SageTV acquired by Google

[wayner]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

they could have had a one week blowout sale...50% of anything in the store, before the announcement.

Or, given eBay prices at this moment they could have sold everything for a 50% premium.

[SHS]

Originally Posted by wayner

Or, given eBay prices at this moment they could have sold everything for a 50% premium.

holy cow what fools

[valnar]

I just talked to a friend of mine who used to work at Google.

He suspects that SageTV is dead. The money Sage made is inconsequential and perhaps even us users. They probably wanted the developers and their experience. They will port the code over to Googles platform (Android, GoogleTV, something new, etc). A new product based on it may not be seen until 2012.

[asirota]

Originally Posted by bastafidli

Can you describe your Apple based setup please?

Sure thing. I got an Apple TV 2nd gen with an HDMI out port. It really works well and has a terrific Netflix client. Connects via wifi or ethernet and has a dandy remote. You can stream youtube, flickr, your itunes library. Very responsive and slick.

This is a unix box and it can be jailbroken to install stuff like www.firecore.com -- there are twitter clients now etc. But I have not done that to mine, I want to wait to see what Apple offers.

There are expensive NAS adapters but if you have a hard drive enclosure or 2 lying you can attach one to this puppy and have AppleTV stream your itunes library or music/pix as well.

All in this is a < $200 proposition. Each TV can have this -- this is your media extender solution

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...p?EdpNo=685808

There are many mini NAS solutions like this that basically allow you to setup a private cloud with the right network settings on your router. Coupled with our Fibe25 25down/5up internet speed, this solution really delivers the performnce we are dreaming about.


I just got the NAS so I will report more as I know more if people are interested.

[curtvm]

I don;t think many here would care. Streaming content from a storage device, or from the 'cloud' is trivial and is done by every other box out there. A SageTV extender is a much different device (at least when using with a SageTV server).

[karhill]

Originally Posted by wayner

Originally Posted by Evil_Attorney
Maybe, but you could always buy a mini-ITX system and put the client software on it. It would be more expensive than an HD300, but it's still possible.

How would you buy the client license?

Exactly. I just purchased 11 mini-ITX systems to function as SageTV clients. I had already purchased a SageTV server license and was testing with one trial client. But now I'm in the market for 11 client licenses. Am I stuck now with 11 mini-ITX systems?

[phillyfan1138]

All in this is a < $200 proposition. Each TV can have this -- this is your media extender solution

Can it stream full 1:1 blu ray rips with HD audio?

[clayfree]

And Apple with AppleTV has this as well -- I moved off a sage system to an AppleTV with a cheap USRobotics NAS adapter to create a personal cloud for my media. Much cheaper than building an STB, and where Google wants to go I am pretty sure.

I have to agree with this 100%. I've moved to an AppleTV2, jailbroken and running xbmc and it's amazing what a small piece of hardware can do. I believe that the future is in streaming.

I've come to believe that the Broadcast/PVR combo is the most inefficient system. Granted it's about all we have for now but it is not the future and needs to die off soon. The concept of sending 50-500 channels downstream and then grabbing 1-4 of those at a time to store locally for playback is antiquated. And what is streamed is based on what the broadcaster decides not what the customer requested. At one time I had 3 dedicated DirecTv receivers feeding encoding cards controlled by serial cables ... what a total mess. If you just step back and think about the process it's laughable. That stuff should just sit on someone else's servers. Hopefully Sage with Google will head in that direction. I'll bet Google would be further along but for the content providers.

Thanks to EvilPenguin I was able to incorporate PlayOn into my SageTv setup and it allowed me to see the promise of what streaming could be.

Ultimately the cost of satellite & cable drove me away. While I still had an antenna and love the signal, the content of OTA meant that the PVR was no longer the main source of our content. Suddenly we could get as much content from Hulu and Netflix and have it whenever we wanted. One area where I wished Sage had focused more was the online streaming. I bought the HD300's thinking that Netflix & Hulu would eventually get native support. As I became more interested in streaming I started to explore other options. Now I run the ATV's with xbmc. Media is stored on a simple nas and most of our watching is via streaming. Strangely enough I had made the transition and actually unhooked my Sage system one week before the Google news. While dubious, one hour spent with the combination of ATV2 + xbmc + IceFilms will leave no doubt that the pvr as we know it will be dead soon. The technology is all there we just need the content providers to get on board.

[clayfree]

Originally Posted by phillyfan1138

Can it stream full 1:1 blu ray rips with HD audio?

Yes to the rips. The audio builds are being tested yesterday & today.

[dgeezer]

Originally Posted by phillyfan1138

Can it stream full 1:1 blu ray rips with HD audio?

AppleTV 2
No. Not really. It might playback 1080p video but it is limited to 720p output.
I have an Atv2 which was jailbroken and running XBMC. It only has hardware decoding for H. 264 therefore it was relatively useless to me since it would not play any recording from my hdhomerun. I was about to sell it on ebay since it didn't play well in my SageTV setup. But now who knows?

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

they could have had a one week blowout sale...50% of anything in the store, before the announcement. That would have broken no rules and given those who whined about being "on the fence" little reason to whine post-acquisition.

But if they'd have done that, they likely would have been accused of being unethical moneygrabbers.

As far as Jeff et al having no control...the seller always has control before the sale. I sold a house once and took $2500 less because the person offering more wanted to use the house solely as a rental address to get their kid into a local school, then they were going to flip the house. I liked my neighbors, so I didn't sell to that person. It depends what kind of seller you are, doesn't it?

But you had to accept $2500 less, and (and this is the big part) find someone else who would accept your terms.

If I had to guess, I'd say Jeff hadn't put SageTV "on the market" for anyone to buy. Regardless of what happened, both the seller and the buyer have to agree to the terms. It seems clear/most likely that Google didn't want the SageTV store open or to continue SageTV development as is.

Originally Posted by Micco

So what does that mean?

I was within a couple of weeks of shutting down my WHS and buying a Win7 version of the software. I really need to do that as my WHS machine is getting flaky.

Can I install the Beta version of SageTV for Win7 and expect it to work indefinitely based on that comment?

I don't think so. While poorly worded, I believe it means that if you have a valid license the beta version will not expire. Though the simple way to test is to download 7.1.9 and see if it prompts you for a key.

[mistergq]

Originally Posted by brainbone

see:
http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...+google+letter

That was a hacker. That is not analogous to us users or Sage 3rd Party Plugin developers/users.

[madpoet]

Ugh I have so many things to sell off now Just going to let DirecTV handle my TV streaming and Dune handle my movie streaming.

[dgeezer]

Originally Posted by clayfree

Yes to the rips. The audio builds are being tested yesterday & today.

I could be wrong.
I may have to revisit this.

[brainbone]

Originally Posted by mistergq

That was a hacker. That is not analogous to us users or Sage 3rd Party Plugin developers/users.

No, he was/is an android developer -- no more of a "hacker" than any of the current SageTV plugin developers. What he did that was wrong was distribute some of Google's non-open source binaries (these binaries can be found on just about every Andoid phone), and Google didn't look kindly on it. This is perfectly analogous to what some are proposing we do with SageTV binaries/materials that are now owned by Google.

[flavius]

^^Also expect a 1080p version in the fall.

[autoboy]

Here's my vision of what it could be:

*haven't read the whole thread yet. Skipped page 25-35

SageTV core services running on the Andriod (GoogleTV) operating system as an App that is only slightly integrated into the whole Android experience. It would be more of an App rather than integrated into the core of the OS. The hardware of the GoogleTV systems remain the Intel CE4100 since it has the best combination of CPU power and codec support. Boxes add an integrated ClearQAM tuner and an integrated component capture from a cable / satellite box. 1GB harddrive included. You get as many of these boxes as you want tuners in your house (most early adopter households get 2 of these). One GoogleTV box acts as the main server and the other GoogleTV boxes act as slave tuners on the network. SageTV can already do this with network attached tuners so the tech is all already there. Then you can get as many GoogleTV extenders (HD300) as you have extra TVs.

So, I can imagine a 4 tuner system like I have today consisting of 2 full GoogleTV boxes sporting BD players (like the Sony GoogleTV) recording up to 2 clear QAM channels (like my HDHR) and two Component Capture devices (like my 2 HD-PVRs) all to 2TB of internal storage. Then, you simply get the GoogleTV extenders (HD300s) for the extra bedrooms in your house.

This is all possible running on the existing GoogleTV platforms running on Android and using the existing server technology that SageTV has already created. This could be done relatively quickly as long as they don't try to make an integrated browsing experience with SageTV, Netflix, Vudu, and other video providers. I think customers are still ok with having separate apps for each source of video, and most customers will only have up to 2-4 different sources of video which is totally reasonable to manage. Those are: BD, DVR, Netflix, and Vudu so an integrated browsing experience isn't that important yet. Besides, I think there are many inherent advantages to separate Apps rather than integration.

Integration can come as they build out the platform, content, apps, and experiment with the best solution for an integrated browsing experience. But for now, launching quickly with separate Apps makes total sense to get to market quickly and to get an install base for your App market. Eventually I can see a combination of separate Apps for some content providers that need special browsing experiences, and an integrated browsing experience for generic content.

If Google is smart, they will also recognize that the enthusiast community is essential to early adoption of their product (why googleTV failed), early App development, and word of mouth marketing so they won't push out the SageTV community and your servers will work with the upcoming GoogleTV boxes. This system would allow a combination of different types of GoogleTV boxes, from basic extenders, to BD players, to DVR boxes, and to TVs all with different hardware inside them depending on whether they are dumb terminals, encoders for DVRs, BD players, or regular GoogleTV boxes like those that already exist. You just mix and match them from Logitech, Sony, Samsung, etc, to get the integrated system that you want. Now, Andriod can take over the world and is very configurable for differnent needs and households.

But of couse, none of this can happen and Google can completely ruin it too. But I wanted to give a best case of what is really possible. Judging by the # of ups I can hope this is also SageTV's vision of what could happen.

[darcilicious]

Originally Posted by valnar

He suspects that SageTV is dead. [...]They will port the code over to Googles platform (Android, GoogleTV, something new, etc). A new product based on it may not be seen until 2012.

Wow that sounds like simplifymedia and google music beta... and Ouch.

[perholm]

Hi,

I've been reading all this with great nervousness. If we keep EPG, I can keep my setup running for ages.

Anyway, it seems that nobody is really considering an obvious reason Google might have to buy SageTV -- an operating system for televisions. Google doesn't want to make hardware. Like Android, Google wants to provide an operating system for free that all handset manufacturers can use for free, and which comes with an eco-system, a plug-in structure. SageTV is already based on Java, and therefore ultra-portable and ultra-cross-platform. It can run on a lot of different hardware.

Is it so far fetched that Google was SageTV to become an operating system for TVs and set-top boxes, one that comes pre-loaded with every feature you can imagine and that developers can plug in to and write "apps" for, which will run on every TV? And if every TV in the house is part of the same eco-system, then media sharing becomes technically trivial.

I think that's what Google wants SageTV for. An OS for TVs. Like Android for cell phones.

Of course that means that us regular users are screwed. But we probably couldn't expect the world to stay static forever. As long as we can keep some EPG source, I think that SageTV have held their end of the bargain. Without an EPG possibility, they're instead pulled the kill-switch on existing systems. I don't think they want to do that. Otherwise they wouldn't be opening the support form and posting latest versions. Obviously they have deep care for their existing users. But the world cannot stay static.

SageTV could end up being the big fish, like Android, although obviously not in its current form.

Best,

Per

[mightyt]

Originally Posted by perholm

Is it so far fetched that Google was SageTV to become an operating system for TVs and set-top boxes, one that comes pre-loaded with every feature you can imagine and that developers can plug in to and write "apps" for, which will run on every TV?

I have often wondered my self when / if someone would ever build DVR capability in to TV's ... Heck you may be on to something considering all the interest in adding apps/widgets to TV's these days ... Hmmm ... I might consider buying an actual Sage "TV". The key to me is multi-tuners, network accessable for storage and free EPG. For most of us that has been "part" of the HTPC draw.

I wish it wouldn't take so long to get to the next step in this process ...