[harsh]

Yeah, I thought Jobs stole everything and just rebadged the iPod from (in his words) some generic Asian guy. No innovation there, huh?

Is design that leads primarily to a new approach necessarily innovation?

 

[harsh]

Well it would be nice if there was some new info on THE TOPIC.

Given the source of what we do know, I wouldn't expect to hear anything solid until either the FCC equipment authorization documents come out from under hidden status or DIRECTV spills the beans.

 

[harsh]

Is there any reason to believe, based on info in the customer survey or otherwise, that the forthcoming device is anything other than the A21 which passed through the FCC in June of last year?

The A21KW bears a striking resemblance to the C71KW and the carries the AT&T designation so I'm guessing not. I've still not closed my mind to the idea that the new product may feature a MoCA connection to make it truly drop-in compatible.

 

[harsh]

Another reason they may have been holding off on introducing the A21 is to sell through their inventory of new C71 units.

If they were worried about protecting their investment, why are they offering refurbished units at 50% off?

 

[harsh]

So my guess is that they had quite a few of those returned boxes piled up. What else are they gonna do with them other than resell them?

Sure, but why sell them at 50% off unless that's all they were worth in the first place?

 

[harsh]

Getting "Error 1009 " with no page/picture

The Fora platform processes the link through a service (go.skimresources.com) which may be causing your issues.

Perhaps a VPN would help.

 

[harsh]

The demand in this case might be for a competitively priced streaming box. Asking $100 for an Android TV box when you can get a Chromecast with Google TV for $50 is a big ask.

The TiVo Stream 4K even has digits on its remote (if only the app supported them) and it is selling for under $40.

 

[harsh]

So they've got plenty of headroom to still make a mint.

What's wrong with making more money on the refurbs? They could probably sell all of them they can turn around at $80.

It isn't as if we're talking about a product where mileage is a concern.

 

[harsh]

I wonder if that's because they really want you buying their devices?

What other reason could there be?

I reason that it would be painful in the long haul to depart from the standard Android way of doing things given that there's a ready solution.

 

[harsh]

Yeah, that's the only reason why I can figure that DTV Stream doesn't put out an app for Android TV/Google TV.

DIRECTV may have learned their lesson with RVU and what it takes to support multiple TV platforms.

 

[harsh]

Nah. They're already having to support Android TV via their dedicated box.

There's obviously a different app running on the DIRECTV STREAM device (of which there is one and only one model). Running on a random Android/Google TV enabled television is a decidedly different situation.

 

[harsh]

I also noticed that they recently redesigned the DTV website.

The current DIRECTV website "template" debuted more than a year ago.

 

[harsh]

Not sure why the 4k Wireless Genie Mini would be a choice when that is what they have developed already.

There is no C61KW and that's the point.

 

[harsh]

It won't be a C61KW. Some in this thread think it will be the A21-KW. This says they have developed a new client.

Given how long it has taken to bring some of their products to market, you can never really tell. It took more than two and a half years just to release the C71KW after having been initially FCC approved in the Fall of 2017. "New" could easily mean un-released.

 

[harsh]

What about what some have said in this thread about just doing a software update to the C71KW and A21KW to make those work with the HS-17 and HR-54? That testing wouldn't take that long would it?

It comes down to what level of "Genie Mini replacement" we're talking about. Thus far, there haven't been any clients that didn't use either MoCA or the WVB to connect and 4K isn't available in wireless form. Assuming that the Genie Mini protocol can be implemented entirely in software may not be reasonable. It seems likely that RVU is involved at some level.

That is what DTV could have meant saying they have developed a new hardware.

This isn't DIRECTV talking here. This is a survey company, SKIM, setting the stage for a survey. We must not lose sight of this fact.

 

[harsh]

DTV abandoned RVU.

They abandoned RVU televisions but I suspect the Genie Minis still use at least vestiges of the RVU protocol.

 

[harsh]

Duh?! "vestiges" ?

You'll find the word in most any English dictionary.

 

[harsh]

So, they wouldn't be able to use the Android TV Operators Tier with RVU?

That would depend on whether or not they can implement all missing RVU features in software. RVU in televisions involved some hardware.

 

[harsh]

Another thing I think they could do is let the DTV Stream APP on other streaming devices be a client and charge $7 a month for it. Also have the DTV Stream APP connect to the HS-17 and HR-54.

This is where using a STREAM device gets sticky. A DIRECTV DBS STB that didn't demand a TV fee sounds almost unthinkable.

Either that or DIRECTV sees where DISH might be stealing their lunch with a DISH Anywhere enabled FireTV device. Even I don't buy this one.

 

[harsh]

There is another use case for the topic of new hardware, how does the new device accomidate the needs of all of the sports bars filled with dozens of HDTVs ? NFLST and DTV generate significant revenues from these commercial customers.

As we've seen in retail stores, I think HDMI matrix switches are going to become the next big thing. It theoretically takes away the dependence on any proprietary distribution technologies.