[mythtv-users] Akimbo ??? (and ITVN Update)

[Brian Wood]

On Jun 16, 2006, at 4:34 PM, Dean Collins wrote:

> Yep unfortunately I know a lot about it :(
>
> I was meant to be their Australian distributor until they changed  
> their
> minds and have now basically decided not to roll out hardware  
> solutions
> (they are now one of many 'channels' on windows media centre)
> www.cognation.net/akimbo
>
> They were cutting edge when they launched at CES 2004 but now they  
> have
> 'lost' their way.
>
> Check out the content and if it appeals it's not a bad offering but  
> it's
> a shadow of what was initially proposed.
>
> You will need to buy a set top box as there is no way to implement  
> this
> natively into Myth but it should be certainly considered a valuable
> source of content.
>

Thanks for the info. Looks like their STB was $199 but is now $69 on  
"Winter Special", guess that shows how often they update their site.

So If I bought the STB the worst case would be that I paid $69 for an  
80GB HDD.

I wouldn't go near their $199 "lifetime" subscription, as I suspect  
that would be the lifetime of the company, not my lifetime.

I think a lot of outfits will come and go as this type of business  
shakes out. It will probably in the end be dominated by Verizon and  
the other media giants, who are letting the little guys do the R&D on  
the hardware and testing the waters.

As long as I don't get into any long-term contracts, or spend a lot  
on an STB, I guess I can't lose much.

What would be nice would be to be able to get the program list into  
Myth, and have Myth be able to control the STB to download what you  
wanted. Even if you had to play it back on the STB, if you could do  
the scheduling, indexing etc. within Myth it would be a nice  
enhancement.

More useful than the Netflix add-on, at least to me.

Thanks again.