We Must Be Getting Close

[therockhr]

The solution you're proposing would likely be seen as sub-optimal from Dish's perspective because it would make their service "just another app" on your Apple TV or other streaming device.

But the new Hopper Plus will feature a Dish-designed home screen. Yes, the underlying operating system is Android TV -- meaning that the Hopper Plus has access to the Google Play app store and has Google Assistant and Chromecast features built-in -- but the home screen is controlled by Dish, not Google. When you start it up, you're immediately in Dish territory. From there you can watch their service or opt to launch apps like Netflix, HBO Max, etc. But those third-party apps are "side dishes" while Dish is presented as the main entree.

Beyond that, IMO, using the sort of simple remote that typically comes with streaming devices for a live cable TV service isn't the best. It's nicer to have a full-featured remote control that's custom-designed for the service, with dedicated buttons for DVR, record, last channel, channel number keys, etc. And the Hopper Plus, of course, will still use the regular Dish Hopper remote that has all that.

Good points. The more I think about it, the more I am liking what we are going to see.

I dont think some of these streaming services realize how big a deal it is for someone to grab a remote and have the service start as soon as they turn the TV on as well as being able to pick up a remote and press the number buttons to get to a channel.

 

[NashGuy]

Good points. The more I think about it, the more I am liking what we are going to see.

I dont think some of these streaming services realize how big a deal it is for someone to grab a remote and have the service start as soon as they turn the TV on as well as being able to pick up a remote and press the number buttons to get to a channel.

Exactly. That's the reason why DirecTV Stream has their own custom Android TV streaming box and voice remote that they offer to customers. (It's optional; you can instead just access the service as an app on Roku, Fire TV or Apple TV.) It makes for a much more traditional cable-like experience but with the added features you want in a streaming device too.

DIRECTV STREAM Technology, Cloud DVR, Remote & Streaming Device

DIRECTV STREAM brings our exclusive device together with Live TV, streaming apps, On Demand content & DVR recordings together. Plus, voice control with our premium remote.

www.directv.com

 

[navychop]

I will wait and read reports on how well (& if) a browser works along with a keyboard/mouse. And costs. I’m here for at least two more years anyway- even though we watch much less on Dish these days.

 

[NashGuy]

I will wait and read reports on how well (& if) a browser works along with a keyboard/mouse. And costs. I’m here for at least two more years anyway- even though we watch much less on Dish these days.

Browser, keyboard and mouse? Sounds like you want a mini-PC with an HDMI out connected to your TV. Check out the Raspberry Pi.

 

[navychop]

I’ve considered this. But not sure I even want to bring it up with SWMBO.

 

[therockhr]

Exactly. That's the reason why DirecTV Stream has their own custom Android TV streaming box and voice remote that they offer to customers. (It's optional; you can instead just access the service as an app on Roku, Fire TV or Apple TV.) It makes for a much more traditional cable-like experience but with the added features you want in a streaming device too.

DIRECTV STREAM Technology, Cloud DVR, Remote & Streaming Device

DIRECTV STREAM brings our exclusive device together with Live TV, streaming apps, On Demand content & DVR recordings together. Plus, voice control with our premium remote.

www.directv.com

Wonder if dish would do something like the Directv stream box? That is basically what the wireless Joey is now. Technology is there.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Wish I could comment... but I can't yet. But as soon as someone posts (with proof) that they have one in their hands then I can.

A LOT of wild ideas out there about these things.I will say that.

 

[ethanlerma]

Just hope the specs allow for this box to stay current for awhile.

The specs on the slides posted by HipKat on the first post look quite solid to me, a BCM72160, which is a quad-core 2.6GHz ARM CPU, 4GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, Wifi6 on the Wireless model. Compare that to the latest Roku Ultra, Realtek1319 with a quad-core 1.4GHz ARM CPU, 2GB of RAM and 4GB of storage.

A few things to keep in mind with this comparison, while both Roku OS and Android are Linux based, they are different beasts entirely. It will all come down to how well Dish optimized their flavor of Android. Also, I could not find a spec sheet for the BCM72160, so I'm unaware of its architecture. I know the 1319 is a 12nm Cortex-A55, but if Dish used an old architecture like 16nm/A53 then it could be beat even if it has the speed advantage. I'm pretty sure its not ancient since the SoC has Wifi6 integrated, but you cant tell for sure until a white paper gets released or someone with one installs CPU-Z.

 

[DishSubLA]

Correct - which is good for me because it will create a TON of paid work orders upgrading Joeys - which is as easy as it gets. With the work-load declining and Cost-of-Living exploding over the last few years, this will be very welcomed

Well, I am glad for you, and I really do hope business picks up for your benifit. It is heartbreaking how hard times have become for some people because of Covid. My best wishes to thee .

 

[DishSubLA]

yes but for Roku and AppleTV

Too much money for Dish getting it into the Roku (odd OS out) and Apple universe. It is Pay to Play to get on those connected devices. It is cheaper to pay ONE Pay to Play connected device (Amazon) with an App that also can run on Android TV. The Hopper Plus makes clear that Dish is sticking with ANDROID and going to push the powered by Android TV Hopper Plus module as the preferred Connected Device solution for Dish integration. The cost savings just focusing on Android (Amazon Fire TV's/Sticks are forked Android), are worth it to Dish.

 

[DishSubLA]

Some excellent valid points made here. This could become the KISS version not only for the 95% but the other 5% as well.

Dare I be conceited enough to consider myself part of the 5%, but yes, you are correct even we/I find this Hopper Plus powered by Android TV to be compelling for its simplicity of access to streaming apps (and other apps like VLC for music and video playback locally, I presume) in ONE place/system to simplify my life, as well.

 

[DishSubLA]

I forgot to add that I would really like it if the Hopper Plus allowed us to DVR the streaming channels offered via EPG such as a few of the HBO/Cinemax that are offered as streaming only. They offer Trick Play, but no DVR featiure for later viewing.

 

[DishSubLA]

There was a recent software update (H315 i believe) that increases the on-demand stream limit to 3, which includes internet streamed channels. So you should be able to do this now even without the Hopper Plus

OK, thank you. I will check my FW version and play with the H3 and hope to see it for real. Thanks.

 

[DishSubLA]

What about the reverse? I want to buy a J4 but I see no need for the H+ at the moment.

Well, I may be advanced in years but I have no issues changing inputs. But I sure as hell did this morning when I was completely confounded by my Westinghouse TV. This particular rather ancient TV was my first HDTV. It has a built-in switch that automatically switches to the last input on which it sees video. If it's not on at the time, it turns on.

Further complicating the issue is the paucity of HDMI ports on that old TV. I added another automatic switch in series with the built-in switch to handle a Joey, a BD player, and a media streamer via one HDMI port. The other had a FireTV Stick. I saw no picture on the Joey. I saw no picture on the FireTV Stick. Video was present on both, because the TV didn't turn off. I had to unplug the FireTV Stick to get the TV out of it's funk. Weird.

Interesting! My very first HDTV purchase was a smaller screen Westinghouse branded TV (some cheapo company bought the Westinghouse some--gosh, about 10 years ago--because HDTV's then were really expensive and this was the ONLY affordable (well, as much $$ as I wanted to spend then) HDTV for a secondary room that needed a replacement (a dead Sony CRT that lasted FOREVER).

Well, I had to get a full refund for the Westinghouse (at Best Buy) because the the audio was too far out of sync with the video, and I thought I could live with it, but the slight difference was driving my brain crazy. Also, the HDTV had really bad LCD tech with response being way too slow (moving images had the ghost effect) and terrible off angle views. It really was an El Cheapo experience, but really didn't want to spend more money for a secondary TV with the sky high HDTV prices back then.

So, after I got my full refund, I spent like nearly $200 more for the CHEAPEST HDTV at Costco, a 32" Sharp Aquos HDTV of the era. That TV is no match for the much larger and highly advanced Sony and Samsung I got years later, but that Sharp still works today and provides a REALLY GOOD picture for secondary, tertiary experiences and is a pleasure to watch in the room of last resort (the guest room), and guests who view it find NOTHING wrong with its PQ. The quality of the display, with its inferior specs that I can notice, is still good enough that I can get caught up in the content I am watching and forget all about its compromises. So, yes, I feel your ancient Westinghouse pain. .

 

[HipKat]

Well, I am glad for you, and I really do hope business picks up for your benifit. It is heartbreaking how hard times have become for some people because of Covid. My best wishes to thee .

Covid has nothing to do with it. It's just the way things are. Young people don't do cable services, they all stream. Hell, I don't even pay for Cable because I stream everything. I never, ever see anyone in their 20's or 30's anymore. Almost never in their 40's or 50's. I'd say the average customer these days is in their 70's and 80's. The customer base is aging us out of business.

Look at this forum. I don't know how old anyone is but I can tell by what people post here that many of the regulars are older than me by a lot and I'll be 60 in 2 1/2 years.

 

[NashGuy]

Wonder if dish would do something like the Directv stream box? That is basically what the wireless Joey is now. Technology is there.

I'm sure the new wireless Joey with Android TV *could* work like the DirecTV Stream Android TV box but to do so would mean that Dish would have to make all their linear channels available for online streaming (which maybe they already do given the existence of their Dish Anywhere app for Fire TV?) *and* they would have to create an online cloud DVR for Dish. And that's something Dish definitely does not offer right now. Of course, they do already have a cloud DVR for Sling TV, so it would be simple enough to just provision that same technology for Dish customers too.

I do believe that Dish will eventually become fully available via online delivery as an alternative option to satellite delivery. Why wouldn't they do that? Way cheaper installation costs (which could mean not having to require a 24-month contract) and the customer doesn't have to deal with a rooftop dish and rain fade.

But there's definitely something to be said for the reliability and performance of a local DVR like the Hopper versus a cloud DVR. OTOH, a cloud DVR is accessible via any internet-connected device, in or out of home, and isn't constrained by tuner count, so it has its pluses too. Maybe in the future we'll see Dish give customers the option to pay more to rent a full-blown Hopper, which would mirror its recordings to the cloud for anywhere-access (as Comcast has done for years now with their X1 DVRs). Or they could pay a bit less and just get a thin-client box like the wireless Joey and rely only on cloud DVR for recordings. Or pay even less than that and not rent any receivers at all and use the service completely via apps on their own devices (e.g. Roku, Apple TV, etc.). Obviously, only the first, most expensive option (using a full-blown Hopper DVR) would be open to customers opting for satellite-based service; all three options would be open to those choosing streaming-based service.

So far, Dish has only toyed with streaming-based service via their skinny-bundle Sling service. But that's carefully crafted as a low-end cable alternative that appeals to thrifty cord-cutters. Eventually they'll offer their full-blown service, with their full range of channel package options, via streaming. But that may not happen until after they merge with DirecTV...

 

[therockhr]

Changing directions; I have a Control4 system. Any idea if there will be a driver for this like there is the current Hopper and Joeys?

 

[DishSubLA]

Covid has nothing to do with it. It's just the way things are. Young people don't do cable services, they all stream. Hell, I don't even pay for Cable because I stream everything. I never, ever see anyone in their 20's or 30's anymore. Almost never in their 40's or 50's. I'd say the average customer these days is in their 70's and 80's. The customer base is aging us out of business.

Look at this forum. I don't know how old anyone is but I can tell by what people post here that many of the regulars are older than me by a lot and I'll be 60 in 2 1/2 years.

Thanks. Now I understand. FWIW, one of the reasons--for now?--I still stick with Dish is that it is the best content aggregator, allows me to keep recordings forever until I can get around to watching them or watch them again without having Netflix lose the rights before I can finish watching the series (I had the last few episodes of a UK series on the DVR when Netflix pulled the rug out from under me and lost the rights, but I had just enough for the last few episodes to watch on H3 DVR).

I also have clear FAIR USE rights with Dish (and is the case with cable and OTA) to have recordings for time-shifting, place-shifting, and kept in my domicile for PRIVATE, PERSONAL use whenever I want--forever. Of course, streamers are subject to FAIR USE, as well, although no clarification has come from a court, but streamers and, more importantly, the studios have not dared to go after any of the LEGAL options that allow for DVR like functionality of software/services that make this possible, especially when no circumvention of the encryption is involved, and the Terms of Use of the streamers means NOTHING in regards of FAIR USE, and they know it, and after the streamer delivers the stream to the subscriber and it is saved at the rendering stage, the streamers have fulfilled their contractual obligations to the studios and have no interest in doing anything further than occasional suspension of service for a day or two (only if the streamers notices that you are SUPER DUPER binging "suspiciously") to appease the studios, and the studios NEVER want a court to rule on a clarification of FAIR USE because they risk LOSING and opening a floodgate of tech to do exactly what the studios don't want done.

Finally, finding what to watch across Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime (the ONLY 3 streamers I pay for, and I REFUSE to pay for anymore) is a PITA, regardless of all the attempts at aggregation from websites and whatever, I have found to NOT work to my satisfaction and do have errors. So, for now, the content I like to watch the most is on an MVPD with full LOCAL DVR capabilities, but at some point, just as I was forced to get a smartphone ONLY because the world was changing, I may go vMVPD, like YTTV, but until then, "From my cold dying hands . . . "

 

[HipKat]

Thanks. Now I understand. FWIW, one of the reasons--for now?--I still stick with Dish is that it is the best content aggregator, allows me to keep recordings forever until I can get around to watching them or watch them again without having Netflix lose the rights before I can finish watching the series (I had the last few episodes of a UK series on the DVR when Netflix pulled the rug out from under me and lost the rights, but I had just enough for the last few episodes to watch on H3 DVR).

I also have clear FAIR USE rights with Dish (and is the case with cable and OTA) to have recordings for time-shifting, place-shifting, and kept in my domicile for PRIVATE, PERSONAL use whenever I want--forever. Of course, streamers are subject to FAIR USE, as well, although no clarification has come from a court, but streamers and, more importantly, the studios have not dared to go after any of the LEGAL options that allow for DVR like functionality of software/services that make this possible, especially when no circumvention of the encryption is involved, and the Terms of Use of the streamers means NOTHING in regards of FAIR USE, and they know it, and after the streamer delivers the stream to the subscriber and it is saved at the rendering stage, the streamers have fulfilled their contractual obligations to the studios and have no interest in doing anything further than occasional suspension of service for a day or two (only if the streamers notices that you are SUPER DUPER binging "suspiciously") to appease the studios, and the studios NEVER want a court to rule on a clarification of FAIR USE because they risk LOSING and opening a floodgate of tech to do exactly what the studios don't want done.

Finally, finding what to watch across Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime (the ONLY 3 streamers I pay for, and I REFUSE to pay for anymore) is a PITA, regardless of all the attempts at aggregation from websites and whatever, I have found to NOT work to my satisfaction and do have errors. So, for now, the content I like to watch the most is on an MVPD with full LOCAL DVR capabilities, but at some point, just as I was forced to get a smartphone ONLY because the world was changing, I may go vMVPD, like YTTV, but until then, "From my cold dying hands . . . "

On my Sheild Pro, if I search for a Movie, it will tell me the apps that it's available on and how much if any charge

 

[Tvland1]

On my Sheild Pro, if I search for a Movie, it will tell me the apps that it's available on and how much if any charge

And if you add two more words"online free" you don't need a dvr..I can pretty much find any tv show or movie out there..I think you will find that people don't dvr that much now either..I've had several different types of dvr's and very rarely have used them..