David would like to stream his own video or audio live to his TV via the Roku Box. Leo says that Houdini7 in the chatroom has written an app that can stream Leo's Show, and David would have to write his own. He suspects that the app is mostly javascript and shouldn't be all that difficult to modify. People have done it all over the world as there are thousands of custom Roku Channels available.
Joe has his own radio station on a "mom and pop" radio station and he wants to expand to the Internet. He'd like to do it legal, but also do it free. Leo says that streaming music is more expensive than broadcast. Leo recommends going to Live365.com. They will take care of the license fees and it's not very expensive. You can get a free account, but it's ad supported. It's not that expensive to have a paid account and it's a great option.
Nick has AT&T U-Verse and a Panasonic Viera TV. He wants to completely cut the cable cord and watch all of his favorite sports online. Leo says it depends on the sport because some professional sporting leagues have a more open approach to the internet than others. Nick likes football, and Leo says that the NFL is gradually moving toward streaming. The SuperBowl was streamed live this year and last year.
Brent has a TV tuner card in his computer with two screens, and he's using Linux. He wants to dedicate one of his monitors to TV. Leo says that is likely a software issue and that Hauppage doesn't support Linux. That doesn't mean there isn't a third party open source driver option. MythTV is a linux based system and they have a list of which cards work and which don't in Linux.
Scott has a new poll at AVS Forum - Is the end of physical media inevitable? With more people choosing streaming options for their entertainment needs, what's the point of getting physical media? Well, Leo says that while streaming is convenient, the enthusiast will play the quality card and say that Blu-ray discs are a far better experience because streaming is highly compressed. Streaming is also hard on films, like Lincoln, that have a lot of dark lighting and colors.
Tammy is going to Europe for about 8 months and wants to know if the SlingBox would be a good way to watch US TV. Leo advises getting the Slingbox 500. It has HDMI, HD, and WiFi and it's easy to set up. And yes, they'd be great for accessing a DVR at home while they're traveling. As long as they have an internet connection, they can access the Slingbox.
Jay is trying to do some live video streaming with a limited signal 4G using the Livestream Broadcaster, and is wondering if a signal amplifier would help. Leo says not really. He needs high speed signal in the area. Leo used to use the Live U backpack that used 8 different cards to bond together and get a better signal by marrying multiple signals, but it wasn't cheap.
Beating Apple to the punch, Roku has done a deal with Time Warner cable that will allow users to watch live cable via the Roku 3. Leo says this may be the beginning of the end having to pay for both cable and internet. We're moving to a time where cable and satellite providers will just deliver internet access and we can get the enterainment we want a la carte.
Roseanne doesn't watch TV and her new iMac doesn't have an optical disc player in it. She'd like to watch both her DVDs and her VHS tapes. Leo says that DVDs are just the VHS tapes of today. The real trends are towards streaming online via services like Netflix and Hulu+.
