Well now ("C71KW-400" Client)

Android tvs do not require internet to work.

 

well, how you will setup it ? it's need to download apps at least

 

No, if you don’t want to use the apps, you don’t need it connected to the internet. The tv still does all its functions just fine.

 

Well, a STB isn't the same thing as a TV. It's true that you don't need to connect a smart TV, including those running Android TV, to the internet in order to use the core TV functionality. But with retail Android TV STBs, such as the Nvidia Shield TV or the Mi Box, you must connect it to the internet during set-up, which makes sense, because the box would be useless without an internet connection. As for operator-tier Android TV STBs -- those provided by pay TV providers -- I honestly don't know. Perhaps Google allows those STBs to operate in a limited fashion, to show only the content provided directly by the pay TV provider, if the box isn't connected to the internet. I don't know. But Google voice search from the remote control, even within the pay TV provider's own content, would not work.

 

Google voice search not working isn't any more of a problem that Directv's own 'search' not working if you don't connect your H2x/HR2x/Genie to the internet. They can't make their equipment dependent on the internet because they have many customers who either don't have internet at all or who would refuse to connect their Directv gear to the internet (because their internet costs a lot, or they have privacy concerns, or they just don't see any value in doing so)

 

Another tidbit I uncovered just now regarding "DFW". I just signed up for 4 months of DirecTV Now to score a free Apple TV 4K (at a savings of $40 versus what it would cost to just buy one at retail). Started poking around to see if I could access the beta of the upcoming DTVN app with the new UI and cloud DVR and came across this link:
https://cdn.directv.com/content/dam/dtv/dfw/assets/DirecTV Now Beta_tvOS Instructions.pdf

Note that the acronyms used to classify the doc in AT&T's internal file system include "dfw" and "dtv". So whatever exactly DWF means to them, it seems to include both traditional DirecTV (since it reportedly involves an OTA tuner for the upcoming HS27/37) as well as DirecTV Now, since the next-gen DTVN beta app is classified under that term. So maybe DWF refers to the next-gen UI that will eventually span all their consumer video services, or even more broadly, to the entire project of their next-gen unified video platform.

 

Since we've seen mentions of DFW in connection with both the satellite and streaming products it must be a project to either unify them in some way or add something new to both, whether that's just the GUI or something bigger, who knows.

Maybe the project is being run out of AT&T's Dallas HQ so the Directv side calls it the "DFW project" because they have to keep flying to Dallas (airport code DFW)

 

And we now know what this is for. AT&T looks to replace DirecTV satellite with $80-$90 ‘premium’ streaming service | FierceCable

“Think about our traditional DirecTV product at a much lower cost point, meaning you don’t have satellites on roofs,” Stephenson explained. “You don’t have truck rolls. In fact, to provision this, the only truck roll required is going to be a UPS truck to deliver a very thin piece of hardware that you plug into your TV and your broadband outlet… The subscriber acquisition costs are literally 1/4 of what you see today.”

 

This sounds Great!

 

The biggest problem is that this Android TV STB is jaw droppingly slow, a lot slower than a typical prepaid, $50 Android phone. samsung c71kw_200_dev - Geekbench Browser

 

I would rather have AT&T just give DirecTV satellite back to DirecTV the way it was three years ago, and AT&T can move on and screw something else up. I'm sick of giving up software, hardware, programming items/features we liked, as this AT&T "service" has gone backwards for the last three years!

 

Terrible reporting since no where have they ever said they plan to replace all their sat customers with streaming. They don’t even have the ability to do that! They flat out said they are launching this in between DIRECTV now and the sat service...

 

What difference does the CPU make? Video decode happens in hardware, I suppose it may suck if you try to run games on it or other demanding apps but that's not what it is intended for.

 

No sports. No Rich.

Rich

 

If you could run Geekbench on the Bolt I think you'd be very disappointed as to its score. Phones except on the very bottom end have CPUs much faster than set tops. The only set tops anywhere near the same class are the latest NVidia Shield (a little slower than the latest Android phones, and roughly comparable to the iPhone 6) or the latest Apple TV (much faster than all Androids, and faster than iPhones except the 7/8/X)

The BCM7271 in the C71KW is about the same speed as the one in the Hopper 3 and Bolt, and faster than the one in the HS17.

 

Sports will be offered....DirecTV Now offers sports. The no-sports offering is a separate thing. That is a value-add for AT&T wireless. Time Warner content packaged together into a product, offered to AT&T wireless customers at minimal to no charge.

 

All of the difference in the world. Android TV is heavy. It's not like TiVo's stack or the DTV 'os'. It needs power fed to it in order for the experience to be remotely snappy. Everything will be slow with that level of performance - updating apps will cause the whole system to slow to a crawl, moving between different apps will be painful, invoking Assistant while playing video will be no fun, etc. Try Android TV on a (faster) Sony TV to see what I mean - Android TV needs non-terrible hardware in order to be non-frustrating.

 

it's well known Linux !

 

Lots of things are based upon Linux (as in they run the kernel) but most people do not define operating system as the kernel ran. TiVO runs the Linux kernel too. What is built on top of Linux is what matters here, in terms of performance.