New Software Updates For Navigator Guide?

[Jack 1000]

I hope that our TWC-Milwaukee techs have been made aware of a new version of the Navigator Guide, which has been rolled out as an update to MDN boxes (non-C) formats.  Let's hope we see it in Milwaukee soon!  It was rolled out to TWC's sister division in Florida Brighthouse Networks, and some areas of North Carolina.  The upgrade has the following features on it:

1.) Show Searches Start on the Show You Are Currently Watching: This is a HUGE improvement.  You don't have to begin at the letter "A" for Keyboard Searches anymore!  This makes consolidation of shows MUCH easier!

2.) Show Titles no Longer Duplicate on Search Results:  Again, HUGE improvement!  There is now only one title listing per show in each search.  Obvious duplicate results have been eliminated.

3.) A new feature when taking future action on a show in the Guide when you Press Select is called "Find All Shows."  Selecting this option will find all instances of a show by proper date order.

4.) DVR Jump-Back Control: Another new feature, which allows you to control the amount of time that your DVR jumps back when fast-forwarding through unwanted programs.  The settings are:

Normal
Less
More
Off

That's in this version.  Some other menus have been enhanced.  Below is what is still missing and what is supposedly coming out in future updates:  (No one has the below features at this time, but they are being worked on in the labs.)

Hopefully Coming Soon Features:

1.) More detailed program descriptions: Too often, they are truncated, and if you have an instance of two pages worth of program information, Page 2 doesn't exist.  Where are the star ratings in program information?  Categories of program types should be in descriptions ie. (Comedy, Drama, Children, for movies, show the director!  This should be representative of the 2010 technology of a cable guide.)  I have been waiting for this feature for three years!

2.) Remote DVR Management: This is coming!  If you have a TWC "My Services" account, you will be able to program your DVR from any web-browser or Smart Phone when you are not at home!  Now, this will be cool!

3.) Expanded Options for Keyboard Searching: The Keyboard searches currently ONLY show results by TITLE.  In instances where the letter "A" or the word "The" is listed, note that the first letter of the SECOND word begins the title.  While Title Searches are excellent in most cases for finding names of movies, the keyboard becomes useless if you are looking for Sports.  Here's why:

If you are looking for Football Games, keying the word, "Football" currently does NOT bring up a list of all Football Games.  Because the keyboard only allows title searching, you have to look for the NAME or title of the football game you want.  For Pro Football, you have to key in "NFL" to get to the TITLE "NFL Football" or "MLB" to get to "MLB Baseball."  How are Joe and Jane six-pack going to know how to do that?

The Keyboard, reflective of 2010 technology, SHOULD be able to allow users to type in a word or phrase and than that information is given to them.  In the example "Football" Key the word "Packers" and the correct game shows up on the left side of the list.  Start typing the word "Brewers," and when you see the MLB Baseball listing show up, you will KNOW that this search result is the Brewers Game.

Under the current search, users still have to often go through 10-15 title searches if multiple sports titles are listed.  At least the latest version of Navigator eliminates duplicate searches.  After that, the keyboard needs to be able to find results based on Keywords.  Another suggestion might be for incorrect results to be eliminated from the search list as letters are typed.  (The old Passport Software had this feature.)  TWC needs to restore Keyword Searches to the Navigator keyboard.

4.) Manual Recording: A missing feature, that if implemented would allow users to set specific start/stop times for a show independent of the Time Grid.  The old Passport Software had this feature and TWC needs to bring this feature back to the Navigator Guide.  Often times, customers may only want to see parts of a show, and they should be able to set up their DVR's to do this.  Currently, while you can just hit the Record button on your remote, the problem is that the current method requires the user to be there to activate this feature.

If I have a show on from 12-2 and I know the segment I want to see is going to be on from 1:30-2, I should be able to set a Manual Recording time for the system to just record from 1:30 to 2.  This saves recording space, and just as important, allows me to not have to record the portions of a show that I DON'T want to watch.

Any higher ups in our Wisconsin Division reading these boards at TWC, please pass this information along to the Engineering Department.  But hopefully, a great start, would simply be the new updates for the Navigator Guide that TWC-North Carolina and Brighthouse Networks of Florida already have described above.

Jack

[Mark Strube]

How about customizable guides and the ability to hide non-HD versions of channels we get in HD? I think that would be one of the simplest features to implement.

[ddeerrff]

How about customizable guides and the ability to hide non-HD versions of channels we get in HD? I think that would be one of the simplest features to implement.

The ability to hide ALL unsubscribed or undesired channels.  Forcing us channel surfers to trudge through all the inactive, duplicate, and unwanted channels makes using the STB very clumsy.

[Jack 1000]

The ability to hide ALL unsubscribed or undesired channels.  Forcing us channel surfers to trudge through all the inactive, duplicate, and unwanted channels makes using the STB very clumsy.

I heard that Guide Filtering is coming in a future update.  This will bring back:

Sort by Favorites
Sort by Theme
HD Channels Only
Subscribed Channels Only.

I found out that the original Sort by Favorites was removed to make way for Guide Filtering.  Although, why TWC could not just keep this feature on the boxes until Guide Filtering becomes avaliable remains unknown.

Jack

[oz]

Remote DVR Management will be cool, especially if you can schedule recordings with your mobile phone.