Internet

Cox On Demand, Voice Command Remote, and brief review of 2014 movie “Interstellar”

Posted on 2017/03/01 by Jim Lantern

On February 8, 2017, I upgraded to the Cox “bundle” deal for TV, Internet, and Phone…

Contour TV

Cox High Speed Internet Preferred

Cox Digital Telephone

 …However, the phone deal didn’t come with a phone, and getting a landline (over CATV line) phone service was not a high priority, but necessary to get the “bundle” discount, to pay less per month than I was previously paying for just TV and Internet. I bought the cheapest plugin phone I could find at Walmart to get by for now. It will be good for making calls that could take longer than usual, to save using up minutes on my cell phone.

Also, to get full use of the TV service I’ll need to buy a new flat-screen TV at Walmart. What I have now is an old 2005 Magnavox TV.

My HP Notebook works well enough, but eventually I’ll get a larger notebook, probably with Chrome OS and Browser. I hate Windows 10 and the Edge Browser. I have switched to the Chrome Browser. Windows 10 is the most screwed up Windows ever made, and the Edge Browser is just as bad. What I have is a small notebook, but that makes it easy to carry around if I want to. I can keep it, still use it, and buy a new one with a larger screen for home use. Combining phone and Internet? Too expensive and I’m not ready for one of those – tried one for free use at the public library – didn’t like it.

0-cox-contour-remote-voice-control

On the remote, I can press 1, then the center select button, to access Cox On Demand such as for Movies. But the screen taken to that is like a website to navigate is a poorly designed mess. The actual Cox On Demand website I’ve accessed with my HP Notebook isn’t much better. Worst of all, the website and the actual onscreen On Demand on TV does not mesh – how movies are listed and which movies are listed are not the same. Finding and accessing some movies is difficult. The other button for access is to press the Contour button and then select On Demand, which goes to the same onscreen TV mess.

How to cut through the mess? The button with the blue microphone symbol on it is pressed, and then I can talk to the remote – Voice Command – it’s the key to everything On Demand and elsewhere – making finding and accessing very easy. For example, I had no trouble finding and watching the 2016 movie “Arrival” by pressing 1 and then selecting On Demand to rent it – last weekend. The 2014 movie “Interstellar was listed with it under the sub-genre “First Contact” for Science Fiction movies, but would not be available until February 28. Then on 2/28 it went missing from On Demand onscreen, but was still listed at the On Demand website. That issue was never resolved. I still can’t find it via pressing 1 or Contour to select On Demand.

However, customer support via a forum online then reminded me about Voice Command. WOW! It’s like magic! I pressed the microphone button on the remote, said “Interstellar” into the remote, which then showed up onscreen for access options – then going to On Demand, to rent and Watch Now.

During the 12-hour support forum ordeal, it was pointed out I can watch “Interstellar” for free at EPIX – I assumed website http://www.epix.com/ since they did not say I could do so on my TV. Didn’t make sense. Why pay to rent it at Cox On Demand when I can watch it for free at EPIX? Also, by the time they told me about EPIX I’d already paid to watch it at On Demand. Like, oh, now you tell me. I’d never heard of EPIX so I didn’t know what they were talking about. It was not listed as being part of my Cox Contour TV deal. I found it online. It reminds me of a cross between how Hulu is used and how Full Episodes or movies are viewed at TV channel websites like AMC. I used my Cox account to sign in. Created a profile. Found “Interstellar” there easily enough, but then got notice that it is not currently available.

When accessing full episodes at AMC like of The Walking Dead, I have to sign in with my Cox account – for watching online on my HP Notebook. With the Voice Command, I simply said “The Walking Dead” into the remote. On my TV the screen switched to options via AMC, listing available Full Episodes I could then watch on my TV. I can pause TV shows and movies, fast forward or go back. The other voice route is to say “AMC” into the remote to access the live viewing of AMC – whatever is on right now. I can say “Fox News” and go to FNC. There now.

So then when experimenting, I tried saying “EPIX” into the remote. It worked. I was taken onscreen to EPIX. I found “Interstellar” listed. Clicked on it. Got access there that time by that means. Can watch it again. Most paid rentals are good for about 3 days anyway. I can also buy movies, but I’m not sure how that works – I mean where stored – I assume the Contour system allows storage space for purchased movies. I don’t have anymore space on my HP Notebook – I have to use thumb-drives for more GB to save to.

I N T E R S T E L L A R

Like the 2016 movie “Arrival” this 2014 movie “Interstellar” is what I refer to as true science fiction. Like “Arrival” the movie “Interstellar” is a bit complicated – therefore both getting a 4 on a scale of 1 to 5 instead of scoring a 5. Too much science can be distracting from the entertainment. “Arrival” is the most realistic movie so far for what actual contact with aliens might be like – as well as what the aliens might be like physically. “Interstellar” is for the most part like the bizarre trip through the black monolith and ending of “2001: A Space Odyssey” – but on hyper steroids! Although “2001: A Space Odyssey” and the subject of the squeal “2010: Odyssey Two” movies and novels are not referred to in any way, “Interstellar” provides an answer for what the black monoliths and aliens who made them might be. They are us in the distant future when we have evolved beyond need of physical bodies and are able to cross time as well as space.

Reported by Jim Lantern

LANTERN TIMEGLASS JOURNAL
Wednesday morning, 1 March 2017

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Categories: Business Review, Communications, Entertainment, Internet | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

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