SageTV acquired by Google

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by ToadMazter

Which of the many illustrious forum members should we nominate to apply for this Product Manager role?
http://www.google.com/intl/en/jobs/u...iew/index.html

Maybe Jeff should apply?

[ThePaladinTech]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

Maybe Jeff should apply?

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if that opening is gone already

I noticed Jeffs signature now reads "Google - Founder of SageTV" (or did this change earlier and I wasn't observant? I'm pretty sure last night it still read Sage LLC.)

So the question of whether they bought just sage or the people has been answered.

[Narflex]

Originally Posted by aflat

The WD HD Live is one of them, and I know that firmware is flashable, I wonder if you could flash the latest HD300 rom on that. Anyone willing to test that?

Don't waste your time. You won't be able to get it to work. Even if you had the identical hardware manufactured and put identical firmware on it; it still would not work. We're smarter than that. (just trying to save people from spending a lot of time trying to get that to work and failing)

[andyvr4]

Originally Posted by Narflex

Don't waste your time. You won't be able to get it to work. Even if you had the identical hardware manufactured and put identical firmware on it; it still would not work. We're smarter than that. (just trying to save people from spending a lot of time trying to get that to work and failing)

I'm assuming that you can't answer to us rather our hd300's are going to be usful for any future projects that you might be working on can you .

Just a simple answer as to rather they're obsolete are not would be wonderful!

[hoep]

Originally Posted by Narflex

Don't waste your time. You won't be able to get it to work. Even if you had the identical hardware manufactured and put identical firmware on it; it still would not work. We're smarter than that. (just trying to save people from spending a lot of time trying to get that to work and failing)

that's just the issue - SageTV LLC was soooo smart...

[personalt]

I really really want more extenders but I can understand why they just didn’t open the store and sell the rest of the stock.

I am sure most of the roadblocks are legal hurdles. I would guess at least some of them revolve around the Sage's EULA and other legal issues. As a starting point, if google starts selling more extenders the EULA etc will needs to be googlized(reviewed by a team of google's finest lawyers).

We dont look at EULAs that closely but they do take a team of lawyers to write and in the case of corporate purchases a team of laywers to read. As an example - I work for a big market data company and if we want to use a new software product a team of lawyers need to approve it before we can install it on one desk. They review EULAs very heavily (and we are only the software buyer).

If the case of selling extenders, google already has 'google market.' They could process the transactions there so I think it is the other business/legal related things that I think are getting in the way.

That being said, SageTV has a large developer community. Google/Androids successes can largely be based on their embracement of the developer community. Sage is a technical product, though not every user is a developer to Google standards I would say that most users are on the high end technically. Retaining goodwill with that community has a value to Google.

To expect this to be resolved in a week in not realistic. Heck, Jeff may be packing for a move to Mountain View. The fact that he is being retained at Google is a good sign. I am sure he sees the value in the community and I think his efforts to address two key issues this week show he is reaching out at as fast and as best as can be expected at this time.

Seeing these two issues resolved/communicated gives me some faith:
1) Make upgrade serials available
2) Let people know you are not going to be able to blast the HD300 firmware on to another box and make it work (Not the answer I wanted, but a quick answer none the less)

That being said - I would love to see a Google/Nexus special edition HD300 to tide us over until Google sucks his brains out and uses it to develope the next version of GoogleTv.

[bcjenkins]

If anything, I would imagine Jeff et al, will be going to Santa Monica. I know I would much rather be there than Moutain View.

B

[starfire]

I will be AMAZED if any new version of SageTV comes out any time in the future, at least as we understand it in the current client/server model.

Google are interested in mass market, and having a PC with a load of tuner cards in it running Sage & the OS is NOT mass market - how many people apart from enthusiasts like us really want to do that? I know I would definitely never recommend this setup to someone who was not computer literate.

Even Sage themselves seemed to give up on the preconfigured appliance idea - remember the server on a stick Linux idea they touted?

What would be good would be an industry standard for extenders/clients that any manufacturer could implement which would then link back to our relevant TV/satellite/cable supplied DVR - you could then mix and match extenders with your DVR so a better situation in a way then we had with Sage's propriety setup.

[pez]

Originally Posted by Narflex

Don't waste your time. You won't be able to get it to work. Even if you had the identical hardware manufactured and put identical firmware on it; it still would not work. We're smarter than that. (just trying to save people from spending a lot of time trying to get that to work and failing)

Jeff do you know Bob and Alice and evil Eve?

[Yalbik]

Originally Posted by Narflex

Don't waste your time. You won't be able to get it to work. Even if you had the identical hardware manufactured and put identical firmware on it; it still would not work. We're smarter than that. (just trying to save people from spending a lot of time trying to get that to work and failing)

And what if the firmware wasn't quite "identical"?

I'm thinking you might be underestimating the ability / perserverance of the Sage community

[valnar]

Originally Posted by Yalbik

And what if the firmware wasn't quite "identical"?

I'm thinking you might be underestimating the ability / perserverance of the Sage community

Something is encrypted or signed. It might be in the HD300 hardware itself. Methinks Jeff is right.

[Torkild]

Originally Posted by valnar

Something is encrypted or signed. It might be in the HD300 hardware itself. Methinks Jeff is right.

He should be the one to know.......

[Trepidati0n]

Originally Posted by valnar

Something is encrypted or signed. It might be in the HD300 hardware itself. Methinks Jeff is right.

Jeff isn't dumb..that is exactly it.

As a FYI, the industry is moving towards "secure hardware". Too many big and small companies are tired of getting "cloned".

[Yalbik]

Originally Posted by valnar

Something is encrypted or signed. It might be in the HD300 hardware itself. Methinks Jeff is right.

Yes, it might be. My point is that it may be possible to write a replacement firmware that works adequately with SageTV.

I'm basically thinking something like the web interface for Sage running on an extender

Personally I don't care if it's and "official" Sage UI, as long as it provides similar functionality...

[davephan]

Originally Posted by Narflex

Don't waste your time. You won't be able to get it to work. Even if you had the identical hardware manufactured and put identical firmware on it; it still would not work. We're smarter than that. (just trying to save people from spending a lot of time trying to get that to work and failing)

Good advise to save people time, money, and effort!

As you can see, people are very afraid of losing SageTV when the HD extenders die. They could die tomorrow, or could die years from now. If there was a way to have the client software as a backup, then a client computer could be built to replace the HD extender. It's not an ideal solution since it costs more, draws more power and creates noise unless you build a silent PC. However, at least it would be a solution that would offer peace of mind even if the HD extenders lasted long enough to switch to something else in the future (which could be several years), maybe the Google version of SageTV. No one knows how long they have to keep their system running until there is a viable replacement. No one knows how long their system will keep running. Clearly, people are addicted to SageTV. I wish I would have bought several copies of the SageTV client software, then I would be in a better position now.

Dave

[SteveD]

Well I'm not bragging, but the MVP taught me the limitations of extenders, all the hoops to get netflix working, trans-coding of HD content. PCs are just more flexible and can be re-purposed. I should be able to keep working as long as windows 7 is supported and I can by the supported capture devices. My PC clients are very quiet, and not power hungry.

[MitchSchaft]

What a bunch of sell-outs. We are screwed, folks. Nothing good can possible come from this except for the owner making a lot of money from Google.

[joematt]

Originally Posted by SteveD

Well I'm not bragging, but the MVP taught me the limitations of extenders, all the hoops to get netflix working, trans-coding of HD content. PCs are just more flexible and can be re-purposed. I should be able to keep working as long as windows 7 is supported and I can by the supported capture devices. My PC clients are very quiet, and not power hungry.

It's called "Lock-in." Now it looks like "Locked-out". Thank the Gods I had requirements (playing RM files, real DVD player at each location) that I needed to use real clients. So I will be fine for awhile with my 5 client PCs.

Hey I just realized I had a real GoogleTV experience 7 years ago.

[Reefkeeper]

Just tried to access SageTV.com and the only thing there is a notice about googles purchase. Everything else are just dead links. A preview of things to come....

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by Reefkeeper

Just tried to access SageTV.com and the only thing there is a notice about googles purchase. Everything else are just dead links. A preview of things to come....

You're a bit behind. Been like that since this thread started.