We truly believe that one day the idea of having a DVR in just one room of the house will be foreign to most and here's a new step in that direction. DirecTV has a new opt-in public beta of multi-room viewing software for its HR2x series of HD DVRs. Now this is not to be confused with the new hardware that uses
RVU that
we showed you from CES due later this year -- we wish -- this is simply adding new features to hardware you already
bough leased. The way this will work is that you'll plug each DirecTV box into your home network via CAT5, enabled sharing, and pay an additional monthly fee. At that point you'll not only be able to stream shows between DVRs or standard HD set top boxes, but you'll also be able to delete shows as well as schedule new recordings. The big downer is it's far more complex than many will be willing to tackle, especially since the user must still manage the network and the sharing settings, as well as the fact as there still isn't one cohesive list of scheduled recordings. And worst of all, there is no resume sync, so if you start a show on one DVR, you'll have to figure out where you left out by fast forwarding when you decide to finish the rest in bed. Ultimately this is a great feature to offer and although it isn't what we're waiting for, it is a big step in the right direction.
Thanks Doug and Jonathan!
posted January 20th 2010 7:47AM
Right now if someone wanted to add an external hard drive to increased the HD recording capacity they can maximize this by performing the upgrade on each individual DVR. My reducing the number of DVRs in one's household, you effectively reduce the amount of recording capacity within the household.
Unless DirecTV plans on implementing more than one eSATA connections on this consolidated design, I am not looking forward to it.
Well being that this is the first "beta" version, I'm sure some of these quarks will be figured out. Heck, even Comcast lets you resume from where you left off on a VOD program in another room. Not DVR... but still it's some sort of video resume from one of the lesser advanced providers.
Don't you think the new DirecTV set tops will contain a MoCA adapter, or maybe 802.11n wifi so that you don't have to run Cat5 to each room?
I never personally had a dish provider (always lived in a place where trees prevented reception). Not quite sure of the cabling architecture and if MoCA would work, given Sat's frequencies up to 2.4 GHz on the wire.
@cypherx
Yes of course there are plenty of ways to bridge Ethernet over other technologies, but the box itself only supports Ethernet, so no point in mentioning the plethora of options here.
Why on earth can't DTV get this right by, oh lets say - TWO YEARS AGO! Guys - this technology isn't hard, heck, it's even been done by Tivo a while back. I keep hanging onto the thought that maybe, just maybe, the reason why they are taking so long is because the content providers keep complaining and it doesn't have anything to do with DTV.
I've been a subscriber of theirs for over 10 years now and I'm just constantly amazed and frustrated by their lack of forward thinking for the consumer. First they take Tivo out of the game, then they take forever to bring it back with HD...
Arrrrgggg! I'm just so frustrated with them I can't even form coherent and complete sentences...
@ibgarrett
Actually DirecTV's implementation is way better than Tivo's. For starters TiVo doesn't let you schedule recordings across the network, or let you have a single list of shows to watch. But worst of all is that TiVo only works if copies are permitted and many providers mark everything as Copy Once, so you can't use MRV at all.
Additional fee equals no sale for me. You would think Directv would be doing everything in their power to keep customers to defecting to Hulu, Netflix and free OTA digital TV. Adding extra fees for a software update will just add fuel to the fire for someone that is on the fence about canceling their nearly $100/month Directv bill.
The article is wrong with the resume feature. DTV has had this in a closed beta for several months and its had the ability to watch partially on one dvr then switch to another and pickup where you left off.
Does anyone know how to actually sign up for this beta? My DVRs and receivers are already networked.
@(Unverified) Once you have the newest nationally release software/firmware...it will be an option in the menus to opt in.
I've been enjoying this feature for free for several months now. Its been somewhat buggy, but quite functional the past couple of updates. All you have to do is be a willing guinea pig and be part of the "cutting edge" program at www.dbstak.com
@PeterB Thanks PeterB. We'll be sure to ban you from the program now.
Pay an extra fee? Not going to happen.
Sounds like a nice feature if it were free.
So they dropped the WMC tuner for THIS!?
Sorry, but no thanks.
MS already had all of this working, all DirecTV had to do was make a tuner.
heh heh "forein"...
I do agree that it is a shame that the WMC tuner is gone (Dual usb tuner? I mean, that sentence is win), but as it stands right now Directv IS making good progress with pc integration.
Hell, I actually used the directv2pc app yesterday for the first time in a while (I had used it in the beta when it first came out), and it works wonderfully. I have one copy of it running on my desktop (Connected via gigabit router) and another copy on my laptop (connected by either its own dedicated 5GHz N network, and also has a fallback 2.4GHz N network being broadcast from two base stations at opposite ends of my house connected together via the Belkin Powerline HD kit (God, that thing is amazing)), and they both stream 1080i perfectly fine with no drops and no lag. I also have my desktop set up to stream TO it, which generally does not work as well.
At least their not limiting the media connectivity to viiv pc's anymore. THAT was a retarted move.
Media Center + Imaginary DirecTV tuner + Extinct Extenders
We've posted a First Look at DIRECTV's new MRV @ DBSTalk.com if you are interested: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=171258
@Doug Brott
I already linked that as the source of my post. Do you not see the DBSTalk link below the text of the post?
@BenD Yes it is. Thank You, I missed that.
@Doug Brott How about a first look that isn't a PDF?
Now, what DirecTV really needs in an HD GUI. Get on with it folks!
While I would love this two things will keep me from using it. I refuse to pay extra for this. It should be included in my monthly DRV fee. And it won't be easy to network all my receivers. The need to include wireless in future boxes.
"Extra Fee" should be DirecTV motto. They won't be getting it out of me.
WTF, that can't be right? They don't actually think they can charge people extra for this do they?
I fully agree that this should be included with the DVR fee, or raise the DVR fee for everyone (including those who don't use the feature).
I'll point out that the post from D* says to not spend any money to network your boxes and they'll be offering some network upgrade option soon. This will probably work over MoCA/SWM ethernet adapters. Would be nice to have these adapters built in to the STB, no?
So, how is this different from what AT&T already provides, except that resume play on DVR recordings *does* work and the whole thing is FREE with the TV service?
@asfdsad
It's different because you can record or watch more than two HD steams.