Is Snapstream v3 Tivo like?

[fasttech]

I have not seen a couple of things mentioned about v3.0 to see if I want to purchase it when it becomes available. I want to see if it will do certain Tivo-like things like the following:
1.) Does v3.0 maintain a 30min buffer while watching TV live?
What I mean by this, is with Tivo as soon as you start watching a TV channel it starts recording up to 30 min of video in a buffer. So say you are watching live TV and a cool commercial comes on, you can always rewind it to see it again as long as you do it within the 30 min buffer time.

2.) Does v3.0 have a search capability in the Integrated program guide? For example can I search for any upcoming episodes of Seinfeld?

Thanks in advance for answers to these questions.

[festivalman]

I can answer the second question about the searching: They're using their snapstream.net system for this. It lets you search and sort shows by title/keyword/channel etc. That part of the system is probably the most impressive right now as it lets you schedule shows from the web and it'll tell your machine at home to take care of it. Even lets you schedule new shows on your web browser capable cell phone or pda. It has all the tweaks and settings of a Tivo concerning "Only get non-rerun episodes of Friends only on channel 4" type of thing.

[mrphil]

Originally posted by fasttech

1.) Does v3.0 maintain a 30min buffer while watching TV live?
What I mean by this, is with Tivo as soon as you start watching a TV channel it starts recording up to 30 min of video in a buffer. So say you are watching live TV and a cool commercial comes on, you can always rewind it to see it again as long as you do it within the 30 min buffer time.

Information on how the application will handle the "trickplay" type features is sparse right now... At a guess Id say it would probably include an adjustable length buffer which could be set to 30mins. However from a programming point of view this may be difficult to implement as it would involve a continuous truncation of the buffer file. It may end up being implemented the way other applications handle pause features; it only starts recording when you hit pause, and the buffer file would continue to get bigger and bigger until either 1) you run out of disk space; or 2) you return to reatime live TV. Either way this is all speculation. Hang tight, as Im sure all will be revealed soon.

[festivalman]

"However from a programming point of view this may be difficult to implement as it would involve a continuous truncation of the buffer file."

Windows media center edition, PowerVCR 3, and Showshifter all do that with ease. It should be no problem for Snapstream to do the same thing.

[mrphil]

Originally posted by festivalman
Windows media center edition, PowerVCR 3, and Showshifter all do that with ease. It should be no problem for Snapstream to do the same thing.

Showshifter does not keep a buffer like that at all, it generates a file ONLY after you have clicked pause which gets larger and larger until you click stop to return to live Tv. This file will continue to grow until you run out of disk space. By comparison, a Tivo has a buffer which retains the same fixed size no matter how long it remains paused for, thus disk space is never an issue. It was this type of Tivo functionality the poster was reffering to.

[V_D_O]

I believe fasttech was talking about 'rewinding' live TV, as implemented in PowerVCR, where the program records TV as it is being watched, keeping a preset length of video in the buffer (say 30 mins.), which could be rewinded to and watched again (like your own action replay). I suppose PVS would record extra, overshooting the buffer length if paused while rewound.

I found this on SS's website (http://www.snapstream.com/products/sspvs/PVS3.htm)

Trick Play
Stop. Fast forward. Rewind. Pause... yes, you have full control of not only your recorded television programs, but also live TV. And 30-second skip and instant replay make it even easier to move around your favorite TV shows.