AZBOX Official announcement and launch of AzBox United States

[pwrsurge]

According to your website, which (if I might) needs some development

What's wrong with our website? Unlike azbox.com, at least we have one that's not under construction.

you have a humongous dealer network of two dealers.

AzBox FTA receivers have a completely different target market here in North America. Over in Europe, most AzBox users are using their receiver to view subscription services either using a subscribed smart card or stealing these services using Internet sharing. However over here in North America, AzBox FTA receivers are primarily used for feed-hunting instead of viewing subscription services as unfortunately, our providers don't allow third party receivers to be used on their service.

As feed hunting is a niche market, we have to be selective with the dealers we authorize in order to ensure they don't cater to the satellite piracy market, understand what feed hunting really is and to be able to explain this to their customers. Unlike the unauthorised dealers in Canada being supplied by Rick's, our authorised dealers don't cater to the satellite piracy market.

So, this whole thing is about someone in the US that is selling a couple of AZBox receivers to customers in Canada

I believe you are misunderstanding us as we NEVER had any issue with Rick's Satellite selling AzBox receivers to Canadian customers. The issue we have here is with Rick's Satellite supplying wholesale AzBox receivers to several retailers in Canada as a predatory tactic in order to attempt destroying our achievements and hurt the AzBox sales of our authorised dealers in the Canadian market. Using the Honda example from another poster, this is akin to a US Honda dealer supplying some of their new vehicle inventory to Canadian private car dealers in order to try hurting the business of authorised Canadian Honda dealers.



Best regards,


PwrSurge
AzBox Canada & US

 

[cyberham]

I am neutral on this issue; I don't know or care to know the Azbox history. If Azbox sold ice cream which you ate and then the matter was over with, I would consider buying Azbox if I liked its taste. But when a product requires ongoing support like an FTA receiver does, why anybody would go near an Azbox with the mess described in this thread is beyond me. In business, gentlemen's agreements are never a good idea since there are few gentlemen anymore.

 

[Keith Brannen]

streaming is different, I thought I was pretty clear about a hardware solution was the topic of that paragraph I posted, if not I apologize. Box's that can stream but not decode 4:2:2 themselves dont advertise 4:2:2 support. You'll never see a dreambox advertising 4:2:2 decoding ability.

And I wasn't talking about streaming, but how hardware that doesn't have built-in decoders of 4.2.2. can, through software/codecs, be decoded and displayed (either by Prof 7500 hardware/software, or by the roundabout Dreambox streaming, hardware to computer hardware/software).

Your paragraph that I quoted makes even less sense now, if you were only taking about a hardware solution. I fail to see any misleading statements, as pwrsurge said quite clearly: "We are aware that the AzBox Titan chipset won't support 4.2.2 but there is a small chance that it can be enabled some way in software given the fact that the processor on the Titan is fairly powerful."

Only thing I can see that you could possibly take issue with, is perhaps he should have said "decoded" instead of "enabled", and that certainly is an extremely minor point of semantics. I certainly understood what was meant (a possible software solution in the receiver), and if that was your issue, could have been corrected by you in a less confusing and simple way.

 

[Nevyn78]

Dear Pwrsurge,

You're still accusing Rick's.

Unlike the unauthorised dealers in Canada being supplied by Rick's,

Do you have documents or contracts from HTCE Limited (the owners of AZbox) wich proving you and only you and nobody else is allowed to sell AZbox in Canada? If so, did HTCE Limited send this to all the other dealers who are buying AZbox from HTCE Limited "ok, you are allowed to buy but don't sell it in the US or Canada. Only pwrsurge is allowed to sell there"?

It's really simple. Give some proof you are right and everybody including me shut up.

If so, i think you are the only one on the world with some contact with HTCE Limited. I hear from several dealers other things ...

I'm almost dare to bet you have nothing wich can proof your statements. If you don't, it means you are destroying the market and you are destroying colleagues. It also proves me nobody knows where the owners are and what they are doing (otherwise they should had intervene with official statements to clear this mess).

 

[SatelliteAV]

Nothing is to be gained by accusations and innuendos...

Unlike the unauthorised dealers in Canada being supplied by Rick's, our authorised dealers don't cater to the satellite piracy market.

You just lost any remaining respect or benefit of the doubt with this post. Are you suggesting that the AZboxes supplied by Rick's Satellite are associated with signal piracy in Canada? If so, how does the AZBox hardware distributed by AZBox Canada / US differ?

Rick's Satellite supplying wholesale AZBox receivers to several retailers in Canada as a predatory tactic in order to attempt destroying the Canadian AzBox market.

I am going to call this as I see it: Pure BS... Please recall that while this gentleman's agreement was still effect (prior to the formation of AZBox US) you approached many US resellers (including Satellite AV) regarding carrying product provided by AZBox Canada. This is just a territory grab, nothing more, nothing less!

I would highly encourage all parties involved to concentrate on customer service and product development. Win customers and resellers by offering a better experience and product. The past is unresolved history and obviously a rewrite is in progress...

 

[madmadworld]

have no dog in this fight. but it seems there was a US & a Canada seller for a few years. is there a paper trail ? have not seen it.
Surge is making up FW for the boxes.(good or bad?) and seems to try to fix stuff ? now he feels he's been wronged.understandable
the Business World is tough. move on is my advice.

 

[navychop]

I just don't see where there's money to be made. There are what, a few tens of thousands of FTAers in the US? And how many are in the market for a new box? Seems to be a tempest in a teapot.

 

[Kraven]

Good point, wrong continent to make serious cash off of 1 receiver brand.

Cheers, K

 

[Arion]

I can't believe all this arguing over a box that isn't even production anymore. I have a Skywalker but I'm going to buy one of the AZBoxe's while some are still available primarily for 4:2:2 capability. I've made up my mind who I'm going to buy from. This thread helped me decide. I've never bought anything from Rick before. First time for everything.

 

[pwrsurge]

You just lost any remaining respect or benefit of the doubt with this post. Are you suggesting that the AZboxes supplied by Rick's Satellite are associated with signal piracy in Canada? If so, how does the AZBox hardware distributed by AZBox Canada / US differ?

Sorry, perhaps I should have been more explicit when making that statement. What I meant was all of the unauthorised AzBox Canada dealers selling Premium HD Plus units from Rick are primarily catering to the "theft of services market". This can be confirmed by visiting each of those dealer's websites where you will see all of the current FTA "hacker" box models being featured predominantly. We NEVER suggested that the AzBox units they are selling are associated with signal piracy in Canada.

I am going to call this as I see it: Pure BS... Please recall that while this gentleman's agreement was still effect (prior to the formation of AZBox US) you approached many US resellers (including Satellite AV) regarding carrying product provided by AZBox Canada.

AzBox US was actually formed earlier this year before any potential dealers such as Satellite AV were contacted but we did not launch our website until now. If you had accepted our invitation, you would have received a dealer signup form from AzBox US in order to apply in becoming an authorised AzBox US dealer. As for the gentleman's agreement , it was technically voided last year as soon as Rick breached it by selling wholesale to Canadian retailers.



Best regards,


PwrSurge
AzBox Canada & US

 

[updatelee]

I certainly understood what was meant (a possible software solution in the receiver), and if that was your issue, could have been corrected by you in a less confusing and simple way.

A software solution on the receiver? software on stb's dont decode anything, its all done in hardware. They dont have anywhere near the processing power to be able to decode even low bitrate mpeg2 in software on the receiver. If a stb doesnt have the hardware to decode the format the ONLY option is to stream it to a seperate device that can (either PC or other)

I know dreambox so I can comment only on that definitively. To view video on the tv you litterally read a bunch of bytes from /dev/adapter0/dvr0 and write that same bytes to /dev/adapter0/video0. You can do the same with a recorded file, read X num bytes from the file and write the same bytes to /dev/adapter0/video0, its actually such a simple process you can even use cat. I remember a long time ago someone had wrote a transcoding app to take SD youtube video's and transcode them, on an 400mhz mips processor it took 2-3x longer then the clip was to transcode. a 2min clip took 4-6min to transcode. Is the titan going to have a 1.2ghz processor? congrats, you can do very low bitrate SD in real time..... not alot of that in 4:2:2

UDL

 

[Babadem]

Nothing is to be gained by accusations and innuendos...

You just lost any remaining respect or benefit of the doubt with this post. Are you suggesting that the AZboxes supplied by Rick's Satellite are associated with signal piracy in Canada? If so, how does the AZBox hardware distributed by AZBox Canada / US differ?



I am going to call this as I see it: Pure BS... Please recall that while this gentleman's agreement was still effect (prior to the formation of AZBox US) you approached many US resellers (including Satellite AV) regarding carrying product provided by AZBox Canada. This is just a territory grab, nothing more, nothing less!

I would highly encourage all parties involved to concentrate on customer service and product development. Win customers and resellers by offering a better experience and product. The past is unresolved history and obviously a rewrite is in progress...

I was wondering when somebody in the know with integrity, and has earned the respect of multitude of people over the years in the FTA industry would speak out against the vile and unsubstantiated accusations being leveled against, Rick Caylor. Brian, my level of respect for you has grown exponentially since reading this post.

 

[Nevyn78]

Pwrsurge, what in the world made you an official dealer? Please answer the question, you are avoiding it. Contracts? Why isn't anybody from Azbox clearing this mess? Can you answer it? Can you proof it? I know the AZbox world a lot better then you think, i guess. I won't let you damage a colleague, so come with some proof!! I guess you haven't ....

If you had accepted our invitation, you would have received a dealer signup

@SatelitteAV; you don't need Pwrsurge, just put you'r orders on the HTCE Limited site. They are the owners and they deliver (if they have stock)

 

[lange]

What's wrong with our website? Unlike azbox.com, at least we have one that's not under construction.

I guess that's just me. I would expect more from someone that spends so much money on a product.
But, it is also good to know that we at least agree on one thing

AzBox FTA receivers have a completely different target market here in North America. Over in Europe, most AzBox users are using their receiver to view subscription services either using a subscribed smart card or stealing these services using Internet sharing. However over here in North America, AzBox FTA receivers are primarily used for feed-hunting instead of viewing subscription services as unfortunately, our providers don't allow third party receivers to be used on their service.

You seem to value the comment about internet sharing a lot. You keep repeating it.
To be honest, I find it quite offensive.
Have you noticed you are contradicting yourself?

As feed hunting is a niche market, we have to be selective with the dealers we authorize in order to ensure they don't cater to the satellite piracy market, understand what feed hunting really is and to be able to explain this to their customers.

So, in other words;

• in all of Canada there are two authorized dealers who are able to tell customers what feed hunting is all about.
• You can not find any other retailers who understand what feed hunting really is.
• And if you can make them understand, they are probably to dumb to explain it to their customers.

To be honest, if you are not able to explain retailers what feed hunting is within a couple of years, maybe you should work on your skills. Or the retailers are really that dumb as you would have us believe.

Reading your comment, I can not conclude otherwise then that the rest of Canada doesn't understand what feed hunting is and might promote illegal activities.
And you are telling me European users are the smart cards en piracy dudes.

Let's talk about illegal activities. According to my information, satellite receivers that are imported, should have an FCC number.
I have not yet seen a single AZBox miniMe that has an FCC id number or an FCC compliance statement.
If there is one, please provide it in order to clear that up.

Btw. Is it save to say you are the other dealer, since you didn't deny it?

Unlike the unauthorised dealers in Canada being supplied by Rick's, our authorised dealers don't cater to the satellite piracy market.

This is very bad.
With the above, you've just demoted Canadian satellite shops/dealers to pirates. This is a very big accusation.

I believe you are misunderstanding us as we NEVER had any issue with Rick's Satellite selling AzBox receivers to Canadian customers.

I am assuming dealers are customers to you! So, there is no misunderstanding from my side.

The issue we have here is with Rick's Satellite supplying wholesale AzBox receivers to several retailers in Canada as a predatory tactic in order to attempt destroying our achievements and hurt the AzBox sales of our authorised dealers in the Canadian market.

Why? You just told us that the market segment Rick is supplying is a totally different one you or your dealers are supplying.
Furthermore, according to you, Rick sells to pirates in a country where AZBox FTA receivers are primarily used for feed-hunting instead of viewing subscription services
Sorry, you lost me!!!!
And what would be his benefit destroying your achievements?
Au contraire. You could benefit from this. It is very likely there are retailers in a big country like Canada that are interested in AZBox for FH and probably your firmware as well. But as you stated, these retailers do not interest you, for they probably cater to the satellite piracy market or are to dumb to understand what FH is.

Using the Honda example from another poster, this is akin to a US Honda dealer supplying some of their new vehicle inventory to Canadian private car dealers in order to try hurting the business of authorised Canadian Honda dealers.

Really? You are comparing Honda DEALERS, who actually have a contract, with AZBox DISTRIBUTORS, who have gentlemen agreements?
Wow!
Looking at all the information in this thread, you are the one opening a branch in the US and claiming it or, if you will, insinuating it to be official.
As I wrote in a previous posting, according to the OpenSat (as you call them) website, you are the Canadian distributor, Rick is the US's.

Maybe you should try to contact HTCE (or Honda, if you like that example) and discuss what could be done.
I don't think you can.
But if you can, enlighten us, as there are numerous dealers and end-users trying to get in contact with them. But sadly enough, all in vain.

Lange

 

[SatelliteAV]

If you had accepted our invitation, you would have received a dealer signup form from AzBox US in order to apply in becoming an authorised AzBox US dealer.

Missed that golden opportunity, didn't I?!

I may only be stating the obvious, but isn't it overtly apparent why distributors and dealers have declined to accept the gracious invitation to join this fiasco?

 

[eurosport]

::::behindsofa:

 

[b16a]

HI,

When you go to : http://htcelimited.com/contact/
You can see chineese worker and thhe adress of contact is in hong kong...
Does the REAL AZbox is manufactured in TAiwan?

Weird?

BYe

 

[lange]

HI,

When you go to : http://htcelimited.com/contact/
You can see chineese worker and thhe adress of contact is in hong kong...
Does the REAL AZbox is manufactured in TAiwan?

Weird?

BYe

I can tell you that using that form won't get you any reply at all.
So, it is useless.

Lange

 

[ChrisW6ATV]

It seems to me that if a distributor for a certain area (North America or part of it, in this case) was "assigned" (presumably by the manufacturer) to work on firmware appropriate to that area, then:

1) That distributor should have been paid by the manufacturer for their work as part of the "assignment", and should not use the cost of that work to attempt to put themself ahead of other distributors or dealers, and

2) Having been paid for that work (as any business contract would call for), should expect -and encourage- other distributors and dealers in that geographic area to use this "assigned by the manufacturer" and therefore presumably "official manufacturer-sanctioned" firmware in their same products, and again, not use their development "assignment" to distinguish themself from other distributors or dealers.

I have no interest in any of these businesses or products, I am just making some business observations.

 

[Keith Brannen]

A software solution on the receiver? software on stb's dont decode anything, its all done in hardware. They dont have anywhere near the processing power to be able to decode even low bitrate mpeg2 in software on the receiver. If a stb doesnt have the hardware to decode the format the ONLY option is to stream it to a seperate device that can (either PC or other)

I know dreambox so I can comment only on that definitively. To view video on the tv you litterally read a bunch of bytes from /dev/adapter0/dvr0 and write that same bytes to /dev/adapter0/video0. You can do the same with a recorded file, read X num bytes from the file and write the same bytes to /dev/adapter0/video0, its actually such a simple process you can even use cat. I remember a long time ago someone had wrote a transcoding app to take SD youtube video's and transcode them, on an 400mhz mips processor it took 2-3x longer then the clip was to transcode. a 2min clip took 4-6min to transcode. Is the titan going to have a 1.2ghz processor? congrats, you can do very low bitrate SD in real time..... not alot of that in 4:2:2

Thanks for the information. So it all depends on processing power. How does the Prof 7500 work, hardware or software/codec to view 4.2.2.? If software/codec what sort of processing power is required? Reason I ask is because nowadays quite a few STB receivers are really computers (internet access, media players, etc.) so if you had a powerful enough processor in the STB you would think that a software solution could be possible (sort of like the STB streaming to itself and being decoded by a program similar to VLC).