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Saorview Connect

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    #92
    The Cush
    Registered Users Posts: 15,515 ✭✭✭✭The Cush


    Article in the Irish Times today on Saorview's new ad campaign, some comments from Richard Waghorn, RTÉ’s Chief Technology Officer and Executive Board member.
    The service may broaden to include more channels, says Waghorn. Adding more channels to the two operational Saorview multiplexes (bundles of channels compressed into a data stream) would result in lower regulated carriage fees per channel, as there would be more channels to share the total operating costs.

    “There is some spare capacity across the two multiplexes and we’re having conversations with broadcasters about using it,” says Waghorn. “I’m hoping we will have some movement on that this year.”

    He adds that other imminent developments, including a “drip-feeding” of new functionality features, will help “future-proof” Saorview.

    http://www.irishtimes.com/business/media-and-marketing/cord-cutters-wooed-by-saorview-s-new-media-campaign-1.2495537

    Interesting to note Richard Waghorn was a board director of Freesat from its inception in 2008 and joined RTÉ about 9 months before ASO here.


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    #93
    icdg
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 11,554 Mod ✭✭✭✭icdg


    Welcome back everyone...

    Announcement of Saorview Connected today - no combo box I'm afraid, just a new EPG and access to on-demand/catch up content.

    http://www.rte.ie/about/en/press-office/press-releases/2016/0120/761583-rte-and-saorview-partner-with-freesat-for-new-saorview-product/


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    #94
    Atlantic Dawn
    Registered Users Posts: 81,772 ✭✭✭✭Atlantic Dawn
    M


    icdg wrote: »
    Welcome back everyone...

    Announcement of Saorview Connected today - no combo box I'm afraid, just a new EPG and access to on-demand/catch up content.

    http://www.rte.ie/about/en/press-office/press-releases/2016/0120/761583-rte-and-saorview-partner-with-freesat-for-new-saorview-product/

    I can't see any big line of manufacturers lining up to make them, your likely looking at a good €250 plus pricepoint for a box that will show a handful of stations, demand will be tiny.


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    #95
    MBSnr
    Registered Users Posts: 2,191 ✭✭✭MBSnr


    ^^^
    Exactly - Might as well get the Walker PVR for €95


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    #96
    channelsurfer2
    Registered Users Posts: 2,604 ✭✭✭channelsurfer2


    Well that's gonna really be a game changer! The people that use Saorview as a main means are rural and cant get decent broadband, so makes the box not much use. They will just continue with combo boxes other than Saorview connected.


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    #97
    ankles
    Registered Users Posts: 1,286 ✭✭✭ankles


    Wonder if tv's in future will have the new technology, and when?


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    #98
    The Cush
    Registered Users Posts: 15,515 ✭✭✭✭The Cush


    icdg wrote: »
    Welcome back everyone...

    Announcement of Saorview Connected today - no combo box I'm afraid, just a new EPG and access to on-demand/catch up content.

    Just got back in now ... disappointing news.

    I'm on an up to 3Mbps down connection(never get that) with nothing better in the near future, no point throwing good money after bad for this box, I'll stay with my Freeview PVR.


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    #99
    Gerry Wicklow
    Registered Users Posts: 4,543 ✭✭✭Gerry Wicklow


    The Cush wrote: »
    Just got back in now ... disappointing news.

    I'm on an up to 3Mbps down connection(never get that) with nothing better in the near future, no point throwing good money after bad for this box, I'll stay with my Freeview PVR.
    Likewise, with 1.5Mb 'broad-ish-band' I can't even get reliable youtube and certainly wouldn't be relying on it for more serious viewing. My Alien will do me for now.


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    #100
    Hotblack Desiato
    Registered Users Posts: 34,294 ✭✭✭✭Hotblack Desiato


    MBSnr wrote: »
    ^^^
    Exactly - Might as well get the Walker PVR for €95

    That unreliable piece of junk isn't worth €9.50. Yet somehow Saorview certified and approved it. I've never successfully recorded a series of more than two episodes on it. Even one-off recordings frequently fail for no reason.

    It's going to be difficult if not impossible for me to have enough faith in any future Saorview PVR to fork out my cash for it.

    Fingal County Council are certainly not competent to be making decisions about the most important piece of infrastructure on the island. They need to stick to badly designed cycle lanes and deciding on whether Mrs Murphy can have her kitchen extension.



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    #101
    The Cush
    Registered Users Posts: 15,515 ✭✭✭✭The Cush


    On the Saorview homepage they have a link to the Saorview combi section of the site which list 10 combi boxes, all older models.

    According to the freetv.ie website "Please note that there are no Saorview combo receivers being manufactured any more. Please see below for our most popular generic combo receivers." Satworld have some in stock while Powercity have them at central warehouse with no stock level listed.

    Details of the new connected receivers were vague today, is it possible there could be a combi receiver in the range?


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    #102
    Tony
    Registered Users Posts: 11,327 ✭✭✭✭Tony


    Its most likely there will be a combi box :)


    The Cush wrote: »
    Details of the new connected receivers were vague today, is it possible there could be a combi receiver in the range?

    Desktop PC Boards discount code on https://www.satellite.ie/ is boards.ie



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    #103
    MBSnr
    Registered Users Posts: 2,191 ✭✭✭MBSnr


    Hotblack Desiato wrote: »
    That unreliable piece of junk isn't worth €9.50. Yet somehow Saorview certified and approved it. I've never successfully recorded a series of more than two episodes on it. Even one-off recordings frequently fail for no reason.

    It's going to be difficult if not impossible for me to have enough faith in any future Saorview PVR to fork out my cash for it.

    I've not had much bother with it. It's not ideal but much more reasonable at less than €100 than it's previous price. Admittedly ours gets limited recording use (compared to the Freesat box), so I wouldn't see the amount of failures you may have.


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    #104
    slicedpanman
    Registered Users Posts: 619 ✭✭✭slicedpanman


    Tony wrote: »
    Its most likely there will be a combi box :)

    ta Tony, any industry hints of; combi connect anywhere + basic FTA sat? or + freesat?


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    #105
    Hibrasil
    Registered Users Posts: 392 ✭✭Hibrasil


    From Today's Irish Times:-

    "RTÉ’s chief technology officer Richard Waghorn recently said Saorview was having conversations” with broadcasters about adding more channels.

    The Oireachtas TV channel, TV3 HD and TV3 +1 are possible future additions to the service    ."

    Don't know if this is speculation or semi-informed comment!:confused:


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    #106
    Tony
    Registered Users Posts: 11,327 ✭✭✭✭Tony


    Sorry I cannot comment on that right now as I've agreed non disclosure with saorview.

    slicedpanman wrote: »
    ta Tony, any industry hints of; combi connect anywhere + basic FTA sat? or + freesat?

    Desktop PC Boards discount code on https://www.satellite.ie/ is boards.ie



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    #107
    The Cush
    Registered Users Posts: 15,515 ✭✭✭✭The Cush


    Tony wrote: »
    Sorry I cannot comment on that right now as I've agreed non disclosure with saorview.

    Thanks for the earlier post in any case Tony.

    Why the secrecy though, always has been the case with RTÉ/Saorview since they launched the service.


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    #108
    Dave..M
    Registered Users Posts: 693 ✭✭✭Dave..M


    Aye.

    I do hope its a proper combined EPG based product with auto channel updates etc but I fear content rights issues could be problematic as they are for any provider for a full Freesat listing. Personally though anything less is a missed opportunity, roll back EPG on Irish only channels won't make any difference to me, I already only really watch Freesat channels now and rarely if ever any of the Irish ones a fancier version won't make me spend.


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    #109
    The Cush
    Registered Users Posts: 15,515 ✭✭✭✭The Cush


    Hibrasil wrote: »
    From Today's Irish Times:-

    "RTÉ’s chief technology officer Richard Waghorn recently said Saorview was having conversations” with broadcasters about adding more channels.

    The Oireachtas TV channel, TV3 HD and TV3 +1 are possible future additions to the service    ."

    Don't know if this is speculation or semi-informed comment!:confused:

    Richard Waghorn's comments were first reported a week ago in the Irish Times (see post #92 on the previous page) but he didn't refer to any particular channels.

    The Oireachtas channel is on a trial run atm and will probably do so until the Dáil is dissolved, will it return with as a full service channel post election?


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    #110
    STB.
    Registered Users Posts: 5,380 ✭✭✭STB.


    Dave..M wrote: »
    Aye.

    I do hope its a proper combined EPG based product with auto channel updates etc but I fear content rights issues could be problematic as they are for any provider for a full Freesat listing. Personally though anything less is a missed opportunity, roll back EPG on Irish only channels won't make any difference to me, I already only really watch Freesat channels now and rarely if ever any of the Irish ones a fancier version won't make me spend.

    Indeed they would have to get permission from Freesat to access the Data Transponder even if the software is being released by the same company that provides both.

    Pity, they could have accessed the data elsewhere, just not OTA.


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    #111
    mackersdublin
    Registered Users Posts: 1,432 ✭✭✭mackersdublin


    STB. wrote: »
    Indeed they would have to get permission from Freesat to access the Data Transponder even if the software is being released by the same company that provides both.

    Pity, they could have accessed the data elsewhere, just not OTA.

    But, isn't there a Saorview approved Walker Combi box with 'SatFree' as an option which is the Freesat EPG?


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    #112
    STB.
    Registered Users Posts: 5,380 ✭✭✭STB.


    mackersdublin wrote: »
    But, isn't there a Saorview approved Walker Combi box with 'SatFree' as an option which is the Freesat EPG?

    Officially ? No. It infact voided your warranty on the box. It wasa kludge and fairly crude if I remember correctly, no doubt due to low flash memory and poor software.

    For the box to work with Freesat and Saorview in one menu would require agreements and continued support. If it was pushed (given that overspill is a bigger elephant in the room) then..... But then again how committed are they ? We'll find out when the combo box is released. Its no secret what will work and what they need to release.

    As long as Saorview persist with Vestel, then Ireland will never have a robust fta box that combines IPTV/Saorview/Freesat.


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    #113
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    STB. wrote: »
    Officially ? No. It infact voided your warranty on the box. It wasa kludge and fairly crude if I remember correctly, no doubt due to low flash memory and poor software.

    For the box to work with Freesat and Saorview in one menu would require agreements and continued support. If it was pushed (given that overspill is a bigger elephant in the room) then..... But then again how committed are they ? We'll find out when the combo box is released. Its no secret what will work and what they need to release.

    As long as Saorview persist with Vestel, then Ireland will never have a robust fta box that combines IPTV/Saorview/Freesat.
    No, mackersdublin is right. The Walker WP645TS-HD. Quite a slow box and it's hardcoded to London but it does work unofficially.


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    #114
    Hibrasil
    Registered Users Posts: 392 ✭✭Hibrasil


    "Little Bird" whispered that Saorview Connect Service is to be launched in three months time!
    Hope the bird is not whispering "sweet nothings"


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    #115
    Tony
    Registered Users Posts: 11,327 ✭✭✭✭Tony


    No problem. I think they may want to keep everything under wraps until the hardware is fully ready. Conor Pope from the Irish Times is following this also so he may publish more info from the possible consumer benefit point of view .

    The Cush wrote: »
    Thanks for the earlier post in any case Tony.

    Why the secrecy though, always has been the case with RTÉ/Saorview since they launched the service.

    Desktop PC Boards discount code on https://www.satellite.ie/ is boards.ie



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    #116
    STB.
    Registered Users Posts: 5,380 ✭✭✭STB.


    Karsini wrote: »
    No, mackersdublin is right. The Walker WP645TS-HD. Quite a slow box and it's hardcoded to London but it does work unofficially.

    I didn't say he was wrong. I said officially a box doesn't exist and openly branded as doing Freesat/Irish Channels. Sat4free also existed in the past. In any event neither combined both sets of channels in one epg.

    For what its worth I saw the box and the reason it was slow was due to where the epg data was being populated and stored and its low spec in general.

    To put it my original point in context you don't get the likes of metaphor to design the software and not find a way of linking the data on sat (event if it is running from epg grab from a webdownload rather than OTA). No 7 day epg would be a bad start.

    I know and you know that a basic low to mid spec 750MHZ broadcom chip box could run this with 2 dvb-s and dvb-t tuners and have IPTV capabilities. Add an internal HDD at your own expense.

    A hybrid combo box should have been the only box that they release. God knows there is enough of the Vestel single tuner boxes already on the market.


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    #117
    Tony
    Registered Users Posts: 11,327 ✭✭✭✭Tony


    I think Saorview would need Freesats approval to use their 7 days epg regardless of whether it was over the air or via the net. To date Freesat have been very protective of their epg, they took action pretty quickly against sat4free if memory serves.

    Desktop PC Boards discount code on https://www.satellite.ie/ is boards.ie



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    #118
    bk
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,596 Mod ✭✭✭✭bk


    Tony wrote: »
    I think Saorview would need Freesats approval to use their 7 days epg regardless of whether it was over the air or via the net. To date Freesat have been very protective of their epg, they took action pretty quickly against sat4free if memory serves.

    I don't see how Freesat could stop anyone from using EPG data accessed from the net.

    It would of course be against the law to decrypt Freesats EPG data without their permission. But in the end remember the channel information doesn't actually belong to Freesat, it belongs to each individual channel.

    Nothing stopping RTE from licensing that data directly, as they most already do for the RTE guide and use it to create their own EPG that would be directly accessed over the web.

    Now I'm not saying they will do this, but I don't see any reason why they couldn't.


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    #119
    Tony
    Registered Users Posts: 11,327 ✭✭✭✭Tony


    Interesting idea . I guess it depends on whether they recognize the value users place on having a fully integrated EPG for both Saorview and Freesat.

    bk wrote: »
    Nothing stopping RTE from licensing that data directly, as they most already do for the RTE guide and use it to create their own EPG that would be directly accessed over the web.

    Now I'm not saying they will do this, but I don't see any reason why they couldn't.

    Desktop PC Boards discount code on https://www.satellite.ie/ is boards.ie



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    #120
    bk
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,596 Mod ✭✭✭✭bk


    bk wrote: »
    Nothing stopping RTE from licensing that data directly, as they most already do for the RTE guide and use it to create their own EPG that would be directly accessed over the web.

    Actually, thinking about it, they could even deliver a "Freesat like" EPG data via the Saorview EPG and DVB-T

    In other words, RTE licenses the EPG data from the various FTA channels and transmit it via the Saorview EPG on DVB-T along with the FTA satellite location details. So combined Saorview/FTA sat combo boxes can pick up this EPG data from the Soarview transmission and display the full EPG.

    If you think about it, it is much the same way Sky runs the "Freesat from Sky" service. They aren't using the Freesat EPG data, they are using their own licnsed EPG data.
    Tony wrote: »
    Interesting idea . I guess it depends on whether they recognize the value users place on having a fully integrated EPG for both Saorview and Freesat.

    Yes, that is the key question. What does RTE/Saorview want to do and do they even see the issue?

    For me, the need for integrated box and EPG is very clear. Time and time again, I've seen people buy Freesat boxes, with the intention of flicking between the Freesat box and a Saorview box/TV. But in reality I've seen that after a few weeks, they rarely, if ever, return to Saorview due to the vastly superior experience of Freesat and it just being too much trouble to deal with two remotes, etc.

    I wonder if RTE are aware of this and the fact that it is likely to only get worse as more people buy Freesat boxes and as Freesat gets more channels (HD channels and UKTV channels, etc.). RTE could lose their key position as channel 101 to these people.

    A fancier Saorview EPG and Irish only IPTV services aren't going to change this IMO. And people aren't going to buy a new expensive box if it just does Saorview. Best case scenario, they will just continue with their basic saorview compatible TVs

    Personally I think it would be far better for RTE if they delivered a combi box with a fully integrated EPG, with RTE at channel 101, etc. and make it as easily as possible for people to use this one box to do everything.

    Better for RTE to exist as position 1 of an EPG, then not on the EPG at all.

    I think this is obvious to you and me, but I'm not sure it is obvious to the people at RTE.


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    #121
    MBSnr
    Registered Users Posts: 2,191 ✭✭✭MBSnr


    ^^^
    Exactly. 95% of the time I watch Freesat. Occasionally RTE for the news and sporting events that they only have the rights to. Very rare to record anything on RTE - I watch live or not at all. They have shows on a few weeks ahead of the UK at times but I prefer to set them to record on one box (with it's nicer interface) and can live with not seeing it immediately.

    I wouldn't be lining up to get a SAORVIEW Anywhere box for sure - seems fairly pointless. I wonder if they'll future proof it with DVB-T2 tuners as I see the trend is to move from DVB-T


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