Do you reckon we will be seeing a new Humax anytime soon or will they now be holding off for Project Canvas and release a new box to incorporate this?

I believe they've said: "Not this year".

It would seem a bit daft to release a new one next year and not incorporate Project Canvas within it. Hopefully they will also add Sky Player like they are on one of their Freeview models. And a media streamer and also the moon on a stick please.

There's only one feature I want to see on an HDR that isn't already present on the Humax and that's the ability to set recordings over the 'net. It would require the box to have a 'wake on LAN' ability but other than that it should present few difficulties.

Yeah that would be a great feature, a nice app on the apple store would be even better.

It would be useless without the Humax being internet programmes setting enabled.

Agree this would be nice - but hope you all know how to modify your firewalls and how to set up port forwarding on your routers.

Anyone who writes software that still requires antiquated techniques like that should be taken outside and shot

I would have thought that it is quite typical that a homes broadband connection passes through some form of router [perhaps ISP supplied, which normally has an active firewall] and serves one or two PC's a HDR and perhaps other equipment. All basically using good old tcpip. So what modern technique are you thinking of Badvok?

Could not agree more REPASSAC.. The HomeHub 2 is a Pig with it's thousands of PORTS and my son is in the security trade and he shudders when i suggest anything affecting the Router

Stan

To allow for remote programme setting I would expect that Humax would provide a choice of port (default 8080?) and no support for getting your packets to it.

It's what most ISP's do for advanced router settings and for users who have additional routers in their network.

Now assuming Humax deliver on this - who has a static home IP address and who does not.

There are lots, but this is not really the place to discuss networking technologies. To put it simply I'd expect it to operate in a manner similar to my Home PC and my PS3 - I can access them from anywhere in the world without needing a static IP or any special router configuration.

You don't believe in security then? - I've not used any routers that don't require configuration to use in that way, and wouldn't entertain one that didn't.

Not commenting in particular about any product but remote record scheduling is tricky because the product operates at very low power in standby. It doesn't have enough power to maintain a network connection (much like your computer can't easily respond when you've turned it off).

The two options are:
1) "Wake on LAN" which may not operate reliably and would require manual configuration of static port mapping on the router.
2) The product wakes itself up periodically and "calls home" to ask if there are new items to be scheduled.

The second option is the most likely because it requires no network beyond the basic settings and is the most reliable option. The down side is that you can't schedule a recording if the event begins inside the window between when you set the recording (e.g now) and when the next polling point it. Luckily because the polling is regular the system can know when the device is next likely to call in and warn the user that it won't get recorded.

I won't comment on our plans for this because speculation doesn't help anyone, but I thought you might like to understand how such a system might work if it were to be implemented.

Thanks for the input.

This would be a good choice if sufficient code could be kept in rom to at least check whether further action was necessary. Having the box do a full boot every hour might be considered excessive but if it could just 'raise it's head' from snoozing to check it wouldn't be a problem. Of course, in some cases, (mine, for example), one boot a day would be good enough because I check Digiguide during the day so a boot at 6pm would always catch any settings.

I really hope you can get this feature in your next box, but, even if you can't, we've still come a long way from the old VCR days.

Perhaps worth talking to Freesat/Freeview - such web functionality [requiring the EPG] might be better if they provided the web service in a standard way?

Suggestion 1: Call home function (if you go that way) be menu controlled,
Suggestion 2: while calling home - update EPG

Just a pointer in the vague hope that you haven't already gone down what in my opinion would be the wrong route - remote scheduling is most useful when you have gone out but forgotten to set something to record - in this use case we are probably talking minutes before the programme is due to start or even a few minutes after it has started. We all know that Humax boxes aren't very good at accepting a reservation a few minutes before the programme is due to start but if a poll mechanism is used and this extends to an hour or more it would not, IMO, be a good or even viable solution.
With regards to power consumption it would be a good idea to have multiple levels of standby - like what you have in the HDR - and give the user the option to select whether they need the remote wake/schedule capability or not.
My PC generally sits in Asus's 'AI Nap' mode which while still far from perfect at saving power does allow it to be instantly up and available when needed without wasting too much energy (PC tech IS getting better).
The PS3 allows the remote wake capability to be user configured and likewise has a semi-cold standby mode with most of the system shut down but the LAN still active.

Yep, access to my PC from the Internet is via 1024 bit RSA Key only! The PS3 uses UPnP to manage the inbound port and a proprietary access key. And before you ask, no I'm not so paranoid that I disable UPnP on a router that has had no UPnP vulnerabilities reported.

Not sure this is true for everyone or even the majority of people. When I'm out I'm not thinking about TV programmes.

Everyone has to set their recording schedule at some point, so a solution that allows that would be good if the alternative is to do nothing because you can't accommodate people trying to schedule something that is going to record immanently.

Badvok,

Just to emphasise: We have no plans confirmed yet, but in general I discuss the issues with various people in the industry. In my research on the subject, having spoken to experts in this exact sector, they have said that most people make on-line bookings exactly 24 hours in advance, even where the facility is available very few bookings are made via such a mechanism at last minute.

Interesting and that surprises me. I admit I have no specific knowledge in this area other than personal experience so feel free to ignore my view.
In my own experience the most common 'Doh! I meant to record that!' moment is in the car on the way somewhere when someone (e.g. wife) asks 'Did you set xyz to record for me?'

How would access to this remote scheduling feature likely be acheived? I guess
a) pointing your computer or handheld web browser to a Humax web portal - where the web portal will manage the interaction with the PVR at home
b) merely that the PVR is accesss directly over the network and has a front end with links to your recordings directory and a scheduled timers section?

I have used the remote scheduling feature on sky and its very good. I access that via an iPhone/ipod Touch app. I think the Sky server receives the requests from the app and send instructions to the Sky PVR via satellite

As Sky's boxes are always on (with a few minor things switched off in standby) it is somewhat easier for them [for now anyway].

Yes it is isn't it. The Humax switches to active standby for at least 15 minutes before all of the recordings that take place day and night (should the box already be in standby. Nothing to stop the Humax box going into active standby every hour for a minute to receive a timer/s, I should think.