Starting about 18 months ago with beta firmware for the HDHomeRun Prime, SiliconDust enabled DLNA streaming of channels to certain DLNA compliant software. This was initially compatible mainly with Windows Media Center perhaps due to CableLabs requirements but digital cable software offerings have expanded to other platforms as SiliconDust has had to find a way forward for their products – without having to develop native clients. Their HDHomeRun devices started as OTA and Clear QAM tuners, and in the fall of 2011 they released the HDHomeRun Prime tuner. Rather they are IP network devices attached to Ethernet and made available to one or more PCs on the network via special Windows, Linux, and Mac OS network tuner drivers. SiliconDust has been making network TV tuners for seven years. The explosion of over-the-top (OTT) video like Netflix, Amazon Video, Hulu Plus, and HBO GO has rendered live TV and even DVR recording much less important, even if you do actually have cable (which is required for HBO GO, BTW). The reality is that cable company set-tops and TiVo are a lot less work to maintain, with the market for custom HTPCs too small and companies like Microsoft losing interest. Yet it’s not promoted and definitely not being enhanced. Microsoft has all but abandoned Windows Media Center - WMC is still there in Windows 8 Pro as a $10 paid add-in. Fast forward to 2014: While MythTV is still around in some form or another, SageTV was acquired by Google to power Google Fiber set-tops (and discontinued as a consumer product) and the company behind BeyondTV has similarly moved on to enterprise customers.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |