Oracle AppsLab - Latest Comments in How to Do a Set-Top Box

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

jkuramot — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 02:17:16 -0000

It will take time. I guess several years ago, you couldn't really get even two capabilities out of a single box. So, some convergence is better than none. Not to mention that oustide factors like standards (e.g. Blu-Ray) and agreements with studios to stream movies constrain the innovative technology.

Sadly, it's probably going to be a while before there's a single box to rule them all.

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

jkuramot — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 02:13:42 -0000

I think the bar is pretty low for non-TiVo boxes, but their price points are much lower. I'm not sure many new players will emerge, at least not in the current climate.

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

David Dorf — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:55:18 -0000

I have a ReplayTV 5000 with lifetime subscription, a Roku Netflix player, and a Oppo DVD player. I'm looking for something that will replace all three but have come up empty. The XBox will support Netflix (soon), but no Blu-Ray. The PS3 has the best Blu-ray, but no support for Netflix. I'm not sure either will provide true DVR functionality either. I suppose I could built my own, but I'm not sure how to support Netflix streaming. Roku open-sourced their code, but I doubt that includes the necessary decryption. I guess I'll keep waiting.

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

jkuramot — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:47:03 -0000

Wow, that's pretty hardcore geeking. I have to say you lost me somewhere "add a dual-tuner card". I may give this a try soon, when my wife finally admits that our deskop from 2000 has finally seen it's EOL. Would be great as a DVR because I added a ton of extra, internal disk space.

Thanks for the knowledge.

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

Jim — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:25:47 -0000

Been using Snapstream's BeyondTV product for about 5 years or so, and very happy with it. Until the "digital revoultion" I used to recycle old Pentium3's into DVRs, just add a dual-tuner card and software (bundles can be had for $100-150) and you're all set. No monthly fees, either. Only PIA is the lack of an integrated DVD software, but other than that it's great, and both my wife and even my mother-in-law are very happy with the interface.

With HD, it's still great, but you need a bit more gear (QAM-capable tuners and bigger HD) but the quality is stellar. The new version of BTV even has Streaming and Placeshifting built-in for free (like Slingbox), and you can easily connect other TVs in the house to playback from the main server.

Unlike a dedicated box, the you can also use the PC to play your MP3 collection and/or online radio stations. Also unlike a dedicated box, you can easily get your recodings OFF the box and onto DVD, your laptop, or even use the integrated iPod transcoding/podcasting to push them to your pocket. And you can easily add hard drive space...or extra tuners (I have 4)...

If you're really adventurous, SageTV makes a very similar product - the UI is not as pretty, but they have a great developer community with tons of plugins. Or there's always MythTV if it absolutely has to be Linux.

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

wrecks — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:16:58 -0000

You should definitely move to HD. Just like Tivo, once you try it, you wont' watch anything else. I'm a total HD snob now.

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

jkuramot — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:02:58 -0000

Ah, you're right. I hadn't heard of that. Then again, I don't run Windows anymore, so it's moot for me.

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

jkuramot — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:00:21 -0000

I know that's exactly what I did to my wife. I was out of town at a friends, and we decided to mess with her. I called her later and asked about the TV. She said it was doing weird stuff, but I didn't get the freak-out I was hoping to get. Oh well.

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

wrecks — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:39:41 -0000

The Slingbox and Tivo are on a TV that we don't watch much. It's mainly got the kid's programs, so it doesn't conflict with my brother-in-law at all. The way the Slingbox controls the Tivo can be a bit creepy. If my brother-in-law changes channel on his end while I'm watching, it's as if he were standing in front of my Tivo with a Tivo remote in his hand.

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

jkuramot — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:29:18 -0000

I wonder if TiVo can continue to compete with that cable/satellite model. They do have name recognition in the vernacular, e.g. tivoing a show, but still it seems like an uphill battle.

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

wrecks — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:29:03 -0000

I think there are two different pieces of software we're talking about. There's the free one that allows your PC to talk to your Tivo hardware. The other one I'm talking about turns your PC into a DVR using the Tivo interface. That one is $99 alone (assumes you have a TV tuner card for your PC), or $199 with Nero's TV tuner hardware for your PC. See http://www.nero.com/enu/store-liquidtv.html

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

JustinKestelyn — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:45:57 -0000

I still have my Tivo box, haven't re-purposed it yet.

I could have stuck with Tivo HD but the new box would have been $300 or so, whereas the DirecTV box was free.

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

jkuramot — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:40:00 -0000

Spoken like a true TiVo lover. I'm with you on all points, and as I mention above, I wish I'd jumped on the lifetime service transfer to the HD box last year.

Your point about the best invention of the last 20 years is interesting. Might have to put that to a vote.

Ha, WebVan reference, very nice. TiVo was on shaky ground for a while there, but I think they'll make it, possibly acquisition bait. They've proven the DVR market and still are ahead of the curve.

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

jkuramot — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:37:04 -0000

What happened to your old TiVo? You could still use it for recording non-HD shows. Or crack it open and reformat the drive and use it as a computer.

DirecTV made you move? Didn't want to try the TiVo HD? I hear it's pretty nice.

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

piontekdd — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:35:46 -0000

the PC Software (Tivo Desktop) is free. What you had to originally pay for was the plug-in for Sonic to burn content to DVD. I believe there is now a regular add-on to Tivo Desktop called Tivo Desktop Plus (http://www.tivo.com/mytivo/whatsnew/tivodesktop...) that gives some additional functionality:
* Transfer compatible web videos to your TiVo DVR for viewing on your TV
* Convert shows for playback on your iPod, PSP, or other compatible device

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

jkuramot — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:35:09 -0000

Yeah, the second Series 2 I bought has an internal splitter, unlike its early siblings (e.g. my other Series 2), but surprise, DirecTV wasn't supported. So, I can record 2 shows at once, with 2 TiVos. I may invest time to see if that's been fixed, but meh.

I've also held off on HD, if only because the technology is moving too fast for me.

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

jkuramot — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:31:52 -0000

TiVo charges for that PC software? I tried it years ago, and it was free. And disappointing. I hope they spruced it up before charging for it.

The last TiVo I bought maxed out at 3 year's subscription, which will be up soon. I hope they'll allow me to re-up into the lifetime version.

I suppose you're not awake when your brother watches your TV, or do you have the Slingbox on a TV you don't watch much? During the short time I had mine functional, I scared the crap out of my wife by fiddling with the TV while she was watching. Fun for me ;) I may hook it back up, especially now that my networked Series 2 boxes can dependably see each other, allowing recording transfer.

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

piontekdd — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:30:13 -0000

My brain was sputtering this morning. The HD DVR in question was called the Moxi (http://www.moxi.com/) . I really liked the UI and most of the features. It got to be a bit sluggish though, over time, and again, hardware issues:
http://www.moxi.com/

I think you'll see more innovation and quicker adoption in this space as the TV/Video content battle heats up between the Telco's and cable companies (and I'm hoping new players come into the mix with IP-based solutions not tied to either).

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

jkuramot — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:27:01 -0000

That's surprising to me. Every cable DVR I've seen has a janky version of TiVo's UI on it. They haven't done much to improve it, but then again, I only have a handful of ERs that I'd like to see.

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

piontekdd — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:17:17 -0000

I was a huge fan of the Interface on my cable providers first HD-DVR. It even won an Emmy. Unfortuantely, the hardware was suspect and after going through 2 of them, it was replaced by a regular HD-DVR. I do miss a lot of the TIVO features, but it has enough to not make we lay down the cashishmo on a Series 3.

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

Meg — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:09:39 -0000

Love Love Love my Tivo. Had a series2, upgraded to HD with the lifetime warranty. I do nothing cool with my Tivo, I don't care about games, I still use a phone line to download data and yet it works like a dream.

I was happy to increase my storage from 40 hours and get HD (and HBO) with my last upgrade. I have said often that Tivo is the best invention of the last 20 years, in my life it is equal to the remote control and far surpasses things like wireless networking and digital cameras (which I love).

My only hope is that Tivo does whatever it takes to not go out of business. I want them to survive. I don't care about the Pizza but the Netflix integration sounds awesome to me. If Tivo doesn't make it I will have regrets similar to my loss of WebVan.

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

JustinKestelyn — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:09:31 -0000

I'm a Tivo fugitive. Loved it but alas a move to DirecTV HD made a move to the DirecTV DVR necessary.

I'm not complaining too much though; it's not half bad (see similar example: Windows 95 vs Mac System 7).

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

joel garry — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:44:34 -0000

What, it only records 2 shows at once? I need 4, seriously. Stupid parallel tv programming!

I'm just waiting for this all to settle down. My cable company has some real quality control problems (especially pixilation from some damn underground cabling - you can see the interference watching analog). So it's 4 vcr's until I can get many rooms of HD, without paying more than $100/month, including broadband. My wife prefers the non-HD because she finds the audio/video out of sync annoying - I've seen it more than a second.

As it is, I only have one box that can get HD, and the kids already fight over that, cartoon network v. mythbusters. With my commute, I have to time-shift, sometimes for years (I'm not kidding, I have a stack of half-watched videotapes, and I do eventually get to them).

On the other hand, it is a good thing to be able to limit the kids watching hours beyond just yelling at them about it.

I'm seriously considering over-the-air, if only to avoid single point of failure.

Dominos... uuuuuurp.

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

wrecks — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:13:49 -0000

I too have Tivo Series 2 with lifetime subscription. I also have Comcast HD DVR and a Windows Media Center PC with TV tuner. I like the Tivo interface the best too, but for me, it's not head/shoulders above the others.

Tivo recently came out with PC software for $99, but why would I buy that when the DVR functionality is available in Windows Media Center, which is free with Vista and works decently?

Years ago it seems, Tivo did a deal with Comcast to put their software in a Comcast DVR. It's supposed to be out soon, but they've been saying that for a long time. I will simply trade-in my rented Comcast DVR when the Tivo version is available.

BTW, I think Tivo lifetime service is still available for $300 or $400, or it might be a temporary promotion.

I have a regular Slingbox connected to my Tivo too. The primary user is my brother-in-law who watches Bay Area sports on his Mac from his home in Hong Kong. Totally free.

Re: How to Do a Set-Top Box

jkuramot — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:44:31 -0000

I know, me too. Glad I'm not the only one who missed that boat. Honestly, I don't know what I was thinking.