‘Pro Evolution Soccer 2018’ continues to be a pleasure to play

Every year, there’s the ongoing debate about which football game is the best: EA’s FIFA or Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer. And the truth is they’re both great in their own right — FIFA traditionally has the better graphics, PES the better gameplay — so no one would blame you for picking one over the other. This year, with Pro Evolution Soccer 2018, Konami says it has made its best football title in over a decade, and I’m happy to report that, at the very least, it is noticeably better than the 2017 version. Just as you would expect.

For one thing, the gameplay feels smoother than ever before, something you’ll notice the moment you start a match, pass the ball around and try to score some goals. The players are much easier to control and their general body movement isn’t as stiff as in past editions of the game. Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 is still powered by Konami’s Fox Engine, which has been featured in franchises like Metal Gear Solid. This time around, though, the company says it wanted to focus on more than simply improving the gameplay. As such, the menus are now much easier to browse and look at, while the new “enhanced visual reality” makes the players closer resemble their real-life appearance.

Usain Bolt in ‘Pro Evolution Soccer 2018.’

In what’s a marketing plot more than anything, Konami is bringing none other than Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt into PES 2018. What that means is you’ll be able have him on your My Club team, playing alongside Messi, Neymar and the rest of the football stars in the game. Bolt, a Manchester United supporter, has always said he wants to be a pro soccer player, so at least now he’ll have that chance in a virtual world. “We wanted to do things differently, a little bit crazy,” says Adam Bhatti, the game’s product and brand manager. That’s the reason Argentina legend Diego Maradona will also be a part of Pro Evolution Soccer 2018.

I don’t know if I’ll be playing it over my football game of choice, FIFA, as I have done in the past. But, based on the few matches I played here at E3 2017, it’s great to see Konami’s franchise continuing to get better every year, even if it may not even on the same level as FIFA yet. You can make that call for yourself when Pro Evolution Soccer 2018 arrives September 14th in the US, and a couple days later in Europe. The game is going to be available for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC.

Follow all the latest news from E3 2017 here!

Engadget at E3: VR is here — so what’s next?

For gamers, 2016 was the year of VR. But now that the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR are already on the market, with an ever-growing library of titles, where does the industry need to go from here? Most consumers don’t seem that compelled by VR yet, so what will it take to get more people aboard? At our E3 stage, we tackled that problem with Daniel O’Brien, general manager of HTC Vive; Samantha Gorman, co-creator of the VR art collective Tender Claws; and MatPat, host of Game Theory.

Follow all the latest news from E3 2017 here!

Nearly a third use smartphones and tablets for creative projects, study shows

Why it matters to you

While desktop programs aren’t going anywhere, mobile devices are becoming increasingly ubiquitous for creative professionals.

Computers may still be the preferred device for creative projects, but a new study shows that 29 percent of creatives use a smartphone or tablet at some point in their creative process. The data comes from a VideoBlocks study of 1,500 creatives that use the stock video platform.

Photography tops the list of mobile creations with 64 percent of respondents saying photos were part of their mobile projects. That is followed closely by video at 62 percent while half of creatives use mobile for social media projects. Design (37 percent), audio (32 percent), blogs and personal websites (26 percent) and advertisements (16 percent) are less common on mobile platforms.

“Creating on mobile isn’t the norm yet, but it’s growing fast,” said TJ Leonard, CEO of VideoBlocks. “About 30% of users rely on mobile devices for their work and that subset is incredibly active—74% use mobile at least daily or weekly for creative projects. As devices become more powerful and apps improve, these numbers will go in one direction: up.”

More survey respondents also used mobile platforms for both the shooting and editing content at 31 percent, while a quarter only shot the photo or video on a mobile device. Photo is the biggest creative project edited on mobile platforms at 84 percent, followed by video at 67 percent. Less than half of mobile creatives edit graphics (49 percent), audio (34 percent) and illustrations (23 percent) on smartphones and tablets. The 1,500 users surveyed named Adobe Spark, Canva and Pic Collage as the top creative mobile apps.

Both browsing for inspiration and searching for content sit at 15 percent of the survey’s mobile use.

Content created on a mobile app is most often destined for Facebook, the survey suggests, followed by YouTube, personal blogs, Instagram, Vimeo and Snapchat. Users younger than 45 were 60 percent more likely to use a smartphone or tablet for creative projects than those 45 and older.

VideoBlocks conducted the study after noticing a jump in mobile traffic to the stock video platform. While the study only encompasses VideoBlocks users, the data could offer insight into the way mobile devices are becoming integrated into the creative process.

“There’s a crystal clear use case for mobile among a growing subset of creators: digital marketers who need to maintain social channels and blogs,” Leonard said. “The better mobile editing gets, the better these users can do their jobs. That’s where we see the biggest opportunity in the coming years. But if Apple or Android can deliver the speed, processing power, and storage to match a desktop within a mobile device, there is definitely room to expand penetration in creative markets. The final obstacle will be finding the Goldilocks of screens–one that’s not too big, not too small, but just right.”

RadioShack’s liquidation auction is both a sad coda and an odd treasure trove

Why it matters to you

RadioShack’s online auction will allow you to pick up a cheap piece of (slightly oddball) tech history.

RadioShack, the onetime consumer electronics giant that started out in 1921, was pretty much gutted in recent years when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. If you want to relive its heyday, however, you can now do so courtesy of a massive estate sale that’s running through July 3.

Want to pick up the GRiDPad, the world’s first touchscreen tablet, which arrived 21 years before the iPad first shipped? How about a TRS-80 Model 100, a notebook-style computer with a liquid crystal display that dates all the way back to 1983? Maybe some Tandy computer software is more your thing? If that’s not enough, what about a bust of Charles Tandy himself, the Tandy Corporation founder who passed away in 1978? You might even want to cap it off with a massive RadioShack metal sign to hang over your desk?

If those are a little bit too obvious for you, you can also bid on your very own, lovingly painted portrait of George W. Bush (yes, really!), some framed magazine covers from 1995, your very own photo of a now-defunct RadioShack board of directors, or a mystery box of “historical artifacts” — which may or may not include pictures of ex-presidents, magazine covers, and RadioShack executive boards.

In essence, it’s the world’s geekiest flea market, full of assorted miscellanea that reminds you just how depressingly quickly things can sometimes move in the world of tech. Sure, some people are going to remember RadioShack as being the Blockbuster Video of electronic gadgetry, but nothing says “sad end to a once-respected company” like its possessions being sold off to the highest bidder by an auction house that specializes in business liquidation.

If you’ve got any nostalgia for the days in which we went into brick-and-mortar stores to buy things, rather than just hitting them up on Amazon, this is well worth a look. Best of all, you don’t need to go to a physical auction house, since you can do the whole bidding process online. (And, yes, we get the irony of that!)

RadioShack’s liquidation auction is both a sad coda and an odd treasure trove

Why it matters to you

RadioShack’s online auction will allow you to pick up a cheap piece of (slightly oddball) tech history.

RadioShack, the onetime consumer electronics giant that started out in 1921, was pretty much gutted in recent years when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. If you want to relive its heyday, however, you can now do so courtesy of a massive estate sale that’s running through July 3.

Want to pick up the GRiDPad, the world’s first touchscreen tablet, which arrived 21 years before the iPad first shipped? How about a TRS-80 Model 100, a notebook-style computer with a liquid crystal display that dates all the way back to 1983? Maybe some Tandy computer software is more your thing? If that’s not enough, what about a bust of Charles Tandy himself, the Tandy Corporation founder who passed away in 1978? You might even want to cap it off with a massive RadioShack metal sign to hang over your desk?

If those are a little bit too obvious for you, you can also bid on your very own, lovingly painted portrait of George W. Bush (yes, really!), some framed magazine covers from 1995, your very own photo of a now-defunct RadioShack board of directors, or a mystery box of “historical artifacts” — which may or may not include pictures of ex-presidents, magazine covers, and RadioShack executive boards.

In essence, it’s the world’s geekiest flea market, full of assorted miscellanea that reminds you just how depressingly quickly things can sometimes move in the world of tech. Sure, some people are going to remember RadioShack as being the Blockbuster Video of electronic gadgetry, but nothing says “sad end to a once-respected company” like its possessions being sold off to the highest bidder by an auction house that specializes in business liquidation.

If you’ve got any nostalgia for the days in which we went into brick-and-mortar stores to buy things, rather than just hitting them up on Amazon, this is well worth a look. Best of all, you don’t need to go to a physical auction house, since you can do the whole bidding process online. (And, yes, we get the irony of that!)

SIM-swapping fraud is real and Payfone may have a solution

Why it matters to you

Your bank account can be accessed by thieves who utilize SIM swapping.

Your cell phone can be a gateway to identity theft and now there is a new threat: SIM swapping. Fortunately, a solution is on the horizon. Mobile security provider Payfone has secured a patent involving technology that detects when a SIM card has been swapped and can notify the bank of the person whose number has been switched.

SIM swapping is not inherently bad — you may well have done it to yourself a few times in your life. It involves having a phone number transferred to a different SIM card and it usually happens when people misplace their phone and need to transfer their number to a new SIM.

The common practice becomes exploitative when hackers requests a mobile carrier to transfer your phone number to a SIM card that is in in their possession without your knowledge. Typically fraudsters involved in SIM-swapping fraud use a variety of means to cull personal information about their potential victim. Once the fraudster has the information, they use it to answer the security questions mobile carriers ask to safeguard accounts. And once the mobile carrier deactivates your phone and associates your number with the new SIM card, the fraudster can gain access to your bank account in a number of ways.

SIM swapping is a relatively new threat, but it has already claimed a number of victims. In 2016, Chris Sims (and yes, his name is a bit ironic in this context) had more than $1,500 stolen from his bank account in 75 minutes. Sims says the fraudster called his bank, Halifax, impersonating Sims in order to have his online bank settings reset. Halifax refunded Sims all the money he lost, but the experience had a lasting effect on him. “I’ve been contacted by another woman who this has happened to twice” Sims said. “I won’t be using mobile banking again.”

The Federal Trade Commission noted the number of complaints regarding people hacking into someone’s cell phone or opening a mobile account in a victim’s name more than doubled between January 2013 and January 2016.

SkyX plans remote charging stations that will give drones near-indefinite range

Why it matters to you

Thanks to remote recharging stations that greatly increase their range, SkyX drones will be able to monitor infrastructures more efficiently.

Drones built by Canadian company SkyX may never have to return home now that the company has developed xStation, a remote recharging platform that allows drones to hop from station to station while working out in the field. These stations could give the drones a near-indefinite range, as New Atlas points out.

The new recharging stations are intended to be used with SkyX’s SkyOne unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which take off like a helicopter and fly like a plane. These autonomous VTOLs (short for vertical takeoff and landing) are used for long-range infrastructure monitoring, particularly pipelines in the oil and gas industries.

SkyOne already boasts an impressive range of 62 miles on a single charge, but that range is quickly limited if the drone has to turn around halfway and return to base to recharge.

With xStation, SkyX hopes to keep its drones in action indefinitely, hopping from intermittently placed platforms out in the field. The company has fitted its drones with a custom operating system that monitors its battery level and directs it to the nearest charging station when charging levels are low.

At the xStation, the SkyOne drone slides in for a soft landing before a canopy closes to protect it from the elements during charging. SkyX says its platforms have been built to last, with an estimated life span of 10 years in the field.

Drones are finding more and more applications beyond fun for hobbyists and better angles for photographers. Organizations like the Lindbergh Foundation have plans to deploy UAVs to help fight illegal poaching, while conservationists in Tanzania have used hobby drones to scare elephants away from problem areas. Meanwhile, farmers in Japan have tested the Yamaha RMAX as a crop duster.

After the completion of what it calls a “massive project,” SkyX says it plans to start installing xStations for clients in July.

Can you downgrade from iOS 10 back to iOS 9? The answer is complicated

If you’ve been frantically searching the internet trying to find out how to downgrade iOS 10 and go back to iOS 9, we feel your pain. Truth be told, however, you’re probably not going to like the answer. The straight answer is that it is possible to downgrade from iOS 10 to iOS 9, but only a small group of people are able to do so.

In short, you will have to have an iPhone with 32-bit architecture, one that supported iOS 10 in the first place. This means that you will only be able to do it with the iPhone 5 or iPhone 5C. However, don’t celebrate just yet if you own either offering. Out of those folks who have either of these two iPhones, the ones that will be able to downgrade are the ones who were saving their SHSH blob files when they first updated to iOS 9. If you don’t have these files, then you’re out of luck.

In essence, we are basically talking about something called the re-restore bug, which allows you to install an unsigned firmware, provided that you have your SHSH blob files for said firmware.

What are SHSH blob files?

An SHSH blob file is a small file that is a digital signature generated by Apple when you update your iPhone. It is used to control which versions of iOS you can install on your iPhone; both iOS 10.3.2 and 10.3.1 are are currently signed by Apple. If you try to restore your iPhone to any other version, you won’t be able to do so.

People who used to jailbreak their iPhones saved their SHSH blob file regularly. This means that if you have an iPhone 5 or 5C, and you saved the SHSH blob file when you updated to iOS 9, you will be able to downgrade. It won’t be easy, however, unless you have the technical know-how and the required tools to accomplish this.

You can download an iPhone’s SHSH blob file on this website by entering your device’s ECID number. In short, you plug in your iPhone to your computer, open iTunes, and click your serial number until the ECID number appears. You then select which iPhone — in this case, either the iPhone 5 or 5C — and click submit. You will then be given a link to download your SHSH blob file.

There is no need to go through a detailed, step-by-step guide on how to do this because if you don’t have this file already, then you won’t be able to restore your iPhone 5 or 5C to iOS 9. You would’ve performed this step at the time you updated to iOS 9.

What do I need for the downgrade?

Let’s talk about the tools that you will need to perform the downgrade.

• Download the iDeviceReRestore tool, which is available for Windows, MacOS, and Linux.
• Have the IPSW file for your iOS 9.x firmware that you want to restore.
• Have the saved .shsh blob file for the firmware you’re trying to restore. Make sure that you download the correct iOS version for the .shsh blob file that you originally saved. Blob files cannot be OTA blobs, however. They should be blob files that you saved after performing an update through iTunes.
• You’ll obviously need your iPhone 5 or 5C.

Steps to downgrade from iOS 10 to iOS 9

Step 1: Unzip the iDeviceReRestore tool and name it “iDeviceReRestore.”

Step 2: Copy your IPSW firmware file into the iDeviceReRestore folder.

Step 3: Move your .shsh blob file into the shsh folder, which is located within the iDeviceReREstore folder (/iDeviceReRestore/shsh).

Step 4: For the sake of simplicity, give the IPSW file a shorter name. If the version is iOS 9.3.5, for example, then rename your file “935.ipsw.”

Step 5: Rename the shsh file so that it shows the ECID, iPhone model, and the firmware version all separated by a dash. For example, if you have an iPhone 5 with an ECID number of 12345678, the shsh file name should be “12345678-iPhone5,1-9.3.4.shsh.”

Step 6: Connect your iPhone to your computer and reboot into DFU mode.

Step 7: iTunes will notify you that your iPhone is in recovery mode. Click OK and don’t click any other options.

Step 7: Open Command Prompt if using Windows, or Terminal if you’re on a Mac. If you’re having trouble locating either application, use the Search bar (Windows) or Spotlight (MacOS).

Step 8: If using MacOS, type “CD” and drag the iDeviceReRestore folder into the Terminal window. If using Windows, drag the iDeviceReRestore.exe file into the cCommand Prompt window. Afterward, press the Enter key.

Step 9: Type “./idevicererestore -r [insert IPSW filename]”. In our example, we would type “./idevicererestore -r 935.ipsw”.

After this, the tool will restore the iOS 9.x IPSW file onto your iPhone 5 or 5C.

As you can see, the answer to whether you can downgrade from iOS 10 to iOS 9 is not a straightforward one. For the majority of users, the answer is no. You really can’t downgrade to any version of iOS that is unsigned. As far as iOS 10 is concerned, Apple signs iOS 10.3.2 and 10.3.1. Technically, you shouldn’t be able to downgrade to any version lower than 10.3.1.

For users with an iPhone 5 or iPhone 5C, this tool may allow them to downgrade to iOS 9, but only those few who were saving their SHSH blob files at the time they updated to iOS 9.

Study finds ecigs may cause as much DNA damage as unfiltered cigarettes

Why it matters to you

If you are a vaper, or know someone who is, you’ll want to consider this study, which suggests smoking ecigs may not be much better than smoking unfiltered cigarettes, after all.

Ecigarettes are still relatively new, which means that — unlike regular cigarettes — we’re still in the early stages of working out how they’ll affect our health in the long term.

While some research has reported that they are considerably safer than tobacco cigarettes, a new study from researchers at the University of Connecticut claims something different: that vaping using a device filled with nicotine-based liquid can cause just as much DNA damage as smoking regular cigarettes.

The study involved the use of a new, 3D-printed electro-optical screening device capable of quickly detecting DNA damage. It showed that the damage caused by nicotine ecigarettes is approximately equivalent to that caused by smoking unfiltered tobacco cigarettes. The cellular mutations caused by DNA damage can lead to cancer. The level of potential DNA damage depends on how much vapor is inhaled by the smoker, as well as the quantity of other additives present.

“I was definitely surprised by the results,” Karteek Kadimisetty, a postdoctoral researcher in UConn’s chemistry department, told Digital Trends. “Even though there is evidence that ecigarette liquids have harmful chemicals and additives from literature, we expected the toxicity to be low. But our results suggest DNA damage was similar to smoke extracts from conventional cigarettes.”

The testing device created by the researchers is another example of the kind of “organ on a chip” that’s popping up in more and more medical trials. The tiny creation — costing less than a dollar to make — essentially acted as a fake lung, and was preloaded with reactive human metabolic enzymes and DNA.

When it was exposed to the effects of vaping, new metabolites were formed and filmed with a camera, thereby letting the researchers see how much relative DNA damage was caused. Samples were gathered at 20, 60, and 100 puffs, with potential DNA damage from ecigarettes increasing with the number of puffs taken.

The work is described in more detail in a paper published in the journal ACS Sensors.

At present, the researchers are continuing to plan the next phase of their research. “We’re currently exploring other 3-D printed bio-analytical platforms for toxicity screening of environmental samples and cancer diagnostics,” Kadimisetty said.

Why Sling TV is an essential part of a balanced cord-cutting diet

Updated: Added information about new Cloud DVR availability on Xbox One consoles, new features, and new channels.

Sling TV has gone through multiple evolutions since it debuted at CES 2015 (winning our Best in Show award in the process). Since then, it’s become an ever-present option for the cord-cutting crowd looking for live TV without the bonds of cable. However, the service’s multiple options have made it increasingly complicated.

To help simplify everything Sling has to offer (it’s a lot!), we’ve put together a comprehensive, hands-on evaluation so you can see if it’s right for you.

Sling TV: What it is and isn’t     

Dish Network would still be happy to sell you 250 channels for $85 per month, and it doesn’t intend Sling TV to replace full-blown satellite service or cable. Instead, it hopes to meet the needs of so-called cord-cutters (those who quit cable) or cord-nevers (those who never had it), who can’t get everything they want from traditional streaming sites like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. That’s what makes Sling TV’s inclusion of sports networks like ESPN and NFL Network so attractive – live streaming sports are hard to come by outside of a contract.

Sling TV’s selection of channels was lean to start, but it’s starting to beef up, and the channels it does offer (listed below) are fairly popular. The service also offers video-on-demand from a handful of the channels it offers, as well as movie rentals. Best of all, Sling TV requires no sign-up fee, no contract, and you can test it out with a one-week free trial before fully diving in.

Available channels

Below, you’ll find charts for each of the base Sling TV channel packages, followed by a listing of the channels included in $5 add-on packages. The number of available channels for each package has grown and changed over time, and is likely to continue expanding and altering into the future, but we’ll do our best to update these listings as they change. Current listings here are up to date as of April 2017.

Included in $20/month “Sling Orange” package

Included in $25/month “Sling Blue” package

Included in $40/month “Sling Orange and Blue” package

Sling Orange and Blue subscriptions also include the Broadcast Extra add-on pack at no additional charge.

A quick glance at the above listings shows that there are some major differences in channels included with each of the package options. Sling Orange includes multiple sports channels, most notably a suite of ESPN channels including ESPN, ESPN 2, and ESPN 3. Sling Blue, on the other hand, drops the sports but adds in networks like Fox and NBC. This is a bit of a conundrum, as being able to stream both live sports and network content without a cable subscription are major draws of services like Sling TV.

If you’re looking to keep costs low, you’ll have to pick between the two options. Luckily for those who don’t mind paying extra, there’s a third option, “Sling Orange and Blue,” which includes all the channels from both Orange and Blue packages for $40/month. It’s a bit more expensive, to be sure, but you won’t have to decide between live sports on ESPN with Orange or network streaming with Blue.

Note: Below are the available add on packs. Be aware that some packages differ depending on which color of Sling TV you choose. If you subscribe to both Orange and Blue, every channel from each package will be available.

$5 add-on packs

• World News Extra (Orange): BBC World News, HLN, News18, euronews, France 24, NDTV 24×7, RT Network

• World News Extra (Blue): Everything above, plus CNBC and MSNBC

• Broadcast Extra: ABC, Univision, UniMas (Broadcast Extra is included as a free addition in “Sling Orange and Blue” subscriptions for select markets, specifically: Chicago, Fresno-Visalia, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Raleigh-Durham and San Francisco.)

• Comedy Plus Extra: MTV, TruTV, Spike, MTV2, CMT, GSN, Logo, TV Land

• Lifestyle Extra: VH1, BET, Cooking Channel, DIY, FYI, WE TV, Lifetime Movie Network, Oxygen, E!, Vibrant, Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries

• Heartland Extra: PixL, Family Net, Sportsman Channel, Outdoor Channel, World Fishing Network, RFD-TV

• Kids Extra (Orange): Disney Junior, Disney XD, Nick Jr., Nicktoons, TeenNick, Boomerang, Baby TV, and Duck TV

• Kids Extra (Blue): Nick Jr., Nicktoons, TeenNick, Boomerang, Baby TV, and Duck TV

• Sports Extra (Orange):  NBA TV, NHL Network, ESPN Bases Loaded, ESPN Buzzer Beater, ESPN Goal Line, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, ESPN SEC Network, ESPN SEC Network+, Motors TV North Am, Outside Television, beIN Sports, Campus Insiders, PAC12 Network, Univision Deportes

• Hollywood Extra pack: Epix, Epix2, Epix Hits, Epix Drive-in, TCM, HDNET Movies, Sundance TV

$10 add-on packs

• Sports Extra (Blue): NFL RedZone, NBA TV, NHL Network, Motors TV North Am, Outside Television, beIN Sports, Campus Insiders, PAC12 Network, Univision Deportes

In addition to these add-on packs, Sling TV offers live and on-demand content from premium network HBO for an additional $15/month, the same price as the HBO Now standalone app. Similar add-ons are also available from Cinemax for $10, Showtime for $10 (including eight varieties) and STARZ — which includes STARZ, STARZ Encore, STARZ Kids & Family, STARZ Edge, STARZ Comedy and STARZ West — for $9. (Note that you may stream HBO on up to three devices via Sling TV regardless of your subscription plan.)

Single stream vs. multiple streams

Only certain subscription packages allow for multiple simultaneous streams. If you opt for the basic package, Sling Orange, you’ll be restricted to streaming from just one device at a time. You can easily jump from your tablet to your streaming set-top box, for instance, but you can’t use both at the same time. The other, more expensive subscription plans allow for up to three simultaneous streams.

Video on demand

Sling TV offers a fairly robust selection of movies on demand at launch, with even more promised in the near future. Rental costs are $2.99 for SD and $3.99 for HD. The eclectic library includes a healthy selection of Disney flicks, and plenty of big-budget fares. In addition, a new deal with Epix will bring in around 2,000 VOD titles, with titles new and old, spanning the gamut of popular programming.

Titles are broken down into categories including Action & Adventure, Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Foreign Films, Horror, Kids and Family, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thriller, Classics, Romance, War & Westerns. A search feature is also available to make finding out if a specific title is available much easier.

User experience

Interface

We expected it to take some time to learn how to wade through a new layout, so it came as no surprise that Sling TV felt a little awkward at first. But in less than a day, we became accustomed.

Sling TV avoids the blocky “guide graph” of your home DVR in favor of a slicker, timeline-based programming guide, enriched with thumbnail graphics for each show. We’re also glad to see an integrated search feature, which makes finding a specific movie in Sling TV’s on-demand catalog much easier.

The UI feels better on a tablet or phone than it does on our Roku or Amazon Fire TV, probably because Sling TV’s design lends itself better to a touchscreen or point-and-click interface than it does with directional cursor navigation.

Video quality

We tested Sling TV on a 65-inch TV screen, which we expected would expose any shortcomings in video quality…and it did. With a strong internet connection and good throughput, we felt like we were watching 720p at best. Cable, Satellite, Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu all have better-looking HD streams in our estimation. On smaller screens, compression artifacts and poor resolution are much less noticeable. We think Sling TV looks just fine for screens 47-inches and smaller, and beautiful on tablets and phones.

Loading and buffering

A solid, speedy Internet connection is recommended for the best Sling TV experience, but not required. Users can choose to stream at Low quality (0.5 Mbps) Medium (0.8Mbps) High (1.5Mbps) or Best (no limit). We streamed at the best quality and experienced longer load times and some buffering, depending on the state of our Internet connection, but it’s nice to know those with fast connections can get a quality experience, and those with bandwidth caps can control data consumption.

Shifty time shifting

Whether or not you are able to pause, rewind or fast-forward — also known as “time shifting” — what you’re watching will depend on which channel you’re watching, as not all support this feature. Sling continually adds time shifting support to new channels, with a little over a third of the channels now supported.

On the plus side, those channels that do allow time shifting will let you go back as far as three days in the program history, so you can catch episodes of your favorite shows on those channels that you may have missed.

Cloud DVR

If you want to ensure that you don’t miss anything, Sling TV’s cloud DVR feature will help. The feature isn’t available on all supported devices at present, but Sling is working to ensure that everything will be in tip-top shape by the full rollout.

Sling unveiled its cloud DVR at the end of 2016 via a limited beta that was only available to Roku users, but has since launched a $5-per-month “First Look” cloud DVR program that is available for Amazon Fire TV streamers and tablets, Android TVs and smart devices, Apple TV, and Xbox One consoles. Further support for Windows 10, iOS devices, and AirTV players is expected sometime in 2017.

Exactly how much DVR space you have currently depends on the device you’re using. Cloud DVR beta users get 100 hours of storage, while First Look customers get 50 hours — apparently, it pays to be a Roku user. Unlike the cloud DVR functionality provided by competitor PlayStation Vue, there is no 28-day time limit, just the storage limit. Once you start approaching the limit, Sling TV automatically makes space by deleting the oldest recordings that you have already watched.

However, on June 14 Sling TV added the “protect” feature, which prevents a show from being automatically culled. Other added features include DVR folders for organizing your recorded content, and the ability to set up recordings from a show’s franchise page in the Sling TV guide.

In addition, June saw the addition of DVR support for FOX channels, including FOX Sports 1. As with time shifting, cloud DVR recording isn’t available on all channels, and you’ll often find that the channels that don’t allow DVR recording also don’t allow time shifting. However, users are able to record multiple shows simultaneously on channels that currently support the feature. While it’s a bummer this feature isn’t open to all channels, Sling TV has been steadily increasing the number of supported channels as the service grows.

Supported devices

Sling TV is available on a host of devices, and very likely on one (or multiple) you already own.

Available on:

• Amazon Fire TV
• Amazon Fire TV Stick
• Xiaomi Mi Box
• Apple TV (4th Generation)
• Chromecast
• Chromecast Ultra
• Channel Master DVR+
• Devices and TVs using Google’s Android TV
• Select LG Smart TVs
• Roku players
• Roku TV models
• Select Samsung Smart TVs
• Xbox One
• iOS and Android devices
• Mac and PC

Not yet … 

• PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4

Our take

Sling TV isn’t for everyone, and Dish knows that. Still, at $20 a month for the basic package (or $25 or $40 for the more expansive ones) with no contracts, commitments, or cancellation fees, it’s certainly worth a shot for those who have only kept cable around for channels like ESPN, CNN, or HDTV. Pair it with an HD antenna, and a couple of other streaming services like Netflix and Hulu Plus, and Sling TV can become an important part of a complete cord-cutter’s diet.

In the end, what’s there to lose besides your cable provider?

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