MoxiMate
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Arris brings Moxi HD DVR sales to an end, plans to cut off guide data after 2013... maybe
While Moxi may live on in spirit as a white label multiroom HD DVR for cable companies, parent company Arris announced on its website this week the retail boxes and extenders are no longer being sold. Initially, a note on the company's home page indicated tech support and guide data would come to an end at the end of 2013 as noted by Zatz Not Funny, but references to that have since been removed. Potentially abandoned users on AVS Forum have already started looking for alternative ways to keep the guide data flowing and possibly get help from Arris in prying open the code to do so. We've contacted Arris for more information but haven't received a response yet -- we'll update you when / if we do. In the meantime Digeo's baby is still operational, so owners can enjoy however much time they have left, we'd recommend studying up on the stages of grief so you'll understand how to handle them over the next several months.Update: Arris has updated its page, claiming the discontinuation notice was an "error", and that it has "no plans" to discontinue service. Satisfied?[Thanks, Alfred]
Moxi "Fall Update" now available, adds Live TV streaming for the Moxi Mate
Moxi Mate users should be enjoying Live TV streaming as well as new GUI tweaks regarding used storage space and series recording defaults now that the update announced last November has finally arrived. Could we suggest a few more changes? Sure, but for now these will have to do. [Thanks, Lee & Bob]
Moxi Fall update comes with a lower price and a new 3 tuner model
Although Moxi hasn't really taken a piece of our heart, it has kept its promise of updates with the third one due just before the holiday season. The most notable news today from Moxi's new owner Arris though is a new three tuner HD DVR, which we believe is the first to break the two tuner barrier (that isn't PC based). The new model is only available bundled with either one, or two Moxi Mates for $799 or $999. You can still buy the dual tuner version by itself which now retails for $499 instead of $799 -- don't forget, Moxi doesn't charge service fees -- and the Moxi Mate itself is now $299 instead of $399. The bad news it that the no interest payment options are off the table. The best news for existing Moxi owners is that the Fall update brings Live TV streaming to the Moxi Mate as well as new recording defaults, but we continue to wait for the ability to customize the Recorded TV list. All in all, Moxi has made much progress since we did our review, but our biggest gripe goes unaddressed, but then again we really didn't expect Moxi to redesign the entire UI just because we didn't like it.
The Moxi Summer update brings the Moxi Mate, SDV support and more
All the Moxi owners out there should be happy to learn that Digeo intends to keep its promise by continually releasing updates to Moxi HD DVR on a regular basis. The latest Summer update should hit your Moxi in the next few days and brings some of the more anticipated features -- no still no TiVoToGo like functionality -- like the grid guide pictured above, support for the Moxi Mate and Switched Digital Video (SDV). First up is SDV support, but while adding the ability to tune channels delivered via SDV is appreciated, it really falls under the "about time" category. Next is the new Moxi Mate, which holds more promise but just because it starts shipping tomorrow for $399, doesn't mean it will deliver. As it stands now, the Mate requires that you bring your own network connection to your second TV -- so no MoCA support like FiOS and other cable operator DVRs work -- and it doesn't completely replace the STB in your bedroom because it doesn't do Live TV and you can't schedule recordings with it. You can at least pick up where you left off watching a record without transfering it first, but the included remote can't control your TV's channel or input, so you're going to need a universal remote or you're going to make life in the bedroom as complicated as some living rooms. Our last gripe about the Mate (yes there's more) is the fact that Digeo only recommends running one Mate at a time with a hard limit of three concurrent streams. The good news though is that existing Moxi HD DVR customers can pick up a Mate for $199, and there're even package deals and payment plans to lesson the blow. The breath of fresh air coming with this update is the fact that up to 6TB of external storage is now supported and DLNA support is improved with added codec and containers like H.264 in MKV files -- although obviously MKV can support all kinds of codecs that may or may not also be supported.
