One other issue - the automatic standby has switched from being the low power varient to the full one - means it takes longer to come on. Hope that it still records and the apps can still connect when it's off - but that has to be doubtful seeing the length of time it takes to boot up and the need to wait 15 seconds after that for the HDD and therefore recordings to be available.
Yesterday I assumed it was dead with the light being off (I had changed the wires around on some other boxes the night before so assumed I'd knocked something) and had pulled the plug for it to boot up - when it was off again this morning it was more obvious what was happening.
not interested tbh
not very impressed by any built in smart features I have seen so far, and as I pointed out right at the very start of the whole smart features war, because they are built in and running on crippled hardware - u are always at the risk of such going wrong or being made obsolete overnight (as some owners of Sony Smart enabled bluray players can vouch for - eg, bbci removed).
I currently only believe the only worth while, future proof, and best smart experience is from a pc or mac connected to a tv.
not interested tbh
not very impressed by any built in smart features I have seen so far, and as I pointed out right at the very start of the whole smart features war, because they are built in and running on crippled hardware - u are always at the risk of such going wrong or being made obsolete overnight (as some owners of Sony Smart enabled bluray players can vouch for - eg, bbci removed).
I currently only believe the only worth while, future proof, and best smart experience is from a pc or mac connected to a tv.
I have one of those Sony smart blu ray players.
The non-working bbc iplayer was removed from the available apps after a firmware update a week or so ago.
The NowTv box (I also have one of these and am very pleased with it) should remain future proof since Sky would not want to lose paying customers.
The NowTv box (I also have one of these and am very pleased with it) should remain future proof since Sky would not want to lose paying customers.
The problem with the Now TV box is the Now TV player being made available everywhere else - the performance is already a bit on the slow side so will eventually reach the point where it becomes pointless to keep updating the software on, and may be worth losing a few customers by telling them to buy the Now TV 2 for a few quid more than a three month bundle or offering some Sky+ offers.
I currently only believe the only worth while, future proof, and best smart experience is from a pc or mac connected to a tv.
In my experience PC based smart experiences leave a lot to be desired - using the likes of XBMC has too many limitations (no Red Button, most on demand services don't work, or work for a bit and then are broken (due to DRM mainly)). When you try an use your PC on your TV the experience is less than ideal too (not to mention not exactly being future proof anyway - my Vista machine can't play MPEG 4 videos above about 360p for instance, and my Windows 7 machine can't hack 1080p stuff).
My Chromecast has been the best platform so far, as the apps can keeps leverageing current generation tech, but then play video full screen on a "dumb" device - but the lack of a UI is irritating - Alas not all the UK broadcaster apps work over it.
IMHO the Connected Red Button is the way to go - the likes of 4od, Demand 5, and ITV Player should really start appearing as "red button" services - the BBC iPlayer already works wonderfully - means once you have one connected Freeview device sorted you've got the lot (a couple of minor glitches aside) - would be even easier if pressing 251 (for arguments sake) loaded the iPlayer, 252 Notts TV On Demand, 253 ITV Player, 254 4od, 255 Demand 5, 256 Now TV (with Pick/Challenge being freebies), 257 UK TV Play. It also means you aren't locked out of certain platforms (e.g. create a Roku app but not available on Now TV), and will work out of the box on new TV's and PVR's (think DSO2 when that eventually happens) and will appear on loads of devices automatically overnight.
Even better if these "channels" could be flagged as Apps on the NIT somehow - on the likes of the new LG TV's where the Apps and Inputs are displayed at the toplevel these could appear on that list too.
I use MythTV at home, it serves me reasonably well but a few aspects leave a lot to be desired. Not least the insanely complex setup procedure.
As for on demand, I know historically there used to be flash-based solutions that worked... relatively seamlessly from within MythTV, but they've mostly gone away for reasons I'm not aware of. But you can always fall back on simply using a browser, something almost never true for a dedicated box. Perhaps the real problem is I need to find a way of using LIRC to control a browser in a non-insane manner... if only Opera were still supported, its spatial navigation would really help here.
The problem with the Now TV box is the Now TV player being made available everywhere else - the performance is already a bit on the slow side so will eventually reach the point where it becomes pointless to keep updating the software on, and may be worth losing a few customers by telling them to buy the Now TV 2 for a few quid more than a three month bundle or offering some Sky+ offers.
In my experience PC based smart experiences leave a lot to be desired - using the likes of XBMC has too many limitations (no Red Button, most on demand services don't work, or work for a bit and then are broken (due to DRM mainly)). When you try an use your PC on your TV the experience is less than ideal too (not to mention not exactly being future proof anyway - my Vista machine can't play MPEG 4 videos above about 360p for instance, and my Windows 7 machine can't hack 1080p stuff).
My Chromecast has been the best platform so far, as the apps can keeps leverageing current generation tech, but then play video full screen on a "dumb" device - but the lack of a UI is irritating - Alas not all the UK broadcaster apps work over it.
IMHO the Connected Red Button is the way to go - the likes of 4od, Demand 5, and ITV Player should really start appearing as "red button" services - the BBC iPlayer already works wonderfully - means once you have one connected Freeview device sorted you've got the lot (a couple of minor glitches aside) - would be even easier if pressing 251 (for arguments sake) loaded the iPlayer, 252 Notts TV On Demand, 253 ITV Player, 254 4od, 255 Demand 5, 256 Now TV (with Pick/Challenge being freebies), 257 UK TV Play. It also means you aren't locked out of certain platforms (e.g. create a Roku app but not available on Now TV), and will work out of the box on new TV's and PVR's (think DSO2 when that eventually happens) and will appear on loads of devices automatically overnight.
Even better if these "channels" could be flagged as Apps on the NIT somehow - on the likes of the new LG TV's where the Apps and Inputs are displayed at the toplevel these could appear on that list too.
A vista based pc must be rather old....and might it be the case u are comparing a new smart device experience against an old pc experience. Not like for like.
I can only go by what I have seen and experienced....and that is
My sony bluray which was fully smart upto date as well as 3d ready no longer does bbc Iplayer, and bbc iplayer when it did work and the other smart services are a p.poor excuse of an interface which takes way longer than the same task on my PC.
It's already been made partly obsolete with the whole bbc thing.
My humax satellite box never got the itv player properly (tho bbc iplayer does still work on this despite being older hardware than the sony bluray). It also never go any of the newer smart features via update.
The only reason my pc can't manage 1080p for the web withinn a sensible time is due to us having a relatively slow internet connection.
A vista based pc must be rather old....and might it be the case u are comparing a new smart device experience against an old pc experience. Not like for like.
I can only go by what I have seen and experienced....and that is
My sony bluray which was fully smart upto date as well as 3d ready no longer does bbc Iplayer, and bbc iplayer when it did work and the other smart services are a p.poor excuse of an interface which takes way longer than the same task on my PC.
It's already been made partly obsolete with the whole bbc thing.
My humax satellite box never got the itv player properly (tho bbc iplayer does still work on this despite being older hardware than the sony bluray). It also never go any of the newer smart features via update.
The only reason my pc can't manage 1080p for the web withinn a sensible time is due to us having a relatively slow internet connection.
Microsoft support for Windows Vista ends in 2 years time, in April 2017.
i.e. no more security updates etc. and will not be safe to use on the internet.
Firmware update today, now 9 Dec (Was 28 Oct), I concerts added as an app, and a premium section has been added too - currently containing only Now TV!
Typical, just got a now TV box for that TV 😂.
Now too see if it can play long YouTube videos / HD recordings without stuttering....
The Premium section also contained Wuaki.TV (I had it set to hide apps already on the home screen)...
However that's all the Premium section contained - Now TV has now vanished.
NOW TV disappeared a few weeks ago (reports on the EE forums say it wasn't working properly).
The Apps grid on the home acreen has changed to 4x3 rather 3x3
And more, much more usefully, the EETV app finally works on Android Lollypop - seems to be able to use Hardware Acceleration for SD channels unlike BS Player, but unlike BS Player can't do HD at all
The box has seen a big update in the last couple of days
1. A number of deleted recordings have reappeared (these were ones we'd never watched).
2. You can now see watched episodes and therefore delete them
3. The text is chunkier and easy to read on a CRT
4. When viewing a channel the "i" button works once again.
5. TVPlayer finally works properly (before you had a QVC logo and a red dot, pressing red then select got you Heart and pressing up/down and OK allowed you to switch channels - you now get graphics so can see what you're doing). - That being said it would be more useful if these were "channels" in the way Motors TV and Vintage TV are - even better if it could do the old pre-Freeview era BBCi trick of allowing channel change once you're in the app for faster hopping.
6. The documentaries service kinda works - you can see what shows are available, but only get a split second of SD video
7. YouTube is more responsive, the sound no longer screws up at 10 minutes (but so far have only watched a 12 second video).
8. You have a multi-screen option to stop it going in deep standby (alas it still goes into light standby which means the app allows you to watch Live TV but not recordings until you turn it on again).
Bollywood HD, France 24 English/French/Arabic, Brasil TV (I think that was the name), a Caribbean service and some other randoms were added to the On Demand section yesterday.
Comments
Yesterday I assumed it was dead with the light being off (I had changed the wires around on some other boxes the night before so assumed I'd knocked something) and had pulled the plug for it to boot up - when it was off again this morning it was more obvious what was happening.
not very impressed by any built in smart features I have seen so far, and as I pointed out right at the very start of the whole smart features war, because they are built in and running on crippled hardware - u are always at the risk of such going wrong or being made obsolete overnight (as some owners of Sony Smart enabled bluray players can vouch for - eg, bbci removed).
I currently only believe the only worth while, future proof, and best smart experience is from a pc or mac connected to a tv.
I have one of those Sony smart blu ray players.
The non-working bbc iplayer was removed from the available apps after a firmware update a week or so ago.
The NowTv box (I also have one of these and am very pleased with it) should remain future proof since Sky would not want to lose paying customers.
The problem with the Now TV box is the Now TV player being made available everywhere else - the performance is already a bit on the slow side so will eventually reach the point where it becomes pointless to keep updating the software on, and may be worth losing a few customers by telling them to buy the Now TV 2 for a few quid more than a three month bundle or offering some Sky+ offers.
In my experience PC based smart experiences leave a lot to be desired - using the likes of XBMC has too many limitations (no Red Button, most on demand services don't work, or work for a bit and then are broken (due to DRM mainly)). When you try an use your PC on your TV the experience is less than ideal too (not to mention not exactly being future proof anyway - my Vista machine can't play MPEG 4 videos above about 360p for instance, and my Windows 7 machine can't hack 1080p stuff).
My Chromecast has been the best platform so far, as the apps can keeps leverageing current generation tech, but then play video full screen on a "dumb" device - but the lack of a UI is irritating - Alas not all the UK broadcaster apps work over it.
IMHO the Connected Red Button is the way to go - the likes of 4od, Demand 5, and ITV Player should really start appearing as "red button" services - the BBC iPlayer already works wonderfully - means once you have one connected Freeview device sorted you've got the lot (a couple of minor glitches aside) - would be even easier if pressing 251 (for arguments sake) loaded the iPlayer, 252 Notts TV On Demand, 253 ITV Player, 254 4od, 255 Demand 5, 256 Now TV (with Pick/Challenge being freebies), 257 UK TV Play. It also means you aren't locked out of certain platforms (e.g. create a Roku app but not available on Now TV), and will work out of the box on new TV's and PVR's (think DSO2 when that eventually happens) and will appear on loads of devices automatically overnight.
Even better if these "channels" could be flagged as Apps on the NIT somehow - on the likes of the new LG TV's where the Apps and Inputs are displayed at the toplevel these could appear on that list too.
As for on demand, I know historically there used to be flash-based solutions that worked... relatively seamlessly from within MythTV, but they've mostly gone away for reasons I'm not aware of. But you can always fall back on simply using a browser, something almost never true for a dedicated box. Perhaps the real problem is I need to find a way of using LIRC to control a browser in a non-insane manner... if only Opera were still supported, its spatial navigation would really help here.
A vista based pc must be rather old....and might it be the case u are comparing a new smart device experience against an old pc experience. Not like for like.
I can only go by what I have seen and experienced....and that is
My sony bluray which was fully smart upto date as well as 3d ready no longer does bbc Iplayer, and bbc iplayer when it did work and the other smart services are a p.poor excuse of an interface which takes way longer than the same task on my PC.
It's already been made partly obsolete with the whole bbc thing.
My humax satellite box never got the itv player properly (tho bbc iplayer does still work on this despite being older hardware than the sony bluray). It also never go any of the newer smart features via update.
The only reason my pc can't manage 1080p for the web withinn a sensible time is due to us having a relatively slow internet connection.
Microsoft support for Windows Vista ends in 2 years time, in April 2017.
i.e. no more security updates etc. and will not be safe to use on the internet.
see http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows/lifecycle for other Windows O.S. end of life dates.
The Premium section also contained Wuaki.TV (I had it set to hide apps already on the home screen)...
However that's all the Premium section contained - Now TV has now vanished.
£12.5 billion, with Deutsche Telecom and France Telecom taking stakes in BT Too.
Hope they keep developing EETV and don't abandon it without free upgrades
The Apps grid on the home acreen has changed to 4x3 rather 3x3
And more, much more usefully, the EETV app finally works on Android Lollypop - seems to be able to use Hardware Acceleration for SD channels unlike BS Player, but unlike BS Player can't do HD at all
I subscribed a few days ago, seems to be working well.
1. A number of deleted recordings have reappeared (these were ones we'd never watched).
2. You can now see watched episodes and therefore delete them
3. The text is chunkier and easy to read on a CRT
4. When viewing a channel the "i" button works once again.
5. TVPlayer finally works properly (before you had a QVC logo and a red dot, pressing red then select got you Heart and pressing up/down and OK allowed you to switch channels - you now get graphics so can see what you're doing). - That being said it would be more useful if these were "channels" in the way Motors TV and Vintage TV are - even better if it could do the old pre-Freeview era BBCi trick of allowing channel change once you're in the app for faster hopping.
6. The documentaries service kinda works - you can see what shows are available, but only get a split second of SD video
7. YouTube is more responsive, the sound no longer screws up at 10 minutes (but so far have only watched a 12 second video).
8. You have a multi-screen option to stop it going in deep standby (alas it still goes into light standby which means the app allows you to watch Live TV but not recordings until you turn it on again).
Alas, still no All4.