Official Ceton Echo Extender Info Thread - Page 15

That's great to hear regarding DTS. For me the question is, will they release the Echo BEFORE the Q, or wait and release both?

If they release both at the same time, it seems our wait for the Echo will be longer since Ceton is still working with Cable Cos to support 6 streams on TAs; and I don't see them releasing the Q (or InfiniTv6) until that happens first.

I just did a search of this thread and the thread on the Q and didn't find anything, so sorry if this has already been touched on...

It's very interesting to me that the Hopper/Joey product combo that DISH is selling now looks very similar in specs to the Q/Echo from Ceton. Any chance that they actually share a similar hardware platform (except for the blu-ray player in the Q) and there is some agreement in place between the two vendors stating that Ceton would not introduce their product to the market until the Hopper/Joey had been out for a certain number of months?

Pure speculation on my part, just something I've been thinking about.

I can't speak for what HW the Dish Hopper/Joey are based on, as I haven't taken one apart, but any hardware similarities are purely coincidental, as is the timing.

Thanks for the clarification Eric.

Echo extender "soon", likely within a few weeks.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/17/c...one-echo-beta/

I hope they're ready for my order.

I just saw that article and wondered how one might find themself toward the top of the beta list... Eric?

Yea so did I and that was my thought exactly. I cant wait for this thing to get rid of my xbox as my extender

From Engadget

Should have refreshed my browser before posting. Oh-well, it is still great news!

http://www.cepro.com/article/can_cet...nter_extenders

Looks like it will support web browsing. I know there were a few folks on here interested in that.

The 6-stream problem has already been solved, per a response from Eric to me and confirmed by a response to me on the Yahoo Cablevision group regarding the firmware on the Scientific Atlanta/Cisco TA. The Motorola TA has been supporting 6 streams for a few years now.

Cisco firmware >=1402 supports 6 tuners. No MSO should have any earlier firmware (firmware <1402 only supports 2 tuners, which is not allowed under current FCC rules). We are not aware of any MSOs currently using older firmware
Motorola firmware >=1.36 supports 6 tuners. A few firmware releases (I believe 1.33 and 1.35) support 4, but not 6, tuners. We have already been working with MSOs to get the newer firmware deployed before our 6-tuner device launches, and in fact I just got word back from the last MSO this morning that they have started the QA process on the newer firmware for their environment. If things go as I hope, we will have 6-tuner firmware deployed at all MSOs using Motorola TAs before our 6-tuner device launches.

We all know that the 6 tuner model was shown and announced a very long time ago. Many of us are wondering why it's taking so long to release and when it going to be available. I feel Ceton owes us some explanation to the faithful. I joined the followers with my new Ceton 4 tuner USB model recently replacing my hauppauge 2 tuner. I updated the firmware during install, it's worked perfect since install. Thanks...

Hmmm - I believe Eric's response you quoted pretty much sums out why the delayed release for the 6 tuner... Ceton was a major player in getting 4 tuner support pushed in the past couple of years (maybe more). Getting the final MSOs to get support from 4-6 seems like the last thing that needs to happen.

Thanks for the detail Eric - I'd have to check again, but I think I'm one of the few still on 1.35 (maybe that's changed in the past few months though).

Respectfully, I am going to disagree with this. Companies don't owe explanations of timetables to the public.... even the faithful. Many times they do offer timetables, but that would be a professional curtesy offered to give large buyers an idea of when things will be released for their buying schedule.

In the case of consumer products, it is far more complicated. My gut feeling, is Ceton doesn't 100% know when it will ship. The last mile is always the longest. They are probably dealing with last minute bugs and production issues.

I don't think the lack of specifics is because they are being coy, but they don't want to announce something that ends up changing. I think Ceton learned a lot from the massive massive delays that plagued the InfiniTV 4. I think we all just need to have patience, when they have specifics, they will announce it as big and loud as they can.

Mean while.... I am impatiently waiting.

from Engadget (visit site for photo):


Not the same as the Q and nothing that competes with the echo, but interesting none the less.

There's no mention of CableCard, so it's probably safe to assume that this is OTA and/or ClearQAM only, so it really isn't competition for the Q.

correct, As I said it isn't the same as the Q. but competition in the embedded windows media center will be good for everyone. As far as I know, these are the only 2 embedded WMC devices announced.

But even though it doesn't say cable card or clearQAM, doesn't mean that it will or won't support them. It just means that they haven't given that info yet.

Any idea that echo will be able to play ripped ISO?

This is my guess. It is very likely that DVD ISO's will play. Blu-ray is iffy.

Hey! I called firsties weeks ago!

Still no hint of a remote. Hope it's at least universal to control a few devices.

I just hope Ceton can get the device added to Logitech's Harmony device list. I'm sure I'm not the only one currently using a Harmony.

You certainly aren't the only one. All I ever worry about these devices is that it uses an IR remote so that my harmony can work with it

I don't see why the remote codes would differ from the windows media center ones. That would be the easiest for Ceton to implement and would already be in every major IR database. If that is the case, then the remote would just look like a rebranded WMC remote.

Although even if it is different, you could just learn the remote codes. It only takes a few minutes to do that.

I think RF would be unlikely. It would just raise the costs on the Q and Echo.

Agreed. As I have mentioned earlier, I would rather have Ceton release a quality product than a buggy product just to release early. The new buzzword in software field these days is "appliance". We have database, network appliances sold by Oracle, etc. Rather than selling a software that relies on hardware and has to support multiple environments and failure points, Appliances are black boxes offering same functionality in a controlled environment. Customers gain due to extra stability. Ceton Q has to be robust enough to be a "HTPC Appliance" like Tivo. You have no excuse to blame WMC with Ceton Q.

Absolutely, the whole point of the embedded windows version is to treat windows like an appliance or set top box. You pointed out TiVo, which runs a customized version of linux. I think the original blu-ray and HD-DVD were also running linux. Xbox, Playstation and nintendo probably all run some linux variant as well.

The advantage of the embedded OS is less problems. No need for antivirus, etc. In my opinion this is where windows media center has failed - no one wants to deal with the maintenance of an HTPC. Once it is installed you just want to use it.... like an appliance.

Just had an idea:

It would be nice if there was cloud support build in. So you can remotely add recordings, see what is on your Q and even back up settings. Then if you did have a problem with your Q, worse case is restore it to factory defaults, log back into your account and then it pulls down all your settings, programming guide and scheduled recordings. Just a thought.

I suppose that the wish list for Ceton is becoming rather massive. Obviously, the final shipping product will be a lot less. Hopefully an open SDK and app/plug in system will help compensate.

Good news -- in the comments section, Ryan Whiteman says specifically:

I wonder if that means it's just using one of the existing Ceton/SD/Hauppauge solutions or they actually went through CableLabs to have their own CC device approved.

Nevermind 10 chars