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Boxee Box Anticipation Thread - Page 46

post #1351 of 3635
10/15/10 at 11:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by browerjs View Post

When yo say AnyDVD, I assume you mean AnyDVDHD? I assume I just need the main track because I bitstream from all my BD players to my AVRs.

Yes, AnyDVD HD. An alternative would be DVDFAb Passkey. You would want the main HD Audio track. Even if you couldn't bitstream HD Audio you could at least get the core audio extracted. Another option of you wanted full HD Audio but didn't have a receiver that could support would be to convert the HD Audio track to FLAC in an mkv.
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post #1352 of 3635
10/15/10 at 1:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stevenalvarado View Post

http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2010/...rizon-gateway/


wow the remote looks so similar.

Quote:
Originally Posted by didapipo View Post

Well , if something works , it will get replicated. In no time , they will all look the same.
Business 101.

Maybe I'm confusing my timelines, but didn't TiVo's keyboard remote predate Boxee's?

Not that it really matters, I'm just trying to figure out how many cells I have left
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post #1353 of 3635
10/15/10 at 1:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by insaneoctane View Post

"Immoral" is not where I was going.
My point is I really don't understand why Boxee Box doesn't offer a standby mode if we are encouraged NOT to turn it off. Again, I don't mind 20watts when I'm actively using it, but 20W is a LARGE parasitic for an item NOT in use. In my use case, I will have to turn it off when I'm not watching something on it (which I won't be able to do from the remote- that stinks too), and then I'll suffer a performance penalty for turning it off. All of this goes away with a real standby mode and a local db helps issues too.

The lack of a standby mode is odd. Perhaps it would affect network use as well as saving little in power. It is Intel after all. As a point of reference my PCH-C200 uses 13 watts in standby mode.

I think having to get up and turn it off ( does it have an on/off switch?) defeats the purpose.

I really don't know what Boxee was thinking. They were probably caught off guard by the whole Tegra 2/Intel thing. I truly wish they had continued with a lower powered device which gave up high end playback in order to have a fanless, less energy use device. They aren't going to get the Dune crowd so I really don't understand the thinking that went on. Of course there is a lot of behind the scenes stuff that is not public.

That being said, I do feel more comfortable with Intel as opposed to Realtek/Sigma. Comfortable enough that I reinstated my order

philip
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post #1354 of 3635
10/15/10 at 2:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by browerjs View Post

I've decided that I want to go the Boxee Box route to stream my media, as my BluRay player (Sony BDP-470) just doesn't do a good job. In preperation for this, I've purchased a ReadyNAS NV+, two 2TB drives, and a BluRay drive so that I can begin archiving my BD collection.

I've been doing research over the past couple of days, and have yet to decide which method of BluRay archiving I want to do. While BD-ISO seems to be the easiest, I'm not sure that it will do what I want to do, which is be able to skip all the forced trailers and just play the movie.

Really all I care to archive is the movie only with the highest quality audio track and any forced subs. MKV (using MakeMKV) seems like an easy way to do this, but I'm not sure that it's the best solution as there seems to be questions with forced subs and sub tracks, etc.

Just looking for suggestions and software to use that will make the process the easiest/quickest to give me what I want without me having to check each movie.


I only do a full BD ISO rip of my titles(I have over 50TB of network storage available at home so the ISO size is not an issue right now). And with my current media players, I can just pick the ISo and it will start playing the movie right away. No trailers etc.
But since it's also the full ISO, if I choose to, I can put my C200 in full BD navigation mode, and get the same experience as sticking a disc in a BD player.
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post #1355 of 3635
10/15/10 at 5:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by aaronwt View Post

...(I have over 50TB of network storage available at home ....

Even at today's prices of $50/TB, that's $2,500 in just drives...what are you doing? I'm going to guess you're not worried about the 20W in standby
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post #1356 of 3635
10/15/10 at 5:36pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by insaneoctane View Post

Even at today's prices of $50/TB, that's $2,500 in just drives...what are you doing? I'm going to guess you're not worried about the 20W in standby

You should really not feed the bears. The Internet is littered with threads derailed by long discussions of aarons 50tb of storage, 25 tivos, watching HD back in 1992 and having every show thats ever aired in SIFI archived forever. Best to let sleeping dogs lie.
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post #1357 of 3635
10/16/10 at 7:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by insaneoctane View Post

Even at today's prices of $50/TB, that's $2,500 in just drives...what are you doing? I'm going to guess you're not worried about the 20W in standby



MGM universal studios
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post #1358 of 3635
10/16/10 at 11:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by insaneoctane View Post

Even at today's prices of $50/TB, that's $2,500 in just drives...what are you doing? I'm going to guess you're not worried about the 20W in standby

I wish I only paid $50 a TB. But even at $2500, that is much cheaper than I paid for only 3TB of storage I had on my network back in 2002/2003 for my HD recordings.
I only have around 5TB of storage that is available 24/7. My WHS which accounts for most of my storage is only on 8 to 12 hours a day.
Electricity is too high now for me to leave it on 24/7. Back in 2000, I had six PCs running 24/7 for a year running the SETI program. Most were overclocked, and very loud from all the fans. But electricity was much cheaper then too. And I also didn't have so many networked devices like I do now. Back then it was just my PCs on my network, but now, almost everything seems to need internet access.
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post #1359 of 3635
10/16/10 at 11:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmpage2 View Post

You should really not feed the bears. The Internet is littered with threads derailed by long discussions of aarons 50tb of storage, 25 tivos, watching HD back in 1992 and having every show thats ever aired in SIFI archived forever. Best to let sleeping dogs lie.

1992?!???
The SiFi channel wasn't in HD back in 2001 let alone 1992(was it even around in 1992?). HD wasn't around in 1992. Why would I even archive any SD content? BAck iN 1992 I was still watching analog TV. In 1991 I had got my first large screen TV(A 32" Toshiba set which would seem extremely small by todays standards) And I also first went surround sound in 1991 getting my first surround sound receiver. BAck then, I used everything Sony, except for my TV. It took me a long time to break away from Sony products.

And I only have six TiVos. Now I've owned over 25 during the last nine years, but I certainly couldn't use a TiVo for HD until 2004 when the DirecTV HDTiVo came out.
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post #1360 of 3635
10/16/10 at 11:58am
So as not to take this thread off-topic, I started a new thread here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1283879
For anyone who wants to discuss Boxee Box vs Neo TV 550
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post #1361 of 3635
10/16/10 at 1:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raistlin_HT View Post

1GB may be an issue for large libraries once they are scraped.

I think this makes the idea of a networked db even more critical. While the initial concern was in reference to syncing multiple Boxee's, this is potentially a more series concern. Especially if local metadata is being considered for future firmware revisions. I suspect many people have fan art, etc. that is substantially bigger in size than what is scraped form IMDB.


This clearly will be a problem for me. My library scanned including thumbs cache and database is over 3G in XBMC

Sean
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post #1362 of 3635
10/16/10 at 2:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by aaronwt View Post


I only do a full BD ISO rip of my titles(I have over 50TB of network storage available at home so the ISO size is not an issue right now). And with my current media players, I can just pick the ISo and it will start playing the movie right away. No trailers etc.
But since it's also the full ISO, if I choose to, I can put my C200 in full BD navigation mode, and get the same experience as sticking a disc in a BD player.

50TB is not enough, unless you have an easy way of expanding. HD audio takes up a lot of storage. Basically, you have space for roughly 1000 movies?

Philip
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post #1363 of 3635
10/16/10 at 5:39pm
For the last year or so, I've been using PS3 Media Server on my Mac to stream MKV movies and videos from my digital cameras (mainly MTS and MOV). However, it's very flaky and has a high failure rate on playing movies.... sometimes it'll work, sometimes not. Of course, the PS3 will stream MTS natively, but not MOV or MKV. So PS3 Media Server has to transcode the latter, which also does not work much of the time (I get the dreaded "corrupted" error from the ps3).

I am really hoping the Boxee Box will help solve most of these issues. From what I've read, it will definitely play MKV files. How about movies from my my cameras such as the Panasonic GH1 or Canon T2i? Will the Boxee Box play MTS and MOV files?
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post #1364 of 3635
10/17/10 at 2:21am
Keeping the Boxee Box on 24/7 or downloading the cover art/info everytime I use it is putting me right off!!! Why can't they just make things simple!! Could this be changed with a firmware update?
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post #1365 of 3635
10/17/10 at 7:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by pmcd View Post

50TB is not enough, unless you have an easy way of expanding. HD audio takes up a lot of storage. Basically, you have space for roughly 1000 movies?

Philip

That's should be enough. besides HD audio doesn't take up that much compared to HD video. I would expect to have donated my HD titles before I get to 1000 . AT least I hope so. I only watched DVDs from 1998 to 2005. SO if I follow the same pattern for BDs and only use them for 7 years, after 2013 I'll be able to watch something else. Assuming there is a worthy replacement by then.

I'm still looking at the Boxee. If it was available from BestBuy here in the states I would have preordered one. So I'm hoping it shows up after launch at BEstBuy. I have a bunch of gifty cards and reward zone dollars so I'm trying to decide what to purchas ewith all of them. I alread preordered the Xbox 360 Slim arcade Kinect bundle with the credits, but still have a lot more. So I'm looking at trying the Boxee and also going to the darkside and getting an ATV.
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post #1366 of 3635
10/17/10 at 7:55am
Everyone but boxee is dropping streamers left and right. New one from WD, labeled WD LIVE tV Hub media streamer/NAS, has netflix, blockbuster, pandora, youtube, and facebook support, 1TB built in.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/16/w...st-buy-with-g/
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post #1367 of 3635
10/17/10 at 7:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by thadoneternal View Post

Everyone but boxee is dropping streamers left and right. New one from WD, labeled WD LIVE tV Hub media streamer/NAS, has netflix, blockbuster, pandora, youtube, and facebook support, 1TB built in.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/16/w...st-buy-with-g/

Did I forget to mention gigabit ethernet, and HDMI 1.4. I am still keeping my Boxee preorder for now, but they are seriously getting some competition now.
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post #1368 of 3635
10/17/10 at 7:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by thadoneternal View Post

Everyone but boxee is dropping streamers left and right. New one from WD, labeled WD LIVE tV Hub media streamer/NAS, has netflix, blockbuster, pandora, youtube, and facebook support, 1TB built in.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/10/16/w...st-buy-with-g/

I wonder how much higher the price is because of the internal 1TB drive. Typically a premium is charged for a device to have that much storage in it.
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post #1369 of 3635
10/17/10 at 8:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by aaronwt View Post

I wonder how much higher the price is because of the internal 1TB drive. Typically a premium is charged for a device to have that much storage in it.

The guy that bought the first unit is actually on this forum after reading the article posted by Engadget. He bought the 1TB for $229 after some searching they are also going to have a 2TB version, not sure on price.
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post #1370 of 3635
10/17/10 at 8:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by thadoneternal View Post

The guy that bought the first unit is actually on this forum after reading the article posted by Engadget. He bought the 1TB for $229 after some searching they are also going to have a 2TB version, not sure on price.

IMO they need to off a HDD less version. I would not purchase simply because I have no need for an internal drive, so why do I have to pay a premium
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post #1371 of 3635
10/17/10 at 8:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dbone1026 View Post

IMO they need to off a HDD less version. I would not purchase simply because I have no need for an internal drive, so why do I have to pay a premium

I personally can do with or without the internal storage. The internal storage is handy for some that may not have an elaborate Network storage system or would like to move the system from room to room without having to worry about connecting to their network to access their files or carry an external HD. Personally, the gigabit ethernet (1st I think offered on any streamer) and HDMI 1.4 interest me. Wondering if there are plans for 3D support in the future for this model
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post #1372 of 3635
10/17/10 at 8:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by thadoneternal View Post

I personally can do with or without the internal storage. The internal storage is handy for some that may not have an elaborate Network storage system or would like to move the system from room to room without having to worry about connecting to their network to access their files or carry an external HD. Personally, the gigabit ethernet (1st I think offered on any streamer) and HDMI 1.4 interest me. Wondering if there are plans for 3D support in the future for this model

I agree nothing wrong with offering internal storage, but they should offer a HDD less version as well.
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post #1373 of 3635
10/17/10 at 8:37am
Thread Starter 
The current WD is totally incapable of streaming full bitrate BDs. Why would their new box, which is probably based on the same underpowered chipset any different?

It comes down to your needs. If your primary purpose is for playback of online media then there are many lower priced devices out there like Roku, etc, that can do this. If rentals is primarily your thing then Apple TV does a good job with this and is also very inexpensive.

The Boxee is trying to straddle two markets. The home streamer market for those with large home movie collections AND the online content market. This is an admirable goal, but so far they are falling short and I am catching a whiff of Pop flop in the air.

At this stage in the game we should be seeing full Demos of what the Boxee Box is going to do at launch, which is less than a month away. No more crying and cowering about how they are waiting to talk about content partners. No more hush hush about the "not yet finished" webkit browser.

Come clean Boxee and show us full demos of what this device is going to do so we can make an informed decision. Then give us a roadmap that you will stick to for additional content and features.

Don't make the same mistake that the Popbox dipsticks did and promise the world and then deliver us a 1/2 baked product that is in need of major fixups. If that is your plan you are better off waiting until after the holiday season to get it right.

1. What online content will Boxee have at launch?
2. What content will be with dedicated apps and what will be scraped out of your webkit browser?
3. Show us demos of this and demos of some of the apps.
4. Stop telling us you're "considering" BD menu and HD audio licensing. This is just a ploy to get people to pre-order. Either give us a date you will deliver these features or tell us they are not coming. You can always surprise us later.
5. We want to know why you have such a lame standby power mode. In many parts of the world it is not allowed to advertise a "standby" or "sleep" mode that uses 20 watts of power. Turning off the HDMI port is a bit of a joke.
6. When will you be able to read NFO files and use local artwork?
7. When will you fix the subtitle problem with forced subs? I'm sorry but I'm not going to buy another streamer with busted subtitle support and vague promises of fixing the feature later.

I've had it with streamer companies making promises and expecting consumers to wait on their every word and be hopeful of future firmware updates to fix stuff that never should have shipped in the first place.

I was initially very optimistic of the Boxee Box and I was elated when Eli came into this forum to answer our questions. However, the continued vagueness in some areas as well as the lack of concrete info in the way of real demos of the functioning product are inexcusable this close to ship date. It appears to me that the Boxee is going to ship in an unfinished state and we consumers are expected to pony up big dollars for it (almost as much as a PS3) and hope that they add and fix things later on down the road.

I'm canceling my Boxee pre-orders and would advise others that are tired of these tactics do the same thing. If they won't tell us about premium content before the box ships, something every other vendor like WD and Roku are able to do, then it's better to wait for reviews of shipping product before parting with your hard earned cash and getting strung along with empty promises.

Boxee, ball is in your court.
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post #1374 of 3635
10/17/10 at 9:22am
@jmpage2

who are you to encourage people to cancel their preorders? Just because you are impatient and boxee isnt telling you what you want hear, when you want to hear it, now we are supposed to follow your lead as if you were Moses?

Personally the boxee box already does what I want it to do: stream all of my local HD content with lossless audio and allows me to stream online content.

That is all I care about and I find it very tacky of you to go on a mini rant about a product simply because it may or may not be the magical all in one box you were hoping for.

its almost like a boxee developer didnt come here last week and honestly answer every question that was thrown at him, if you dont like his answers cancel your preorder and move on but to encourage others to do so is ridiculous.
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post #1375 of 3635
10/17/10 at 9:26am
I'm going to give it a fair shake. Yeah, I'd like them to release some concrete info. It's about time and I think its hurting them. But if at the end of 30 days, I don't like it, then it goes back.
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post #1376 of 3635
10/17/10 at 9:29am
My wife and I are currently having a discussion about the Boxee Box, and my lil' lady brings forth the inquisitiveness as only she can:

"If Boxee has to re-populate each time it powers on, does this mean we are also going to have to overwrite incorrect scraping entries every time as well?"

God, I do love that woman...Unfortunately, I'm a sad little panda because I haven't gotten an answer for her.

Can someone please enlighten?
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post #1377 of 3635
10/17/10 at 9:37am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by marcello696 View Post

@jmpage2

who are you to encourage people to cancel their preorders? Just because you are impatient and boxee isnt telling you what you want hear, when you want to hear it, now we are supposed to follow your lead as if you were Moses?

Personally the boxee box already does what I want it to do: stream all of my local HD content with lossless audio and allows me to stream online content.

That is all I care about and I find it very tacky of you to go on a mini rant about a product simply because it may or may not be the magical all in one box you were hoping for.

its almost like a boxee developer didnt come here last week and honestly answer every question that was thrown at him, if you dont like his answers cancel your preorder and move on but to encourage others to do so is ridiculous.

I encouraged other people to cancel their pre-orders IF they feel the same way. You are free to do whatever you want. I'm just tired of media streamer companies promising the world and then delivering something that isn't done.

I can assure you that I have been following the development of the Boxee hardware platform for longer than most here and have only recently come to the conclusion that something smells bad with this thing.

Do whatever you want. I will likely re-order this once it has been out and we know what it will and won't do. The reality is that they are charging about the same price as other premium streamers, which would be fine if all the basic playback features were there AND they were being up front with us about their premium content.
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post #1378 of 3635
10/17/10 at 9:38am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by oneway23 View Post

My wife and I are currently having a discussion about the Boxee Box, and my lil' lady brings forth the inquisitiveness as only she can:

"If Boxee has to re-populate each time it powers on, does this mean we are also going to have to overwrite incorrect scraping entries every time as well?"

God, I do love that woman...Unfortunately, I'm a sad little panda because I haven't gotten an answer for her.

Can someone please enlighten?

You and your wife misunderstand. The IMDB index information, etc, in other words the TITLE NUMBER is preserved in the database in the Boxee Box between power ups.

It's just the thumbnail jpg file, etc, that has to be re-downloaded at each power on. The Boxee Box has a local database that stays in the 1GB Flash memory. It just does not keep the artwork, etc, for the titles in that database.
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post #1379 of 3635
10/17/10 at 9:42am
Where is Eli? Hope he will sweeten the pot with some new info soon.
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post #1380 of 3635
10/17/10 at 9:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmpage2 View Post

The current WD is totally incapable of streaming full bitrate BDs. Why would their new box, which is probably based on the same underpowered chipset any different?

It comes down to your needs. If your primary purpose is for playback of online media then there are many lower priced devices out there like Roku, etc, that can do this. If rentals is primarily your thing then Apple TV does a good job with this and is also very inexpensive.

The Boxee is trying to straddle two markets. The home streamer market for those with large home movie collections AND the online content market. This is an admirable goal, but so far they are falling short and I am catching a whiff of Pop flop in the air.

At this stage in the game we should be seeing full Demos of what the Boxee Box is going to do at launch, which is less than a month away. No more crying and cowering about how they are waiting to talk about content partners. No more hush hush about the "not yet finished" webkit browser.

Come clean Boxee and show us full demos of what this device is going to do so we can make an informed decision. Then give us a roadmap that you will stick to for additional content and features.

Don't make the same mistake that the Popbox dipsticks did and promise the world and then deliver us a 1/2 baked product that is in need of major fixups. If that is your plan you are better off waiting until after the holiday season to get it right.

1. What online content will Boxee have at launch?
2. What content will be with dedicated apps and what will be scraped out of your webkit browser?
3. Show us demos of this and demos of some of the apps.
4. Stop telling us you're "considering" BD menu and HD audio licensing. This is just a ploy to get people to pre-order. Either give us a date you will deliver these features or tell us they are not coming. You can always surprise us later.
5. We want to know why you have such a lame standby power mode. In many parts of the world it is not allowed to advertise a "standby" or "sleep" mode that uses 20 watts of power. Turning off the HDMI port is a bit of a joke.
6. When will you be able to read NFO files and use local artwork?
7. When will you fix the subtitle problem with forced subs? I'm sorry but I'm not going to buy another streamer with busted subtitle support and vague promises of fixing the feature later.

I've had it with streamer companies making promises and expecting consumers to wait on their every word and be hopeful of future firmware updates to fix stuff that never should have shipped in the first place.

I was initially very optimistic of the Boxee Box and I was elated when Eli came into this forum to answer our questions. However, the continued vagueness in some areas as well as the lack of concrete info in the way of real demos of the functioning product are inexcusable this close to ship date. It appears to me that the Boxee is going to ship in an unfinished state and we consumers are expected to pony up big dollars for it (almost as much as a PS3) and hope that they add and fix things later on down the road.

I'm canceling my Boxee pre-orders and would advise others that are tired of these tactics do the same thing. If they won't tell us about premium content before the box ships, something every other vendor like WD and Roku are able to do, then it's better to wait for reviews of shipping product before parting with your hard earned cash and getting strung along with empty promises.

Boxee, ball is in your court.

Hi jmpage2,

Let me answer your questions, I hope I can clear some of your doubts about the box.

1 - I will not comment on online content partners
2 - All content is either based on applications, or streamed directly to you. You don't have to open the browser and an look for it manually. The browser in only for web browsing or for content which we don't provide applications. Applications might use the browser if required, but this is all done automatically for you.
3- Demos? You can download boxee for PC/Mac/Linux and see all the demos right now. The box will work exactly the same way. We have everything required for this
4 - We're trying to listen to what people want. If we see there is a popular demand for something then this what we're doing - considering. It means we want to evaluate the amount of work required, and how if fits our time line. I cant easily say "Yes we will do that" but I won't, since this is not true.
5 - The standby mode is dictated by the SoC (Intel) provider. There is nothing we can about it.
6 - I won't give you a deadline for this feature, since I don't have it. It up to you to believe me when I'm saying we're seriously considering it.
7 - Again, I will not give you any deadline for implementing new/broken features. We have many new stuff in our pipeline and this one them.

And you can wait for reviews if you wish to. I believe you will then realize this is a great product.

Eli.
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