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OpenTV Like TiVo on Steroids
Davis Freeberg writes "Davis Freeberg and Thomas Hawk recently interviewed OpenTV about some of the more progressive programming that they are offering to viewers outside of North America. Specifically, they have created a PVR that allows users to not only choose from 4 - 8 video angles, but even more importantly consumers can choose what audio feed they would prefer. Recently they miked up some drunk hooligans during a rugby match in Austrailia and cable customers could choose which commentator they prefered.
Of course this functionality doesn't come without a cost. In exchange for interactive games, karaoke and multiple HDTV streams, they collect data on the viewing habits of their users and then digitally insert 30 second ads based upon the demographics of their customers. While I'm not sure if this is good or bad, I do believe that this will be the future of television advertising. While we haven't seen this type of a privacy policy introduced in the U.S. yet, I'm sure that the PVR industry has taken notice of the willingness of Aussies to give up privacy rights for the ability to time shift televison.
"
Sadly, no. Didn't you read TFA - it's only Austrailians. Whatever they are. Something like New Zealianders, I expect.
At the bottom of the
As TiVo becomes available only as a standalone unit as users migrate towards High Defention we will see the end of TiVo as a hardware platform and the beginning of TiVo as a patent licensing agency.
OpenTV is the NDS based system which powers the Sky+ system which our US Cousins (Brit here!) will shortly be being sold now that Mr. Murdoch has taken control of DirecTV. Sky in the UK were the marketing partner of TiVo and used the experience and knowledge gained to help develop the OpenTV platform to create Sky+ - shortly after they abandonned the TiVo exercise and left it to die.
I myself prefer TiVo over Sky+ since I have a lifetime subscription and TiVo offers much greater flexibility but I can see the time coming where TiVo are forced to offer their patents to NDS and Sky+ and its Italian, Australian and American derivatives starts to offer the same ease of use and intelligence that I have had for the last 6 years.
Matt Thompson - Actuality - Insert product here.
Read the foxtel privacy agreement. It is an opt-out type system which is made worse as you must write them to even find out who they are giving your personal information to.
You must opt out of their direct-marketing and their "related business partners".
They are not only obtaining the right to feed you 30 second commercials they are obtaining the right to pass off your information to any company they deem to designate as "partner" or otherwise.
This is probably a never ending chain as each of their "partners" has their own privacy policies which could open you to even more unrelated companies.
I wouldn't be surprised if your information ends up on a spam list because of "partner" associations.
Two words
No thankyou.
http://www.foxtel.com.au/Privacy.htm
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
First, I should point out, I am Australian.
That said, the choices when it comes to PVRs in Australia is horrible.
Choice? What choice? The first real one the Australian public has seen is 'Foxtel IQ' which was released early this year. This happens to also be the device they mention in this article.
Ask an Australian last year what a PVR was, and they would have no idea. Hell, ask them this year, and they probably still have no idea (even after Foxtel's fairly large advertising campagines).
Some of us, didn't take this entire situation sitting down, and stated importing TiVos. Thus, OzTiVo was born. For the first time, it allowed Australians experience a true PVR. although, few people then, and even now, actually know about it.
The Foxtel IQ box fails when put up against an imported TiVo in every way, except one: It can record two shows at once. Other then that, it's all bad. The sad fact is, the general public has no idea how badly they are being ripped off. It will cost you $500 for 'Foxtel IQ', which Foxtel remains ownership of, if you disconnect, they take the box back.
Their versions of 'season passes' has many problems, and often doesn't work - They have nothing like 'wish lists', they don't have TV guide data for the vast majority of free-to-air stations and it's full of copy-protection among other rubbish. Not to mention the bad UI...
I feel bad knowing how good a TiVo is, and how many people still continue to buy Foxtel IQ. It is *not* good.
Give me a TiVo any day.
Although OpenTV does make the most widely used (and arguably the best current) STB middleware operating system their new PVR 2.0 extension is failng to make headway against NDS's earlier and more widely adopted XTV software and this article manages to obscure that fact magnificently.
OpenTV middleware is indeed used in both the SKY (UK) and Foxtel (Australia) PVRs. TFA states "While OpenTV provides different levels of functionally[sic] to each operator, I was most impressed by OpenTV's 2.0 PVR that is currently available to Foxtel subscribers in Australia." OpenTV PVR 2.0 is available to Foxtel subscribers, should Foxtel decide to go out and buy it from OpenTV, integrate it into their IQ PVRs and throw out NDS's XTV - not likely at this point, but the way it's put in this article makes OpenTV sound as though it is in full control.
From TFA : "Their 2.0 PVR allows viewers to not only choose amoung 4 -8 camera angles on select programming, but even more exciting they are able to choose from 4 - 6 audio streams as well." This functionality is not PVR dependent and is offered by standard STBs at Foxtel. Switching audio stream sources is trivial and is routinely offered on rugby matches in the antipodes even when video switching is not.
From TFA : "The 2.0 PVR supports HDTV, live stats, interactive weather reports, karaoke & even interactive gaming for their customers." Once again these are not PVR specific features - they've just been lumped in as things that most any STB can do to make "OpenTV's PVR" sound good.
Seriously, posting articles of this low level of useful fact but high level of undigested marketing speak (not to mention the spelling mistakes) is a pointer to a whole new area of bullshit that we have to detect. Would we have accepted this kind of misinformation from Microsoft if they'd claimed that the release of Windows 3 with support for hard disk drives (or somesuch) showed that Microsoft owned the market for all cmputers with hard drives?
STBs provided by broadcasters will always be different beasts to the open PVR platforms that Slashdotters know and love, and they include an absolute requirement for a level of DRM that would not be tolerated in discussions of PC platforms. That said, these devices offer a degree of utility in our homes that is difficult to obtain in other ways and they will be important to our gadget-centric lives. If we act to understand how they work then we can push for, for example, APIs which enable fair use without impinging broadcaster's needs.
Articles like TFA are as empty of utility as OpenTV's glossy foyer other than to point out the need for us to be on guard against vendor hype.