Navigator Update

[Jack 1000]

Yeah now that I  think about it, it has actually reverted back to the Passport functionality.  I still find it frustrating that I have to relearn it, and who is to say they won't change it again on some programmer's whim.

And IMO if they really cared about their customers they would never have dropped Passport.  Navigator still has a long way to go, I'm still waiting to get Keyword search back.

Yea,

I don't know why they dropped Keyword Search in Navigator or Manual Recording.  I want Keyword Search in the next Navigator update, for sure!

Jack

[Jack 1000]

Closed Captioning works better on this latest MDN update (MDN 2.4.6-19) (SA-8300HD) box.

The version that we had before MDN 2.4.4-15 would sometimes show CC in a different color and than the caption would freeze.  This happened most often on HBO-HD, forcing a box reboot.

The caption changed color last night when I was watching a DVR playback of Shrek on HBO HD.  However, it only froze for like 4-5 seconds and corrected itself right away.  So I think for SOME under the hood things on the boxes, I know some customers were upset about their closed-captioning not working on MDN.  However, this may be an example of improvements with closed-captioning that this latest update created.

Jack

[Jack 1000]

Update: September 8, 2009

Still need Keyword Search capability added to BOTH MDN and ODN boxes.

Nearest Tune should be included in MDN boxes through a software update.

The ability to create Manual Recordings, which would override the IPG pre-sets would be useful so that subs could choose to only record selected portions of a show.

Top priority should be Keyword Search for all versions of Navigator.

Jack

[Jack 1000]

One thing that I do hate about Navigator,

Like today with all the Football games, the fact that because the listings only show TITLES when you do a THEME search, you have to go to about 20 different tiers and open each one up before you can see the game that you are looking for. And very very few people are going to know that the information is organized by the first letter of the Title in a search, (exceptions are the letter A and the word "the.") In these cases the second word's first letter is used. But who is going to think, "Oh, I have to go to "C" to bring up titles of College Football and than scroll through 20 choices to find a game?"

Can anyone elaborate how Passport did these kinds of searches? I would think that when you go to do a Football Search, the TEAMS of what is showing should be listed, NOT the titles of what type of football game it is! How should Navigator improve on this in future software updates?

Brining up titles is OK for Movies because you know the name of what you want, or say for example, Arts, or Cooking, because the title is easy to identify with the show. But with 30-40 football or baseball games on the weekends there has to be a faster way to actually see what teams are playing! This is such a downside of Navigator!

Do you think Keyword Search will solve this problem? I do!

Jack

[Jack 1000]

I want to thank my friends and people over at the AVS forum for supplying this information:

Here is some heads up stuff on the TWC Navigator guide in terms of what is coming. (Hopefully within or before the first quarter of next year.)

We currently have more expanded program information program listings for movies.  For the past couple of weeks or so, I have noticed that when you press the Info button and someone such as an actor is talked about in movies, the name of the actor or actors is in parenthesis.

I am hoping that better data will become available for series soon.

San Diego has new guide data that now displays up to three pages of movie data information.  Although the years of series have been removed, original air dates and more descriptive programing information is showing up.  I mention San Diego, because we often SEEM to get updates about 3-4 weeks later.

The Search function will soon see:

1.) The ability that when you press B to do a Keyboard Search or a Category Search, the cursor will be automatically positioned on the program you are watching (FINALLY!)

2.) The ability for those duplicate program listings to be reduced as you type to narrow a search. (ABOUT TIME!)

3.) The ability to type in the name of a network and see a program list.  (Note that this sort of talks about Keyword Search, but I hope that this will be extended to provide any information in the description of a program.)

Later on Things:

1.) Remote DVR recording.

2.) Multi-room DVR management.


Jack

[Jack 1000]

Most of the reports are based on Internet rumor and sadly, TWC is ridiculously secretive about new features and updates. Even when released, everything is moot until your division and box model gets them.

However, there have been general composites of information gathering that new features will be added to Navigator SOMETIME in 2010. The Carolinas and San Diego California are often test divisions, so the savey tech guys who follow this advise users to watch for new features in those divisions, because they get them first.

A general composite of information seems to be the following:

1.) A new feature will enable the boxes to begin a search on the program already being watched or currently being viewed in the guide's time-grid. This is how Passport used to work, so this is coming back.

2.) A feature called "Nearest Tune" that is on ODN/Samsung boxes is going to be coming to MDN boxes.

3.) Improved Searches are coming as well:

A.) The "Sports Now" Category is being completely redone to allow the ability to search for games and teams.

B.) Keyword Search will be added to the existing keyboard.

4.) Manual Recording is coming.

5.) Remote DVR Management is coming.

6.) Copy to DVD/VCR is coming.

7.) Multiple Multi-Room DVD management is coming, but only to Samsung boxes and the brand new Cisco 8642-HDC-DVR (Formerly SA.) as well as the Samsung 4642-DVR. Legacy DVR boxes (i.e SA-8500 and below) will not support this feature.

But again, this is a COMPOSITE of reasonable belief of what will be added. It is up to each local division to apply the updates, and there is no specific time-frame for when that will happen.

At that rate TWC is going, we may not see #4-7 for some time.

Jack

[duncantuna]

Copy to VCR/DVD really surprises me .. first, due to the copyright issues, but second, you can do that already with the right equipment and know-how.

[Jack 1000]

Copy to VCR/DVD really surprises me .. first, due to the copyright issues, but second, you can do that already with the right equipment and know-how.

It surprised me too.  But from what I have heard, it will only be a one-copy burn per show or movie and the procedure will be coded somehow so that you cannot make copies of the same disk.  (Protection factors built in during the burn process.)  That's all I know.

Jack

[Jack 1000]

I think there is enough pressure from the cable competition for TWC to start adding new features to Navigator this year.  Even crappy Cablevision, who took away Food Network over a fee carriage dispute has some of those features now:

http://www.optimum.com/io/what/features/index.jsp?ftrack=search

Jack

[Jack 1000]

The AVS forum is reporting that a software update was recently pushed out to TWC-Navigator Guide boxes in Florida and North Carolina and could soon be nationally rolled out.  This reported upgrade is for the legacy NON-C boxes, known as MDN.  Here's what was added:

TWC Navigator MDN Software Upgrade:

Keyboard Searches begin on the program being watched. (Long overdue!)

All Showings-For future shows in guide can now be seen at once. (I would assume that this is still based on the title of the show.)

Keyboard Title Searches no longer repeat in the results list (Long Overdue.)

Customers can now choose to control Jump Back Speed for the DVR

Enables the coming soon feature of Remote DVR Management with the use of any Internet Connected Device and the registration of a local TWC "My Services" Account.

Your newer C-boxes and Samsung boxes may have some of these features already.  But this is what is coming.  One cannot say for sure when, but based on past experiances, TWC-Wisconsin usually gets new guide updates within about two months of a beginning national rollout.  So I might put this sometime between June-July.

Jack