The future of Beyond TV and SnapStream

[bnflaherty]

Originally Posted by DTN

since there is no development planned, is it possible to go open source on BTV link so that us enthusiasts can get link running on linux?

considering Link is based on BTV code -- highly Doubtful.

[ZetaVu]

How about opening up or detailing the requirements to stream livetv so that a link alternative can be made (ideally by setting up an existing multiplatform free htpc program like xbmc, or maybe adapt mythtv), mainly something on network is what I care about.

[parisology]

Will the guide data be available indefinitely? That would break the whole system.

[ChefJoe]

I can't officially answer for Snapstream but I think the guide data is also used by their Enterprise product so it'd be pretty end-of-the-company if they dropped that.

The announcement didn't say they were folding operations or anything, just not to expect much more development aimed at the consumer end of things. If you've been holding your breath waiting for official HD-PVR support, CableCard support, a new interface, Beyond Media integration, etc they're telling you to explore other options as that's not being worked on. BeyondTV is still a commercial product that they'll keep selling to whomever is buying. It'd be rather crazy for them to open source parts of it (can you open source .net based things?) but detailing some of the API/requirements like ZetaVu suggested sounds like a reasonable thing to open up.

[Rich A]

I seem to remember some discussion a while back about being able to import a 3rd party guide for use with BTV.

[cfaslave]

Originally Posted by parisology

Will the guide data be available indefinitely? That would break the whole system.

Originally Posted by ChefJoe

I can't officially answer for Snapstream but I think the guide data is also used by their Enterprise product so it'd be pretty end-of-the-company if they dropped that.

The announcement didn't say they were folding operations or anything, just not to expect much more development aimed at the consumer end of things.

They'll never say indefinitely, but they did say the EPG data isn't going anywhere in one of the first posts of this thread and that it is the same data as used with their Enterprise product so I'd say we're safe as far as EPG data goes.

[parisology]

I'm a .net programmer... anything .net can be open sourced and it's a good framework for that. There are a lot of open source .net resources. You know that .net is just for the web application and interop of course? Using interop, it calls into the btv core which is all c++/win32 based. I doubt that could ever be open sourced because of the dolby stuff at the very least.

Originally Posted by ChefJoe

I can't officially answer for Snapstream but I think the guide data is also used by their Enterprise product so it'd be pretty end-of-the-company if they dropped that.

The announcement didn't say they were folding operations or anything, just not to expect much more development aimed at the consumer end of things. If you've been holding your breath waiting for official HD-PVR support, CableCard support, a new interface, Beyond Media integration, etc they're telling you to explore other options as that's not being worked on. BeyondTV is still a commercial product that they'll keep selling to whomever is buying. It'd be rather crazy for them to open source parts of it (can you open source .net based things?) but detailing some of the API/requirements like ZetaVu suggested sounds like a reasonable thing to open up.

[cfaslave]

Thought I'd throw my dash of reality (my opinion of course) on the "open up BTV" talk:

I personally don't see Snapstream opening up anything BTV-related ever. Why? Because they use much of the same code on the Enterprise product and they have no reason to do such a thing anyway. If they didn't do it with BeyondMedia, they certainly won't be doing it with BTV.

[ZetaVu]

Well, there are two thought processes that I see going here, one is that SS opens up the source for BTV and link, which I agree, never in a million years. The other, can we catch the streams and data from BTV and use an alternative program/device as a link device (multiplatform of course). We know that everything in webadmin is available, so that gives us guide data, seting up recordings and browsing btv, changing server settings, etc. Recorded shows can be accessed in the directories, just a matter of streaming them. The big one is livetv, can we capture and stream it (and update the stream live)? I've been able to play livetv streams in vlc, however it doesn't update the length of the stream, just locks the length at time of start as end.

If the api's will let the community do this then we may be able to use other front ends as link devices (with some work and more knowhow) If not, then would SS be willing to make the nexessary streams available for people to program other products to access? This would impact link sales, but as SS has stated that consumer is not their priority, why not let the community develop and keep the product alive while they focus on their enterprise? I plan on keeping my BTV server running on xp as long as it can keep running, but I would love to be able to use any OS or device to access the recordings and livetv etc, Ideally in a link like interface.

There's already a thread talking about xbmc, which would be ideal as I've been reading about a new arm version that would really be cool for small devices.

[Don Speek]

Originally Posted by Rich A

I seem to remember some discussion a while back about being able to import a 3rd party guide for use with BTV.

That's how people outside the States have had to use BTV since the start.

[mayhem70]

If the api's will let the community do this then we may be able to use other front ends as link devices (with some work and more knowhow) If not, then would SS be willing to make the nexessary streams available for people to program other products to access? This would impact link sales, but as SS has stated that consumer is not their priority, why not let the community develop and keep the product alive while they focus on their enterprise? I plan on keeping my BTV server running on xp as long as it can keep running, but I would love to be able to use any OS or device to access the recordings and livetv etc, Ideally in a link like interface.

I have considered this as well (as my own rants about Silverlight...). While I could get something rudimentary up and running using Silverlight, I wanted to first find out more on what of the backend stuff and API changes will be coming down the pipe as Zack mentioned.

[DonK]

I'm actually shocked that there will be no cablecard support... IMHO if you're going to be developing a product that indexes television, you'd want to have the ability to gather that data (read: record it) and since most if not all cable companies are going all-digital in the long run, it's sort of a self-defeating move to not at least work on cablecard support.

[richt]

Originally Posted by DonK

I'm actually shocked that there will be no cablecard support... IMHO if you're going to be developing a product that indexes television, you'd want to have the ability to gather that data (read: record it) and since most if not all cable companies are going all-digital in the long run, it's sort of a self-defeating move to not at least work on cablecard support.

I agree completely. I would think that the enterprise customers would be leading the pack in demanding cable card support. There might be technical or DRM issues BTV would have to address, but even so, if their focus is on enterprise, I miss the logic in taking this out of the development plan.

[theoldwizard]

First let me say that I am a satisfied BTV4 users since 2007. It works well with my hardware (HVR 1600) and allowed me to dabble in OTA digital for effectively no cost (I only own analog CRT sets, connected to cable).

However, I just had the worst experience ever with BTV 4.91.1 setting up for clear QAM.

There just has to be a better solution to forcing the user to hand map all of those channels to not enough EPG slots. And if it is not mapped, it can't be displayed. What a joke.

Come on ! The (near) future is clear QAM. The hardware is out there. If your data source for EPG doesn't handle it (like clear QAM of OTA digital sub-channels) , then allow the unmapped channel into the EPG with a user entered name in some method after setup is done !

If I am missing something in the setup methodology, someone please post a link on how to handle this abysmal task. I have "fallen back" to analog cable and OTA digital.

[DonK]

I actually had the same experience with clear qam as you did at first, but my cable company suddenly changed their entire lineup and removed a few lower channels and added the clear qam locals starting at 100 and gave them lineup items. So for now, clear QAM is good for me, but I would like cablecard support eventually so I can dvr SyFy HD and Comedy Central HD