching FIFA on Apple TV from United States

This is probably the easiest way to watch the World Cup on Apple TV, thanks to WatchESPN, which is bringing the live coverage of all matches, previews and some related content to the native channel.

However, to access this stream, you’ll need an active cable subscription with any of the providers affiliated with ESPN or at least get a username and password from one of your friends.

According to CNET, the supported providers include:

AT&T U-verse, Bright House Networks, Charter, Comcast XFINITY, Cox, DISH, Google Fiber, Midcontinent Communications, Optimum, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon FiOS TV.

To watch the games, just fire up your Apple TV -> open the WatchESPN channel -> login with your cable provider ID -> find your match and enjoy!

Here is the official WatchESPN schedule for their live world cup coverage.

US Hispanics will be pleased to know that Univision will be broadcasting all 64 games in Spanish. They don’t have a native Apple TV channel, so you’ll need to either AirPlay them from their website (using OS X AirPlay Mirroring or from a PC using AirParrot) or via their exclusive iOS app for the FIFA World Cup.

Univision will stream the first 56 games without the need to sign in with a pay TV provider login. However…

…the quarterfinals, semifinals and the finale will only be made available to customers of pay TV providers the network has a deal with, which at this point include AT&T, Bright House, Optimum, Cox, DirecTV, Dish, Time Warner Cable and Verizon, but not Comcast.

Method 2. Watching FIFA on Apple TV from United Kingdom

In the UK, there is no native channel on Apple TV which will let you stream the matches live. However, if you have an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, you can get the BBC iPlayer and iTV apps on it to AirPlay the content to the HDTV.

It’s been officially confirmed that BBC and iTV will be splitting the rights for the matches to be shown, with each streaming 31 and 34 games respectively.

The iPlayer also offers VOD for past matches and also a better commentary as claimed by many fans. And the best part is that it is free and doesn’t require any active subscriptions like WatchESPN.

Check this schedule for the live broadcast of World Cup matches for the two apps and get BBC iPlayer and iTV apps from the App Store for free.

When your favorite match is live, turn on Apple TV and open the corresponding apps -> select the live stream of the game -> pull up the Control Center and select AirPlay -> choose your Apple TV and enjoy!

Besides the official apps, the matches will also be available to stream from their official websites (iPlayer,  iTV). So you can just stream the match on your browser and AirPlay to the Apple TV (using OS X AirPlay mirroring or from a PC using AirParrot).

Don’t want to use your iOS device? Check out some other methods below.

Method 3. Via your country’s national providers

Most countries already have a specific cable provider who has the rights for streaming the whole World Cup. It is highly likely that these providers have their own iOS apps or atleast a dedicated website for broadcasting the matches. GigaOM has detailed on a few countries:

Australia: SBS will stream each and every game on its website as well as through its iOS and Android apps.
Canada: CBC will stream all 64 games of the World Cup on its website as well as through its iOS and Android apps — no pay TV subscription required.
Ireland: RTÉ will stream all 64 games live on its website as well as through its mobile apps, including 8 that won’t be broadcast on TV.

You can check this article to find which channel provider in your country has the world cup’s broadcasting rights and then a quick Google search should give you the links to their website or iOS app. AirPlay directly from their app or use OS X mirroring with Safari or AirParrot on PC with your browser, to get the World Cup matches on your HDTV.

Method 4. Using SportsDevil addon for XBMC

The best thing about this method is that it is completely free and works for just anybody. However, this method may not be legal in certain countries, so please check before you attempt to stream. It may also have below average quality for streams when compared to other official ones.

Here’s how you get this done:

A. For jailbroken Apple TV 2
Things are much easier when you have a jailbroken Apple TV because XBMC can be installed directly on it. You can follow our guide on how to install XBMC 13.0 Gotham on Apple TV 2.

B. For non-jailbroken Apple TV 2 or Apple TV 3
In this case, you’ll need another device like a Mac, PC, jailbroken iOS device or an Android device to install XBMC and then use some third party software to AirPlay to Apple TV. Here is a detailed guide on how to get XBMC on your HDTV via Apple TV 3 (or non-jailbreakable Apple TV 2).

C. For Apple TV 1
In this case, you’ll be using a software called OpenElec and you won’t be able to install XBMC as a separate channel on your set-top box, but instead you’ll need to install XBMC as a stand-alone operating system on it. In short, your old Apple TV will boot directly into the XBMC home screen. Find our detailed tutorial here.

Once you have the perfect setup of getting XBMC to show up on your Apple TV, follow our guide on how to Watch live sports on Apple TV with SportsDevil XBMC video addon and access any of the hundreds of Sports Channels to stream the FIFA World Cup 2014 live.

If you’re having any issues with compatibilities, please check out this guide.

Method 5. Using UnoTelly

Unotelly is a DNS service, which will help you securely spoof your IP address and thereby your digital location, allowing you access to country specific websites and services from anywhere in the world. So in this method, we’ll change our iOS device’s location to UK and make use of the BBC iPlayer and iTV apps (Method 2) to stream and AirPlay FIFA matches to Apple TV.

The best part is that UnoTelly now has a World Cup offer by which you can avail a free trial of 8 days to view some matches and if you like the results, you can subscribe for just $4 per month. You can avail this offer here and get started with their guide here.

Others DNS clients: HideMyAss, Unblock US

CONCLUSION

Did we miss any methods? Have you checked out any of these methods? Do share you thoughts in the comments below.

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