Android PVR too???

Mork · Post by **Mork** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 07:53

Does anyone know if Android will be the choice of OS for the next generation of Beyonwiz PVR's too?

Gully · Post by **Gully** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 10:49

Mork wrote:Does anyone know if Android will be the choice of OS for the next generation of Beyonwiz PVR's too?

No one knows other than Beyonwiz and they are not saying.

The fact that WizOTT is Android of course leads to all sort of speculation.

baobab68 · Post by **baobab68** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 11:11

Well I for one would buy in a heartbeat.

Paul55 · Post by **Paul55** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 11:28

I reckon file compatibility between WIZOTT and BW PVRs should be addressed as a priority.

peteru · Post by **peteru** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 11:55

It may be possible to add PVR functionality to WizOTT - there are USB ports that could take a tuner, there's opportunity to install a SATA HDD and of course software can be added.

Of course, an integrated solution could be a bit neater in terms of wiring.

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 13:30

Hi Peter,

As well as using USB ports the WizOTT can also use a HDHomeRun across a network.

Regards,
Ian.

Mork · Post by **Mork** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 14:44

Was thinking that if I had a 50" touchscreen (Or a Kinect type device on the Android PVR), using Android would be like those scenes from the movies (Was it Mission Impossible?) with lots of hand gestures.... swiping, folding, tapping

Just think about it. Palm up = Stop, Palm flat = Pause, Fist = Record, Thumb left = Rewind. Thumb Right = Forward, Clap = Power on, Wife in room = Volume down, Wife exits room = Volume up. Teenage son enters room = PVR Lock.

Gully · Post by **Gully** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 14:49

Mork wrote:Was thinking that if I had a 50" touchscreen (Or a Kinect type device on the Android PVR), using Android would be like those scenes from the movies (Was it Mission Impossible?) with lots of hand gestures.... swiping, folding, tapping

It was Minority Report.

There are already TVs that work like that - I tried one in January and it works quite well.

Mork · Post by **Mork** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 15:02

It seems that Android PVR's are going to be around. This one is based on the Sigma Designs SMP8656 chipset. (What does the WizOTT Use?

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Android- ... 8313.shtml

For me an android based PVR still needs to have the ease of use of an Appliance Based PVR. (Like our existing Wiz's). What I really like about the current Wiz' are the intuitive simple (one key) actions that do just about everything. No too much fiddlng through menus..[/url]

baobab68 · Post by **baobab68** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 23:17

Mork wrote:What I really like about the current Wiz' are the intuitive simple (one key) actions that do just about everything. No too much fiddlng through menus.

(Not to go off topic but I hate having to be in live TV mode rather than file mode, before I can use POPUP to look at the timer schedule)

An Android based PVR really has me salivating - totally extensible and customisable. I agree that it would also have to have WAF though.

Gully · Post by **Gully** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 23:29

baobab68 wrote:(Not to go off topic but I hate having to be in live TV mode rather than file mode, before I can use POPUP to look at the timer schedule)

You can access the POPUP menu and timers list while in file mode, just be viewing a file at the time.

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 00:57

Hi Baobab68,

baobab68 wrote:An Android based PVR really has me salivating - totally extensible and customisable. I agree that it would also have to have WAF though.

Why do you think that Android will give you a "totally extensible and customisable" PVR? Android is simply Google's version of a Linux Operating System with some new standardised UI control elements built in. The current Beyonwiz is based on a Linux Operating System and is not "totally extensible and customisable".

Lets see what Beyonwiz brings to any next generation of PVR products without speculating that they will be "totally extensible and customisable" by default. For all we know the PVR functionality may simply become a single application on an Android desktop just as the File Player is in the WizOTT.

Regards,
Ian.

prl · Post by **prl** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 10:31

IanSav wrote:Hi Baobab68,
baobab68 wrote:An Android based PVR really has me salivating - totally extensible and customisable. I agree that it would also have to have WAF though.
Why do you think that Android will give you a "totally extensible and customisable" PVR? Android is simply Google's version of a Linux Operating System with some new standardised UI control elements built in. The current Beyonwiz is based on a Linux Operating System and is not "totally extensible and customisable".

Lets see what Beyonwiz brings to any next generation of PVR products without speculating that they will be "totally extensible and customisable" by default. For all we know the PVR functionality may simply become a single application on an Android desktop just as the File Player is in the WizOTT.

Regards,
Ian.

Agreed. And that was pretty much the conclusion of the discussion when we last had it, about six weeks ago.

Paul55 · Post by **Paul55** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 22:46

IanSav wrote:Hi Baobab68,
baobab68 wrote:An Android based PVR really has me salivating - totally extensible and customisable. I agree that it would also have to have WAF though.
Why do you think that Android will give you a "totally extensible and customisable" PVR? Android is simply Google's version of a Linux Operating System with some new standardised UI control elements built in. The current Beyonwiz is based on a Linux Operating System and is not "totally extensible and customisable".

Lets see what Beyonwiz brings to any next generation of PVR products without speculating that they will be "totally extensible and customisable" by default. For all we know the PVR functionality may simply become a single application on an Android desktop just as the File Player is in the WizOTT.

Regards,
Ian.

I would have some optimism about a Droid based PVR. Could give the BW community access to applications similar to what is available to Topfield users. Obviously not applied the same way, but maybe with some the Toppy TAP-like functionality.

baobab68 · Post by **baobab68** » Sat Apr 23, 2011 23:38

I'm with Paul55. I'd like to believe it will happen. The mere fact of allowing Apps to run, unless they're totally sandboxed, must give some freedoms.

Sorry I have no idea what was discussed six weeks ago, I don't read every single thread.

Gully - thanks for that info about seeing the timer list when playing a file. That's useful. It would be great to have it when actually at the file list. I can't get my head around the technical limitation, perhaps it's just an oversight.

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 00:15

Hi Paul55,

Paul55 wrote:I would have some optimism about a Droid based PVR. Could give the BW community access to applications similar to what is available to Topfield users. Obviously not applied the same way, but maybe with some the Toppy TAP-like functionality.

You are completely missing the point. Android is an Operating System it is *not* the PVR application. It will have little to no implication on the PVR application. Don't assume that Beyonwiz is suddenly going to start giving away source code to allow users to modify the PVR application. The Sigma Designs toolkit is also not likely to be made available to users (to allow the PVR application to be modified or recompiled).

I think you guys are building up an expectation of potential future products that will probably never materialise. It is fine to speculate but keep in mind this is all an illusion of your own creation. Don't hold Beyonwiz to your speculations and illusions.

Regards,
Ian.

prl · Post by **prl** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 07:46

baobab68 wrote:...
Sorry I have no idea what was discussed six weeks ago, I don't read every single thread.
...

That's why I provided a link to it.

mishmash · Post by **mishmash** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 09:07

Hi Ian,

IanSav wrote:.... Android is an Operating System it is *not* the PVR application. ..

Yes, there does seem to be some confusion between the platform and the application.
While owners of items such as the WizOTT may be able to add new apps and maybe even customise the desktop, it does not mean they'll be able to mod the player application itself.
As nice a thought as it is, an open OS is not an "open application"

baobab68 · Post by **baobab68** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 09:16

On a jailbroken iPhone, Safari can be modded so that one can close all open pages by holding down on the 'new page' icon. The iPod app can be similarly modified to change the album art display. I realize this requires root access to have been obtained, but it does show how existing apps can be modded without the source code.

prl · Post by **prl** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 13:01

baobab68 wrote:On a jailbroken iPhone, Safari can be modded so that one can close all open pages by holding down on the 'new page' icon. The iPod app can be similarly modified to change the album art display. I realize this requires root access to have been obtained, but it does show how existing apps can be modded without the source code.

Yes, but it's generally fairly limited what can be done with hacks like that, and there's nothing in principle stopping anyone doing it on the Beyonwiz. I can't recall any hacks that do.

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 14:50

Hi Baobab68,

baobab68 wrote:On a jailbroken iPhone, Safari can be modded so that one can close all open pages by holding down on the 'new page' icon. The iPod app can be similarly modified to change the album art display. I realize this requires root access to have been obtained, but it does show how existing apps can be modded without the source code.

This logic applies equally well to the current Beyonwiz units. Even though they are not Android they are still Linux based. The instructions for getting to a Linux prompt are within this forum and on the OpenWiz wiki. I await the interesting hacks that you will be providing for all current Beyonwiz owners.

Regards,
Ian.

prl · Post by **prl** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 18:45

IanSav wrote:Hi Baobab68,
...
This logic applies equally well to the current Beyonwiz units. Even though they are not Android they are still Linux based. The instructions for getting to a Linux prompt are within this forum and on the OpenWiz wiki. I await the interesting hacks that you will be providing for all current Beyonwiz owners.

Regards,
Ian.

You don't even need to log into the Beyonwiz command prompt to do this. All the tools needed to install hacked versions of Beyonwiz applications are available on the OpenWIz Software pages in the BWFWTools package. BWFWTools allows you to create a Beyonwiz .wrp file with any desired hacks in it, and that can be installed in the normal manner..

Bonne chance!

baobab68 · Post by **baobab68** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 20:21

IanSav wrote:I await the interesting hacks that you will be providing for all current Beyonwiz owners.

There's no chance of that happpening I fear. If you've not been able to do it with your knowledge and skills, I would have no chance at all. :-p

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 20:54

Hi Baobab68,

baobab68 wrote:There's no chance of that happpening I fear. If you've not been able to do it with your knowledge and skills, I would have no chance at all. :-p

As a beta tester I don't tend to tweak my DP-S1 lest it become unsuitable for testing. That is, if it differs from units as used by other customers then it no longer makes a valid test platform.

Regards,
Ian.

baobab68 · Post by **baobab68** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 21:18

That's very admirable indeed.

BigbobOz · Post by **BigbobOz** » Sun May 01, 2011 22:56

My first reaction was that it would be good to have a pvr based on Android but TBO I quite like dedicated devices that do one thing and do it well, which I think the current WIZ is. Sure there are outstanding improvements but it really does it's core job damn well.

What I'm hanging out for is a pvr with more than 2 tuners. Doesn't happen often but sometimes you do want that third tuner if not only because of show overlaps being covered. I'm not holding my breath, I bet they'd get too many complaints about poor reception.

Rob

Sprigo · Post by **Sprigo** » Sun May 22, 2011 21:09

I would love to see a Youtube app for the Bwiz if any of you budding hackers are looking for something to write. I thought wiztv might have brought this to the wiz.....

Gully · Post by **Gully** » Sun May 22, 2011 21:16

Sprigo wrote:I would love to see a Youtube app for the Bwiz if any of you budding hackers are looking for something to write. I thought wiztv might have brought this to the wiz.....

I think the WizOTT already has one or can download it.

If you were posting about some other model from Beyonwiz -

a) you are posting in the wrong area, and

b) it isn't going to happen.as they couldn't support it.

Sprigo · Post by **Sprigo** » Mon May 23, 2011 09:27

Thanks Gully,
Yes I was actually meaning for a P2 or something like that.

But on the WizOTT, can it play Wiz files from the Bewiz P2?
If it can stream files it might be a good option for me.

Thanks
David

oster · Post by **oster** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 13:21

Any news on streaming recordings from other Beyonwiz units?

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Fri Jul 29, 2011 15:56

Hi Oster,

Everything has been very quiet on the WizOTT front. I don't think we have any updates to give you.

Regards,
Ian.

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