We’ve discussed the potential for watching TV everywhere several times.  We’ve also discussed the benefit of the Slingbox.  Now, how about a big name satellite TV provider partnering with Sling in order to truly bring you TV everywhere?

Dish Network has just released its DISH Remote Access app.  The app allows you to control pretty much every aspect of your Dish Network satellite TV.  Using your Sling enabled satellite receiver, you can watch every channel you subscribe to – live.  You can watch whatever’s on your DVR and manage recordings – add, delete, etc.  The really amazing part is that you do all of this using your mobile device as the remote!

As our service provider reviews start to near the end of the alphabet, Qwest stands out.  Sure, Qwest is one of the few nationwide companies that starts with “Q”, but that’s not the only reason.  Homes from coast to coast can take advantage of Qwest bundles using the industry leading Qwest fiber-optic network.

Utilizing the power of their fiber-optic Internet, Qwest bundles come equipped with “Qwest® Heavy Duty™ Internet – Any Speed”.  You can even setup Qwest® Heavy Duty™ Internet as a standalone product with speeds from 7mbps all the way to a blazing fast 40mbps!  Even from their low end, Qwest high speed Internet allows you to download music, watch movies and upload pictures with ease.

You can also rely on 99.9% “up time”, so you have fewer interruptions, Qwest @Ease online backup for easy, off-site storage, and Norton™ AntiVirus Online to keep your computer disease free.  Qwest® Heavy Duty™ Internet also comes with a 30 Day, 100% Satisfaction Guarantee.

To see if Qwest® Heavy Duty™ Internet or which Qwest bundles are available in your neighborhood, just enter your address in the “Find Savings” widget at the top of the page.

A new alert has been posted over on the Allconnect Scam Advisory.  This time, we’re shedding light on how consumers lose millions of dollars a year as victims of ATM card skimming.

It’s not exactly a new scam, but it has gotten much more sophisticated.  It’s often times hard to tell there’s anything wrong with the machine.  And ATM’s aren’t the only hot spots.  Scammers will also set up their card skimmers on pay at the pump gas pumps.  Really, anywhere you can insert a card could be a skimmer trap, so what can you do?

Check out the Allconnect Scam Advisory page to learn a few solid tips on how to avoid being scammed.

There’s always been one big roadblock standing between satellite TV providers and global domination.  The one back door that cable could always count on to keep satellite TV out of the picture – apartments.

For many, DIRECTV for apartments has been all but unobtainable.  Not for lack of signal quality or any real fault of DIRECTV.  It’s always been based on the installation of multiple satellite TV dishes.  The thought of hundreds of satellite dishes dotting the roofs and balconies of your complex has been too much for property managers to handle.  Finally, DIRECTV is addressing the issue.

With a new product called DIRECTV D2 Advantage, DIRECTV is offering satellite TV for apartments, condos, town homes and any other multi-dwelling units (MDU).  According to their website,  DIRECTV D2 Advantage uses a “centralized signal distribution system which distributes DIRECTV service to each resident on the existing coaxial cable that is wired to each unit. All the residents need is a set-top box.”  It’s the same principal as your existing cable TV service.

While DIRECTV D2 Advantage is not available in every area just yet, look for a national roll out early next year.

We spend a lot of time discussing high speed Internet service, but what do you do when high speed isn’t available?  What about if you so seldom use the Internet that the cost of high speed Internet just doesn’t make financial sense?  We live in such a high speed, hyper-connected world that we sometimes forget dial-up Internet access is an option for many homes.  As we take some time to look at dial-up Internet options, our ongoing service provider discussion naturally moves to People PC.

I don’t know that any  company would want to advertise “cheap Internet access“.  Surely, that’s why People PC boasts its “low cost Internet access”.  The term “cheap Internet access” could convey a sub par service when, in reality, People PC is anything but “cheap”.  Does People PC provide low cost, affordable  Internet access?  Absolutely, but don’t confuse People PC’s low costs with anything other than reliable dial-up Internet access.

In reality, PeoplePC Accelerated™ dial-up Internet access is actually up to 7x faster than regular dial-up services.  Their “smart dialer” chooses the fastest connection in your area using one of thousands of nationwide dial-up numbers.  People PC even offers free Internet call-waiting, email virus protection from Symantec and multiple email addresses all with unlimited dial-up Internet access.

Not exactly what you might think of as “cheap” Internet access, but People PC certainly is affordable Internet service.  Enter your address in the “Savings Widget” at the top of the page to see which People PC plans are available in your area.

In an effort to keep you, the consumer, from falling victim to unscrupulous companies and scams, we’ve just launched the Allconnect Scam Advisory page.

The idea behind the Allconnect Scam Advisory page is to keep tabs on scams that could potentially harm you, your families, or your homes.  We’ve started the page with a scam that, in our current economic state, many of us could believe.  It’s a sad fact that home foreclosures have been on the rise for years now.  Unemployment is high and many folks simply can’t make their mortgage payments.

However, the government started a program to help those of us who need it.  A partnership between the Department of the Treasury and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Making Home Affordable Program “includes opportunities to modify or refinance your mortgage to make your monthly payments more affordable. It also includes the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program for homeowners who are interested in a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure.”

The current Allconnect Scam Advisory page warns you about potential mortgage fraud scams.  If you are considering looking into “loan modification assistance”, you should be aware that the service should be FREE!  There is no need to pay upfront costs for assistance and the companies asking you for payment upfront are likely scam artists.

Get the full story over on the Allconnect Scam Advisory page.

A press release issued earlier today by Cyclone Power Technologies claims Philadelphia based  PECO, an electricity and natural gas provider, has approved the completion of the waste heat power generator at Bent Glass Design.

Approval from PECO is a huge step forward in the renewable energy market. It lends credibility to the idea of capturing otherwise wasted resources to deliver usable energy.  Cyclone claims capturing the existing exhaust heat will allow Cyclone’s waste energy recovery system to “convert over 500,000 BTUs of exhaust heat from Bent Glass’ furnaces into power that can off-set peak electricity usage and corresponding demand charges at the facility.”

Continuing our closer look at our providers, today’s focus is on Mediacom.

While they may not be as well known as some of the larger cable companies, Mediacom is proud to focus its efforts on the smaller towns and cities across the country.  According to their own website, Mediacom has invested millions of dollars building a nationwide fiber optic network to deliver the Mediacom VIP pak to communities all over the country.  Areas typically viewed as “smaller” by some of the larger cable companies benefit from Medicaom’s efforts by enjoying the savings associated with phone, TV, Internet bundles.

Medicaom’s cable TV bundle is known as the VIP pak and, like most bundles, it offers phone, TV and Internet with savings for combined services and a single bill.  The draw is the combination of monthly savings and convenience.  Of course, you also get Mediacom cable TV, home phone and high speed Internet.

One of the highlights of Mediacom cable TV is known as “Family Cable”.  Family Cable, as the name implies, offers something for every member of the family. From educational TV for the kids, to a variety of sports, food and news channels Mediacom Family Cable even offers your favorite local shows.

In addition to Family Cable, Mediacom cable TV also offers up to 28 commercial free channels from Starz, Encore, Showtime and TMC, as well as Starz & Showtime On Demand.  You also get an interactive on-screen program guide and over 4,000 On Demand shows and movies every month.

If you sign up for the Mediacom VIP Pak  you could get an automatic upgrade to VIP Online with 15Mbps as well as Web Boost, which delivers short bursts of web browsing speed to load web pages at up to 30 Mbps.

Mediacom home phone service offers a variety of features, including unlimited local and long distance, three way calling, call waiting, call forwarding and more.  If you’re switching existing phone service from another phone or cable company, you can also keep your current phone number.  Plus, you know you’ll pay the same price each and every month.

Mediacom’s high speed Internet, known as Mediacom Online, is built for speed.  Mediacom Online users can see speeds up to 12 mbps.   That’s more than enough to stream online movies and TV episodes.  Uploading pictures to share with your family is a breeze.

With the October 31st deadline fast approaching, Dish Network satellite TV provider and Fox Networks finally came to an agreement Friday afternoon that kept the Fox local channels on air and brought back the Fox channels dropped at the beginning of the month.  More importantly, the deal will finally end the very public PR battle which had the two companies bad mouthing each other for weeks.

Dave Shull, Senior Vice President of Programming for DISH Network, sums up the battle with a word of thanks, “We thank our customers, our retail and channel partners, and our employees for their support through these negotiations, which we believe resulted in a fair deal that reinforces DISH Network’s position as the best value in television.”

However, Evie Haskell of Sky Report appropriately comments on the finality of the argument by stating, “And so the battle ends.  For now.  Because there will be a next time … and a next … and a next until (and unless) the FCC and/or Congress take another look at what is, inherently, a rigged negotiations process.  Caught between retrans, must carry and the free ‘public’ spectrum granted to broadcasters, cable operators, satellite folks and telcoTV players have negotiating power about on a par with a high school football team facing the mighty Steelers.”

So what about Cablevision and other cable TV providers?  Where does the Dish Network victory leave Cablevision in its battle against Fox Networks?  Well, they renegotiated a retransmission contract that would allow Cablevision customers to finally catch the World Series, but they weren’t happy about it.  According to a statement released by Cablevision, the cable company ultimately agreed to pay Fox an ”

unfair price for multiple channels of its programming including many in which our customers have little or no interest.”  Meaning, its customer have access to Fox sports and local Fox programming, but Cablevision is also forced to pay for lesser viewed channels that don’t appeal to many viewers.