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Major update coming before July according to CNET

10K views 94 replies 30 participants last post by  Alex_7 
#1 ·
#4 ·
CNET said:
The update will automatically select the HDR version as well as enable users to turn off the "always on" HDR effect.

TiVo's rep suggested that as a temporary fix users should choose HDR10 by default from the Stream's settings menu (Settings> Device Preferences>More> Screen Resolution> HDR10). TiVo also suggested users install Google's latest Android TV updates in the Play Store. We applied the HDR10 fix and found it worked on the Sony X950G, but not on the LG CX.
I said to do this over a month ago.
 
#7 ·
I signed up for the beta after filling out the survey a week or two ago, but I returned my TS4K right at the 30-day mark because I didn't want to get stuck with it.

I got a beta notice through the portal (am I allowed to mention this?), but since I don't have the device, I obviously didn't accept it. I'm guessing the HDR "fix" (aka, letting users turn off the stupid thing) is part of the beta.

I'll be ordering another TS4K on or around (June 26?), toward the projected end of the current $50 promo. That'll give me another 30 days to play around with it, and TiVo 30 days to get their ducks in a row. If they can't do by mid-July, I consider it a lost cause and I'll just hold out for a Mi Stick or Google "Sabrina".
 
#8 ·
I'll be ordering another TS4K on or around (June 26?), toward the projected end of the current $50 promo. That'll give me another 30 days to play around with it, and TiVo 30 days to get their ducks in a row. If they can't do by mid-July, I consider it a lost cause and I'll just hold out for a Mi Stick or Google "Sabrina".
Good to see TiVo actively trying to squash the bugs in this product. But I don't know if they'll be able to raise the price soon, as they've said, to $70 with the new competition on the way.

It looks like the new Mi TV Stick is about to hit the market, priced at 39.95 euros in the EU. That translates into just under $45 US. It has the same specs as the TiVo Stream 4K -- same chipset, same 2 GB RAM, same 8 GB storage -- except it doesn't appear that the Mi TV Stick supports Dolby Vision. (They'd have to license that feature from Dolby and it would increase their costs.)

New Xiaomi Mi TV Stick will ship next month for under US$50; 4K HDR and Android TV dongle gains EEC certification too

And, as you mention, Google will sometime this year finally roll out their own Android TV dongle, code-named Sabrina. It looks to have almost the same chipset and specs, and will support Dolby Vision. I'm betting they won't price it any higher than $70, given that that's about the cost of the current Chromecast Ultra. But if the Mi TV Stick is only $45 or $50, they might have to price it at $60.
 
#10 · (Edited)
It looks like the new Mi TV Stick is about to hit the market, priced at 39.95 euros in the EU. That translates into just under $45 US. It has the same specs as the TiVo Stream 4K -- same chipset, same 2 GB RAM, same 8 GB storage -- except it doesn't appear that the Mi TV Stick supports Dolby Vision. (They'd have to license that feature from Dolby and it would increase their costs.)

New Xiaomi Mi TV Stick will ship next month for under US$50; 4K HDR and Android TV dongle gains EEC certification too
I kept waiting to hear more about this, but then stopped checking. Good to hear there's an actual date in mind.

At $50, this will kill the TS4K, IMO. Literally the only advantage of the TS4K is the USB-C port (see EDIT 2) and folks are having a lot of trouble with it.

I guess some folks might care about Dolby Vision, but since virtually no TV currently available can make use of DV over what HDR10 (which is open-source) offers, it's a gimmick. And if a person happens to have a setup that can make actual use of the advantages DV offers, they aren't quibbling about a $50 streaming dongle.

EDIT: Seems it's possible an FHD version with 1GB of RAM would be the $50 device, and a 4K device with 2GB would be a more expensive version. If that's the case, it's a pass for me and I'll take my chances with a TS4K at $50.

EDIT 2: the Mi Stick 4K might come with a USB-C power port and if that's the case, I would expect it to support power pass-through and more peripherals.
Major update would be enabling play from tivo DVRs
I really cannot understand why they didn't make this a key component in the first place. Timing and resources, maybe?
 
#11 ·
I kept waiting to hear more about this, but then stopped checking. Good to hear there's an actual date in mind.

At $50, this will kill the TS4K, IMO. Literally the only advantage of the TS4K is the USB-C port (see EDIT 2) and folks are having a lot of trouble with it.

I guess some folks might care about Dolby Vision, but since virtually no TV currently available can make use of DV over what HDR10 (which is open-source) offers, it's a gimmick. And if a person happens to have a setup that can make actual use of the advantages DV offers, they aren't quibbling about a $50 streaming dongle.

EDIT: Seems it's possible an FHD version with 1GB of RAM would be the $50 device, and a 4K device with 2GB would be a more expensive version. If that's the case, it's a pass for me and I'll take my chances with a TS4K at $50.

EDIT 2: the Mi Stick 4K might come with a USB-C power port and if that's the case, I would expect it to support power pass-through and more peripherals.

I really cannot understand why they didn't make this a key component in the first place. Timing and resources, maybe?
Yeah, I saw the news today that you included in your first edit above. Not sure what Xiaomi is thinking by replacing their current 4K HDR Mi Box S, which sells for $50 at Walmart, with a stick that's only 1080p and also sells for $50. The Mi Box S even has 2 GB of RAM while this stick has only 1 GB. How is this inferior stick supposed to be more desirable if it's also $50? Never mind the fact that Roku and Amazon sell 4K HDR sticks for $50 (often on sale for less). If all you need is a 1080p streamer, the Fire TV Stick 1080p model is $40. I can't see anyone buying this. I mean, nothing Xiaomi comes out with is probably going to sell all that many units because they're an unknown brand, they don't really do any marketing, and they only seem to have US distribution in Walmart. And they're competing with two big boys, Roku and Amazon. If anyone is going to succeed in getting an Android TV device into a lot of homes, it's going to be Google.
 
#13 ·
Looks like integration with Tivo DVR's isn't in the works.



tivopm
1 hour ago
The TiVo Stream 4K capabilities and features were designed for the streaming player market. The company has no plans to integrate connectivity to TiVo DVRs.

We are working on software updates for the DVR itself. We'll likely have more news on that at some point.

In terms of the TiVo+ channels, would you want the ability to hide certain channels?
 
#14 ·
Just goes to show how clueless the Mgmt or Engineering team at TiVo is these days. If they offered integration w/ TiVo DVR's I'm sure they could double the price of this stick, and some households may buy multiple sticks like they did w/ the Mini.

There is so little enhancement of the TiVo ecosystem in the past 5 years, and they are stripping off functionality that exists from older generations. Why did many of us invest in lifetime subscriptions, to loose access to things like Netflix on platforms that had it?
 
#23 ·
They have advertised it, but have slowed down a bit. My guess is they are trying to fix the bugs first and then ramp advertising back up. They next big bug fix is supposed to be before July. Looks like they may miss that deadline. Something they have gotten good at.
 
#27 ·
What differentiates the TS4K is the TiVo Stream app that comes pre-loaded on it and is exclusive to the device. Sadly, from what I read on this forum, it doesn't sound like it does as good a job of aggregating, integrating and tracking content from various sources than the free ReelGood app for Android TV. It does include the free TiVo+ streaming channels (meh) and I suspect that the ad revenue that TiVo hopes to make from those channels, as well as the user data they collect throughout the Stream app, are the main ways TiVo aims to profit from the device. (I doubt they're making much, if any, profit on the hardware itself at $50. Maybe they get a kickback from Google for sales and subscriptions through the Google Play store that are initiated on the device? Not sure how Google handles the relationship with OEMs that license Android TV from them for retail devices.)

It sounds like TiVo is moving pretty quickly to squash their bugs on the TS4K. But they'll need to also improve the functionality of the TiVo Stream app if they want lots of folks to buy the device and regularly use the app. Frankly, I have a hard time seeing the TS4K breaking through with the public to the extent necessary for it to really take off. They need to advertise it more.
I have an Nvidia Shield too. I would have thought that Tivo could have put their app on android tv since it works pretty darn well and just have the Tivo part of it to have problems to work out. Why would they take away from the device so many of the settings? They could have just moved them to an advanced settings menu folder and warned folks to use at their own risk. I try these boxes and then I go back to my Apple TV 4k and appreciate how solid it is. Their TV app is getting better all the time.
 
#28 ·
Yeah, I've wondered too why TiVo doesn't roll out their TiVo Stream app, with TiVo+ content built-in, to other devices. Initially, I would've thought that they couldn't deep-link to content in other apps (e.g. Netflix, Hulu, etc.) unless it was on their own device. But that's apparently not true on Android TV, because ReelGood is doing it. They've released their app (which is similar to TiVo Stream but without TiVo+ or integration with Sling) on the Google Play Store and apparently any Android TV device, such as the Shield TV, can access it.

Yeah, I really like my Apple TV 4K too. Although I'm curious about trying out Google's upcoming Android TV device, assuming they really sweat the details and make it a polished product. Google has a pretty mixed track record in that regard, so we'll see...
 
#29 · (Edited)
I hope HBOmax wasnt the "big" update. I have 4 of these devices and I will think that ethernet is working fine and then it will disconnect, or one wont connect at all, or when connected the Mbbs is 50-100 compared to 250 Mbps over wifi. Absolutely flakey. For now ethernet cables are disconnected until they fix their sh*t
 
#41 ·
Just curious, are they going to do a fix to the "My Shows" part of the Tivo Stream 4K in this update?

One reason I returned the Tivo Stream 4k is bc it was pretty buggy and randomly updated and/or was just a static list of shows that I'd watched. It did not put the latest show that it recorded like the regular Tivo did on the top of the list or anything like that.
 
#42 ·
Sounds like we may be getting TiVo DVR integration based on what I think TiVoPM is saying here at Zatz's site:

https://zatznotfunny.com/2020-07/tivo-stream-4k-fixes-delayed/

We're working on a number of fixes as well as giving you guys some new features. We're trying to enable both. But we are focusing on the fixes around flickering video, Bluetooth/Remote Control issues, CEC issues and some WiFi problems. We're working on a few features which are close to this communities hearts, so as soon as I have confirmation I'll let you know! […] We're working hard on this and a number of other fixes we're trying to get into your hands ASAP. I'm really sorry for the delay here, but we ran into some snags. Please know we're pushing very hard and as soon as I have updates I'll let you know
 
#44 ·
I've long suspected that the Tivo Stream 4k is the replacement to the Tivo Mini, but they can't announce until they sell their backstock. An expensive tivo mini that doesn't include HBO Max or Disney Plus is a harder and harder value proposition. Heck, even charging money for the Tivo DVR App on Apple and Android (free on Stream4k) makes more sense than a new $150 Mini.
 
#46 ·
Was Tivo lying when they said they'd release Roku\AppleTV\AndroidTV DVR apps by the end of 2019? IMO yes.

Over 10 years ago I was a phone monkey for Jawbone Bluetooth headsets. One day we were told when asked about a new version of the Jawbone Bluetooth headset being released, to answer that Jawbone had no intention of updating their line-up. Roughly ~2 weeks later on a Friday at 4pm we instead were given a sheet with information on the new Jawbone 2 and were told to encourage our customers to upgrade. It takes way longer than two weeks to develop a new Bluetooth headset, make them, and ship them out to the states. Jawbone had me lie to customers for ~ 2 weeks.

Tivo has to realize that as time goes on, when people watch TV they're more likey to watch Netflix, HBO Max, Peacock, Hulu, Vudu, etc then channel 407 or the LOGO channel. Heck, I spend more time watching the CW app then the CW channel. Tivo's apps are being abandoned, Hulu is still using their old interface and the HBO app will never be upgraded to HBO Max. Tivo has to realize that eventually they're going to have to release an app. Whether that app is released next week or next year, it's going to have to happen.
 
#47 ·
Tivo's apps are being abandoned, Hulu is still using their old interface and the HBO app will never be upgraded to HBO Max. Tivo has to realize that eventually they're going to have to release an app. Whether that app is released next week or next year, it's going to have to happen.
Unless Tivo is going to abandon making any new DVRs and focus on software and streaming. Then there is no reason to update apps. They put all the DVRs that are already out there in maintenance mode until their end of life.
 
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