Sky HD boxes to get upgraded EPG in 2008

On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 13:37:30 -0800, Tony Hoyle wrote:

On 19 Jan, 20:45, "tim \(not at home\)"
wrote:
"Gaz" wrote in message

...





"tim (not at home)" wrote in message
...

"mikes" wrote in message
...

"Sean Black" wrote in message
...
In message , Gaz
writes

"Sean Black" wrote in message
...
In article , Gaz
writes

"Malcolm H" wrote in message
...

No mention of increased functionality. I have recently moved to
skyhd.
Sky+ and the epg are terrible. I use my tivo to schedule all the
shows,
and use it as i did before. Whenever a hd channel is recorded i
have a
record signal sent to the skyhd box to make sure it is recorded in
hd.
Slightly clumsy, but sky+ functionality is laughable.

Gaz

Absolute bullsh*t

Of course it is. I have both systems, why would i lie? Now with HD, i
would
love to be able to dump tivo, but sky+ makes me blush, how basic and
unsophisticated it is.

Gaz

Same here. My original intention was to replace my TiVo with Sky HD,
but I
just couldn't bring myself to be without the TiVo functionality. I
only
watch/record HD stuff on my Sky HD or if there's a non-repeated clash
that
TiVo can't cope with.

Get yourself the modified irblast software for tivo it will
automatically
send a record code to the hd box for you when a hd is on.....

So far it is reliable.. I have been getting my fill of HD movies...

Cheers, I'll look into that.
--
Sean Black

I agree completely. For ease of use the Tivo interface leaves Sky+
behind (I have both).

Why Sky+ can't take some pointers (without infringing copyright) from
the

you cannot copyright a "look and feel" (something Apple spent a lot of
money on finding out).

tim

Tivo holds multiple patents on functionality, essentialyl crippling all
none tivo based hd recorders. Their patents have been upheld in court,
costing one firm, tens of millions of dollars i beleive.

To do with recording on an HD perhaps, but not for the format of their EPG.

Have a look at some of the new Freeview Playback boxes.

Was playing with a cheapy £80 Tesco version the other day. The EPG on
that is done right...

trenchant analysis snipped

Did you make a note of the model?

"Sean Inglis" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 13:37:30 -0800, Tony Hoyle wrote:



Did you make a note of the model?

It's a Vestel. The EPG works very well. (Can't comment on series linking,
don't have that)

tim

Sean Inglis wrote:
On Thu, 17 Jan 2008 07:16:52 +0000, Malcolm H wrote:

No mention of increased functionality. I have recently moved to
skyhd. Sky+ and the epg are terrible. I use my tivo to schedule all
the shows, and use it as i did before. Whenever a hd channel is
recorded i have a record signal sent to the skyhd box to make sure
it is recorded in hd. Slightly clumsy, but sky+ functionality is
laughable.

Gaz

Absolute bullsh*t

Got Sky+ before Christmas, just sold my Tivo. The Sky+ EPG *is*
absolute ****e. How they manage to make so little information take up
so much space, I have no idea.

Its terrible, the thing is, its Tivos epg that should look dated. The
technology is ancient, it hasnt been modified since launch (no investment
over here anymore), and has a small user base. But sky+ is a joke. Their EPG
for regular sky in general was always a bit ropey, but it was first
generational, and was a big leap from what went before (a copy of radio
times and some video+ codes), launching sky+ they could have taken the
opportunity to revamp it, but no, they just bolted on recording
functionality, crude and inefficient.

Again, when the launched hd, they could have really made an effort for the
'hd experieince', but no, the epg doesnt even take into account the fact
that people using skyhd will *all* have high resolution widescreen TVs.

Sky+ is liking using teletext compared to Tivo.

Gaz

On Sun, 20 Jan 2008 10:24:08 +0000, the dog from that film you saw wrote:

"Sean Inglis" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 17 Jan 2008 07:16:52 +0000, Malcolm H wrote:

No mention of increased functionality. I have recently moved to skyhd.
Sky+ and the epg are terrible. I use my tivo to schedule all the shows,
and use it as i did before. Whenever a hd channel is recorded i have a
record signal sent to the skyhd box to make sure it is recorded in hd.
Slightly clumsy, but sky+ functionality is laughable.

Gaz

Absolute bullsh*t

Got Sky+ before Christmas, just sold my Tivo. The Sky+ EPG *is* absolute
****e. How they manage to make so little information take up so much
space, I have no idea.



from memory, when i owned a tivo, far too many channels didnt have ANY
program info at all for their schedule making it impossible to record
something without checking elsewhere.
also many channels had innacurate schedules - i could never trust what my
tivo said eurosport was showing.



I can't say that's been my experience at all, although you raise a good
point:

1) I had mine broadband enabled rather than relying on the modem.

2) It was never used to schedule Sky channels, just NTL (now Virgin
Cable), terrestrial and Freeview. The only missing EPG data I can recall
is that associated with the now defunct OneWord


But I think there's a distinction to draw he the *implementation* of
the EPG is a different matter from the accuracy /availability of EPG data.
As far as availability is concerned, Sky are guaranteed to have the upper
hand. Although I hesitate to suggest any conspiracies, how motivated
*would* Sky be to ensure EPG data was 100% accurate and timely for 3rd
party competitors?

Leaving this issue aside, the mechanics of the Tivo software leave Sky+ in
the dust, even after so many years.

On 20 Jan, 12:11, "Gaz" wrote:
snip
launching sky+ they could have taken the
opportunity to revamp it, but no, they just bolted on recording
functionality, crude and inefficient.

Again, when the launched hd, they could have really made an effort for the
'hd experieince', but no, the epg doesnt even take into account the fact
that people using skyhd will *all* have high resolution widescreen TVs.

Well, they won't all have hi-res widescreen TVs. Some people will buy
a Sky HD box and think that makes their current WS telly show
programmes in HD, just as when they bought that TV and thought it made
standard 14:9 analogue TV appear "widescreen" because it filled the
screen and because they're uneducated about the issue.

DVDfever Dom wrote:
On 20 Jan, 12:11, "Gaz" wrote:
snip
launching sky+ they could have taken the
opportunity to revamp it, but no, they just bolted on recording
functionality, crude and inefficient.

Again, when the launched hd, they could have really made an effort
for the 'hd experieince', but no, the epg doesnt even take into
account the fact that people using skyhd will *all* have high
resolution widescreen TVs.

Well, they won't all have hi-res widescreen TVs. Some people will buy
a Sky HD box and think that makes their current WS telly show
programmes in HD, just as when they bought that TV and thought it made
standard 14:9 analogue TV appear "widescreen" because it filled the
screen and because they're uneducated about the issue.

Well, if you design the product to meet the needs of 95% of the users,
rather then just 5%.....

Gaz

"the dog from that film you saw"
from memory, when i owned a tivo, [...]
also many channels had innacurate schedules - i could never trust what my
tivo said eurosport was showing.

Although to be fair, you often can't trust what Eurosport say Eurosport
are showing - it's the only channel where I've noticed the schedule
changes has a permanent teletext page. Such is live sport, I guess.

--
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