Vodafone TV - new Gen2 box

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6 posts

Wannabe Geek
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#2816810 21-Nov-2021 23:34

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GeneralMidi:

I confirmed with a Vodafone Rep that Vodafone TV is now end of life and the only way to get one is via a Vodafone store and to add a monthly rental fee to your account

So the service is EOL but you can still get one with a monthly fee? That does not sound end of life to me!

Sorry just to clarify I was referring to the retail off shelf Vodafone TV Box that you can buy outright being end of life. He didn't sound particularly positive about the long term support of the service for the rental ones either, just that they are the only option currently available.

When he mentioned Vodafone felt there was too much competition to keep it on the shelves and were pulling the plug on the retail one it seemed they weren't that enthusiastic about the success of the service in general but I could be mistaken.

alasta

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#2816955 22-Nov-2021 10:39

This doesn't surprise me. A lot of the problems that people are reporting here seem to be related to content cataloging, which is a process that must consume a lot of resources. On the other side of the ledger the revenue must be minimal if they are relying on commissions from the subset of users who opt to subscribe to Sky content. It just doesn't seem to make commercial sense.

I can't help wondering how they ever built a business case for it in the first place.

Rickles

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#2816961 22-Nov-2021 10:53

If the 'service' goes, I'd be interested to know if the device will continue to work as a stand-alone for Free-to-air and OnDemand?

Presumably the suggested 'subscription' retention would only apply to the Three-day roll-back and Recording abilites?

Spyware

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#2816981 22-Nov-2021 11:38

I predicted this.

Next they'll sell their celltowers.

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Stu

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#2817152 22-Nov-2021 15:02

Anyone remember Telecom (as it was then) and the TiVo boxes? Starting to sound a little similar.

People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

Keep calm, and carry on posting.

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peng1nz

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#2817161 22-Nov-2021 15:15

Stu:

Anyone remember Telecom (as it was then) and the TiVo boxes? Starting to sound a little similar.

Sure do, and I still have two TiVos doing their thing with the community patch. I only took up the VTV because of the Netflix feature but have used it a bit for FTA recording as well. It is nowhere near as nice as TiVo but it did look like Vodafone were planning to continue enhancing the product with future releases. The phone app is a good addon.

It would be a real shame to see VTV boxes turned to scrap (early) so hopefully Vodafone will allow continued use or open it up for community reuse. But probably not a large enough user base to gain support like TiVo has.

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Spong

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#2817162 22-Nov-2021 15:16

Stu:

Anyone remember Telecom (as it was then) and the TiVo boxes? Starting to sound a little similar.

Maybe, but not exactly. Tivo Series 3 is still going strong 11 years later thanks to the community support.

Tivo upgrades to operate with the new OzTivo EPG, support and service. Over 400 performed here so far. See: www.hillcrest.net.nz

Spyware

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#2817166 22-Nov-2021 15:22

Spong:

Stu:

Anyone remember Telecom (as it was then) and the TiVo boxes? Starting to sound a little similar.

Maybe, but not exactly. Tivo Series 3 is still going strong 11 years later thanks to the community support.

Would be 12 years this week I think.

Stu

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#2817174 22-Nov-2021 15:30

Spong:

Stu:

Anyone remember Telecom (as it was then) and the TiVo boxes? Starting to sound a little similar.

Maybe, but not exactly. Tivo Series 3 is still going strong 11 years later thanks to the community support.

That's why I said "Starting to sound a little similar". Abandoned by the company that brought them here, the TiVo is only still going thanks to community support. TiVo and Telecom/Spark didn't/don't want a bar of it. Should the VTV boxes be hackable (overseas VTV models run Android TV, but not sure if the actual hardware is the same), then perhaps there could be community support for them also. So far there appears to be no ability for this.

Telecom had a warehouse full of the TiVo boxes. They started out being sold for over $900 each, and ended up being given away as sweeteners to signing broadband contracts or sold through Noel Leeming a hugely discounted prices to offload them. Fully aware of the differences in hardware.

People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

Keep calm, and carry on posting.

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rugrat

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#2817181 22-Nov-2021 15:40

I don’t think it will be feasible for community support on Vodafone TV, a bit different to maintaining a guide for TiVo to maintaining full channel streams for VFTV.

As they have just withdrawn box’s from sale, there must be a minimum time they have to keep service running, otherwise people could take box’s back and ask for money back.

In the case of people paying as a add on, $10 a month?, they can drop any time, as people are paying for service not box, so once service stops so does payment.

The TiVo was my favourite recorder. The Vodafone TV might have superseded it if it wasn’t for the rights issues limiting catch up and recordings. Though money wise the cost of the stream needs to be supported, and unless people subscribe to Sky VF gets no ongoing revenue under current model.

Apsattv

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#2817182 22-Nov-2021 15:46

It's likely that Vodafone will replace the vodafone tv unit with whatever is the new Sky offered device and market that in place of the Vodafone TV units. It would also seem likely that existing vodafone tv users who are on contracts for sky content will get free replacement boxes.

Those who purchased a vodafone TV STB outright via retail may remain on a "legacy service" for say 2 years or be targeted with an upgrade to the newer Sky device.

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#2817202 22-Nov-2021 16:15

Stu:

Anyone remember Telecom (as it was then) and the TiVo boxes? Starting to sound a little similar.

And add to that Igloo. Not Spark of course. TVNZ/Sky but still abandoned after a short time

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

Delorean

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#2817209 22-Nov-2021 16:49

alasta:

This doesn't surprise me. A lot of the problems that people are reporting here seem to be related to content cataloging, which is a process that must consume a lot of resources. On the other side of the ledger the revenue must be minimal if they are relying on commissions from the subset of users who opt to subscribe to Sky content. It just doesn't seem to make commercial sense.

I can't help wondering how they ever built a business case for it in the first place.

Wasn't this the one of the reasons VF and Sky wanted to merge? wasn't this box going to be the new Sky box, as Vodafone already had the technology to deliver it in the short term and sky still hasn't released anything after all these years

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Rushmere

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#2817211 22-Nov-2021 16:53

Delorean:

alasta:

This doesn't surprise me. A lot of the problems that people are reporting here seem to be related to content cataloging, which is a process that must consume a lot of resources. On the other side of the ledger the revenue must be minimal if they are relying on commissions from the subset of users who opt to subscribe to Sky content. It just doesn't seem to make commercial sense.

I can't help wondering how they ever built a business case for it in the first place.

Wasn't this the one of the reasons VF and Sky wanted to merge? wasn't this box going to be the new Sky box, as Vodafone already had the technology to deliver it in the short term and sky still hasn't released anything after all these years

Yes, maybe that’s why Vodafone put the resources into developing it in the first place - it was intended to become the new Sky box. Now that Sky has chosen a different path for new hardware, it’s no longer viable for Vodafone to continue with it.

Delorean

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#2818016 23-Nov-2021 18:11

Spyware:

I predicted this.

Next they'll sell their celltowers.

That was in the news yesterday! You wonder why they would as that is their main asset.

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