The future of television

has a unique Prescott

connection.
Tim Veale and Una
Rhodes, who live on So-
phia Street, are the first
customers and were the
initial beta testers of a
state of the art entertain-
ment centre box manu-
factured by Montreal
company Liberty TV. The
box has allowed them to
cut off cable and satellite
services completely, rely-
ing solely on free off-the-
air signals from an an-
tenna and the selection
of channels on the Lib-
erty TV box. That one-two
punch of antenna and
box has given the Prescott
home more channels and
movies than anyone else
in the town.
The Liberty TV box is
unlike any other stream-
ing box on the market. It
offers unrestricted free
viewing of sports, movies
and live television shows
from anywhere in the
world using true 1080p
high definition. Its a very
similar concept to Apple
TV, which offer restricted
services and plenty of
pay-per-use and monthly
fees, but the Liberty box
unleashes everything
on the Apple TV and in-
cludes everything else,
with no monthly fees.
In a test at Veale and
Rhodes home this week-
end, countless football
games, hockey matches
and movies were avail-
able for instant or live
viewing and the picture
quality was noticeably
better than that of cable
or satellite. There were
literally hundreds of live
channels and thousands
upon thousands of mov-
ies, all available through
any easy to use interface,
which allows for precise
channel selection and
custom searches.
We really love the Lib-
erty TV box, said Veale.
We dont pay anything
for TV, but we have 24 lo-
cal channels off-the-air
with our antenna and we
can watch anything we
want with the box. I enjoy
the search ability and I
can find anything I can
think of. Just last week I
was able to watch a great
documentary I found on
The Eagles.
Rhodes also noted
that she was even able
to watch old classic tele-
vision programs like Gilli-
gans Island if she felt like
watching one.
Liberty TV is the vision
and creation of Adam
Phillips, a game develop-
er who is also Rhodes
son-in-law. Hes created
three variations of media-
streamers for Liberty TV
- Prometheus, Valkyrie
Core i5 and the custom
designed Ragnark Core
i7.
Each box is actually
a mini computer about
the size of an Apple TV,
but the main difference
between the two is the
technology inside and the
streaming services used
to obtain TV signals and
movies. Unlike Apple TV
or any other commer-
cially available media
streamer, Liberty TV uses
high-end computer pro-
cessors and video chips,
while the others utilize
technologies and parts
from cell phones and
tablets. The processing
power of the Liberty TV
box provides a stronger
and cleaner high defin-
ition picture for both live
TV and archived movies.
Liberty TV ultimately
is a giant search engine
that finds publically avail-
able content and provides
it in an easy to use format
on your television, Phil-
lips noted. The feeds
that it provides are un-
blocked and unrestricted
and are usually in the
highest resolution avail-
able. There is one add-
on that can be installed
that provides upwards of
1,300 channels and its
completely legal for any-
one to use and watch.
With the future of Can-
adian television services
being debated by the Can-
adian Radio-television
and Telecommunications
Commission (CRTC) in
the last few weeks, many
have been left wondering
what it all means for tele-
vision viewers. The battle
comes down to choice
for Canadians and the
results may mean higher
television fees and more
out-of-country channel
restrictions across the
board. The CRTC has yet
to announce any chan-
ges, but services provid-
ers like Bell, Shaw, Rogers
and Cogeco have already
predicted the upcoming
changes will cost custom-
ers more in an already ex-
pensive market.
Were a grass roots
company, Phillips point-
ed out. We dont do any
marketing or advertising,
we rely entirely on people
like Tim and Una. The
more boxes that get out
there, the more people
become interested in it
and the more well sell.
We have a rabid group of
followers on Twitter and
were getting a lot of atten-
tion in the UK, where TV
prices are much higher
than we pay here. People
in the UK are dropping
their cost of living dra-
matically just by watch-
ing their TV through a
Liberty TV box.
Phillips goal is to re-
move the barrier of the
CRTC for those who are
willing to live without its
regulations and open up
a world of Internet tele-
vision with no restric-
tions. He noted the Liber-
ty TV boxes do not violate
any Internet laws because
they do not download any
content and they addi-
tionally dont fall under
any CRTC regulations
for broadcasting. He also
mentioned that custom-
ers do not have to pay
fees for the content at any
time and theyll still have
an unlimited selection
of TV, movies, NHL, NBA
and NFL games to watch.
All thats required to
run any Liberty TV box is
an unlimited 5mbps In-
ternet connection, which
can be obtained from
several area providers for
as low as $39 per month.
Further information
on Liberty TV can be
found on the companys
website at www.libertytv.
ca.
PRESCOTT JOURNAL WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2014 Page 3
The JournalNEWS
Prescott residents beta testing new television media box
Adam Phillips showcases the Liberty TV media box at the home of Tim Veale and Una Rhodes this past weekend. Phillips
is the son-in-law of Rhodes and is hoping the unlimited potential of the streaming media product will reduce the price
people pay for television. DAN SAVOIE PHOTO
Emergency crews responded to a garage fire at 696 East Street (at the corner of East and Wood Street East) on Mon-
day afternoon. A wooden garage behind the home caught fire and was a burnt shell by the time firefighters put the
flames out. DAN SAVOIE PHOTO
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