By Wilson Rothman
It's no coincidence that, at a time when more people are turning
away from the 500-channels-and-nothing-on world of cable TV, little
black hockey pucks have started turning up beneath people's TV
sets. Media streaming boxes such as Apple TV, Roku 3 and Amazon
Fire TV are a must-have for any cord cutter, or anybody who knows
they want more than what their cable box can deliver. This week,
there's a new streamer that brings some horsepower to the TV:
Google's $99 Nexus Player, built by Asus.
With a 1.8GHz quad-core Intel Atom processor, 1GB of RAM and 8GB
of internal storage, the Nexus Player's calling cards are a snappy
graphical interface and a store of Android apps and games that are
compatible with your TV's 1080p high-def screen.
After the initial glance, though, the content offerings struck
me as a bit shallow compared to what's available on Android phones
and tablets, and what the Nexus Player's competitors have. Yes,
there's Netfix and Hulu--though what media box doesn't have those?.
There's also Pandora and iHeartRadio, but where is the Spotify?
Where is the Amazon Instant Video? Where is HBO Go? Part of the
pitch for Android TV, the operating system that powers the Nexus
Player, is that there will be more apps at the ready because of
Android.
But you don't just have to rely on the apps available for the
device. Google's previous media player was the groundbreaking
Chromecast, a little $35 HDMI stick that you shove in the back of
the TV. You control it by flinging videos from compatible
apps--including HBO Go--to the Chromecast. It's a great way to add
functionality to your TV for a small amount of money. Fortunately,
the Chromecast's new sibling has all of its capability built right
in.
So why not just get a Chromecast for a third of the money? The
answer: Games.
The Nexus Player takes its name seriously. It's not only for
playing movies, TV shows and music, but it's a bona fide game
console, complete with a game controller--sold separately for
$40--just like Amazon's Fire TV.
The catalog of available games wasn't super extensive, but what
I saw was promising, both in quantity and quality. The game my kids
settled into was Disney's "Castle of Illusion, Starring Mickey
Mouse," a 3-D remake of a 1990 Sega Genesis game. It was a quick
$10 download, and it looked great, and played with a smoothness
you'd expect from a full-fledged console. Its lineup still isn't as
good as Amazon's, but if it improved, the Nexus Player could
replace PlayStation or Xbox for many more-casual gamers.
The Nexus Player is Google's best attempt at a TV companion yet,
but it still falls short of the competition in key areas. Here's
what it's up against:
Apple TV - The grandfather of the little black hockey puck
devices, the $99 Apple TV is starting to grow whiskers. Both the
hardware and software have been updated over the years, but it
still feels stuck in time. Also, the streams of Hulu, Netflix and
other third-party video providers have occasionally been choppy in
my experience, even when connected to a fast Comcast modem.
The Nexus Player beats it on user interface and performance,
though Apple still has a few aces in the hole: Because of AirPlay,
you can screen share and beam media from iOS devices. It also has
iTunes, which many people still use to buy and rent movies and TV
shows. And then there's HBO Go. Apple TV is the only one of these
players that lets Comcast subscribers browse and play HBO content
right from the TV screen. Sure, you can still fling HBO content to
the Nexus Player from a phone, but it's not as easy.
Roku 3 - Getting older but still surprisingly spry, the $100
Roku 3 is a go-to device in my house for the big three streaming
video providers: Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime. (Paying for
these is how we survive our reduced $62-per-month Comcast Internet
Plus subscription.)
Roku also just got Google Play, so even people who buy into
Google's movie and TV service can get their content here.
Better still, the Roku 3 has a universal search where you can
find all kinds of content from various providers in one fell swoop.
Type in "Richard Pryor," and see all of the late, great comedian's
work, across multiple "channels" like Netflix, Hulu and more.
Despite coming from Google, the Nexus Player does not have a very
impressive search function.
When the Roku 3 launched in March 2013, it boasted a
motion-sensing remote that could double as a game controller, and
demonstrated that capability with "Angry Birds Space." But a year
and a half later, the games offered in Roku's lineup are mostly
junk--even all the Angry Birds have flown the coop.
Amazon Fire TV - A relative newcomer, the Fire TV (now $84) also
launched with an emphasis on gaming as well as video. With
franchises like Sonic the Hedgehog, Minecraft and Grand Theft Auto,
its lineup is far more impressive than Roku's, and even outpaces
Google's for now.
Fire TV also has a great universal search, which you can control
with your voice. (As you can imagine from Google, the Nexus Player
also has a voice-command remote, but again, search queries don't
look into your Netflix or Hulu or anything but Google and YouTube,
so it's no good.)
Amazon Fire TV is certainly targeted to people who already buy
into Amazon's Prime service. Also, it has no HBO Go, which is a
black mark in this day and age, but it enters the holiday season as
a nice cord-cutter's device, and--with a quad-core Qualcomm
processor and 2GB of RAM--probably the closest thing to a direct
competitor the Nexus Player has.
In the end, you'll choose Apple TV if you use Apple products and
services more than others. You'll choose Roku 3 if you want the
broadest choices of content (especially if you're a customer of
cable companies other than Comcast, such as Time Warner Cable).
You'll go with Amazon if you're an Amazon Prime member who also
wants to do casual gaming.
The Nexus Player can compete on a technical level, but to rise
above these others, it needs more games and other Android apps,
plus a truly universal search function to tie all of the video
streams together.
Write to Wilson Rothman at wilson.rothman@wsj.com and on Twitter
at @wjrothman.
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