PLDT Home Life StreamTV+: a journey from analog rentals to digital convenience
It is 1985. Probably September because I remember it was the rainy season, not because of actual rain, but because of the song ‘Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head’ that would play during commercial breaks on the CRT TV on RPN-9. The song would be superimposed with a collage of stock video of people walking around Rizal Park, Manila Zoo and Ermita with umbrellas out. That, together with the daily 3 O’ Clock prayer were the two earworms of my childhood when I wasn’t watching cartoons. I had just helped dad unbox what would be our first Betamax player, a Sony SL800, which I would find out decades later was a really cool player because it was one of the few releases of that time that had a top loader design for cassette tapes. Dad said that I would no longer need to wait for my favorite shows to appear on TV and that I would be able to watch them anytime with this. I was a little confused.
“How?” I asked.
“You’ll see!” He said. “But we have to go to the video rental store first.”
“Huh?” Five-year old, I did not yet have the capacity to understand how his mind would be blown.
It is a random weekend in 1989. I have a better understanding of the video rental ecosystem and how this technology works. My parents had been taking us to a nearby video rental store every Friday so we could rent our favorite movies for the weekend. Saturday mornings would still be reserved for the Disney Hour on TV while the evenings would have our own rotations for movies. For some reason I would always rent Don Bluth’s The Secret of NIMH and The Land Before Time on rotation. I learned about hiding Betamax tapes at the back of the catalogue so no one would be able to find it and rent it first.
We had also leveled up at this point. Dad had bought a second player for their room, a JVC VHS player. I didn’t know it but I was in the middle of the Betamax and VHS war, the analog equivalent of the HD DVD and Blu-ray war from the mid 2000’s. We had a collection of tapes in a dedicated cabinet and I had learned how to use the ‘Rewinder’ which was a separate device used to rewind both Betamax and VHS tape reels to the beginning. Dad always said it was common courtesy to rewind a finished movie so the next person could watch immediately.
And that was why he bought a tape rewinder that looked like a toy car.
It is the summer of 1997 and I was able to watch the entire James Bond collection on my PC. I was lucky enough to have one of the first MMX edition PCs from Intel at that time. MMX technology allowed me to play movies and other multimedia from the CD-ROM drive at 30fps. I remember it being a media revolution at that time: you didn’t need a DVD player anymore because your PC could play movies. It was around that time that we invested in better 2.1 audio sound systems and for the first time, I was amazed that a desktop computer could become a home theater system for the living room even if it was at 1024×768 resolution.
It is 2026 and I’m unboxing the StreamTV+, an all-in-one entertainment box from PLDT Home Life, to set it up in my kids’ room. Since then a lot has changed with the advent of mobile devices and video streaming. It was in the late 90’s that I was introduced to Netflix as a DVD rental service and now I can have Netflix installed inside my StreamTV+ box. From CRT resolution to 4K resolution. When I was a kid, I would have a case stuffed with my CDs and DVDs to take with us for vacations. Today, the bag still exists but instead of carrying my CD player, I’m carrying the small StreamTV+. I travel fairly often with family and hotel rooms are never complete without a streaming device of sorts. Normally I would bring a Firestick or Chromecast dongle with me to the hotel room so I could easily log into our family accounts for entertainment. But then the problem would be the hotel TV audio that was usually piping out from the flatscreen TV – no bass or depth.
As a family we like taking overnight weekend trips to Tagaytay. While we are out enjoying the weather most of the day, evenings are always spent back at the hotel room. Rather than second-guess the media offerings of every hotel we stay in, I’d rather have full control of what we can watch and mirror exactly what we have at home. The StreamTV+ has access to Netflix, HBO Max, Cignal, Disney+, and other Android TV apps. It’s essentially me setting up a new Android TV device that delivers an immersive cinematic experience with Dolby Atmos, enhanced by Audio by Bang & Olufsen for a powerful and clear sound that elevates every moment. Why would you need this instead of using a smaller Chromecast device? Because it’s an all in-one entertainment hub that comes with the built-in speaker set. No extra cables, no extra packing. The StreamTV+ is roughly the size of a Mac Mini and you only need an HDMI cable for it to work. At home, I keep this plugged in using the built-in RJ45 LAN cable for consistent streaming but when I travel I keep it on a wireless connection using WiFi6 which is now being supported by many more hotels and establishments.
The StreamTV+ is made for families who want an easy plug and play option for entertainment. Out of the box, all I needed to do after plugging in the power and HDMI cable was to connect the device to the Internet. With the StreamTV+ box light changing from yellow to blue, I’m connected with this visual cue. This is a good design choice because it lets me easily know if there’s a problem with my Internet connection with just one look.
When I was a kid, whoever held the remote had power over the television. Thirty years later, the remote still has the same power but has evolved into more than just pushing a button to change the channel. The StreamTV+ is powered by voice commands thanks to Google Assistant, so I can technically connect other smart home devices to it or use my voice to launch apps and my music playlists in case both hands are occupied – usually when cooking and I want to have white noise in the background.
Having reviewed dozens of multimedia devices and smart appliances, I’m quite convinced that the StreamTV+ is one of, if not the most holistic plug-and-play gadgets you can add to your TV. It’s easy to set up, it has a small and minimalist footprint, and the overall 4K video and Dolby Atmos audio quality are the perfect blend to family bonding in front of the TV. I remember the audio and video tech demos before movies begin at high end cinemas. The cinemas at Rockwell come to mind with the Dolby Atmos sound demo of a little robot making clanking noises in different parts of the theater. Then there’s Dolby Vision,which is the future of picture technology that goes beyond HDR to deliver stunning visuals every time. Entertainment now has richer colors and brighter contrasts. Lens flares look super dramatic while horror and suspense films can really truly be engrossing because of the high dynamic ranges of color contrasts. The fact that this device can support up to 4K video, means you can get cinema quality sound and picture fidelity for a home TV at 90 inches – way above the average TV size of a Pinoy home.
With a dazzling array of colors, sharper contrast, and richer details, Dolby Vision pulls you in with dynamic picture quality that brings entertainment to life.
It is the summer of 2026. In the usual fashion we check into our hotel in Tagaytay to escape the heat. As I’m unpacking our bags, one of the boys asks
“Dad, did you bring it?”
“Of course I did.” I reveal the small StreamTV+ box from my laptop bag because it totally fits. “How could I forget?”
The StreamTV+ is available only through PLDT Home Life. You can transform any room into your personal cinema for only P549.00 per month for 24 months or P399.00 per month for 36 months. You can also opt for a one time payment of P10,990.00 for the device. Check out pldthome.com/streamtv for more details.
