another new product coming soon: Beyond Media

[ctebo]

Interesting to see where the snapstream folks are spending their time...

A few comments... There's lots of stuff out there to do this kind of thing today, ranging from the free and fairly constrained (eg. myhtpc) to the expensive/very feature rich/esoteric (eg. mainlobby/dvdlobby).

I'd imagine that the reality of the htpc market place today is that Beyond Media won't have legs unless it is thrown in as a part of Beyond TV.

A more practical view of Beyond Media would be related to providing hardware vendors with a single source solution to compete with XP media center. That probably has more legs, and could generate some real revenue for Snapstream. And of course, having a remote as part of the mix makes this scenario even more probable.

Chris

[Gunn]

Feature Request: Add CallerID display capability so that if HTPC has modem installed, CallerID info will be displayed on the TV no matter in what "module" you are in....I miss that from my DirecTV receiver...

[RogersRanger]

I really don't want to have to pay for this added functionality when I already plopped down $70 for BeyondTV, good marketing idea though.

[at7427]

This is just the software I've been looking for...excellent idea!

Can we have a ballpark estimate when we'll see a beta release?

[Cayars]

I know it's easy to "try" and compare this to other products like myHTPC but until we see what's under the hood we just don't know.

Assuming the price is reasonable I think I'd switch to Beyond Media from myHTPC if the video display engine is "borrowed" from BTV (Ya have to figure it would be) AND if the DVD player is comperable to WinDVD, PowerDVD or Theater AND it has better integration with BTV.

If it has these three items out of the gate I think I'm sold on it even it it doesn't support skinning or plug in modules. While the plug-in architecture of myHTPC is nice it's far from being a "deal breaker" for me since it appears to have all the "required" features.

I of course would have preferred this functionality being part of BTV then being it's own standalone product.

Carlo

[elneckio]

Just noticed something on the layout in those shots, a lot of screen space is used up saying 'beyond' everywhere as far as I can see for no reason.

The icon/pictures are telling you which section you are in so the text is really not needed and the space could mean more lines to album art, information or whatever.

Also what resolution will this support, looks quite high in those shots ?

<off topic>This is also something that I think could be improved in BTV itself - when you are viewing the programme guide there is almost a rows worth of screen space telling you that it is the beyond tv program guide. I think the screen full of information is enough to give that away Might make a nice option.</off topic>

[bluchez]

I think that this should be offered as an upgrade or something to BTV instead of a stand along product. How many people are going to want to use it without BTV? My main reason for wanting to use it, and I probably will, is the fact that I am sure that it will interact well with BTV. I think this is why most people are going to use it. Because of this, I think that it is more plausible to offer it as an upgrade to BTV. I am sure that you will offer the 2 in a package, and I would like to see a deal break for those of us who already have BTV.

That said:

1) I hope to see music visualization built in, something I very much want in a media player.

Either
2) Instant and flowing move from BM menu into BTV menu
or
3) BM Menu items that will go directly into live TV, guide, recording schedule, etc.

[wicketbr]

Another cool feature for this and BTV would be the ability to remotely tell BTV or this new app that my mail client has e-mail waiting (not mail waiting on the POP server, but mail that is ready and waiting on my desktop PC) and then have some sort of e-mail icon overlay somewhere on the screen. When watching a show in BTV it could just popup for a second as a very transparent overlay so I know I have mail. Basically, something that works like the red "recording" graphic.

[pukka_parker]

Quite a few people have mentioned that myHTPC already does what BM is expected to do for free.

I think BM will appeal to many people who want a really nice interface that is dead simple to install. I looked at myHTPC and quite simply couldn't be bothered with the setup (would have needed a good deal of customizing for me to be happy with it). I guess I'm saying that BM will be more appealling to lazy people and those with limited PC skills.

Beyond TV has a great interface out of the box and is quick and easy to setup. If all the modules in Beyond Media (and Beyond TV) integrate seamlessly, quickly and "nicely" then I'll be a happy bunny! I can't wait to see the beta.

(Once BM is released, presumably the guys at SS will be hard at work on a UK EPG? Please!!!)

[Uglyduck]

I'm currently using the trial version of BTV with myHTPC. I decided I like BTV enough to plunk down the $70. But, Beyod Media would be a different story. Although there are somethings about myHTPC that I don't like, and Beyond media probably will not need as much tweaking as myHTPC either, but I'd not be willing to spend a substantial sum for Beyond Media. I'd prefer to have it as an optional/upgradable module for BTV for a nominal sum.

Now, this is assuming, ofcourse, that BTV and Beyond Media will be integrated seemlessly. If they're not integrated, I'll quite happily stick to myHTPC.

[eggman51]

I woulda preferred to see the PVR / EPG / BTV stuff working at "competitive parity" first before adding other products.

If 3.5 doesn't address some of the feature shortcomings of BTV (multiple tuners are top of my list, in addition to picture quality and stability; also client / server .. stuff in the butt ugly Sage 1.4) then... well.. I don't think Beyond Media will do much for me.

While I realise this is the direction the market is going, and it was inevitable that Snapstream has to have such a product, I really hope that there is enough focus and resources available to make 3.5 a full featured and stable PVR / EPG because that's what I bought it for.

Best of luck with it and with CES!

eggman

[rmccormi]

I agree with the post quoted below. This is the direction I expected SnapStream to go from the begining (and when I paid for SS). I have been a little conserned that we haven't taken too many steps toward that already, but now I see why. I would have loved to be at that meeting: "No, I got it, we can put all that stuff in an add-on program and charge people extra for it!" It sounds just like my company . Oh well, I can't blame them. As long as the integration with BTV is just as good as if it were one program, then I would be happy to pay an extra $20-$40 for it (special upgrade price?)..... I guess.

Originally posted by RogersRanger
I really don't want to have to pay for this added functionality when I already plopped down $70 for BeyondTV, good marketing idea though.

[Sef]

Originally posted by ctebo
Interesting to see where the snapstream folks are spending their time...

I agree. BTV 3.4 has so many issues that it's almost a step backward. They've added pointless features (UI fade effects, etc) without handling KEY issues (overscan, non-US/Canadian EPG) and introduced several new bugs. I think I understand why now. Snapstream, please don't sacrifice the quality of your primary product in order to shop add-ons and extras that few people asked for. Finish BTV first!

It's also interesting to see that they still haven't learnt about overscan. How are we supposed to use that status bar across the bottom of the screen on a TV? I think I'll save my cash and stick with myHTPC which already does exactly the same job and much much more for free.

[Brett]

Just to note as far as 3.4 and the bad press it has received, is due in part that a great deal of the *new* code and hard labor was invested in changes that are really invisible to the user. This version was more of a milestone then people realize. It is also the reason so many people had trouble upgrading from 3.3 as it now relies far more heavily on .NET and other Microsoft services. However, the tradeoff according to them is that they can code faster and better with the changes they made in 3.4.

-Brett

[riekl]

Originally posted by pukka_parker
Quite a few people have mentioned that myHTPC already does what BM is expected to do for free.

I think BM will appeal to many people who want a really nice interface that is dead simple to install. I looked at myHTPC and quite simply couldn't be bothered with the setup (would have needed a good deal of customizing for me to be happy with it). I guess I'm saying that BM will be more appealling to lazy people and those with limited PC skills.

Beyond TV has a great interface out of the box and is quick and easy to setup. If all the modules in Beyond Media (and Beyond TV) integrate seamlessly, quickly and "nicely" then I'll be a happy bunny! I can't wait to see the beta.

(Once BM is released, presumably the guys at SS will be hard at work on a UK EPG? Please!!!)

pukka,

To each their own .. but .. it setup/installation just does NOT get ANY easier then myhtpc It works immediately right out of the box, ALL you have to do is tell it what directory your movies, pictures and music is in .. you really should look at it again as your first impression is not an accurate one.