Features Needed

[FuzioN_1]

fwiw

http://utalk.att.com/utalk/board/message?board.id=Uverse_TV_Programming&view=by_date_ascending&messa...

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[rbell219]

Right...that's my post as well.  It makes sense now so they can still offer locals to non HD customers.

[Datalyss]

You still do not get it.  Digital broadcasting is NOT necessarily high definition.  If you have a local station broadcasting in SD and they convert to digital broadcasting, the signal will still be SD. 

[rbell219]

I do get that part. 

The reason I thought one set of channels would go away is because that's what's happening OTA.  Channel 5 (NBC here in DFW) broadcasts on 5 and 5.1 or whatever the digital broadcast is.  5 is going away, so whether or not the broadcast is standard def or high def, it will be on digital 5.1, so I thought UVerse channel 1005, or 5, would go away.  All our STB's are digital, so I assumed Uverse, dish, and cable would pass the HD and SD feeds through and if you have HD service and an HD box, you would get HD on the locals when it is broadcast that way - just like you would with an antenna.  Afterall, this is the way it is on channel 1005, 1008, and all the other local HD channels.

So I get the difference between HDTV and DTV, I guess this point has turned into a suggestion.  Send us the local braodcasts on one channel and pass it through whether or not it's HD.  I guess you could call it free HD locals.  We'll still pay for the HD service for the other channels if we want it.

And I still think they should group them together so the standard and high def channels are next to each other.

[needa]

i personally like the hd channels having their own group. when people come over and want to see what uverse has to offer in the hd department... i just give them the remote and tell em to go to 1001 in the guide. much easier than scrolling through a 350 channel lineup.

[cheer]

The web interface needs work:

• Need to be able to limit searches to a specific channel.  Trying to set up a series recording for new episodes of Law & Order on my local NBC HD affiliate, for example, is a chore, because searching for "Law & Order" brings up hundreds of hits, and I have to page (10 at a time) until I see one that's on the right channel.
• Once a series recording is set up, I should be able to bring up all the details.  For example, if I have two entries for "Law & Order" -- one for new HD episodes on NBC and one for SD re-runs on TNT -- I can't tell which series recording is which.  If I want to delete one, I basically have to delete both and then re-add the one I want to keep.

Also, the fact that there is no prioritization for series recordings baffles me, because it's a very basic feature.  I have some series recordings that I use to capture new episodes of the family's shows, and some to capture lots of re-runs of a few shows we really like.  I don't ever -- EVER -- want a "re-run" recording to stop a new episode from recording.  Ideally I'd like the DVR to try and schedule an "alternate" broadcast to resolve a conflict, but I'll settle for just a basic prioritization scheme.

[rbell219]

Amen on prioritizing....it would also serve to keep episodes of higher priority shows over new recordings of lesser shows - so the dvr would never delete an episode of a higher priority to make room for a lower one. It keeps youfrom having to make sure you set an episode to "keep until I delete".

I guess they are using FIFO method now?  Does anyone know?

[cheer]

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rbell219 wrote:

Amen on prioritizing....it would also serve to keep episodes of higher priority shows over new recordings of lesser shows - so the dvr would never delete an episode of a higher priority to make room for a lower one. It keeps youfrom having to make sure you set an episode to "keep until I delete".

I guess they are using FIFO method now?  Does anyone know?

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No idea.  Since it won't let you schedule a deliberate conflict, it's hard to experiment; you basically have to wait for a conflict to come up in the future.  So far it hasn't happened enough for me to work out its methodology.

[rbell219]

I agree with you though, it's such an easy feature.  And like I said before, these boxes should be able to be flashed easily. 

Even though Uverse is still new, it suprises me they didn't just take the best of Tivo, Direct V, Dish and Cable recorders and add them all together.  Maybe it's more complicated than that...

[zerauso]

Alright I am probably going to get a lot of slack for this one but here goes....

I and the kids have Zunes and since this product is put out by Microsoft it would be nice if they would allow the Zune software to sync with the DVR and allow you to move recorded programs over to it just like they do with podcasts. I am sure that since both products are put out by MS they could easily figure out how to do this leagally. I know I have read about this being in the plans to do with the iPhone.

Bash away....

Message Edited by zerauso on 01-25-2009 04:05 PM

[oz_1 ACE - Master]

No bashing but if you visit the tech sites the division at Microsoft that handles ZUNE and other things related took a hit with layoffs GOOGLE for more info or try Engadget or Gizmodo.

[scubacat]

The guide is awful.  I am more frustrated by it than by anything, even the freezes and skipping.

1.  Search will often only give the shows for the next day or so even though the shows are on the schedule if you manually page through the days.

2.  Search function could be better in general as many have said, by category and so forth.  Also could search by program information if it was accurate (see below).

3.  Guide information about show subjects seems to have been entered by someone who is not a native English speaker and is very often wrong.

4.  If option for only new shows is picked then you don't get old shows but if you pick record all it will record the same episode over and over and over.  TIVO recorded the first episode and skipped all those following with the same information.

5. It's very awkward and takes forever to read through the guide.  There isn't an easy way to read through shows coming up days in the future.  Someone mentioned being able to look at a day or time slot and I agree, that would be nice.

I'm sure there's more as I'm often frustrated when looking for shows.  In general TIVO was very user friendly and this is DEFINITELY not.  I loved being able to search by interest and set to record even without the name and before the shows may have been included on the schedule.  We missed less with that feature since we now have to know ahead of time what we want to watch to set to record.  Reading a guide is not the best use of my time.

[RCSMG ACE - Expert]

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scubacat wrote:

The guide is awful.  I am more frustrated by it than by anything, even the freezes and skipping.

1.  Search will often only give the shows for the next day or so even though the shows are on the schedule if you manually page through the days.

Here is a work around for that issue.

http://utalk.att.com/utalk/board/message?board.id=DVR&thread.id=5802&jump=true

2.  Search function could be better in general as many have said, by category and so forth.  Also could search by program information if it was accurate (see below).

3.  Guide information about show subjects seems to have been entered by someone who is not a native English speaker and is very often wrong.

4.  If option for only new shows is picked then you don't get old shows but if you pick record all it will record the same episode over and over and over.  TIVO recorded the first episode and skipped all those following with the same information.

5. It's very awkward and takes forever to read through the guide.  There isn't an easy way to read through shows coming up days in the future.  Someone mentioned being able to look at a day or time slot and I agree, that would be nice.

I'm sure there's more as I'm often frustrated when looking for shows.  In general TIVO was very user friendly and this is DEFINITELY not.  I loved being able to search by interest and set to record even without the name and before the shows may have been included on the schedule.  We missed less with that feature since we now have to know ahead of time what we want to watch to set to record.  Reading a guide is not the best use of my time.

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[Gonkers]

Allow multiple user definable Favorites lists (examples Wife, Myself, sports only, etc) I really really miss this from dish. I would go back to dish if I had a better option for internet access.

When loading a favorites list, automaticaly select the channel I'm currently on, or the closest one if the current channel isn't in the list. Right now it goes to some random channel and I have to search to get back where I was in the favorites guide.

Show DVR scheduling conflicts more clearly. Allow priority settings. Keep a log of why a program was skipped, etc. Again, I really really miss all these features on dish.

Seperate the TV from the computer network. ::rant warning:: The 2-wire device that comes with the service is TERRIBLE! It's fine for Joe Blow, grandma, and the non-technical peabody. However, I'm a sotware developer and I need to setup special network port forwarding and other advanced networking settings for remote access and other testing scenarios.  None of these features exsist as I need them on the 2-wire. I have found a work-around to this using the DMZ, but I don't beleive the DMZ is properly implemented on the 2-wire. I have used 2 seperate routers (behind the 2-wire DMZ) and both have issues.

Allow sub-accounts to use the web dvr remote. There is no reason why my wife should have to log into my account to use it. I cannot see this being difficult to implement in any way.

Allow transfering of DVR recordings to an iPhone. I would love this as my wife and I take trips often.

Since the TV and Internet networks are one in the same, allow me to stream my DVR recordings to my PC.

[Thomas80]

All I want is for U-Verse to add the autotune feature. Add this feature and I will be one happy camper.

[antoniowand]

Here it is a simple one... if you try to search for a specific sports league or team, it will prompt you no answer, even though on the programing you obviously see what league and or team will be playing ( ex: try search for either spanish league or barcelona, on gol tv the program exist, but the search cannot locate it )

[bluekuzco]

There are lot's of good requests in this thread.  Obviously ability to add more storage, pause live tv on any set, profiles for guide/favorite channels, and being able to manage recording on any unit (add series, delete entry..etc) are good.

Here are a few I HAVE NOT SEEN posted so far:

1) SLOW-MOTION or 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 speed playback on DVR/VOD.  Am I missing something?  I've tried to find out if this is a feature since day one.  My 50-year old vcr does this.

2) Alternate screens for URGE music stations (info/screen saver/blank).  Sorry guys, the scroll of artist info/influences/etc is just not helping set the mood when I am listening to music with the Mrs in the late hours of the night.

3) Video scaling for HD.  If you do not have a widescreen HD TV, you are screwed.  My 4:3 61" Toshiba HDTV does not have built in scaling and so HD programs in widescreen are smooshed.  Every HD tuner, DVD player in my equipment collection does aspect and resolution scaling, so should this system.

[oz_1 ACE - Master]

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thomas_atl wrote:
All I want is for U-Verse to add the autotune feature. Add this feature and I will be one happy camper.

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I agree .

[Wolf26pack]

Well I was going to create my own thread about what features I wanted to see added but I think It would be better suited to be in one place so if the Engineers read this they don't have to go all over the place to find the features U-verse users want added to the service. So for my 1st post let me post what features I would like to see.

Sleep Timer - Like others I would like to see a sleep feature added but most want a wake-up timer while I would like a Sleep Timer, so I can set it up with my TV to turn off in increments of 15,30,45,60,90,120 mins.

RG Device Name Stability - I would like the Residential Gateway to remember the names I give the devices on my Network. So for example I may label my STB's (Grandma's TV, Living Room TV,Mom's TV,PS3, etc etc etc...) but I believe everytime it sends out a ping to see what is or isn't on the network anymore it resets the name back to the IP address and so it becomes pointless to even name any of the devices on the network. It seems the only things that seem to keep there names are my Wii & 2 of my desktop computers as there names are on the actual hardware.

STB Reminder Feature - I know there is a DVR and I can just set it to record it but I really liked it when I would set my old Time Warner box to remind me of a show so if I was flipping channels and forgot that a certain thing was on while I was watching something else it would remind me that the show was on and I would just hit OK and it would go to that channel. While this isn't a must feature it still a feature I would like to see added

and Finally & probably most importantly...

Sony Playstation 3 (a.k.a PS3) Remote Play over the internet problems - I will explain further as I have found not many people understand this problem

- What is Remote Play? It is a function the PS3 & Playstation Portable (a.k.a PSP) have that should allow you to turn on & remotely view what is on your PS3 and then turn off your PS3 remotely via your PSP from anywhere there is a Wifi signal available.

- What is the problem? At the current time when using Remote Play via the Internet with the PS3 & PSP it works fine all up until you shut off your PS3 with the PSP. After about 30 secs to 1 mins time the PS3 will automatically turn itself on. After a certain amount of time if nothing is done it will shut itself down and disable that feature so it doesn't happen again.

Now Sony knows that Some Routers/Gateways will cause this to happen that is why they added thru a firmware update to disable it is it ever has this problem. All Sony has done is given a disclaimer saying something like...

"This function may not work with all Routers/Gateways and if your PS3 automatically turns on and no input occurs after 2 minutes Remote Play via the Internet will be disabled to keep it from turning on again in the future"

So I then thought to contact 2wire about the subject assuming it was there Gateway so they would provide Firmware Updates for it only to be told that...

"As you are using AT&T U-Verse service, I regret to inform you that
only AT&T U-Verse is trained for your 2WIRE 3800 HG-V Gateway. We
here at 2WIRE at not trained on as AT&T U-Verse is the sole
provider of support for all products purchased through AT&T U-Verse
including the 2WIRE 3800 HG-V Gateway.


As such, you will need to contact AT&T U-Verse for assistance
with this product, and I will also mention that all firmware upgrades
are handled by AT&T U-Verse, not 2WIRE as the AT&T U-Verse
firmware is proprietary to AT&T U-Verse.


Please refer to AT&T U-verse Technical Support (1-800-288-2020)
for help with all issues and questions related to AT&T U-verse
Services and its related products including 2Wire Residential Gateways"

I then asked them "Why you guys would do it as it was there gateway. Shouldn't they provide the firmware?"

"Its actually all contractual, ATT's contract with us prohibits support
to the uverse accounts due to the fact it could interfere with the
television services."

So during that time I contacted AT&T's about the subject only to be told that they don't deal with videogame systems and that they could send me to a service that would cost me $40 and they might be able to fix it for me, but I wasn't going to pay $40 for something that really should just work. So I started looking for some kind of answers to the problem on here and found something that seems very plausible. Some conjectured that it was the 2wire Gateway causing the problem. They were thinking that when the Gateway sends out the ping to see what is on the network, that signal wakes up the PS3 inadvertently and then when nothing happens on the PS3's end the PS3 disables that feature. Now I'm no network specialist but it seems plausible. Here are some of the quotes they said from the thread.

SomeJoe7777

I do not have a PS3/PSP, so I am only conjecturing here.  But I will
tell you that the 2Wire routers (I believe all models) send out ARP
packets throughout the network every 10 seconds to populate their
network devices list that you see in their web interface.  It seems
likely to me that these ARP packets are causing your PS3 to turn on
when you don't want it to.

The only solution would be to get another (non-2Wire) router, put that behind the RG, and put the PS3
behind that router.  Then forward the proper ports on both the RG and the other router. This would prevent the RG's ARP packets from reaching the PS3, which should prevent it from turning on until the PSP connects to it

then philo138 responded with

You are correct after some serious internet searching I have found that 2wires all models use ARP packets to keep track of what is connected, these packets are sent out every 10-30 seconds depending on model. The ps3 in turn falsely sees this as a call from the psp to wake up, and does eventually turning off remote start in the process. I have a set up that you have discussed, I have a linksys wrt55ag router hooked up to my 2wire, ps3 still doesn't work because the 2wire router requires that dhcp server on the linksys be turned off so the packets still get through. The bestsolution that I have found is that when I move out I'm going to get a uverse bundle but with out internet included, however I'm still going to have internet installed through att only as a side service so that I can use a router of my choosing specifically d-link 4500 gaming router (allows blocking of wan pings and prioritizes gaming packets, not to mention still allows me to use the unheard of Aband) a behind a simple DSL modem.

If you care to read into it more here is the link to the Forum: Psp/PS3 remote start problems, culprit = 2wire router?

So it seems like only AT&T can do anything about this. I have talked to technicians and to Customer Service Representatives and none seem to know what to do so I really hope that some AT&T Engineers look at this and will take the initiative to do something about this. 

[AUBand72]

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Ray_PS wrote:
How about a function to synchronize all TV's in the household... the delay between units is inconsistent and distracting.

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AMEN!!!! It is so distracting. And I can be on the phone with a friend watching the same show through different carriers and her carrier (Charter) is always 10 to 15 seconds ahead of mine. Of course, I ran into the same thing with DirecTV... only one of two complaints I had with them... the major one being that once I got my HD tv, they weren't able to provide HD service to me because of not having a clear line to the three satellites in the SW sky.

[AUBand72]

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CGI wrote:

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callmeox wrote:
Who really wants look at two 4 digit numerical displays on the front of the boxes?

Not me.

Just press the info button on the remote and you will have your answer.

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I would. I think it would be a great addition. It would also be beneficial if the stb was off. Why have to turn it on and press info if you can have it already displayed?

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If you're only wanting the time... sorry to sound like a smart a$$, but that's what a clock or wristwatch is for. Most STB and DVR displays are so small it's hard to read the time anyway. And if the tv or STB aren't on, why do you need to know the channel? Just questioning, not trying to instigate a riot.

[AUBand72]

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needa wrote:

i understand that the dvrs do not buffer. one thing i loved about comcast was the ability to pause and switch tuners. but why can we not be recording two shows and pause one and then flip to the other recording. seems if it was being recorded... it would not be too difficult for it to remember the pause point.

a day + / - would be nice in the guide. we get up to two weeks worth of programming stored in the guide, but it takes forever to scroll through to the next day to set up your recordings.

as stated b4... more on demand content would be great. was sad to see how little was there.

                     a favorites button

                     i know multicast is coming. so i will only say this... why in the heck do they advertise it as a feature on the website.

the remote locks in the number keys to the dvr. i havent figured out yet how to unlock them to switch my yamaha back and forth to the different modes.

we should be able to hit the ok key and have it bring up the channel and time. i know i can hit info... but info covers up the entire screen. who wants to miss 5 seconds of thier show?

recording options.... should be able to have it find and record my show on any channel.

if all boxes are linked, then why do i have to set up favorites on every box. its a wee bit of a pain.

selecting favorites should put me on the channel i am watching. instead... the dvr just picks one for me.

this is my first post... HI! i am hoping that maybe/possibly someone from at&t looks at this thread and writes down what we are wanting.

this thread should be stickied.

Message Edited by needa on 01-04-2009 08:56 PM

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When I hit the down arrow in the central area of my U-verse remote (that has L arrow, Up arrow, R arrow, Down arrow all surrounding the OK button), I get the PIP display across the bottom of the screen that shows the channel and the time. It doesn't cover the whole screen. Since DVRs and STBs may be different models, you may have a different remote, though, so you might want to check.

[AUBand72]

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needa wrote:

wowsers. i guess i hit every button other than the ff and rew to go from day to day on the guide. thx a ton. i practically jumped from my chair to see if it worked. this was a great 34th bday present. thanx aagain.

thx for the history on the vod. i just look at how I would do it if i was coming out with a new and improved version of any product. i would first look at my competition, then make sure i at least had everything anyone else had. then come up with ideas on how to "out do" the competition.

you think i could get google to loan me a few gazillion bucks?

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Great post! I agree with you completelly as far as taking the best of all that is out there and trying to "out do" the competition! You don't dumb it down when today's consumers are as knowledgeable as they are (maybe not as technically savvy as a lot of the posters here - and I'm being very serious as to our posters' intelligence)... they know what is out there and don't want to move backwards before making progress.

[AUBand72]

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rbell219 wrote:

Oh yeah..

3.  Group the HD duplicate channels with their SD cousin.  So the guide would read 4, 1004, 5, 1005 and so on.  It would be really great with HBO and the other premiums.  I guess you'd have to make it 5.1 or something.  Anyway, I guess this goes away on Feb 17...which leads me to

      3.A.  Hook me up and reprogram my HD series recordings when the transition happens so that I don't have to.  If I have a series scheduled on 1005, make it automatically switch to 5 if/when 1005 goes away.

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That's one thing I don't understand... It took me forever to get it through my thick head that DTV (digital tv) wasn't necessarily HDTV (hi def tv). Will all channels go to HD thus getting rid of channel 6 as opposed to 1006? or will they just transition to digital broadcast and keep the same channel call numbers?  Thanks for the lesson!

[AUBand72]

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Ubob wrote:
You seem to under the impression that the change to digital broadcasting on Feb 17 will somehow alter SD and HD received over Uverse.  It won't.

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Thanks! I replied to the previous post before I read yours. So, what you're saying is, we'll still have standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD that will both be broadcast over DTV (digital tv) lines. Yay! I'm learning... not bad for a 59 year old female.

[ccampagna]

Add these features quick! Sports and News Mixes are great. A friend has this at his house and I am tempted to evaluate changing over to this "direct" service if ATT does not add these features. Should be a no brainer to add these. Also need to add the feature of being able to Start, Stop, Record Delete DVR selections from any room, not just from the one room with the main DVR player. Also the Uverse search feature is not that good. TIVO blows them away on terms of ease of finding all sports, westerns etc... Comon ATT add these services. Thanks.

[spd2demun ACE - Expert]

They are working on a Phase 3 of THDVR that will allow all STBs to act exactly like a DVR.

[RCSMG ACE - Expert]

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spd2demun wrote:
They are working on a Phase 3 of THDVR that will allow all STBs to act exactly like a DVR.

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I wonder how fast people will come to the reailzation that will need the dvrs with the larger harddrives?  Being able to set recordings from any stb can result in a substantial increase of programs being scheduled to record.

[spd2demun ACE - Expert]

I know, been discussed, and see it as a problem, especially for those who record in HD!

[randyl]

welp u 2 dont have to  worry about hd  yet ?

:_P)