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Linux-based Convergence Boxes From Rogers Cable
nilstar writes: "Rogers Cable wants to dump (slow) WebTV and move to linux based boxes to connect all the major appliances in your home: stereo, tv, computer, etc. via broadband using rogers@home in a service called "triple play". Will this really happen after MS invested C$600 in Rogers? Here is the press release. As the article here on the star says: 'Rogers Cable Inc. will begin testing a new service next month that turns all the communications, computing and entertainment devices in a home into a high-speed smorgasbord of interactive experiences."' Why do I bet these would only be useful with one company's cable service?
Sort of. A few months ago, I received an e-mail from the Rogers@Home security department informing me that they did a scan of port 25 on their networks and found that my mailer had mail relaying enabled. I had thought Debian would have had this turned off by default, but I felt like an idiot when I found out it was true. The same e-mail told me the next time they would be doing a scan and if the problem wasn't fixed by then, they would shut down my service. Five minutes after reading the notice, the problem was fixed but this was after the specified date as I had been on holiday during that time. So I sent off a brief email to the Rogers@Home security department to let them know it was now fixed and welcomed them to test it for themselves. The reply I received was rather curt, saying that servers were not allowed as part of the user agreement and that I would have to shut it down or risk losing my service.
WTF? Their notice seemed to indicate that they had no problems with servers so long as they were secure. Needless to say, I didn't pursue the matter any further and just shut my trap. I still have service, by the way.
ian.
ian
The point is that MS bought into these cable companies to ensure a market for their products.
Thus by Rogers going to a Linux based system it sends the message that MS's products don't cut it.
MS made a big push into TV by buying into a number of cable companies, buying WebTV, and starting up MSNBC. With Rogers ditching WebTV for a non-MS product it hints that MS's investments in TV may not be panning out. This is news because it shows that MS dominance in desktop OS's and software doesn't directly translate into dominance in other areas.
This contiues a trend seen with MSN (vs. AOL) and WinCE (vs. Palm) and thus may bode well for Linux, at least in the server market, and poorly for the Xbox.
Thus the bigger point is that its desktop monopoly and its bulging bank accounts don't guarantee MS dominace in every market it enters.
Steve M
I just got digital cable from AT&T Broadband, and it came with a Motorola set-top box that is - no joke - wider than my TV. The thing freakin sucks! The manual calls it "Interactive Television." There is absolutely nothing interactive about my piece of crap cable box. It is a step backwards - channel surfing is impossible, because it takes 2-3 seconds to tune in each channel, and you can't go to the next channel until the last one is done loading. My grandparents' 3 year old WebTV changes channels about 50 times quicker than my new box. And the on-screen guide is crap, too. No matter what channel you're on, it starts out on channel 2. The guide can only show a half hour at a time, and there's no way to skip forward by more than a half hour, so if it's 7 AM and I want to find out what's on TV tonight, I have to hold the button down for like a minute! This box sucks!
The thing doesn't even have digital audio outputs or s-video out! Who in the world would make a digital cable box without any kind of hi-fi outputs? Who are they trying to sell this to, anyway?
--
MS ivensted $600 in Rogers??? I hope they don't spend it all in one place :)
I think it's supposed to be $600 million dollars.
"The obvious is that which is least understood and most difficult to prove." -- A fortune cookie
I can say that they are one company that does not suck.
Their internet cable access rocks! Granted, I've had my share of problems in the past. I was I think the second or third customer in my area, and as more people signed up, things got slooow. But now, about 2 almost 3 years later, it's fast. They upgraded their cables since then. And their reliability wrt to the tv and internet access is really good. And it's been this way for most part. The worst experience was a 3 day down-time due to some idiot cutting the cable while digging in front of his house.
Not to mention the fact that they support static IPs. They don't bother you about IP masquarading, so I can run my four boxes off the same IP (it would be an extra CA$10/month for each additional IP) I know of other providers cough-Sympatico DSL-cough who won't let you do that. They even let you use Linux w/o a problem and I believe that they have tech support for it too.
And they're really cheap. It costs about CA$50/month for the internet (which includes the modem rental) plus CA$30/month for the TV. Which is about US$50. I know people are paying more than that for DSL alone in the US.
The point I'm trying to make, a Linux box replacing the WebTV is great news. And even if it isn't compatible with other providers, it's still ok. I couldn't care less.
600 Canadian Dollar = 457.995 Euro
600 Canadian Dollar = 391.139 US Dollar
After an insult like that, no wonder they're going with Linux.
I've been in home automation foy quite a few years and I chuckle at how everyone wants to converge everythign together into one box. Screw that - give me a decent open protocol standard that I can connect all my stuff to so it can be controlle dcentrally. That's nivarna.
Have you ever noticed how you STILL cannot get A/V equipment to talk to each other? Every manufacturer has their own control linkup setup - so the result? Universal remotes for everyone. Can you imagine having RS-232 ports on all yoru A/V gear with simple control commands? Now whats stopping them from tossing in USB? Set your Tivo recorded via your PC using a web browser 1000 miles away.
But there isn't money to be made doing it so nobody wants to do it. SO we're stuck with stopgap measures at best. Hell in the home automation market, most serious setups use RS-485 to connect various control devices located hundreds of feet from teh controller and there STILL isn't an agreed upon standard. CEBus is still a joke - its so expensive and complicated only the super expensive setups have it.
Its a tough call - but I'll take multi-vendor boxen connected together via a standard vs an all in one solution ANY day.
Top Most Bizarre/Disturbing Error Messages
Convergence is one of those things that just doesn't work out in the ways people predict. Stuffing all the functionality of your TV, VCR, DVD, stereo into one easy-to-use package may sound like a great idea, but things like this never pan out.
Convergence in other areas does, though. Witness:
The Pepper Ball with built-in salt shaker. Now you don't have to have a separate salt and pepper shaker!
The pencil now comes equipped with a handy-dandy eraser located conveniently at the opposite end. Make a mistake, don't go looking for that Art Gum, just flip the pencil and rub!
It comes down to pairing things that are similar enough into one easy to use item. A TV-VCR combo is a good idea. A TV-Stereo combo is a very bad idea.
Dancin Santa
yes! And now there will be no excuse for gramma and grampa to have the continuous flashing 12:00 on their VCR! All they would have to do is know the following:
/bin/sh
/bin/sh
/usr/bin/vcrrecord 3
/usr/bin/vcrstoprecord 3
$ telnet jvc_vcr
$ date -s "Wed Jun 20 13:20:41 PDT 2001"
And then if they wanted to auto record a tv show tonight at 9:00 pm, instead of all the confusing menus, all they have to do is:
$ telnet jvc_vcr
$ at 21:00
at> set channel=9
at> set mode=record
warning: commands will be executed using
job 8 at 2001-06-20 21:00
$ at 22:00
at> set mode=stop
warning: commands will be executed using
job 9 at 2001-06-20 22:00
AND, if they wanted to record their faourite show every week they could very easily do:
$ crontab -e
0 21 * * 3 viewer
0 22 * * 3 viewer
Hey, I think I'm on to something! (crack maybe?)
--jeff
ipv6 is my vpn
I don't see what the big deal is... I've had one of these convergence boxes for quite awhile, its called a "computer".
With it I can
1)Watch DVD and VHS
2)Play any game I wish (through emulators or directly from any system itself)
3)Full stereo with CD support and also this really neat thing that allows you to get music from other people
4)Watch cable and network television
5)Like tivo, choose what shows I want to see when i want to see them by using some special software to "download" them
6)get pay-per-view movies... without paying or renting them
7)dolby digital sound on everything
8)back-up all media formats I want to (including DVDS and CDs)
9)use as a telephone
10)send "email" which is like sending a letter only it gets there quicker and only gets lost 1% of the time
11)Listen to the radio...
12)make my own cds
13)full sound studio
14)full movie studio
15)camera built in, saving the pictures that can be "emailed" later or viewed whenever i want without risk of being damaged
16)using the internet, i can have access to all the information my head can hold if i'm willing to look
17)has a phone book build in
18)a map of the world with direction generators built in
I could go on forever about all the features of this box... but I just recommend you get one...
can't sleep slashdot will eat me