Linux Hackers Offered Early Access to Next-Gen DVR

An anonymous reader writes "Linux hackers are being given the first crack at beta units and early release versions of a new Linux-powered DVR. The new device, available from Neuros Technology, is able to record MPEG-4 video from many media sources including cable, broadcast TV, and DVDs allowing the user to then transfer that video to portable media players or serve the media over a network. From the article: 'Neuros says "hundreds" of open source community members helped finalize the OSD's design. About two dozen purchased an early hardware prototype earlier this year. Partly to thank the community, and partly as a way of getting the device into the hands of highly critical users early on, Neuros will offer an initial "beta" production run exclusively to hackers.'"

Neuros seems interesting

[Kadin2048]

Neuros seems like a really intriguing company. I haven't (yet) purchased any of their gear, mostly because I'm currently happy with my third-gen iPod and relatively ancient USB EyeTV tuner, but I like the way they seem to be developing products.

The killer is going to be software, though; if they can't get a cohesive user experience down, the best software in the world isn't worth more than a VCR. With all the digital covergence stuff, interoperability and ease of use are the two main pillars that support everything else. By using open standards and free software, I'm confident they'll have interoperability on the technical side, but I wonder about the ease of use and vertical integration with other parts of the "user stack." (That is, the applications that let the users do particular tasks, like pull a recording from the STB and burn it to a DVD; will there be one integrated app to do that? Or will it require an awkward chain of tools?)

But in general, I think they're on the right track, and it's refreshing to see a company produce a product that honestly looks neat. It's been a while since I've seen that.

Now, if only they made one that would record DTV without dropping it to an analog signal first...an ADC is nice, but it seems a little late. TV is going digital, and I'd love to see an unencumbered recording device that worked there, before the FCC gets in there and starts crippling things.

Potential

[mkosmo]

But how will the MPAA like that Linux hackers can go through and do whatever they want with a video stream? I think they will have a fit. But when has that ever stopped anybody from keeping backup copie(s) :)
And more seriously, has anybody gotten their hands on one?

Re:IR Blaster

[russ1337]

Yeah, I have a similar setup but without the IR Blaster. I manage OK. The biggest limitation is not being able to record one channel and watch another... but they replay crap so over-and-over that I just set it to record it at 1am or whatever.

I have to set the DVR (mythtv) to record the show and also set the Set-Top-Box to 'auto-tune'. But it works out as I record the same shows every week. (auto-tune set to always switch to 'The Daily Show', Family Guy etc, and the mythtv always to record that show at that time). It is 'slightly' cumbersome, but no worse than a VCR! Plus Mythtv has ad detection and skips them entirely.

My mythtv build is here http://nzrussmyth.blogspot.com/ [blogspot.com] with the my 'connection diagram' about 3/4 the way down.

Re:IR Blaster

[JoeBorn]

A lot of set-top tuners have serial controls as well, which is supported by the Neuros device. There's a serial cable included as well as IR Blaster...

iTV?

[mikeee]

Is it just me, or is this pretty much what Apple's upcoming iTV will be? The hardware sounds like it's pretty similar.

Useful mostly for streaming low-to-medium resolution video from PC to computer. Neuros adds the ability to record - maybe useful to an attached MP3/video player? (I guess you could NFS-mount a filesystem from elsewhere...?) In practice, I'd bet that's too much of a hassle to be worth the trouble.

Re:Neuros seems interesting

[JoeBorn]

Speaking for Neuros, I think your comments are absolutely right regarding the "cohesive user experience." We know that hackers will add features and get all kinds of "proof of concept" stuff working, but at the end of the day, it's our job (as the manufacturer) to stitch it together to make it work for the average person, that "doesn't need another hobby," as someone else said here. The first stage of this product's life will be geeks and hackers, but we need to get the user experience right to broaden the appeal. If we do that, I'm not so worried about the fact that this unit is SD v. HD and analog v. digital, we'll address that with future (more expensive) models. This one will serve a need for users that want a way to stitch together their SD video, digital audio, photos and connect that content (or internet content like Youtube, etc) to their TV and Stereo at a reasonable price.

Re:Neuros stranded THIS user...

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't argue with your experiences with the USB 2.0 upgrade; my Neuros was upgraded just fine. They did have some production quality issues with the USB 2.0 units as well, which meant a lot of people had to ship stuff back and forth. This was a bummer, and it took them a while to get it straightned out. They eventually did.

The PC software they provided was awful. If you think it was bad with a 20G player, try it with an 80G. Solution: Use the open source replacement for that software. The requirements for this were available long before the C# code or firmware was, and there are several good replacements.

They also did open-source the firmware. It's all there on the website, and a number of people have alternate firmware available. It took them some wrangling to get all the rights to do the releases - they also had to drop a feature to do it - but the entire firmware is open source. You can find it at: http://neuros-firmware.sourceforge.net/ [sourceforge.net]

Before you thrash someone for not doing what they promised, check to see that it's actually true. While it did take them a while to get it all out, they said they would, and they have.