Beyond TV 4 now available
November 10th, 2005 at 5:04 am by rkuo
Oh yes, it’s here.
We’ve covered some of what’s new in Beyond TV 4 in previous blogs, so if you need the quick rundown of what’s been going on, check out our previous posts:
- Beyond TV 4, coming to a website near you
- New HDTV PVR products bundled with Beyond TV
- Everything about HD - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
And now that the new website is live, we have even more interesting articles and information to help you learn more about what Beyond TV 4 can do for you.
If you’re a new user, or maybe you’d just like to revisit all the things that make Beyond TV the neatest PVR software around, then here are some useful things to do.
- Head on over to the new Beyond TV 4 product page. You’ll get a high level rundown of what Beyond TV is all about.
- Make sure to check out our updated Beyond TV FAQ for general Beyond TV questions. And make sure to visit the all new HDTV Setup Center, which we set up specifically to give you some clear answers on how to get started with this cutting edge entertainment technology.
- After you’ve clicked through the above links and read up to your satisfaction, visit our download page and get the 21-day risk free trial of Beyond TV. It’s a zero commitment way for you to see first hand what running Beyond TV is all about. Or just pick up a complete bundle from the SnapStream Store and have it delivered straight to your door.
If you’re an existing owner of Beyond TV 3, then:
- Look at the Top Ten Reasons to Upgrade to Beyond TV 4 and our even bigger list of 50+ new things in Beyond TV 4.
- Check out the FAQ on upgrading.
- Get the new trial of Beyond TV 4, or simply click on the “Upgrade Now” button in the Upgrade Center to upgrade to Beyond TV 4 right away.
Finally, we do make it easy to get the necessary hardware you need in case you don’t have it already. Our HDTV hardware bundles are starting at $99.99 and include the card, cable, and antenna you need to get rolling.
Don’t miss watching all your favorite shows in their full high definition glory. Don’t miss out on all of the new additions in Beyond TV 4. It’s our best release yet.
One last thing. HDTV, DivX, FM Radio, and the new interface are all fantastic new features. But, as all of our customers will tell you, the best part of joining the SnapStream community might just be the fact that the developers here have been, and are continuing to, relentlessly make the software better month after month.
OK, I’ve said enough. We’re proud to bring Beyond TV 4 to you. Go get it!
November 10th, 2005 at 9:37 am
What about people who buy BTV3.xx now from e-tailers? Will they get a free upgrade to v4? I’d like to get v4, but nobody seems to have it yet. Amazon has v3 and I’d be happy getting that if i was going to get an upgrade to 4.0 for free.
November 10th, 2005 at 10:39 am
What about people who bought BTV3 back in it’s early versions? Why are we being discriminated against and “new users” are given preferential treatment?
I own BTV and BM, and have for quite some time.
If I bought BTV yesterday, I’d get a free Firefly and a free upgrade. But as a long time customer, I have to pay $30 bucks for the upgrade alone. Doesn’t seem like a good policy…
November 10th, 2005 at 11:17 am
Now that BTV4 is out:
How long does the upgrade pricing last?
what is status of continued BTV 3.x support? When will next 3.x bug fix release be coming out?
can the ‘new and improved’ interface be customized? really customize, skins, layout… not just replacing FSMedia images
and the big one… what about BM upgrades… and the BTV+BM integration?
November 10th, 2005 at 12:03 pm
Just downloaded the trial with the hope BTV4 was going to be the answer to all my problems with BTV3.
Wrong!
Only supports external DVB devices!?!
Looks like I’ll be saving myself $30 on the upgrade and sticking with MediaPortal for my PCI DVB-T cards then (which also grabs the EPG data from the DVB stream).
Not the slightest bit interested in HDTV, not going to be available for years. Give us support for what we have have available now!
Disappointed UK user!
November 10th, 2005 at 5:54 pm
Congrats on the BTV 4 release. I’ve been waiting anxiously for the upgrade.
I’m curious what sort of processor would be required to encode two shows to DivX while watching a pre-recorded DivX all simultaneously in software.
Trying to determine if it would be cheaper to upgrade my processor to do it all in software, or buy Plextor ConvertX tuners with hardware DivX encoding support.
(BTW - are there still no internal PCI tuners that do DivX in hardware? anyone know of something on the horizon?)
November 10th, 2005 at 5:56 pm
Beyond TV 4 Released
Sweet. Beyond TV 4 was finally released today. I’m most interested in the support for DivX encoding and decoding. My tuner doesn’t support DivX encoding, so suddenly I feel like I should have gotten a beefier processor.
…
November 10th, 2005 at 6:48 pm
what a bunch of whiners.. jeez..
well i guess you cant please them everyone..
BTV4 rocks..
i had no problems paying the upgrade fee and i’m happy with the product..
keep up the good work!!!!
November 10th, 2005 at 7:07 pm
What is the difference between the Lite and the Gold Plus DVICO FusionHDTV5 cards? Why isn’t that explained right on the website?
November 11th, 2005 at 2:53 pm
[...] kmark on del.icio.us or Furl
Snapstream has announced the release and availability of Beyond TV 4. Beyond TV is Snapstream’ [...]
November 11th, 2005 at 9:12 pm
So far I love BTV4, the custom rows/columns for the guide, and the divx support were the main reasons I wanted to upgrade. One annoyance however that I had hoped they would fix is that there is no button to revert back to a window from fullscreen mode while you are watching a show. The option only appars at the top of the screen once you’ve gone back to the menus, and can’t be done while a show is playing. I don’t see why this wouldn’t be something simple to add, and I hope to see it in a point release. Also, why is there no horror category for movies in the new search system? Does that category not exist in the guide data itself? Thanks, and keep up the good work guys.
November 11th, 2005 at 9:30 pm
Its actually kind of funny… Since the whole HTPC/PVR scene is still kind of new it really depends a lot on word of mouth. I have friends who are trying to get into HTPC stuff, and others who have used BTV 3. When they ask what software i use for PVR I usually point them to BTV (i dont use BM)…
Now that said, lately i actually have been sending them HERE to the Snapstream blogs to read up the state of snapstream and BTV… so the FIRST thing they are seeing now is the past few BTV blogs with users asking a LOT of questions about things they care about too, but NO responces.
Snapstream is going to loose, if not already loosing, a lot of sales if they dont at least appear to respond to customer comments and feedback. It is VERY hard to be loyal and defend BTV when it seems like even Snapstream is not trying to make an effort. Most of the questions being asked HERE and on the blog posts/forums have been around for a while, and no real answers. They are not super complex questions either.
The general idea during v4 development from the community i saw was “wait till BTV 4 comes out, it will answer things and snapstream can address other concerns then too” Well now BTV is out… it seems a lot of people didnt get the answers they wanted from the new version so they simply are asking for clarification. most people want to use BTV, they just need to know what the plans are for the future.
things like: Upgrade pricing time limit, status of next 3.x bug fix release, state of BM_BTV integraded package… those are things i think ALL the customers who have not upgraded already (and probably some who already have paid to upgrade) care about to one extent or another. I could care less about the $30 upgrade fee IF the upgrade is as others have said, an value enhancement over prior versions, not mainly fixes.
Is OTA HDTV support nice.. sure.. but not everyone wants/can do that. Is DivX nice, hell yeah, but we HAD that a few 3.x versions ago, it was taken away (so thats not really an upgrade is it now)… FM radio, as stated not TV related, most of the ‘reasons’ to upgrade are exactly as others have stated, BUG FIXES.
the silence on the questions sends a message to potential NEW customers that you may ignore them once they hand over their money.. Or maybe you do not have a good plan for what to do next.
It sounds like BTV 3.x and your current customers are not to be supported unless they pay for the upgrade… That BTV+BM integration may not have been though of, started or who knows if its planned anymore… that bug fixes for EXISTING customers are not a priority…
dont get me wrong, i love BTV. i bought BTV3 over all the competition, but those others have gained a lot of ground on BTV in past few months and years and honestly are adding features people want. Most importantly they are making their goals known and answering support type questions.
Snapstream, these are your customers asking for answers, dont take to long for they may just ask your competition how to upgrade away from you.
November 11th, 2005 at 10:00 pm
I completely agree with Biff here.
And I also miss the feature that Pete was asking about: toggle between window and full screen while watching tv.
One more question… and it’s not retorical question..:)
Why is there no Showsqueeze option when the file is captured in HD? That would be a nice feature. One could use divx and this way put HD quality shows on DVD.
November 11th, 2005 at 10:30 pm
Pete, to change quickly from windowed mode to full screen and back again at any time including while a show is playing type “alt + enter” on the keyboard. If you do not have a keyboard, program your remote so that one of the buttons performs this key combination.
November 11th, 2005 at 10:43 pm
The expiration date for the upgrade price for BTV3 users is January 10, 2006. I took this from snapstream.com. Many of your questions are answered there or in previous blog responses.
November 12th, 2005 at 2:08 am
Does SS have plans to create a BeyondTV Link for the XBox360 (and/or XBox)? Part of the large costs associated with a PVR is the hardware for the system. Being that the XBox is hardware, I think having a new product to sell for the XBox would be huge. The upfront cost for the consumer to create PVRs for using Links would dramatically be reduced, as the Xbox would fulfill this requirement. This would open up a whole new world for everyone here. Each room in the house can watch LiveTV, recordedTV, DVDs, listen to music, play XBox games…all from one unit. I would definitely put these up in each room in my house. Despite the fact that SS competes with MCE, Microsoft would be able to collect from us dedicated SS customers that would otherwise not buy anything from M$ via purchasing more XBoxes. So I think this would definitely be an incentive for M$ to sell more XBoxes to work with SS on a port. That said, I don’t think M$ would have a problem from the competitive side.
I for one would definitely buy/recommend/refer/blog/whatever to everyone for more Beyond TV and Links to have such a cool and streamlined setup.
Any plans?
Anyone else agree?
November 12th, 2005 at 9:15 am
Corey, thanks for pointing out the upgrade limited time offer.. either I (and others) missed that or it was added recently… thanks. Still not sure if some of the other questions people have been asking here are answered in places fully. If anyone has links to specific forums, blogs, or comments that answer questions as people find them probably good to link them here too…
I would love the Xbox/Xbox 360 Link support, but for some reason i doubt that would happen. I think a lot of companies would be wise to try to tap into that market, but i think MS might want to keep that locked up. Look ath the Xbox… the choices are only MS Media Extender app…. That is unless you have moddified your Xbox to place one of the Many independant Media players on it. It would be GREAT if we could officially place media extender type apps on the xbox360. Who knows, maybe the PS3 could be the platform of choice, they seem to be a little more open to things from what i hear. PS3 is trying to announce some sort of Linux support (still vague)… maybe Sony would be more open to allow 3rd party companies to develop Media player software…
I cant fault companies for not making things for the Xbxo360 or PS3 though, their is a lot of licensing/hoops to things that have to be done. it is not a simple as developing an app, and making a DVD. it has to be official and It has to be ‘allowed’ by the hardware company, which i think is stupid. Could you imagine if every PC game/software company had to get someone’s approval to make the disk??
November 12th, 2005 at 1:47 pm
I was ordering 4 but can not find my old Order ID — from when I got 3 from the store on site. Bill
November 13th, 2005 at 6:40 am
I bought BTV3 from the snapstream online store only 2 months ago, on 9/14/05. Over the last 2 months I’ve grown to like it very much. I was also pleased to read that a free upgrade was coming soon.
quote from the 7/26/05 ‘pre-announcement’:
“Anyone who purchases Beyond TV 3 starting today through the Beyond TV 4 launch will get a free upgrade to Beyond TV 4 when it releases.”
quote from the notification email I received today:
“Get your FREE upgrade now.”
So today I go to the upgrade site, enter my BTV product key, enter my order ID number, and… huh? now its $30?
What exactly happened to my “FREE” upgrade?
Any other “late adopters” (post 7/26/05) have this same issue with upgrading?
November 13th, 2005 at 7:46 am
SnapStream account does not upgrade smoothly. I am still trying to get an answer to why. Hold off on the upgrade if you use snapstream.net for program information as you may run into an error.
November 13th, 2005 at 8:39 am
Hi K…
I am in the same boat.. bought BTV3 with Tuner Card from Snapstream in September with Free upgrade to BTV4 statement and when I try to download the new version today they want $30… what gives?????
Mike
November 13th, 2005 at 3:40 pm
Same as K and Mike. I got 3.x October 15 and minutes ago I tried to get my “Free Upgrade” as promised and I was asked to pay the $30. I still haven’t been able to get it to work and Support is none existent. I wonder if there is a way for me to get my money back or at least get the Upgrade FREE as promised.
November 13th, 2005 at 4:13 pm
I too am holding off on upgrading. Besides the divx feature and the catagory feature i could care less about any other bug fixes. Here in Canada most places need to get HD through a stb. If i could know that 3.7 will still continue to get patches and updates then i will refrain from upgrading to 4.
“3. It keeps on giving. We’re always making it better—and you get those improvements in point releases for free!”
Will v3 users still get point releases yes or no?
vice versa if it is discontinued then ill reconsider if i really want to upgrade to 4.
does anyone know what the upgrade cost will be later after exp date?
November 13th, 2005 at 9:02 pm
Beyond TV (i.e. SnapStream) Upgraded to version 4
One of my guilty pleasures is to have my own stash of PVR recorded TV shows on my desktop hard drives. How did I get them? By using Beyond TV recording software. It is like Tivo, but for your
November 14th, 2005 at 12:09 pm
Hey folks, thanks for sending in your questions and being patient.
Jason: on your question about e-tailers, yes, if you buy from amazon or any other online etailer, you will receive a free upgrade to Beyond TV 4 — once you’ve purchase from the etailler, you’ll just need to go through the process on this page http://www.snapstream.com/products/beyondtv/upgrade.asp and after you’ve done email us your order info for manual verification (the page will have instructions). Also, FYI, these etailers will soon begin to carry Beyond TV 4, but it may take a week or two more.
Biff: As I think someone here pointed out, upgrade pricing lasts through January 10, 2006. There are no further releases to Beyond TV 3.x planned at this point. There isn’t a true skinning architecture in Beyond TV 4 — this will happen when we merge Beyond TV in with Beyond Media. At this point, Beyond TV will make use of Beyond Media’s GUI/skinning engine. On Beyond Media upgrades and Beyond TV / Beyond Media integration, we don’t have a schedule for this right now, but stay tuned for updates when we have them here on our blog.
Spoons: Just to be clear, we don’t support internal OR external DVB devices at the moment. If you can tell me what gave you that idea, I’d like to make sure that the marketing team here corrects that. And, yes, we know that DVB is very, very, very important to European and Australian users (and more and more Asian users as well). We just haven’t committed the resources to it yet.
(more replies to come…)
November 14th, 2005 at 3:31 pm
So far I am very happy with BT4. I had no problems with my upgrade and am happy to support Snapstream with my upgrade.
I am impressed we got as many free upgrades as we did. This is a very different product then the one I originally purchased and I am saddened by the sense of entitlement displayed by many of the posters, here and in the forums. The software works as advertised. Like all computer programs there are occasion bugs, but if you think your needs are better served by another program or device, then you should switch. If you bought BT before the upgrade window and you are upset that you did not get a free upgrade, would you expect Microsoft to give you a free copy of Vista because you bought XP recently. Companies have to sell new version of there software if they are going to create and maintain profitability. How else are they going to support the developers who are making the product even better? If you can’t afford the $30 upgrade, then I guess you are stuck with, what as I pointed out, is already a good product. If you ordered it after the window and are actually entitled to the free upgrade, them maybe you should ask the question in the forums or email BT support.
November 14th, 2005 at 3:45 pm
While I don’t work for snapstream, I think I can postulate as to why “New Usersâ€? are being given preferential treatment. It is called good business. As I pointed out in my last post, if they gave a free upgrade to everyone, they would not be able to grow and develop as a software company. As for the reason “new usersâ€? were given a free upgrade, well that is common sense as well. They had announced BT4. If they didn’t offer free upgrades they would have cannibalized there own sales. If customers were planning on buying the product and knew about a new version coming soon, they would have waited. If you have been using BT3 since the early versions, you should be glad you received upgrades all the way the 3.7. Many companies would have charged for what were more then incremental upgrades between 3.0 and 3.7
November 14th, 2005 at 4:27 pm
Rakesh, thank you for the reply. answers most of the questions, even if i personally do not like the answers to all….
ok.. i can see both sides of the ‘upgrade’ debate. I for one have no problem with a $30 upgrade for future features and such… I can also understand the ‘free upgrade’ policy as this is standard somewhat for software.
When i purchased BTV 3 i understood that i got all point releases, bug fixes, enhancements, etc.. but not major overhauls in versions, those cost money…
while I do not personally need/use OTA HDTV at this point (in an apartment, so cant setup an HDTV antenna to get OTA) and would prefer Cable based HDTV, i can understand why it is OTA for now. So if that was all v4 was, i can understand why i would not need to upgrade…
Personally i would have thought that BTV 4 would have been the fully integrated into BM suite program, not a standalone app that highly resembles v3… Also i would have thought that BTV v4 would have implemented fully skinning, had a more customizable interface (not just new pretty images for the backgrounds and such) I know i am simplifying what v4 is, but to a lot it could be seen as BTV 3.8 (minus the HDTV and FM part)
But that said… i dont really want to get into a debate over how a ‘new’ feature becomes Upgrade worthy…
I CAN see how the HDTV and FM ratio can be seen as a v4 Upgrade and thus justify the $30 price. those are NEW things.
Now that said, the bug fixes that were placed into v4 i still think should be supported by *v3.x too*.. that is only fair to the v3.x users who have paid for a working bug free program. From Rakesh: “There are no further releases to Beyond TV 3.x planned at this point.” To me that is not right. the whole ‘if you can not afford $30 then stay with your version’ is fine for *NEW* features, but NOT bug fixes and such. The issue for me is not one of money, but responsibility to one’s customers. We all would scream out if a company like MS, Apple or some consumer electronics company said ’sure its buggy, but pay us more for the fix’ MS releases bug fix updates (even for much older versions of OS) If some DVD player did not work, you would RETURN it to get money back, period, or get a new replacement (bug fixed version) from the company that made it… We all expect our products to work, bug free, or to be fixed so that is will work. Again, this is for bug fixes/enhancements NOT new features like HDTV and FM support.
I do not mind paying for truly new things, but not bug fixes. I know that developing software can be hard with all the configurations around… but as someone who has worked for consulting firms, if our software was delivered and suddenly a major bug caused the customer problems, WE had to fix it at no cost… if the probelm was with our software, we did not charge them for the issue.. unless THEY altered the program and caused the bug… (different story then) Since users of BTV can not alter the program, the vast majority of bugs come somewhat from the software.. so support is warented.
and personally i think DIVX should be backported to 3.x too only because as I understand it, divx was once part of 3.x, some people actually already PAID for that feature… but i could be mistaken, i swear it was there at one time..
It will be bad enough that the special upgrade pricing may expire before some users fully evaluate v4 (waiting to make sure v4 is for them, stable, bug free) I hope that all the v3.x users who are not going to upgrade right now are not going to be left behind and no longer supported when they have supported this company for a long time.
But then again, i am not snapstream…
November 14th, 2005 at 4:42 pm
and i wanted to clarify.. in my prior posting the reference to ‘if you can not afford $30 then stay with your version’ is NOT from Rakesh or Snapstream, it was a summary thought from different posts in forums/blogs, but not from Snapstream… just wanted to make that clear in case it was misleading.
Not trying to place words in anyone’s mouth and trying to be fair.
and also.. while i may have some concerns and issues with things right now, do not take this as being against BTV. Most of the people pointing out issues are probably very Pro BTV and snapstream, just have concerns.
I still think BTV is a better PVR app right now than a lot of others… I just want the software, and company, to be as good going fortwad as they have been in the past. I want Beyond X (whatever app) to continue to be the app people choose for PVR, or media center (i dont use BM) and that the user/customer community and company to move forward together. One can have the greatest product in the world, but if noone is a customer it is worthless… likewise, people can be the most loyal customers in the world, but if company doesnt nurish that fact, it will lead to an end. It is kind of symbiotic between customers/users and companies… one can not exist without the other… but one side has more power/control (company), while the other flexibility (can leave)
November 14th, 2005 at 5:05 pm
It is not uncommon for a company, especially a smaller company, to stop supporting and upgrading discontinued releases. Granted I did not experience any major bugs in the 3.x series (I am actually curious what “major bug� was fixed in 4.0.) Obviously there will be unresolved bugs when you have a product supporting such a wide range of hardware. I have also spent a fair amount of time in the consulting arena and I have yet to come across a complex product that is truly bug free. They provided a 21 day free trial and 2 months to decide. IMHO that is fair and an appropriate testing period. If your product is unusable in 3.8, try and earlier release or contact tech support. I have been using snapstream since version 1.X and have found there tech support to be very helpful and knowledgeable.
November 14th, 2005 at 5:15 pm
I like that SnapStream is offering free upgrades to those people who recently purchased BTV, however the upgrade process is lousy. You have to enter your existing product key (which is fine) but then you have to enter your order code if you bought it online. How many people saved their emails confirming their orders?? I was excited enough to get the product and install it with no issues that I had no need to save my email confirmation or anything else. Now I have to get support to send me my order number and I’m hoping there’s no issues in getting it. So in the meantime I have to wait. SnapStream needs to make their upgrade process easier.
November 14th, 2005 at 9:05 pm
when I bought btv I was told I would always get upgrades free now for some reason don’t qualify
November 14th, 2005 at 9:33 pm
orderlist, on your question about DivX, here’s the answer (from pbmax):
Based on internal testing and specs from Plextor, we have determined that the minimum requirement for DivX software encode is a 2.4 GHz P4 processor. With that processor you can record and playback DivX Portable (Medium) well. Anything above that may max out the CPU and cause dropped frames or sluggish PC performance. We have found that the new Prescott processors can encode up to our highest quality (DivX Home Theater (Highest)) without a problem. The slowest Prescott we have in house is a 2.8 GHz HT model.
November 14th, 2005 at 9:42 pm
Sheldon McGee: On your question about the difference between the Fusion HDTV 5 Gold Plus and the Fusion HDTV Lite, we’ll be putting together a comparison table soon for our website, but meanwhile I recommend you look at the comparison table that Fusion has on their site:
http://www.fusionhdtv.co.kr/eng/Products/ATSC5Gold.aspx
At a high level the Gold Plus card comes with a nice remote control, some extra software (ULead Videosuite 8SE, for example) and it has a more current chipset that’s is less susceptible to signal loss. The Lite card is also less well known here in the U.S. since it’s only 5-6 months old. In our testing, we were pretty impressed with both cards.
November 14th, 2005 at 9:48 pm
if you are so disappointed about no more updates to btv3 and are all whiny about btv4 being a (oh me, oh my) $30 upgrade, let SnapStream know you want a refund, I’m sure they’ll give it to you. but no, I think most of the people here are using Beyond TV regularly and are just disappointed that they’re not getting a free upgrade to the new release.
November 14th, 2005 at 11:00 pm
Eric, First off i dont think people are “oh me oh my $30 upgrade”.. i think a few people have even stated $30 is not a bad price, fair for a Major version revamp and upgrade.
the ‘dissappointed’ people would be those who do not need/want the new ‘features’ but DO want to make sure their existing software is going to be maintained, for at least some time. Do i ask software to be maintained forever, NO.. not even the big corporations do that. But i do think products, be it software, electronics, cars, whatever, should have a reasonable shelf-life for support. That simply comes from offering a consumer product.
and i do not want to start a flame war.. so my appologies if something gets misread.
and i do not think Snapstream would give refunds to people who do not want to upgrade to v4, people purchased and have used v3, so why refund them… how many bugs does it take to constitute a refund? what quantifies that a refund is warrented… that can be very open to abuse and i dont think it would be fair to Snapstream… but maybe it could be an option for those so unhappy with things, time will tell.
G… i think the FM feature being placed in BTV is more a byproduct of the TV tuner cards… TV and FM kind of are bundled together, so probably was convient to just do both through one interface.. but that is just a guess. In the end, once BTV and BM are one.. everything will more or less me a module of ‘BM suite’… the FM support sounded odd to me at first, untill i realized that my second Tuner card came with FM bundled..
I hope BTV 3 and 4 works great for everyone, but a simple look through the forums can tell otherwise (both versions) in some cases i dont care if its a 21 day trial, or two months to decide to upgrade… If someone does not want the New enhanced features, but is FORCED to purchase them just to get their bug fixed, that is not right. Again i will use a MS analogy… if you were on windows XP and their was a bug/security breach, and MS stated you must upgrade to Vista to fix is, and sure you also get new features… people would be outraged. What if a car manufacturer comes out with the 2006 model, should all 2005 models loose all support?? no. I am not saying Snapstream is the size of MS or the same as a car, but people should get support for the prior existing product version still for a while, and i do not think 2 months is enough. That is forcing people into paying for the ’support’. IF snapstream wants to SELL support contracts that are monthly/yearly with unlimited upgrades (like some companies do for other things) then fine, that forces people into paying.. but how many people want that (like paying a monthly upgrade fee). Either way, bug fixes should be done and given to users.. that is a way to alienate users if not done.
IF snapstream continutes to inovate BTV 4 (or 5, 6) eventually all the 3.x users will most likely upgrade once their are features they want/need… but apparently their are some 3.x users who do not want/need the current new features (HDTV / FM) at this time, but still would want support so they can continue to use Snapstream products.
November 15th, 2005 at 12:44 am
Would be nice if Snapstream would release a BTV4 with HDTV, FM, and DivX features turned off, as a free upgrade (bug fix) for current BTV 3.x users. This should be easy to do. There are all kind of different BTV versions anyway, why not have one like this. Then everyone gets what they want. If you want new features, then you should pay, if you just need bugs fixed, this should work.
By the way, in the trial I noticed that when I use DivX my 4:3 format is converted into widescreen. Is it supposed to be this way?
November 15th, 2005 at 12:58 am
Brian, I don’t think ss ever said they were going to stop supporting the older product, Beyond TV 3, did they? So I just don’t know what you are talking about in regards to support?
November 15th, 2005 at 8:33 am
from Rakesh above: “There are no further releases to Beyond TV 3.x planned at this point.”
so unless something is mistaken, snapstream is not going to support 3.x anymore. it will work of course, just not supported with any release (that includes bug fix). Also the lack of a B TV v3.8 fix release would tend to support the idea that v3.7 was the last of the BTV 3 to be released. 3.7 i do believe still has outstanding bugs/issues listed.
Lots of people have asked if snapstream will continue to do bug fixes for 3.x and such (can scroll through the comments on this blog even and in forums), and this is the only response I have ever seen. This is why people who are not upgrading to v4 may feel left behind and neglected for the software they already paid for.
So i would say ss at this point is not planning any type of 3.x support, but i could be wrong. But better and more clear communication is needed on this.
November 16th, 2005 at 8:54 am
Support for Beyond TV 3.x is not being dropped. We are continuing to support it in technical support, through our online support resources (still have the old documentation up, knowledgebase articles, etc.). Beyond TV 3 add-ons are also still available — additional tuner licenses, Beyond TV Link 3.
November 16th, 2005 at 3:41 pm
Ok, i can appreciate that ’support’ can be meant to say ‘online help available’. The support people NEED can not be covered by the community forums, and tech docs when the software has the bug (unless going to release the code)… the question posed here is that of future btv 3.x software release fixes.
since you are saying that BTV 3 is still to be ’supported’ but you have also said “There are no further releases to Beyond TV 3.x planned at this point.â€?
Rakesh.. will BTV 3.x get bug fix updates and releases?
Is their a BTV 3.7.x (or 3.8) release planned to address CURRENT and future bugs/issues with the BTV 3.x line???
A search through the forums can show that people have had bugs in v3.7 (some even so much they resort to using v3.5, an older version)
When might a new 3.x release happen to address those issues???
i think these are simple yes/no questions…
sorry, not trying to be a smartass but the question about continued BTV 3.x fixes, and such has been asked many, many times now and I am not getting a direct answer.. It is only fair to say plainly (yes or no) if their will be any additional BTV 3.x releases to address issues and things…
November 17th, 2005 at 11:30 am
How many software companies do you know that continue to update / upgrade older versions of their software after they’ve released a newer version? Why would you expect BeyondTV to release 3.8 / 3.9 updates when they’ve just released a 4.0 version with all the same options and more. Yes, there will be bugs with the new version, but point updates (i.e. 4.1, 4.2) are said to be free for users of 4.0.
When Adobe releases Adobe Photoshop 8.0, I don’t expect my 7.0 product to have updates happening anymore. That is the way of software companies. Make a better product and charge an upgrade fee. Just upgrade people and stop whining about 3.whatever versions. The new stuff is here. And it’s not only about HDTV. There are a bunch of fun new features in that new version. And it’s not all that expensive to upgrade. Otherwise, just keep using the old product, which really seems to work well anyway for most people. Me included. Never had any issues with 3.7 on a first time clean install. But I really like 4.0 and won’t go back.
November 18th, 2005 at 5:32 pm
Hi guys,
Thanks for the new release, like the new features and agree with some of the above posters that you have every right to charge for upgrades and that $30 is very reasonable.
I am one of “those” customers however in Australia who need DVB so that I can use my digital card.
I read in 6 months ago that “Our developers are hard at work on DVB-T/S support, because we know you want it, but it’s not quite ready to ship just yet. The great part is that if you buy Beyond TV or Beyond TV Link now, we’ll be sure to give you a free upgrade when we do add DVB-T/S support.”
Then in this release you say DVB is “coming very soon”.
Now in this forum you say “We just haven’t committed the resources to it yet.”
My questions are:
1. I understand software deadlines are very moveable, but does “very soon” mean a few weeks or a few months (hopefully not years!)? From your latest comment it looks like you haven’t even started…
2. If I upgrade now, will I get a free upgrade to the DVB compatible version?
Thanks
November 18th, 2005 at 8:22 pm
from Chris: “How many software companies do you know that continue to update / upgrade older versions of their software after they’ve released a newer version?”
lets see: Norton Antivirus does, believe McAfee does, MS Office does, MS Windows does, some Macromedia products do, Database companies do (could you imagine Oracle or IBM pulling that stunt, they still bugfix the prior versions of software years back), and i think even Adobe does that some of their products, including Photoshop for a period of time.. not saying they make new bug fixes/updaes forever (and not asking SS to either), but for a time at least after the new release comes out. Usually that ‘grace period’ of continued fixes for the older version is when companies firm up the new versions (from new release bugs) and market to the people who did not initially want the new version that the new features alone are worth it… If a company leaves a paying customer behind who has a bug that is causing the program not to work right that will not be fixed unless they pay more (upgrade)… that is a good way to have a customer move to a competitor, i have seen it a lot.
Some people dont want the new features like OTA HDTV, they just want the current features to work correctly (bug free) as advertised when they purchased the program.
Totally dropping prior versions the day the new one comes out, even from bug releases, is like saying ’sorry, we know you had an issue, but we made a new version now so join us and pay more, or stay behind with your bugs that you already paid for. We got your money already”
But we will just have to see how 4.x goes and if it is made stable enough (it does have issues) and worthy enough for all the 3.x people who have not upgraded yet to do so.
Damien:
“2. If I upgrade now, will I get a free upgrade to the DVB compatible version?”
based on what i have seen, that would depend how they view the DVB features and on if the version of BTV that comes out with the DVB update contains a ‘4.x’ or a ‘5.x’ in its version number…. if you buy BTV 4 and ss decides to add that enhancement to BTV 4 sometime, then most likely you would get it for free… but if snapstream decides to comes out with BTV 5.0 to add the DVB support you would most likely have to upgrade again and not get it for.
Example: If they had placed the New features of BTV 4, such as DIVX support or browse categories, and said it was a BTV 3.x version, everyone on BTV 3.x would have got a free update. But since those are include as BTV 4.x, the BTV 3.x users must upgrade (buy it) to get it. We get minor revision updates, not major version number upgrades when you purchase a version of BTV.
November 18th, 2005 at 9:27 pm
Brian, your arguments about upgrading don’t hold up. Norton Antivirus and McAfee require a yearly fee to continue getting updates for their products. Older Microsoft products only recieve security updates that fix holes that hackers can take over a system with. Macromedia and Adobe products cost a fortune and part of that is paying for support. I can’t believe you mentioned Oracle. This fits into enterprise software designed for businesses. This software cost more than a car (around $40,000), of course they give some updates for a while. You must pay a yearly fee to get support though. Most software does not continue to give updates without a yearly fee or some other charge. If you want updates just upgrade to v4 and be done with it.
November 18th, 2005 at 10:54 pm
ok… I will admit the Oracle thing was probably not fair and Norton gets subscriptions for New virus def updates (though i have seen PCs that still got program fixes/updates but not new virus def updates WITHOUT a valid current subscription, they just got program fixes)
i have also seen not just security updates for older MS products (and other apps) but bug fixes too.. fixes to correct major program issues…What is a security hole actually, a bug of sorts.. but hey. not going to continue to argue on this. it can be debated both ways… SS decided to increment the version numbers.. so be it, i can live with that.
I do understand why SS and people want everyone to upgrade and pay. Trust me i do understand. Just would have been nice to consider some of the people who really dont want the OTA HDTV stuff (and that really is the major new feature..fm is a toy right now, no record..Divx was on and off in 3.x pretty sure )
see if i knew QAM HDTV, or Cablebox style HDTV (i know much harder, and not SS fault), or a lot of the other features people were hoping were going to be in 4.0 were going up end up somewhere in the 4.x line, i would be all for pushing everyone to 4 now.. its hard to justify the upgrade, when you may need 1,2,3 more upgrades to really get the features that were expected. (like BM+BTV integrated package, like Damien’s DVB-T/S feature, or people who expected QAM in 4.0) that is why i tend to be reluctant (besides the current crop of bugs i have read about, and the pain to downgrade to 3.x if needed apparently due to license key inactivation) to be all gung ho about it. We all hear rumors or proposed features that will still be in 4.x.. but who is to say if thats the case.
wonder what feature will tip it to BTV 5, time will tell. anyone know if a 4.1 (or 4.0.1) is coming out sometime (to solve some issue i have read about).. or a roadmap of planned features for 4.x? (that actually would be great to see)
November 18th, 2005 at 11:59 pm
Get BEYOND your lame TV, Beyond TV 4 is out!
This one gadget all the guys and Girls with a multimedia PC and a receiver card need to look into. It a Gizmo to have, a part of anyone’s gadget collection. And something you will enjoy, from Snapstream past products. I promise it not to be myth, TV. …
November 19th, 2005 at 8:41 am
I paid for beyond 4 upgrade but the product key was not accepted for installation of the upgrade. Please send me a proper key number, or refund my money. Thank you.
November 21st, 2005 at 11:01 am
Michael, e-mail me at info@snapstream.com or PM me on the boards with your details and I’ll get you taken care of right away.
Chris, keep following our blog for updates on DVB, though I can tell you that we haven’t done much on that front yet. We’re hoping to be able to put something together for CEBIT. Harvesting an investment in technology like DVB that’s very popular, but not in our home country, can be challenging for a small software company like us. I mean, just look at TIVO — very established brand, well funded but a very limited international presence.
November 22nd, 2005 at 6:10 pm
Bottom line is I won’t buy BTV until it supports unencryted QAM. For me it’s a race between the third pary s/w developers SnapStream, Sage, Microsoft etc. to provide this functionality. Come on people it’s not rocket science for pete’s sake, whoever gets it done first could grab a large market share at this point in the frontend game. I don’t understand why it isn’t more of a priority… FM tuner? please. Try supporting XM or Surrius… let’s see some innovation, some vision… some real product differentiation, not just gui bells and whistles. FM… wtf, who cares!
November 22nd, 2005 at 6:44 pm
You won’t see recording from a set-top-box until Windows Vista. It’s not that software developers don’t want to build this. The fact that there are legal implications and roadblocks. Microsoft seems to have found a DRM that is acceptable that will be apart of Windows Vista. They are supposedly going to allow other developers like Sage and Snapstream to take advantage of this. However, you’ll almost definitely see this first in MCE after Windows Vista is released sometime at the end of 2006. Then other companies will be able to get in the game and support this feature. I too can’t wait!
November 24th, 2005 at 5:59 am
Rakesh, thank you for stating clear was has become pretty obvious for us, your international customers. That your program primarly is made by americans, for americans.
I just wish I would have realized that earlier.
I totally agree the other comments here regarding DVB and the need for it. I’ve used snapstream since version 2 and have been very happy with it. Lately it has really been a pain have it working since Sweden where I live are going totally digital tv, abandoning analog totally. Which means boxes, boxes and boxes that needs to be controlled somehow. DBV support seem to be the logical solution for a PVR program. It’s totally ridicilous first getting the signal digital in super-quality and then take it into the computer from the box in an analog way in order to again convert it to digital. And of top of that have the problems with controlling the digital box from the computer.
But I’ve liked a lot about snapstream, so I’ve been hanging in there with half-crappy solutions since dvb-support has been promised, as I remember, with ver. 4, at least that was implied.
And now… Huge disappointment. Not only that it was released without dvb-support but also the poor and faulty information around the issue.
What started as a love story for me, now has turned into something else so now I can just say;
Sayonara! and good luck with your software for americans only.
Thank you
Pete
November 24th, 2005 at 4:16 pm
Simple question: When will the patch be available for BTV4 ? As it is now, it works only partly, and I’m sorry - it is not enough to pay money for. It desperatly needs to be fixed (just check the forum ;).
December 1st, 2005 at 3:52 pm
I paid my $30 for BTV4, now how much do I have to pay to get back to BTV3? The only difference I can see is the horrible colors on the screen back grounds, making it hard on the eyes and difficult to read! Whoever did this ought to be fired!
December 1st, 2005 at 4:30 pm
My computer clock slips ahead, requiring me to regularly exit the Beyond TV front end, reset the time, then start the BTV front end again. Your competitor, Sage TV, has the feature that corrects the computer’s time based on time info available from a TV channel. When, if ever, will we get this feature on Beyond TV?
December 4th, 2005 at 3:37 am
What happens if my BTV 3.x file is corrupted or I need to format my harddrive, or my harddrive just dies? As I understand it, I won’t be able to get BTV 3.x back. I’ll have to pay $30 to get BTV 4. That doesn’t seem right. I like BTV 3.x and have no desire to pay to “upgrade” to BTV 4. I don’t think I should be forced to purchase BTV 4 if one of the above eventualites occurs. I think we should be given the option of redownloading BTV 3.x if the need arises.
December 6th, 2005 at 1:55 am
Harold, you are confused. I don’t know who or what told you that you can’t download BTV3. It is available under the download section of the Snapstream Website. If you are so worried about it, why not keep the installer of BTV on a harddrive or CD or something so that no matter what you have it. I can also tell you that it and older versions are still available for download at other websites.
December 6th, 2005 at 11:46 pm
I purchased Beyond TV 3 about 6 months ago and have recently upgraded to Beyond TV 4. I have had good results with both versions and I can say as long as you stick with the recommended hardware, the software works extremely well.
I do not have an HD tuner, but the upgrade to version 4 was well worth it because of the ability to record an entire show even if you forget to start recording at the beginning. Of course you do have to at least watch from the beginning, so that the content is in the buffer. This feature was missing in beyond TV 3 and in a nice improvement for version 4.
I have been following this thread for a while and have been very surprised by a few of the negative comments. Don’t misunderstand, I think those with bad experiences should post and let others know, but several of the postings leave me wondering if the author has some agenda.
I don’t normally participate in online discussions, but felt compelled to give some balance to this thread. As I said in the beginning, I really like the product and I recommend it to others.
BTW
I have a 6 turner setup using Hauppauge PVR-500 cards, BTV link, and an ATI x850 driving a 50 inch Sony Hi-def Tv.
December 8th, 2005 at 11:34 pm
What happened to the ability to resolve recording conflicts in the guide?
That was a feature that worked well for deciding which program you wanted to record.
Now I have to go back out of the guide and check what the conflict is and make the decision. The other way was much better. Pardon me if this has been brought up in a forum somewhere.
Personally I had problems with some of the version 3.x releases and ended up not using Beyond TV for awhile. I am still in the beginning phases of testing version 4 and cannot giver a fair assessment yet.
And I agree with the posts regarding continued support for version 3 in regards to bug fixes. If the bugs affect the advertised functions of the product it should be fixed. Why should someone have to upgrade to version 4, if version 3’s problems have not yet been resolved.
There is a lot that can be said regarding this issue, but I leave it to others to elaborate.
December 11th, 2005 at 9:51 am
I have yet to successfully show-squeeze to divx using BTV4 - on a machine that uses a sempron 2600 (which converts to divx fine using the divx encoder, fairuse, etc etc) the system tries to do several conversions at once, each bombing out after about 8 hours with one of the following messages: second pass could not start; chart could not be written; batch file was terminated…
I upgraded because I love divx - I don’t need realtime divx capture, but the convert to divx for showsqueeze was the selling point. Is the showsqueeze code so lame that while other converters work on this rig, BTV4 doesn’t?
December 17th, 2005 at 4:46 pm
I was having no problem showsqueezing to divx. The problem i had was with the divx showsqueed file the sound was out of synch with the picture, as i am not the only one having this problem-see the forums-i assume it is a bug in the program.
Of course i have the divx DVD player so was not pleased that i am now show squeeing to windows media.. the quality is good but it just doesnt play on the divx dvd player. If anyone knows of dvd player that will play wmv love to find out- Thanks
( AMD 64 3000 ) 1 GIG RAM SO THE PROBLEM IS NOT THE HARDWARE.
January 5th, 2006 at 12:02 pm
I just installed BTV 4 trial version. For some reason the
smartskip doesn’t work & automatic showSqueeze in DivX Video (AVI format) & all format doesn’t work.
For the rest all is ok. But I will wait before buying
BTV4 until those two functions are fixed or I will
search for another program.
April 22nd, 2006 at 12:34 am
While I don’t work for snapstream, I think I can postulate as to why “New Users� are being given preferential treatment. It is called good business. As I pointed out in my last post, if they gave a free upgrade to everyone, they would not be able to grow and develop as a software company. As for the reason “new users� were given a free upgrade, well that is common sense as well. They had announced BT4. If they didn’t offer free upgrades they would have cannibalized there own sales. If customers were planning on buying the product
April 22nd, 2006 at 12:35 am
Totally dropping prior versions the day the new one comes out, even from bug releases, is like saying ’sorry, we know you had an issue, but we made a new version now so join us and pay more, or stay behind with your bugs that you already paid for. We got your money already�
April 25th, 2006 at 10:25 pm
Great blog you have going on. KarlaX
September 6th, 2006 at 3:09 am
Still waiting for DVB-T support….. please prioritise.
October 30th, 2007 at 8:50 am
Sports Illustrated
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting