Droid get new FiOS app

[Roroco]

They already released an app to control the DVR portion of FiOS. Now they have an app that can act as a remote for your FiOS box over wifi.

Verizon launches FiOS Mobile Remote app for Droid and Imagio -- Engadget

Features:

- Change channels, pause, etc. (You know... remote stuff)
- Mutes your TV when you get a call.
- You can manage your favorites over your phone.
- Send picture on your phone to your TV.

Pretty slick.


Side note... They should really merge this app with the DVR app.

 

[Fabolous]

Wish I had FiOS to use this with.

Stuck with Crapcast...for now.

 

[alostpacket]

Wow this app is awesome. I couldn't get the images to work but everything else was butter. Love the pic of muting the Verizon tech when the app is loading too.


.

 

[SinfulDragon]

damns you comcast, damns yous ta hell for not letting me use my phone as a remote and as such run down my battery faster so I have more to complain about on the forums on the interwebs. damns you for providing me with a remote that can only control my TV, Receiver, and cable box but not my phone. I want my remote to control my phone!!!!!!

Ok yes, I'm acting out because I can't use it with comcast

 

[colnago]

Meh, it won't get exciting until cable/Sat companies start pushing out the actual TV/DVR "feed", along with the remote capabilities, via "mobile" web access. That way you won't have to wait on sling/HAVA to come out with OS specific software:

Sling Media - SlingPlayer Mobile

 

[alostpacket]

Meh, it won't get exciting until cable/Sat companies start pushing out the actual TV/DVR "feed", along with the remote capabilities, via "mobile" web access. That way you won't have to wait on sling/HAVA to come out with OS specific software:

Sling Media - SlingPlayer Mobile

Begone with you nokia boy!

kidding of course. anywho, doesnt orb do something similar? Also ever hear any more news on the Volcano app?

 

[Fabolous]

I just use ORB to stream my live TV and DVR'd stuff.

It's just a shame I can only get the QAM HD channels this way, but it's not like it makes a difference on the phone end of things. There's only so much that can be streamed over a 3G connection.

 

[colnago]

Begone with you nokia boy!

kidding of course. anywho, doesnt orb do something similar? Also ever hear any more news on the Volcano app?

Yeah, Orb should do the same, but then you have to mess with finding a decent TV card, using a dedicated PC/HTPC, then there is the power requirement of having the PC on all the time, etc...small little slingbox is much "cleaner". Also, I'm not sure if Orb will let you manage/view the DVR.

Just sux that I can "access" my slingbox via the web on the 900, because of Flash, but can't view anything because the required plugins are for desktop/MAC OS only.

I'm trying to drum up some interest on the Maemo boards to get someone to port the app over, but the Maemo 5 OS is already obsolete after 4 months. They are already moving on to another merged OS by the end of the year or so...whack.

I think the Vulcano is supposed to be out next month? I'll probably jump ship back to Android once I find another T-Mo 3.5G device.

 

[colnago]

I just use ORB to stream my live TV and DVR'd stuff.

It's just a shame I can only get the QAM HD channels this way, but it's not like it makes a difference on the phone end of things. There's only so much that can be streamed over a 3G connection.

I was able to get a consistent 8-18fps on my Moto Q (325mHz/64MB RAM?, and no video co-processing) with my cable HD channels via sling, and a component connection from DishNetw box. I think the app was capped out at ~300-400Kb, and watching football was smooth enough. I'd imagine a device like the Droid would be able to maintain a full 24fps @ 500-700Kb or so. The demo video for Vulcano on the Droid looked really smooth.

 

[fortworthbret]

Fios is great. Their DVR is a heap though.

Cablecards in a HD Tivo plugged into FIOS though? awesome.

 

[colnago]

Fios is great. Their DVR is a heap though.

Doh...you made it that much harder to leave my dual-tuner Dish box, in favor for a VZ tripple play bundle.

 

[fortworthbret]

If you're on DIsh, you should have gone to FIOS a long time ago. The SD on Fios is close to HD on Dish.

their HD is the same as OTA (as in no extra satt compression).

Their DVR, I called a heap, runs circles around the Dish DVR's.


that make it easier?

 

[Xritam]

Wish I had FiOS to use this with.

Stuck with Crapcast...for now.

me too =(

 

[colnago]

If you're on DIsh, you should have gone to FIOS a long time ago. The SD on Fios is close to HD on Dish.

their HD is the same as OTA (as in no extra satt compression).

Their DVR, I called a heap, runs circles around the Dish DVR's.


that make it easier?

Yeah but with (2) Dish boxes, I can independently control and view (4) different stations on (4) different TVs. I can also record (2) different channels at the same time, while watching a 3rd feed off the DVR, or OTA. I can get OTA by connecting an antenna directly to the box, and it integrates the channels for viewing and recording...no need to switch input on the TV.

PQ is an issue, but its not bad. I just don't want to pay for (4) boxes on Verizon. That, plus I get to add as many external hard drives as I want on Dish for extra DVR storage, along with the tight slingbox integration.

From what I've seen, I'd be hard pressed to believe that FIOS DVR/STBs are "more flexible" than Dish's VIP 622s/722s...unless there have been recent changes.

 

[barry99705]

Wish I had FiOS to use this with.

Stuck with Crapcast...for now.

I'm with time warner, was with att. Can't get any of the cool high speed internet in my area.

 

[PridgNYC]

Verizon's DVR is dual tuner as well, you can record 2 shows while watching a recorded show. With the multi-room DVR, you can also view your recorded shows on any tv in the house. I haven't tried it with OTA QAM signals, but why would I need to when verizon provides all of them.

 

[colnago]

Verizon's DVR is dual tuner as well, you can record 2 shows while watching a recorded show. With the multi-room DVR, you can also view your recorded shows on any tv in the house. I haven't tried it with OTA QAM signals, but why would I need to when verizon provides all of them.

You can watch that 2nd channel on a 2nd TV, and control that 2nd channel with a 2nd remote, independently? Without having to connect a 2nd STB to the 2nd TV? Really?

It has been my understanding that you need a STB "for every TV" that will receive a feed, be it Fios, or DVR. As far as why I need OTA, I receive OTA channels from both the Baltimore and DC markets. "Usually" a carrier will only provide channels for your locale.

Also, can one add an external drive to a Fios Box for additional DVR capacity? Such that you can access the OEM DVR "and" the 2nd external drive?

 

[PikkonX]

Anyone willing to post the .apk so I can try this out on my Hero?

 

[Joewoowoo]

has the dvr remote last week but didnt know about the tv remote via wifi, the app is frikkin amazing , everything works like a charm.

Droid, you had me at hello !

 

[RadYOacTiVe]

Cant wait to get home and change the channels on my wife! LMAO!!!!

 

[Roroco]

Cant wait to get home and change the channels on my wife! LMAO!!!!

It has been nice knowing you Rad.

 

[mystereon]

Fios is great. Their DVR is a heap though.

Oh! I thought you were talking about the FIOS Remote DVR app for the Droid which I think it is totally awesome.

I love my FiOS, compared to the Comcast DVR the FiOS UI is beautiful and responsive. I can't really compare to anything else since I had Comcast, then switched to FiOS. No regrets whatsoever.

 

[crankerchick]

You can watch that 2nd channel on a 2nd TV, and control that 2nd channel with a 2nd remote, independently? Without having to connect a 2nd STB to the 2nd TV? Really?

It has been my understanding that you need a STB "for every TV" that will receive a feed, be it Fios, or DVR. As far as why I need OTA, I receive OTA channels from both the Baltimore and DC markets. "Usually" a carrier will only provide channels for your locale.

Also, can one add an external drive to a Fios Box for additional DVR capacity? Such that you can access the OEM DVR "and" the 2nd external drive?

No you cannot control the second channel on a second tv and yes every television needs a STB. Otherwise, the televisions with QAM tuners can only see the QAM channels that are in the clear (basically the locals).

I'm not sure PridgeNYC quite got what you were saying you could do and was just stating what FiOS does do, which he stated correctly.

FiOS as of yet still does not have expandable storage either, so no hooking up an external hdd for more space beyond the whopping 160 GB the DVR recognizes. A cisco box is supposedly being tested for release this year that will finally bring the expandable storage FiOS has been promising. My take is if you need more recording space on FiOS that badly, TiVo with cable cards is your best bet on FiOS.

I like the remote app. At first I was thinking why would anyone need such an app except to just actually have it. But after playing with it last night, I can see situations where it would come in handy.

 

[PridgNYC]

No you cannot control the second channel on a second tv and yes every television needs a STB. Otherwise, the televisions with QAM tuners can only see the QAM channels that are in the clear (basically the locals).

I'm not sure PridgeNYC quite got what you were saying you could do and was just stating what FiOS does do, which he stated correctly.

FiOS as of yet still does not have expandable storage either, so no hooking up an external hdd for more space beyond the whopping 160 GB the DVR recognizes. A cisco box is supposedly being tested for release this year that will finally bring the expandable storage FiOS has been promising. My take is if you need more recording space on FiOS that badly, TiVo with cable cards is your best bet on FiOS.

I like the remote app. At first I was thinking why would anyone need such an app except to just actually have it. But after playing with it last night, I can see situations where it would come in handy.

I understood what he was saying, I even understand why satellite boxes are designed that way to overcome the limitations of the way the whole LUN/tuner system works. In your typical satellite system, you can only have one tuner per LUN (the little horn on the dish that picks up the satellite signal), so unless you are willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a multi-switch, or add additional dishes, you can only have 4 tuners attached to your dish, so the satellite companies build extra "features", like the ability to support 2 tv's from one box, into their boxes to get around this limitation. Personally, i prefer the wiring simplicity of FiOS, and I ignored those extra features because they aren't really "features" that I feel justify sticking with Dish. I was very happy to ditch DirecTV in favor of FiOS even with having to give up the DirecTivo.

Back on Topic, I love the remote, but I agree, they really should combine it with the DVR app, I like to use the guide on the DVR app, and it would be really cool to jump directly to the channel from there.

 

[colnago]

so unless you are willing to spend hundreds of dollars on a multi-switch, or add additional dishes, you can only have 4 tuners attached to your dish, so the satellite companies build extra "features", like the ability to support 2 tv's from one box, into their boxes to get around this limitation...

Fair enough, but I didn't buy any additional dishes, and the wiring is the same for the additional TVs as it is for Fios...Coax to the additional STB, or in the case with Dish, the TV. The only difference is one isn't paying for the additioinal STB w/Dish.

Does anyone know if the TV Feed will be available via this Fios application? Or is it just the remote capability?