NMT 01-11-071011-12-SYB-40x-000 Engineering Firmware Release

[Syabas]

Look at it this way, we won't be having this conversation if
Syabas is not out to reach to the end-users.

Eventually, we hope, there will be more NMT manufacturers who links
to this NMT forum. Popcorn Hour is just a first.

This way we can reach out to all NMT users, irregardless of
which manufacturer they buy it from.

[teddystacker]

Hi Syabas,

I take your point , but I guess all users want is GOOD support from their local suppliers in case of the USA this would be Popcorn.In the case of many other units distributed in the USA this has not been the case, and end users (after all none of you guys would be anywhere without end users to buying your products) have become disillustionedue to lack of support from their local supplier - thus forcing people like myself to organise a sort of "self help" groups,So at least end users get some support.I think many of us really hope this wont be the same with the A-100 and Popcorn.

The firmware distribution is a good example of this - Many users will want this distribued other than a direct "net-install" , as I detailed above , there are many reasons that end users will want this.I just hope that the OEM (Syabas) will not just pass issues like this off to Popcorn, and then Popcorn just pass it back to Syabas , if you see what I mean..

From what I see at this time , you yourself, are going a great job to answer ever and all questiosn,this is very different and I thank you very very much..
I guess it would be great to also have the Tech guys at Popcorn onboard here in the same manner to discuss "local" issues that prospective buyers may have with the A-100..As I have said before the interest in this produvt in the USA and elsewhere is huge at this time.

Thanks for listening

Regards

Teddy

[Syabas]

If it is NMT branded unit issues, post it on this forum and it will gets
processed by Syabas, irregardless of which manufacturer.


Cheers

[daniel_owen_uk]

Syabas aren't the OEM popcornhour are.

[ok]

> Syabas aren't the OEM popcornhour are.

I fell off on this one. Isn't Syabas the one manufacturing the product (hence the OEM) and Popcorn Hour just slapping a logo on the case (and possibly changing some UI cosmetics) and selling it to end users? Not that it really matters, after all Syabas and Popcorn Hour even share the same office address in California according to whois.

Who cares, when can I buy my box? :-)

OK

[teddystacker]

ok Wrote:> Syabas aren't the OEM popcornhour are.


Who cares, when can I buy my box? :-)

OK

I agree Popcorn are just the Reseller/bader in the USA - Sysbas is the OEM ..

I agree we really do need the guys from Popcorn themselves on board here,giving us the latest "local" info etc etc.. I wonder if they (Popcorn ) really understand the level of interest here?

Regards

Teddy

[zoidys]

teddystacker Wrote:

ok Wrote:> Syabas aren't the OEM popcornhour are.


Who cares, when can I buy my box? :-)

OK

I agree Popcorn are just the Reseller/bader in the USA - Sysbas is the OEM ..

I agree we really do need the guys from Popcorn themselves on board here,giving us the latest "local" info etc etc.. I wonder if they (Popcorn ) really understand the level of interest here?

Regards

Teddy

i think they will soon find out the level of interest when the units become avalble, i think if the have not got loads of them there is going to be a shortage, and we will have to wait even longer for one.!! as there is some much talk and interest in it now because of the case delay only fuels people wanting one me included.

regards

stuart

[madshi]

Syabas Wrote:There is a cross-update checking.

But we can release firmware that overrides it, if it comes to the case when
manufacturer ceases operation.

But as I mention, Syabas only release "generic" firmware, does not
guarantee will work with every piece of hardware out there.

Similar to if you get a "generic" driver for a graphics card, versus
the OEM drivers. You may lose some OEM specific features.

Hope this clears your doubts.

Here's a serious suggestion:

Maybe some manufacturers would be willing to officially "allow" end users to use the generic Syabas firmware without voiding the warranty? IMHO that would be a big advantage.

There's a comparable situation today with ATI laptops. The official drivers you can download from ati.com usually don't install on laptops with ATI chipsets inside. End users have to use drivers released by the laptop manufacturers. This is a *MAJOR* nuissance for most end users cause most end users would much prefer using the generic ATI drivers.

Syabas could offer a way to manufacturers to "flag" their devices as being generic firmware friendly. For such a device you'd just skip the cross-update checking and simply allow generic firmware installation. I'd greatly welcome such a feature because I have more trust in Syabas than in any manufacturer out there.

[n2vwz]

For Syabas & Popcornhour:

Is the Popcornhour A-100 hardware compatible with the Syabas generic firmware releases?

What are the specific differences between Syabas generic firmware and Popcornhour A-100 firmware?

I think the issue here is that users are going to want the firmware fixes, features, and enhancements as soon as they come out. We don't want to wait a day, a week, a month, or more, for the manufacturer to pass it along.

I don't care whether the name on the screen says Syabas, Popcornhour or Sigma Designs, if that's the only difference. If Popcornhour has made some significant changes or enhancements, then I'd like to know what they are, and why they were implemented. If they omitted specific features, I'd like to know that as well.

Quote:Maybe some manufacturers would be willing to officially "allow" end users to use the generic Syabas firmware without voiding the warranty? IMHO that would be a big advantage.

What is the warranty for the A-100? I didn't see anything listed on the Popcornhour site.

[BrainStormer]

I think the main differences between the generic an branded firmwares is what gets compiled in(that is left out). IE the A100 doesn't have the mpci slot so it won't ever upgrade to wifi so wifi would be left out.

[n2vwz]

BrainStormer Wrote:I think the main differences between the generic an branded firmwares is what gets compiled in(that is left out). IE the A100 doesn't have the mpci slot so it won't ever upgrade to wifi so wifi would be left out.

For your example, the new question would be: - Would the generic software run or crash on the A-100? i.e. Is the firmware smart enough to know that wifi is not present and skip wifi initialization or would it hang while waiting for non-existant wifi hardware to respond.

[stuart]

zoidys Wrote:

teddystacker Wrote:

ok Wrote:> Syabas aren't the OEM popcornhour are.


Who cares, when can I buy my box? :-)

OK

I agree Popcorn are just the Reseller/bader in the USA - Sysbas is the OEM ..

I agree we really do need the guys from Popcorn themselves on board here,giving us the latest "local" info etc etc.. I wonder if they (Popcorn ) really understand the level of interest here?

Regards

Teddy

i think they will soon find out the level of interest when the units become avalble, i think if the have not got loads of them there is going to be a shortage, and we will have to wait even longer for one.!! as there is some much talk and interest in it now because of the case delay only fuels people wanting one me included.

regards

stuart

Guys (gals?)...

SigmaDesign designs the chips, probably makes the boards too.

Syabas wrote the Linux based software.

Popcorn Hour, well, you can call them the OEM. I kind-of think of them as the integrator / marketing type.

There's nothing new about the first two of the above mix. Take a look at these boxes. I think you will find the same basic hardware / software mix:

- Buffalo LinkTheater
- Snazio Net Cinema
- H&B DNX-8620
- Quartek WHD-500
- Quartek I-Box 800
- Transgear DVX 700
- Transgear DVX 500
- Pinnacle SC 200
- Omisys DVD PN210V
- DigitalRise Xstream Player
* ADS Media Link
* Elgato Eyehome
* IO-Data Linkplayer and Linkplayer2
* Lite-On 2010
* Momistu V880N
* Netgear EVA700
* Neuston Virtuoso MC-500
* Pinnacle Showcenter 1000, 200 and 250HD
* Snazio 1300, 1310 and 1350
* Zensonic Z400

I believe what is different this go around is the support the end user is getting. There really might be something here for those of us who want to make the connection to other opensource projects such as SqueezeBox and MythTV.

It's not that any of the other boxes above have failed because they have remained closed to developers. But PCH might eclipse them in the opensouce user market if they provide enough support to the development community. A direct measure of how large that community is can be made simply by finding the number of schedulesdirect.org members. Anyone know?

Otherwise, they can join the ranks of the above list. Half, if not more, of which I've never heard of until I made this post.

Something else to note. The real attraction here, I think, is a small silent video / audio media client. Using a real PC solves many issues but cost about $100 more and uses a larger box which has fans. Sooner or later Intel will start moving their new low power technology. If this results in a small, silent PC I think the days are limited with respect to getting a foot hold in the opensorce multi media market.

[n2vwz]

stuart Wrote:There's nothing new about the first two of the above mix. Take a look at these boxes. I think you will find the same basic hardware / software mix:

- Buffalo LinkTheater
- Snazio Net Cinema
- H&B DNX-8620
- Quartek WHD-500
- Quartek I-Box 800
- Transgear DVX 700
- Transgear DVX 500
- Pinnacle SC 200
- Omisys DVD PN210V
- DigitalRise Xstream Player
* ADS Media Link
* Elgato Eyehome
* IO-Data Linkplayer and Linkplayer2
* Lite-On 2010
* Momistu V880N
* Netgear EVA700
* Neuston Virtuoso MC-500
* Pinnacle Showcenter 1000, 200 and 250HD
* Snazio 1300, 1310 and 1350
* Zensonic Z400

Most, if not all of these examples are based on the older Sigma Designs EM8620L Series chipset. They don't have the performance capabilities of the SMP8630 Series chip used by Syabas Popcornhour A-100 and Dvico Tivx HD M-6500A players.

[daniel_owen_uk]

Popcorn Hour are a retailer

Syabas make middleware

Sigma make the chipset.

[n2vwz]

daniel_owen_uk Wrote:Popcorn Hour are a retailer

Syabas make middleware

Sigma make the chipset.

Popcornhour is just a brand name owned by Syabas.

Syabas appears to be the present manufacturer and retailer of the PopcornHour product line, as well as designer of the middleware.

This was answered in another thread:

popcornhour Wrote:

n2vwz Wrote:Is Popcornhour a real company, or a brand name owned by Syabas?

[PH] POpcorn Hour is a brand name and currently solely owned by Syabas.