Well the portal beta is live for (some of) those who are on the wi-fi beta testing list so for the impatient few it can't be that far off. We're not alowed to say much about what is on the portal but what is there works for me.
The release note claims to solve some specific problems but I haven't had chance to test it yet and it also includes some other functionality people have looked forward to.
What's more the note said they didn't mind about commenting on (most parts of) the software so this is what I can say that you can look forward to & I believe it will satisfy most people.
Stuff that has been in since my previous version and I have tested
Trailer booking (BBC & C4)
Background delete
FTP
Select multiple folders
Wi-fi support (tested over WPA protected network)
I've not tested
Background copy
Auto delete (with lock files option)
Media server (tested if Mezzmo uses this)
New & tested
Media Portal
New & not tested bug fixes/improvements
HD Audio drop out
hdmi-dvi
Back button
SMS input (not sure what this is)
SMS input allows you to avoid navigating that ABC matrix when entering a programme name in the search function. Instead you use the number keys in the same way as you enter text on a mobile phone (without prediction), So the number 2 button inputs ABC2, the three DEF3 etc.
This is the method that the Foxsat uses to input postcodes
The internet address of the Humax TV portal is in the public domain so I see no reason for not confirming that it has BBC iPlayer, SkyPlayer, internet radio, a cut down version of Wikipedia, Flikr and an update function.
A feature that all new Freeview+HD recorders are required to support is "Trailer Booking", also known as Green Button. This new feature allows broadcasters to send metadata about a trailer in-time with on-screen trailers. The metadata tells the recorder what is being trailed so the viewer can book a programme to be recorded when the green 'Book Me' icon pops-up. No need to go searching through the EPG for it.
The BBC has been broadcasting this service on BBC1,2,3,4 and the HD channel since the end of May, although on BBC1 and 2 is only available in England at the moment. We are currently assessing the challenges of rolling it out on BBC 1 and 2 in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Stuff that has been in since my previous version and I have tested
Trailer booking (BBC & C4)
Background delete
FTP
Select multiple folders
Wi-fi support (tested over WPA protected network)
I've not tested
Background copy
Auto delete (with lock files option)
Media server (tested if Mezzmo uses this)
New & tested
Media Portal
New & not tested bug fixes/improvements
HD Audio drop out
hdmi-dvi
Back button
SMS input (not sure what this is)
That strikes me as a pretty comprehensive set of improvements that will address most of the wishlist items.
I am disappointed to see people who were invited to a discrete trial discussing release notes in public. This is generally why we don't invite more people to join the closed beta group and I suppose it is to be expected when we opened it up to a wider audience for this WiFi trial (we needed to sample a larger section) but demonstrates why we don't do this so often.
:cool:
SMS = Sega Master System. What? I get to play Sonic the Hedgehog on my Humax? That's sweet! :):D
I joke. I suspect SMS really refers to "Short Message Service" and the fact it says input next to it suggests to me that you can enter characters using the number buttons like you can in a text message on a mobile phone, alongside the on-screen keyboard.
Any update on when we will see the public beta made available through the beta site? I have an active sky player subscription and cannot wait to try it out along with I player! I get a good 10meg connection at home. :-)
I am disappointed to see people who were invited to a discrete trial discussing release notes in public. This is generally why we don't invite more people to join the closed beta group and I suppose it is to be expected when we opened it up to a wider audience for this WiFi trial (we needed to sample a larger section) but demonstrates why we don't do this so often.
:cool:
Yes Bob Cat, its not easy getting them to keep their mouths shut and not brag about having access to something others don't have is it? You are choosing the wrong type of beta testers in my humble Granny opinion. Merry Christmas Bob!
I am disappointed to see people who were invited to a discrete trial discussing release notes in public. This is generally why we don't invite more people to join the closed beta group and I suppose it is to be expected when we opened it up to a wider audience for this WiFi trial (we needed to sample a larger section) but demonstrates why we don't do this so often.
:cool:
Ooooooh get you! You feed the customer crumbs and receive glowing praise when you deign to do so, so I suppose it's only natural that you'd get on your high horse when something which is already 3 months late starts leaking.
Ooooooh get you! You feed the customer crumbs and receive glowing praise when you deign to do so, so I suppose it's only natural that you'd get on your high horse when something which is already 3 months late starts leaking.
I am disappointed to see people who were invited to a discrete trial discussing release notes in public. This is generally why we don't invite more people to join the closed beta group and I suppose it is to be expected when we opened it up to a wider audience for this WiFi trial (we needed to sample a larger section) but demonstrates why we don't do this so often.
:cool:
While I appreciate the updates you've given us in the past, I'm not sure I agree with your stance here. Quite rightly, you need a larger group to test a beta version of your softwarr, and you chose a set of willing testers through the hummy.org.UK website. You're actually getting these testers for free whereas paying for such a group would be costly.
I've seen nothing on here that would ruin humax. By and large, the feedback for your latest version has been positive. So what's so bad about that? There's plenty of willing people on here, myself included, willing to give up their free time to help you guys. Why not discuss that in public - and when I mean public, its hardly public when probably the majority of humax owners do not read these forums, and only update OTA. .
It's strikes me that there's a lot of benefit from having discussions like these, some consensus could be made as to the finer points of functionality, which can only help the humax product.
Don't be a scrooge, bob_cat... bah humbug!
Happy Christmas.
(i think I've just talked myself out of any future beta release participation!)
I was originally expecting this next update to just include the TV portal and WiFi support. While I am definitely looking forward to the portal, WiFi suppport would be of no benefit to me at all, so the news of constant delays was starting to get quite disheartening, especially for functionality that was *promised* (on the box) for November.
However reading comments from the beta testers on what additional features the update should contain has really improved my opinion of the product and of Humax. If this update does indeed arrive in January with the features mentioned fully tested and working nicely, then it certainly will have been worth the wait in my opinion.
Hi everyone. Is there any update on the public beta (or even full) release yet? I seem to recall Bob_Cat saying they were hoping to get a download on the beta site by the end of December.
It's looking like January now, I can't see a BETA going up before the year is out now.
What usually happens is it will be posted as an update on the BETA site but will be the final released version. This lets us update sooner rather than waiting for an over-the-air broadcast which can take a couple of weeks to arrange.
I had hoped to get it uploaded to the beta site today or tomorrow and yes it was just a cynical attempt to say we had it in 2010. But it looks like I will have to wait until after the weekend while some details are ironed out. :rolleyes:
I had hoped to get it uploaded to the beta site today or tomorrow and yes it was just a cynical attempt to say we had it in 2010. But it looks like I will have to wait until after the weekend while some details are ironed out. :rolleyes:
Regards,
Bob @ Humax
Ooo you tease!
On a serious note, I'd rather wait until the major bugs are ironed out before installing anyway. Thanks for the update.
For full disclosure: one disappointing thing is that I am informed that we know there will be at least a couple of crash points in the browser of the beta software. In normal operation the box should be fine and I believe we have maintained the stability of the existing features. But should you be using the portal there is an occasional possibility of a crash.
People using beta software do generally understand that there may be issues when using pre-release software and our quality team have identified some issues during testing that need working on quickly before we launch the Internet based service with real software.
Next week we should have had a discussion which will allow us to release the latest internal beta with a strong caveat. I have been using the software all Christmas and only encountered a crash a couple of times. It isn't production software of course, but I know many are keen to get their hands on these new features and we are keen to see how it is received.
Once these crashes are fixed we should aim to get production software out quite quickly.
For full disclosure: one disappointing thing is that I am informed that we know there will be at least a couple of crash points in the browser of the beta software. In normal operation the box should be fine and I believe we have maintained the stability of the existing features. But should you be using the portal there is an occasional possibility of a crash.
People using beta software do generally understand that there may be issues when using pre-release software and our quality team have identified some issues during testing that need working on quickly before we launch the Internet based service with real software.
Next week we should have had a discussion which will allow us to release the latest internal beta with a strong caveat. I have been using the software all Christmas and only encountered a crash a couple of times. It isn't production software of course, but I know many are keen to get their hands on these new features and we are keen to see how it is received.
Once these crashes are fixed we should aim to get production software out quite quickly.
Bob
Great stuff.
Shame there was no interim update for the sound- without the portal features etc. I have a couple of films recorded on HD over Christmas that have the sound issues. I think many like me will be pleased just to have the sound issues fixed.:)
As for the Portal it will be used far less than the main PVR functions but as long as the glitches are solved its a nice bonus.
We have just bought our second T2-HDR for Christmas based on a review we read on CNet. The review claimed we could play content from a second Humax PVR so long as it was on the same network. Obviously this was wrong and I'm hoping the Media Server option mentioned in the next update notes implements such a function. We can't wait for the portal, having had my box since August the October release seems to just keep slipping so I'm really hoping the wait and faith in Humx was worth it.:)
The internet address of the Humax TV portal is in the public domain so I see no reason for not confirming that it has BBC iPlayer, SkyPlayer, internet radio, a cut down version of Wikipedia, Flikr and an update function.
No ITV Player, 4oD or Demand Five? Surely it must have catch up services from all five terrestrial analogue channels? It is thoroughly flawed without this.
Also is this streaming or download to hard disc? I need download, my broadband (and many other people's I suspect) is too slow to stream anything but the lowest quality video (and of course radio streams fine).
Comments
The release note claims to solve some specific problems but I haven't had chance to test it yet and it also includes some other functionality people have looked forward to.
What's more the note said they didn't mind about commenting on (most parts of) the software so this is what I can say that you can look forward to & I believe it will satisfy most people.
Stuff that has been in since my previous version and I have tested
Trailer booking (BBC & C4)
Background delete
FTP
Select multiple folders
Wi-fi support (tested over WPA protected network)
I've not tested
Background copy
Auto delete (with lock files option)
Media server (tested if Mezzmo uses this)
New & tested
Media Portal
New & not tested bug fixes/improvements
HD Audio drop out
hdmi-dvi
Back button
SMS input (not sure what this is)
This is the method that the Foxsat uses to input postcodes
The internet address of the Humax TV portal is in the public domain so I see no reason for not confirming that it has BBC iPlayer, SkyPlayer, internet radio, a cut down version of Wikipedia, Flikr and an update function.
Although it is mentioned in the Humax "portal" beta release notes it is nothing to do with the portal. See this BBC link for what is normally meant by the term
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/researchanddevelopment/2010/08/new-developments-on-freeview-a.shtml
That strikes me as a pretty comprehensive set of improvements that will address most of the wishlist items.
:cool:
I joke. I suspect SMS really refers to "Short Message Service" and the fact it says input next to it suggests to me that you can enter characters using the number buttons like you can in a text message on a mobile phone, alongside the on-screen keyboard.
Thanks, Rik.
Yes Bob Cat, its not easy getting them to keep their mouths shut and not brag about having access to something others don't have is it? You are choosing the wrong type of beta testers in my humble Granny opinion. Merry Christmas Bob!
GG
Ooooooh get you! You feed the customer crumbs and receive glowing praise when you deign to do so, so I suppose it's only natural that you'd get on your high horse when something which is already 3 months late starts leaking.
Oops, I'll get my coat.
And so will I!
While I appreciate the updates you've given us in the past, I'm not sure I agree with your stance here. Quite rightly, you need a larger group to test a beta version of your softwarr, and you chose a set of willing testers through the hummy.org.UK website. You're actually getting these testers for free whereas paying for such a group would be costly.
I've seen nothing on here that would ruin humax. By and large, the feedback for your latest version has been positive. So what's so bad about that? There's plenty of willing people on here, myself included, willing to give up their free time to help you guys. Why not discuss that in public - and when I mean public, its hardly public when probably the majority of humax owners do not read these forums, and only update OTA. .
It's strikes me that there's a lot of benefit from having discussions like these, some consensus could be made as to the finer points of functionality, which can only help the humax product.
Don't be a scrooge, bob_cat... bah humbug!
Happy Christmas.
(i think I've just talked myself out of any future beta release participation!)
MrP.
However reading comments from the beta testers on what additional features the update should contain has really improved my opinion of the product and of Humax. If this update does indeed arrive in January with the features mentioned fully tested and working nicely, then it certainly will have been worth the wait in my opinion.
Thanks.
Rik.
It's looking like January now, I can't see a BETA going up before the year is out now.
What usually happens is it will be posted as an update on the BETA site but will be the final released version. This lets us update sooner rather than waiting for an over-the-air broadcast which can take a couple of weeks to arrange.
Regards
Phil
Regards,
Bob @ Humax
Ooo you tease!
On a serious note, I'd rather wait until the major bugs are ironed out before installing anyway. Thanks for the update.
Rik.
People using beta software do generally understand that there may be issues when using pre-release software and our quality team have identified some issues during testing that need working on quickly before we launch the Internet based service with real software.
Next week we should have had a discussion which will allow us to release the latest internal beta with a strong caveat. I have been using the software all Christmas and only encountered a crash a couple of times. It isn't production software of course, but I know many are keen to get their hands on these new features and we are keen to see how it is received.
Once these crashes are fixed we should aim to get production software out quite quickly.
Bob
Great stuff.
Shame there was no interim update for the sound- without the portal features etc. I have a couple of films recorded on HD over Christmas that have the sound issues. I think many like me will be pleased just to have the sound issues fixed.:)
As for the Portal it will be used far less than the main PVR functions but as long as the glitches are solved its a nice bonus.
No ITV Player, 4oD or Demand Five? Surely it must have catch up services from all five terrestrial analogue channels? It is thoroughly flawed without this.
Also is this streaming or download to hard disc? I need download, my broadband (and many other people's I suspect) is too slow to stream anything but the lowest quality video (and of course radio streams fine).
That is a matter for the broadcasters, they have not yet chosen to release their on-demand packages to consumer electronics manufacturers yet.
Bob