dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
60291

cypherstream
MVM
join:2004-12-02
Reading, PA
·PenTeleData
ARRIS SB8200

cypherstream to telcodad

MVM

to telcodad

Re: New Guides for SA/Cisco Areas (Info from Ted Hodgins Blog)

File may be large but for comparison, DirecTV's HD UI DVR software complete with Pandora, YouTube, TVApps, poster art, multi-room DVR is only about 17mb and I spool it from the sat in 10 minutes.

The package sent can be heavily compressed, be it tar.gz or what, and then once downloaded it can be expanded into flash memory. In my opinion an RNG200N is an RNG200N. If its a memory limitation I would imagine the model of the box would be different so they could differentiate the equipment when ordering, inventorying and supplying these set tops.

On Screen Guide 2.0 looks much nicer than I-Guide but it doesn't really look all that more complicated than DirecTV or Dish Network, both of which spool software from the satellite from a carousel data stream.

X1 on the other hand looks "next generation" with much richer graphics, animations and smooth looking graphics acceleration. I know a lot of the graphics are harvested over DOCSIS IP channel but the smoothness and responsiveness of the system is attributed to the Intel CPU in the Pace X1 set top box. I would be curious if they could pull off "On Screen Guide 3.0" on any Broadcom based STB like Motorola DCX series. They claim to have "graphics acceleration" but I don't think they have the DMIPS performance of the Intel 3100 and 4100 series CPU's.

They really should of threw ARM based processors in these set top boxes. Look how powerful our phones and tablets are, and yet how popular they are. Everyone I know has a pretty decent performing smart phone, be it an iphone or android.
GoodOmens
join:2005-07-06
Washington, DC

GoodOmens

Member

Anyone know what areas have the 2.0 guide? Or what the roll out will be?

I'm in the DC area....
Russ6
join:2011-03-17
Houston, TX

Russ6

Member

said by GoodOmens:

Anyone know what areas have the 2.0 guide? Or what the roll out will be?

I'm in the DC area....

See this previous post:
»New Guides for SA/Cisco Areas (Info from Ted Hodgins Blog)

Note: There are no current plans for updating existing boxes with On-Screen Guide 2.0. The existing boxes will have to be exchanged for new boxes with On-Screen Guide 2.0 preloaded when it is available in a specific area. See this previous post:
»Re: New Guides for SA/Cisco Areas (Info from Ted Hodgins Blog)
Russ6

Russ6

Member

The following posts are from Comcast's Ted Hodgins, Sr. Director, Video Product Development - Navigation, in Media & Entertainment, "New Guide for Scientific Atlanta Cable Boxes" blog and Ted explains why On-Screen Guide 2.0 is not going to be downloaded to existing boxes (see first 2 paragraphs in Ted's reply). The rest of Ted's reply excluding the last paragraph describes the S26 Guide.
quote:
Ted,

I am annoyed that I am going to have disconnect my two boxes (one with many shows saved on its HDD) and bring them to be swapped out for "new" boxes with On Screen Guide 2.0 as I am suffering bugs that it appears On Screen Guide 2.0 fixes.

Add to that I have no idea when On Screen Guide 2.0 will be flashed to the "new" boxes and I have to admit that not updating in-home customers boxes is annoying and at least to me very displeasing.

Dan

Dan | July 2, 2012 8:35 PM

»blog.comcast.com/2010/05 ··· nt-51438
quote:
Hello Dan, it's fairly technical, but to keep the explanation simple, the new On-Screen Guide 2.0 »www.xfinity.com/onscreenguide2 is delivered to our newest cable boxes via a different and newer protocol and technology (called OCAP or tru2way).

The RNG 200 that you have in your home today is not assigned to the tru2way mode and can't be easily flipped or changed into that mode and preserve your current DVR recordings, favorites and other user configurable settings which would be a bad customer experience.

We have a release for existing cable boxes that addresss many of the current known issues that you may be experiencing. That release is scheduled to start being available over the summer.

Several customer facing issues are also resolved in this release, including the following:

- DVR Boxes losing functionality of 15 second rewind and 5 minute skip back after being online for a significant period of time.

- DVR over-recording issues with New and Repeat episodes

- Not Authorized messages appearing on authorized channels

- HD Pass through working with HDMI cables

- RNG 200s only: When watching live TV, pressing rewind may rewind all the way to the beginning of the buffer and bring the customer back to live TV.

- RNG 200s only: Audio /video occasionally cuts in and out after swapping channels.

- RNG200N's only: Video momentarily blacks out while watching TV.

New features included in this release:

myDVR Manager: From the internet and the Xfinity TV app, customers can: set recordings, view/modify scheduled recordings, view completed recordings, modify series priority lists, etc.
»xfinity.comcast.net/mydv ··· /how-to/

Caller ID to the TV See who's calling, right from your TV and PC! Comcast Universal Caller ID takes the guesswork out of incoming calls. »www.comcast.net/callerid

Xfinity TV Application: The ability to use your iPad to change channels on the TV
»www.xfinity.com/help/int ··· -tv-app/

HSN Shop-by-Remote: A convenient, new way to make HSN purchases simply by using your remote. »www.comcast.net/newguide ··· 0110.pdf

Request for Info: Know more, save more! Introducing an easy way to request valuable coupons and info from advertisers simply by using your remote.
»www.comcast.net/newguide ··· tion.pdf

Ready Remind and Ready Record: Now you can conveniently set program reminders or recordings directly from certain TV show and movie advertisements.
»www.comcast.net/newguide ··· cord.pdf

This is a site by site roll-out so when your specific area gets it may vary. We do plan to start deployments in areas of Connecticut but aren't at liberty to release our scheduled dates or sequence at this point.

The majority of our customer deployments are scheduled to begin soon after the summer Olympics have completed (after August 12).

The long term plan is to get all of our newest cable boxes (regardless of hardware manufacturer or geography) onto a common more advanced on-screen guide starting in 2013 to provide a more consistent experience.

Ted Hodgins replied to comment from Dan | July 11, 2012 3:22 PM

»blog.comcast.com/2010/05 ··· nt-52023
Russ6

Russ6

Member

The following posts are from Comcast's Ted Hodgins, Sr. Director, Video Product Development - Navigation, in Media & Entertainment, "New Guide for Scientific Atlanta Cable Boxes" blog and Ted explains the new guide updates. On-Screen Guide 3.0 is the X1 Guide.
quote:
Hi Ted,
I have read through most of the below comments and would ask if you could please clarify a couple of things for me (I live in zip 20112 - Northern Virginia)

1) Will DVR Manager &/or Caller ID become available in our area THIS summer? August 2012? (am I reading this correctly, below?)

2) When can we expect the fancy new (and much improved!) 2.0 interactive Guide in our area (and do we have to change our box to get this guide? I have a Cisco RNG200 DVR box)

No one at your local office even acts like they know what I'm talking about when I ask these questions but obviously you are addressing these here.

Bob

Bob Jurgensen | July 3, 2012 8:06 AM

»blog.comcast.com/2010/05 ··· nt-51488
quote:
Hello Bob and thanks for your questions.

Most all (more than 98%) of our Cisco and Scientific-Atlanta cable boxes in all areas will be getting some sort of guide update and improvements starting over the summer. We are still on track to start delivering this new guide to many locations in that time frame.

We are still developing the rollout schedule and should have some more specific announcements very soon.

Due to the number of Comcast locations and other important customer-facing projects, not all customers will receive the new guide over the summer, some locations will be scheduled to get the new guide in the fall. This is a site by site roll-out so when your specific area gets it may vary.Virginia is on the list.

We do plan to start deployments in areas of Connecticut but aren't at liberty to release our scheduled dates or sequence at this point.

The majority of our customer deployments are scheduled to begin soon after the summer Olympics have completed (after August 12).

Only the following Comcast areas using Cisco or Scientific-Atlanta branded cable boxes are scheduled to have On-Screen Guide 2.0 (a seprate inititiave) : Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Mexico and Texas.

AnyRoom DVR (an additional service available at a recurring monthly charge) and On-Screen Guide 2.0 are not currently scheduled to be available in our Scientific-Atlanta/Cisco areas of Virginia this year.

We do have two new guides deployed to many customers in a number of Comcast areas that will be more widely deployed in 2013. I think you will find the design, layout and feature set more appealing and user-friendly.

Below are some links that showcase these new guide interfaces.

On-Screen Guide 2.0 »www.xfinity.com/onscreenguide2

On-Screen Guide 3.0 »xfinity.comcast.net/x1/

The long term plan is to get all of our newest cable boxes (regardless of hardware manufacturer or geography) onto a common more advanced on-screen guide starting in 2013 to provide a more consistent experience.

Ted Hodgins replied to comment from Bob Jurgensen | July 11, 2012 3:45 PM

»blog.comcast.com/2010/05 ··· nt-52025
Russ6

Russ6

Member

The following post is from Comcast's Ted Hodgins, Sr. Director, Video Product Development - Navigation, in Media & Entertainment, "New Guide for Scientific Atlanta Cable Boxes" blog and Ted explains that On-Screen Guide 2.0 is NOT for the Motorola STB market (see underlined section).
quote:
Keith S., thanks for your comments on On-Screen Guide 2.0. We also think it is a much better interface and customer experience.

The new On-Screen Guide 2.0 is delivered to our newest cable boxes via a different and newer protocol and technology (called OCAP or tru2way).

The Cisco and Scientific Atlanta cable boxes that our customers have in their homes today are not assigned to the tru2way mode and can't be easily flipped or changed into that mode and preserve the current DVR recordings, favorites and other user configurable settings which would be an unfavorable customer experience.

Motorola cable boxes are not currently scheduled for On-Screen Guide 2.0. The newer Motorola DCX series of boxes in some markets are scheduled at some point in 2013 to get the new X1 guide (also knows as On-Screen Guide 3.0).

On-Screen Guide 2.0 »www.xfinity.com/onscreenguide2

On-Screen Guide 3.0 »xfinity.comcast.net/x1/

The long term plan is to get all of our newest cable boxes (regardless of hardware manufacturer or geography) onto a common more advanced on-screen guide starting in 2013 to provide a more consistent experience. Thanks for your patience.

Ted Hodgins replied to comment from Keith S | July 16, 2012 1:52 PM

»blog.comcast.com/2010/05 ··· nt-52414
Russ6

1 edit

Russ6

Member

The following post is from Comcast's Ted Hodgins, Sr. Director, Video Product Development - Navigation, in Media & Entertainment, "New Guide for Scientific Atlanta Cable Boxes" blog and Ted explains that On-Screen Guide 2.0 is a short term bridge to On-Screen Guide 3.0 (X1). See underlined section.
quote:
Hello Evan and thanks for your questions. To be clear, we don't plan on offering On-Screen Guide 2.0 in any areas of VA.

On-Screen Guide 2.0 is a way to introduce significant improvements and new features (including AnyRoom DVR) to our customers in our Cisco footprint (delivering to multiple markets in several states now instead of waiting another full year). Our Cisco areas historically have lagged behind our Motorola areas when it comes to new video products and features.

On-Screen Guide 2.0 is a short term bridge as we work to get our On-Screen Guide 3.0 (X1) into more areas this year and into 2013.

We continue to test and trial the new cloud-based X1 guide on our Cisco RNG cable boxes and the plan would be to deliver the X1 experience (On-Screen Guide 3.0) on the Cisco RNG 200N and the Cisco 150N cable boxes by the end of 2013.


On-Screen Guide 2.0 »www.xfinity.com/onscreenguide2

On-Screen Guide 3.0 »xfinity.comcast.net/x1/

The long term plan is to get all of our newest cable boxes (regardless of hardware manufacturer or geography) onto a common more advanced on-screen guide starting in 2013 to provide a more consistent experience.

Ted Hodgins replied to comment from Evan | July 16, 2012 2:49 PM

»blog.comcast.com/2010/05 ··· nt-52423
Russ6

Russ6

Member

The following post is from Comcast's Ted Hodgins, Sr. Director, Video Product Development - Navigation, in Media & Entertainment, "New Guide for Scientific Atlanta Cable Boxes" blog and Ted explains the initial deployment of some features of the S26 Guide.
quote:
As a general update, customers in the Shreveport, LA area and areas of east Texas are scheduled to get the mentioned guide fixes plus myDVR Manager) this week, the specific areas are listed below:

LA: Shreveport, Caddo Parish, Greenwood, Desoto Parish, Stonewall

TX: Waskom, Harrison County, Panola County

The other new features (Caller ID, Xfinity TV App, HSN Shop by Remote, etc) will be added in these areas in August after the end of the Summer Olympics.

Other Comcast locations are scheduled for both the guide fixes and the new features combined starting after the end of the Olympics (after August 13).

Ted Hodgins replied to comment from Ted Hodgins | July 16, 2012 3:26 PM

»blog.comcast.com/2010/05 ··· nt-52431
Joe12345678
join:2003-07-22
Des Plaines, IL

Joe12345678 to maybe

Member

to maybe
seeing how the centers still give out older boxes right now I err that being a MAJOR mess.

Mike Wolf
join:2009-05-24
Tuckerton, NJ

Mike Wolf to Russ6

Member

to Russ6
Still no word on when CableCARD firmware is going to be updated in CPE huh. (sighs)
Russ6
join:2011-03-17
Houston, TX

Russ6

Member

The following post is from Comcast's Ted Hodgins, Sr. Director, Video Product Development - Navigation, in Media & Entertainment, "New Guide for Scientific Atlanta Cable Boxes" blog and Ted explains that Houston is targeted to get AnyRoom DVR with On-Screen Guide 2.0 by the end of August.
quote:
@Brandon, Houston is an area where we will be offering On-Screen Guide 2.0 this year, (targeted by the end of August). Thanks for your patience.

New cable boxes and a professional installation are required.

The new On-Screen Guide 2.0 is delivered to our newest cable boxes via a different and newer protocol and technology (called OCAP or tru2way).

The Cisco or Scientific-Atlanta branded cable box that you may have today is not assigned to the tru2way mode and can't be easily flipped or changed into that mode and preserve the current DVR recordings, favorites and other user configurable settings which would be an unfavorable customer experience.

Ted Hodgins replied to comment from Brandon | July 18, 2012 10:03 PM

»blog.comcast.com/2010/05 ··· nt-52577
Russ6

Russ6

Member

The following excerpt is from Comcast's Ted Hodgins, Sr. Director, Video Product Development - Navigation, in Media & Entertainment, "New Guide for Scientific Atlanta Cable Boxes" blog and says that SA/Cisco customers in Connecticut can expect to get the S26 Guide (the update to the current S25 Guide) this week. For information on what is in the new guide, click the link or review the previous posts in this thread.
quote:
. . .
Our Scientific-Atlanta/Cisco customers in Connecticut can expect this guide update this week. Our customers in Shreveport, LA and eastern Texas have the new guide improvments already.
. . .

Ted Hodgins replied to comment from Nate | August 13, 2012 4:03 PM

»blog.comcast.com/2010/05 ··· nt-54560
Russ6

Russ6

Member

The following post is from Comcast's Ted Hodgins, Sr. Director, Video Product Development - Navigation, in Media & Entertainment, "New Guide for Scientific Atlanta Cable Boxes" blog and has schedule updates for some areas to get the S26 Guide (the update to the current S25 Guide). The features have been described in previous posts in this thread.
quote:
SCHEDULE UPDATE: In addition to our SA-Cisco areas in Connecticut, areas of Minnesota and Georgia are also scheduled this month to get the features that are mentioned in my entry directly below.

Ted Hodgins replied to comment from Ted Hodgins | August 14, 2012 1:45 PM

»blog.comcast.com/2010/05 ··· nt-54627
The Q
join:2008-06-26
Collegeville, PA

The Q to Mike Wolf

Member

to Mike Wolf
said by Mike Wolf:

Still no word on when CableCARD firmware is going to be updated in CPE huh. (sighs)

I would think the cablecard cpe fw would be updated at the same time as the sw and the fw in the boxes...(?)
Russ6
join:2011-03-17
Houston, TX

Russ6

Member

said by The Q:

said by Mike Wolf:

Still no word on when CableCARD firmware is going to be updated in CPE huh. (sighs)

I would think the cablecard cpe fw would be updated at the same time as the sw and the fw in the boxes...(?)

I agree.

WK2
Premium Member
join:2006-12-28
united state

WK2 to RKB_t

Premium Member

to RKB_t
I might have missed this while quickly running through this tread, is there any NJ updates for the UI?
Russ6
join:2011-03-17
Houston, TX

Russ6

Member

said by WK2:

I might have missed this while quickly running through this tread, is there any NJ updates for the UI?

SA/Cisco areas of NJ (if they exist) will be getting the S26 Guide, but there has been no announcement on when. Only a few areas mentioned have gotten the new guide and a few more areas have a timeframe for getting the new guide. The S26 Guide will be rolled out to all SA/Cisco areas across the USA on an area by area basis over a period of months.

WK2
Premium Member
join:2006-12-28
united state

WK2 to RKB_t

Premium Member

to RKB_t
Thx

telcodad
MVM
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ

telcodad to Russ6

MVM

to Russ6
said by Russ6:

said by WK2:

I might have missed this while quickly running through this tread, is there any NJ updates for the UI?

SA/Cisco areas of NJ (if they exist) will be getting the S26 Guide, but there has been no announcement on when.

I know that the Monmouth and Ocean county systems use SA/Cisco equipment, and I believe most of the Southern NJ systems do also.
Russ6
join:2011-03-17
Houston, TX

Russ6

Member

telcodad,

Thanks for the info.

I thought there were some SA/Cisco areas in NJ, but I wasn't positive.
Russ6

Russ6

Member

The following post is from Comcast's Ted Hodgins, Sr. Director, Video Product Development - Navigation, in Media & Entertainment, "New Guide for Scientific Atlanta Cable Boxes" blog and states the schedule for Houston getting On-Screen Guide 2.0 has been delayed. This is the reason I don't have a lot of faith in Comcast schedule dates. Here is a link to the August schedule date (»Re: New Guides for SA/Cisco Areas (Info from Ted Hodgins Blog)) .
quote:
@Brandon, I wanted to provide an update on Houston. Due to some higher priority projects underway in Houston, the team is not going to be able to deliver On-Screen Guide 2.0 this month as I had originally posted. The launch date for Houston is currently TBD, but is expected to still be this year.

Ted Hodgins replied to comment from Brandon | August 15, 2012 5:50 PM

»blog.comcast.com/2010/05 ··· nt-54751
Russ6

Russ6

Member

The following posts are from Comcast's Ted Hodgins, Sr. Director, Video Product Development - Navigation, in Media & Entertainment, "New Guide for Scientific Atlanta Cable Boxes" blog and Ted says the current plan is to upgrade existing Cisco RNG 200N STBs with the X1 Guide (aka On-Screen Guide 3.0) in 2013:
quote:
Hi Ted,

Following up on your answer to Sean: Will Guide 3.0 be available to those of us who have (older) Cisco RNG 200N boxes -- boxes that were not eligible for the 2.0 upgrade -- without having to exchange boxes when 3.0 becomes available in our area?

Thanks,
Bob
Palm Beach Gardens, FL
33418

Bob | August 21, 2012 12:53 PM

»blog.comcast.com/2010/05 ··· nt-55322
quote:
Hello Bob. Yes, that is the current plan. That won't likely happen until 2013 for your area.

Ted Hodgins replied to comment from Bob | August 21, 2012 3:02 PM

»blog.comcast.com/2010/05 ··· nt-55327
TurboDan
join:2006-06-08
Lavallette, NJ

TurboDan to telcodad

Member

to telcodad
said by telcodad:

said by Russ6:

said by WK2:

I might have missed this while quickly running through this tread, is there any NJ updates for the UI?

SA/Cisco areas of NJ (if they exist) will be getting the S26 Guide, but there has been no announcement on when.

I know that the Monmouth and Ocean county systems use SA/Cisco equipment, and I believe most of the Southern NJ systems do also.

Atlantic and Cape May counties are both on Moto equipment. Not sure about the Philly 'burbs in western NJ.

Ocean systems are all SA/Cisco.

WK2
Premium Member
join:2006-12-28
united state

WK2

Premium Member

My area is Cisco

PGHammer
join:2003-06-09
Accokeek, MD

PGHammer to Russ6

Member

to Russ6
Accordinng to this, OSG 2.0 will NOT roll out to any Motorola area (this means most of Maryland, along with a large portion of Virginia that does not use SA/Cisco gear); instead, they will go from i-Guide to OSG 3.0.
Russ6
join:2011-03-17
Houston, TX

Russ6

Member

said by PGHammer:

Accordinng to this, OSG 2.0 will NOT roll out to any Motorola area (this means most of Maryland, along with a large portion of Virginia that does not use SA/Cisco gear); instead, they will go from i-Guide to OSG 3.0.

Yes

I think the main purpose of OSG 2.0 is to provide AnyRoom DVR functionality in the SA/Cisco markets until OSG 3.0 is ready for Cisco STBs by the end of 2013. See
»Re: New Guides for SA/Cisco Areas (Info from Ted Hodgins Blog)

In the Motorola markets OSG 3.0 should by ready for Motorola STBs at some point in 2013. See
»Re: New Guides for SA/Cisco Areas (Info from Ted Hodgins Blog)
TurboDan
join:2006-06-08
Lavallette, NJ

4 edits

TurboDan

Member

Has Ted ever commented on why there are "chosen" areas for OSG 2.0?

Here in New Jersey, we have no AnyRoom DVR, not mobile apps, no ability to set a DVR recording remotely, and they're still giving out legacy SA equipment at local offices. I refused to accept an STB they were trying to foist upon me last year because it was so old it had dried food on it from the previous owner.

And believe me, we're not getting any discounts for our suffering. I wish there was some explanation as to why certain areas will be getting these features and some are not. Frankly, I'm paying the same amount of money for fewer services and I'm getting pretty sick and tired of it.
Russ6
join:2011-03-17
Houston, TX

1 edit

Russ6

Member

said by TurboDan:

Has Ted ever commented on why there are "chosen" areas for OSG 2.0?
. . .

Ted has made a vague comment about why the rollout of OSG 2.0 for Houston has been delayed because of other projects that have higher priority. See
»Re: New Guides for SA/Cisco Areas (Info from Ted Hodgins Blog)

I have seen only a few comments about how SA/Cisco areas are chosen for OSG 2.0.

Comcast does not put a high priority on updating the guide or offerring AnyRoom DVR functionality in SA/Cisco areas. It takes years for guide updates, new guides or new STBs to be made available to all Comcast customers in SA/Cisco areas. I think this is also true in the Motorola areas. Comcast is restricting the new Pace X1 (6-tuner) DVR to only record 2 shows at a time.

All SA/Cisco areas are getting the S26 guide update which provides all the functionality that you mention except for AnyRoom DVR which requires OSG 2.0. The target date is to finish the S26 guide update by the end of this year (2012).

EDIT: I found the following quote from Comcast's Ted Hodgins, Sr. Director, Video Product Development - Navigation, in Media & Entertainment, "New Guide for Scientific Atlanta Cable Boxes" blog and is about a year old and refers to On-Screen Guide 2.0 as phase 4 (Note: the phase 4 name is no longer being used) in the linked blog entry. See the underlined sections for the requirements for On-Screen Guide 2.0.
quote:
. . .

The On-Screen Guide 2.0 also uses tru2way platform - more info here »www.tru2way.com/consumers

The plans are to also put this guide onto newly deployed RNG series of cable boxes in several markets this year. RNG cable boxes that are deployed after a certain date in certain SA/Cisco areas will receive On-Screen Guide 2.0. Each market needs to be certified as tru2way ready and On-Screen Guide 2.0 ready.

Ted Hodgins replied to comment from Evan | August 25, 2011 10:20 AM

»blog.comcast.com/2010/05 ··· nt-40180

cypherstream
MVM
join:2004-12-02
Reading, PA

cypherstream to RKB_t

MVM

to RKB_t
Maybe it's like migrating a million user network from Windows NT 4 to Windows Server 2008 R2 domain. Not a trivial task.
Russ6
join:2011-03-17
Houston, TX

Russ6

Member

The following excerpt is from Comcast's Ted Hodgins, Sr. Director, Video Product Development - Navigation, in Media & Entertainment, "New Guide for Scientific Atlanta Cable Boxes" blog and says that SA/Cisco customers in parts of GA (near Canton) can expect to get the S26 Guide (the update to the current S25 Guide) this week.
quote:
Parts of GA (near Canton) are scheduled this week and all of our locations are scheduled to get this update by the end of the year.

Ted Hodgins replied to comment from Ryan Grimes | August 27, 2012 10:36 PM

»blog.comcast.com/2010/05 ··· nt-56419