Gadgetory

renting a set-top box from your TV service provider may soon be a thing of the past the Federal Communications Commission is preparing to vote whether to require paid TV services to be accessible through apps that means consumers can ditch their rented set-top box and instead access all of their television services from a nap on a device of their choosing as chairman tom wheeler describes it it means you could watch Comcast through an apple TV or Roku or access direct TV through an Xbox or verizon can be streamed right to your Smart TV the proposal requires these apps to also let customers search through programming and record shows according to a congressional study ninety-nine percent of pay-tv subscribers are renting set-top boxes and they're spending 231 dollars a year on these devices critics of the proposal including cable companies argue that an FCC mandate could add costs threaten consumer privacy and hurt smaller content producers there will be a final vote on the proposal on September 29th and if it passes large cable and satellite television providers would have two years to create these apps that's it for this tech news update I'm Bridget Carey stay on top of the biggest stories at cnet com / update you