Reading through this thread, there are certainly other feature requests (specifically for the Roku) I’d be more interested in (e.g. Quicker Live TV grid, surround sound capability, ability to channel up/down/prev w/o having to go back to the guide), but if this wouldn’t require much effort, perhaps it could be rolled out in the next Roku app update.
Assuming you’re not currently changing how thumbnails are produced for each recording, I’m wondering if you could add some type of icon, symbol, or text for each recording in the Roku app that would let the user know when the thumbnail generation was complete. Not sure about everyone else, but I definitely prefer to watch recordings with the thumbnails present, so I would certainly wait the extra minutes for them to generate. But as it stands right now, I either have to wait a day (to be certain) or start watching and hope they’re there. Not a big deal, but thought it would be a quick, cool feature to incorporate.
Also, and this one’s more of a true road map request, I hear Channel Master is working on a service called LinearTV that will allow their DVR+ to stream internet channels (of linear TV content) and have those channels appear in their channel guide with show listings. As of right now, it sounds like it will only work with free internet streams, but I’d have to think a deal to incorporate subscription based streams (e.g. Sling TV) would be a breakthrough. I think it’d be pretty sweet to have your OTA and subscription based channels in one spot and on one guide. Probably not plausible, but who knows.
Another quick thought. Right now when I’m watching Live TV and I press the OK button on the Roku remote, an overlay appears with the channel name/number and how long the channel has been recording. I know there have been requests to overlay the channel guide itself (of which I’d be for), but thought an incremental step of some other information like clock and program details (e.g. name, description, start and end time) might be an easier first step.
The limitation of what can be displayed in the HUD when you hit OK is more a limitation of the Roku video player itself unfortunately. Tablo will not be able to add much more in terms of information to it.
The limitation of what can be displayed in the HUD when you hit OK is more a limitation of the Roku video player itself unfortunately. Tablo will not be able to add much more in terms of information to it.
That may be… but I doubt it is a hard limit. After all, look at the HUDs that come up with either the Amazon Instant or Netflix channels. For instance, if you drill down into the audio and subtitles portion of the HUD in Daredevil (Netflix) you’ll get a lot of info.
The limitation of what can be displayed in the HUD when you hit OK is more a limitation of the Roku video player itself unfortunately. Tablo will not be able to add much more in terms of information to it.
That may be… but I doubt it is a hard limit. After all, look at the HUDs that come up with either the Amazon Instant or Netflix channels. For instance, if you drill down into the audio and subtitles portion of the HUD in Daredevil (Netflix) you’ll get a lot of info.
Perhaps not everyone is aware that many of the “current” Roku models (2011 - 2015) use an older version of the Netflix channel (notably without profiles support). The Roku Stick, Roku 3, and Roku 2 (2015) (and probably the Roku TVs) use the new version but other Roku models use the old Netflix channel. Tablo is trying to support more models with their new channel.
Good point. All those new cool UI features of the new Netflix channel are only available on Roku 3 2013, Roku Stick (3500), and the two new Roku 2 2015 and Roku 3 2015 models.
So that would leave many Tablo users who have older Rokus out of the loop for new cool Tablo UI features.
Indeed… The Roku market is quite fractured at the moment in terms of support and the documentation can be a bit confusing as well. We do our best to create channels that work well for as many users as possible.
I kind of feel the other way, the Tablo came out in 2014. If you’re using a front end device that came out in 2013 and was “budget” to be begin with (speaking of the Roku 1 and old Roku 2), then I don’t think you can expect full feature apps in 2015. Specifically, the full feature apps may also run a lot slower due to the hardware limitations. Holding back advancements that would say work well with a Roku 3 to ensure compatibility with older Rokus is not entirely fair - guess that is why Netflix and YouTube only have new fancy UIs for the newer Roku models.
@theuser86 - In the best of all worlds everyone would be using a hardwired Roku 3 but we can’t just end support for those folks because they haven’t upgraded.
What we may be able to do is continue to evolve the ‘new’ channel and when it reaches feature parity and moves to the ‘public channel’ maintain the legacy channel as a private channel for those with older Roku units.
When you consider ATV, I think it’s not a big deal of using the default Roku UI (the very functional one that isn’t pretty vs. the pretty ones by Netflix and others that aren’t very functional).
So… what we’re seeing is a world of different UI’s instead of a more unified UI approach (old Roku standard).
Probably what is going to be needed is a refresh of a “standard Roku UI”… it will be different and compatible only with newer devices. However if done as an augment, it’s possible that channel providers could leverage the “new” and still be functional on the “old”. All depends. I guess the argument being made is that “pretty wins”. And so if Roku sticks with the “old”, they lose even if they provide the more functional UI. If all of this is true, Roku has a tough road ahead to create “the new” and somehow preserve “the old” as well without forcing a lot of extra work for their channel providers.
The next couple of years could be very interesting. FireTV seems to be gaining a bit. If (and it’s a big “if”) they can sustain momentum and not deprecate (typical of Amazon btw) the old… (they will make enemies when they do this, and so far they always do this)… anyhow, if Amazon can sustain the momentum without ticking their customer base off, maybe they’ll overtake Roku someday. This is definitely Roku’s market to lose right now though. I think if Roku stands still and Amazon transforms themselves into the company we want them to be… it could be a market changer.
IMHO, functional for the win. Strangely, I’m more interested in watching a TV show than watching the Roku UI.
As long as Roku is available at Wal Mart as well as online, and Amazon Fire is only available online, I don't see Fire overtaking Roku.
Staples and Best Buy sell the Amazon Fire TV and Amazon Fire TV Stick (and Apple TV, Chromecast, Rokus and have sold WD TV too). However, since Walmart and Target don’t sell either Fire TV model but do sell several Roku models, your point does still stand to some degree.
I’d be surprised if Amazon didn’t try to work a deal with Walmart to get more marketshare. Granted that all the people that stream are online and can purchase from www.amazon.com so why should Amazon sell at Walmart? Instant delivery? That’s available if you pay extra. It was nice being able to buy my Roku 3 at Walmart and hook it up and watch the same day.
I am a very new member of the Tablo family and for the most part, enjoying the freedom of free OTA TV very much.
- Transparent program info and images on program grid and all information screens especially on Roku 3 devices.
- Ability to bring up program guide when in full screen mode on PC
- Ability to change display of shows to list format and some type of detail format with smaller icons as opposed to huge poster mode only (a-la Plex)
- add the feature already available via the PC Tablo app to the Roku 3 app
- speed up the Roku 3 app in general. It is VERY slow to load the guide and just VERY slow in general to move about the app. I hope this is a priority because although I love my Tablo the slowness (even on the new Roku 3 preview app) is rather dreadful and is seems I always have to wait for loading… to see what’s on a given channel.
Hi, new Tablo owner here. It’s a neat toy, but IMO it’s missing some important features that really need to be addressed before it can be a serious contender in home entertainment. Here is my wishlist:
- Provide an option to start x minutes early/late when recording series, for example Big Bang Theory on CBS always starts a minute or two before the scheduled time so I can’t record without missing the first few minutes of every episode. This is a basic easy-to-implement feature that all major DVRs support.
- Allow deletion of all episodes of a particular program at once. This is another easy one with enormous benefits to Tablo owners, imagine someone trying to clear up space on their HD from the couch with a remote and a roku, one episode at a time…
- Overlay program data during live TV, this is another basic feature, though I can understand the unique challenges you must have due to having several different apps and relying on firetv/roku/ios/android/PC renderers.
The ability to archive recordings built natively into the Tablo would be a real killer feature. I’m thinking it would work like this:
User installs a HD and uses it to record, deleting things along the way, but hanging on to those shows that one simply MUST hang on to - like that time Aunt Mabel was on the 6 o’clock news. So eventually, the disc fills up with those “untouchable” shows. At that point, the user can choose to “Eject” the disk and store it away for a rainy day. Install a fresh HD, and start filling it up, BUT, if at any point the user wants to watch something on another disk, he or she can reinstall the older HD and watch whatever is available there. Perhaps this could make use of the second USB port or something. With the cost (and physical size) of HDs lower than ever before, we could get to the point where one NEVER has to delete anything he doesn’t want to.