SageTV acquired by Google

[fresnoboy]

Interesting. This could be good, or it could be bad. SageTv is a great platform, and with the cable operators locking everything down with encryption after the analog cutover, it was hard for a small company like SageTV to keep up, as they could never get Cablecard integration, their VOD, etc... Look at the hardship Tivo has been going through.

SageTV tried to push Allvid, but the FCC seems to be giving in to the incumbents.

Google is not Yahoo. They could supercharge it and turn it into a mass market media center/DVR with access to cablecard etc... Or they could kill it, but why buy it to kill it?

I don't think Jeff and company would sell just to have the product killed. And why keep the forums up if the product was going to be killed. The press release was pretty ambiguous, which is probably a good thing. Google tends not to say a lot about what they are working on.

So I think if Jeff is happy, we should take great heart in that and see what the next few weeks hold as they go through a transition. If he's unhappy, then we are screwed.

Google could have some much bigger plans in this space than anyone had thought about before. If so, we should wish them luck and continue to build addons and such so they can sell us the best platform out there.

Either way, it's either go big or fail. This will be much more fun I suspect than the last few years.

So Jeff, you probably can't say much, but are you happy or not happy?

[PLUCKYHD]

Man I just thought of collusus. The chances of already hauppauge not careing about sagetv users just got worse.

[loomdog32]

Having used "professional" or "pay to use" Google apps (near anything in a corp/business environment), this is a very bad day for Sage users........

Do I have an android phone? Yes
Do I use Google Voice? Yes
Do I use Google Earth? Yes

Have I every received support when something went wrong? NO!!!



I really want to know the answer to 2 questions:

1 - Is/When is EPG support going to end?
2 - Is/When is installing Plug-ins from the interface going to end?

And the MOST IMPORTANT
IS SAGE GOING TO WORK?!?!?!
ARE THE EXTENDERS GOING TO BE NOTHING MORE THAN PAPERWEIGHTS?!?!?!?!?!?!

[rickgillyon]

I've spoken to Jeff in the past, and I don't believe he would sell Frey to bury it. Time will tell...

[evilpenguin]

Oh man, I was just getting ready to buy an HD300 to replace my HD100 that died last month!

[Narflex]

Originally Posted by fresnoboy

So Jeff, you probably can't say much, but are you happy or not happy?

Does that answer your question?

[peternm22]

Brett on Geektonic has a bit more info: http://www.geektonic.com/2011/06/sag...by-google.html


Looks like Narflex can't discuss anything at this time.... apart from smiley faces.

[toricred]

That looks like you're happy and I know we're all glad for you. I just hope no DRM and we'll continue to be able to use plugins and our extenders.

[jaminben]

Originally Posted by loomdog32

2 - Is/When is installing Plug-ins from the interface going to end?

I'd like to know this as well... will we still be able to create plugins?

[PLUCKYHD]

Originally Posted by rickgillyon

I've spoken to Jeff in the past, and I don't believe he would sell Frey to bury it. Time will tell...

cachiiing!! Money talks man.

[cncb]

Originally Posted by PLUCKYHD

cachiiing!! Money talks man.

Exactly. Even if they are killing SageTV as we know it he will be happy all the way to the bank!

[rickgillyon]

Originally Posted by Narflex

I'm rich beyond my wildest dreams!!!!

I think you deserve it.

[peternm22]

I was thinking about all the money I've spent on SageTV over the years going to waste now. Then I had another thought: the plugin developers.

Many users have contributed hundreds of hours of their time to develop plugins for SageTV, and now it all might be gone. What about the Phoenix guys? They've been working on that for over a year now.... ugh.

I really really really hope I'm wrong about all of this.

[rickgillyon]

Originally Posted by PLUCKYHD

cachiiing!! Money talks man.

Maybe there speaks a media-centre user...

[jaminben]

Originally Posted by peternm22

Then I had another thought: the plugin developers.

Many users have contributed hundreds of hours of their time to develop plugins for SageTV, and now it all might be gone. What about the Phoenix guys? They've been working on that for over a year now.... ugh.

Its longer than that.... try about 3 years..... pretty much the same as Ortus. And then there's BMT, Diamond, SMM etc.

[rickgillyon]

Originally Posted by peternm22

Many users have contributed hundreds of hours of their time to develop plugins for SageTV, and now it all might be gone. What about the Phoenix guys? They've been working on that for over a year now.... ugh.

Let's remember, they all have the current release. There are people out there still using Sage v2, people can continue using v7. Eventually they will need to move on, but that's the same with every piece of software you buy.

[fresnoboy]

Originally Posted by jaminben

Its longer than that.... try about 3 years..... pretty much the same as Ortus. And then there's BMT, Diamond, SMM etc.

If they were going to kill the platform, why say they will continue to support existing users? Supporting existing users must also include the ability to fix extenders, etc...

Usually when companies are bought, esp. by big companies, stores and such have to go down and be integrated into some new apparatus.

When Yahoo bought Meedio, did they maintain support for the existing users?

[starfire]

Originally Posted by fresnoboy

If they were going to kill the platform, why say they will continue to support existing users? Supporting existing users must also include the ability to fix extenders, etc...

Usually when companies are bought, esp. by big companies, stores and such have to go down and be integrated into some new apparatus.

When Yahoo bought Meedio, did they maintain support for the existing users?

There is no explicit statement saying they will support existing users.

And no, Yahoo pretty quickly let Meedio die.

Anyone know the current state of Mediaportal & TV recording (pity MeediOS hasn't explicit TV support)

[jaminben]

Originally Posted by fresnoboy

If they were going to kill the platform, why say they will continue to support existing users? Supporting existing users must also include the ability to fix extenders, etc...

Usually when companies are bought, esp. by big companies, stores and such have to go down and be integrated into some new apparatus.

When Yahoo bought Meedio, did they maintain support for the existing users?

My gut feeling tells me they will support existing user's for the next 6-12 months then it will disappear into the ether. Google will take the existing technology and port it into GoogleTV or some other new project.

[panteragstk]

Why release v 7.1.9 if they knew this was coming and SageTV was going to die? Right now this is all speculation. We have no clue what this actually means.

It could mean that our cries of CableCARD, netflix, and other online source support just got answered because with google behind sage the possibilities are endless. We may get everything we've been wanting.

Or, it could mean that all this time and effort now means nothing.

I was about to purchase wire (lots and lots) to wire up my theater room, but that is now on hold until I find out what's going on with this. I'm going to be really pissed if we just got screwed. But, I doubt that Jeff would just leave us out in the rain like that unless they made him a ridiculous offer he couldn't refuse. The way things have gone in the past tell me that this is good for us and sage. We've trusted Jeff this long, lets keep up the trust.