video demo of Beyond TV

[rakeshagrawal]

Tom recently made this video demo of Beyond TV 4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSaGp0wbuY0

It's not quite ready for prime time yet (live TV for example doesn't have actually moving video...), but it's close. What do our esteemed forum members think? Are there important features that we're missing? Or is there anything that's confusing about this?

[AdmA]

it looks good, I thought when it was showing the episodes of mash that if you didnt understand what was going on, it could become confusing. The three 'All records' and the 3 'do not records' (do not duplicate) were switched between very quickly and a person may not notice the different times at which the shows came on. Looks good though!

[Brett]

Rakesh,

Overall it looks real good.

Originally Posted by rakeshagrawal

Are there important features that we're missing?

How about the webadmin? Yeah, I know it doesn't flow with the video, but its an important feature

Also no mention of the FM radio, dual recording (I don't think?), resolution conflicts, etc., etc.

-Brett

[rakeshagrawal]

Thanks for the feedback and please keep it coming if anyone else has any... FYI, we also published the Beyond TV "What to buy" wizard earlier today:
http://www.snapstream.com/products/beyondtv/buywiz.asp

Those of you who saw the video might have noticed this already because it's referenced at the end of the video.

We're very interested in whether people find this thing useful or not.

[AdmA]

Originally Posted by rakeshagrawal

Thanks for the feedback and please keep it coming if anyone else has any... FYI, we also published the Beyond TV "What to buy" wizard earlier today:
http://www.snapstream.com/products/beyondtv/buywiz.asp

Those of you who saw the video might have noticed this already because it's referenced at the end of the video.

We're very interested in whether people find this thing useful or not.

I think the wizard could help to broaden your market...non-technical people like to have their computer decisions made for them

[ClamsTheCat]

Most of the people in the forums may not have a use for the wizard. I think newb would like it though.

[cosiz]

I think doing something like this is a good idea, but I think there are too many features to cover in a single video for this type of format. Perhaps you're already planning more than one, but I think multiple videos focusing on different areas would be most effective.

I get the idea you'd like to focus on the fundamental easy-to-use aspects for an audience that might be interested in a Tivo type product, but I'd suggest you also target advanced users with the features that will appeal to them. In my opinion, the greatest edge you have over your competitors is the customization and control that your product offers and believe it or not there are lots of geeks out there that haven't even heard of HTPC.

You could number the individual videos to make it clear where to start if the viewer wants the introduction. And to avoid confusion between the different "series" you could name the basic videos "Volume I" and then more in depth features could be "Volume II," and advanced features "Volume III."

Regarding the video you already have linked, I think you should save the system requirement/tuner card part for last and jump right into the demo. You might want to bullet out some of the features before going into each of them. Also, for an introduction video, it would seem to be a good idea to explain the purpose of the HTPC, how it can output to a regular TV, the 10 foot interface, etc. I guess you would need to hook the viewer first, so maybe you start with a "did you ever want to..." section and then show how BTV answers those needs.

A couple of items that always seem to interest my friends that already have a DVR are the unlimited storage possibilities, the ability to set recordings over the internet (among other things), and the fact that I can squeeze TV to take with me on my laptop or ipod.

And no offense to Tom, but I think you need to sex it up because the narration sounds like a technical tutorial. How about adding some music, some edits with different views, and maybe a little more excitement in the speaking (how is prgirl at public speaking?). As far as the "recorded" or "live" simulated TV footage goes, maybe you can use something in the public domain from archive.org so it is more visually interesting.

One nice thing about this type of "marketing" is that you have built in tracking with the counters, so you can also try any number of approaches to see what catches on. Good luck with it!

[rakeshagrawal]

cosiz, thanks for all of the great feedback!