Moving On... New Firmware Releases

[mdavej]

Tough crowd.

Most consumer electronics companies don't communicate at all with their users, much less have any technical presence on forums like this. So I greatly appreciate the info and interaction we do get, sparse as it may be at times. They happen to be the only 3rd party WMC extender maker in the world, so unless they screw up really, really badly, I'm going to support them, even if their product isn't perfect. Generation 1 works ok for the most part, and generation 2 will probably have all the kinks worked out (if there is a generation 2). So what if it doesn't stream Netflix and MKVs. While that would be nice, it's a decent enough extender, which is all I ever wanted or expected. Sure they made some promises they couldn't keep. But at the end of they day, they did all they could, and my $100 extender (several of them actually) works as well as any other overall.

To be fair, they did say in their last announcement,

We’ll continue to sell and support Echo as a Media Center Extender, as we have all along. While we won’t be able to add new the capabilities Android would bring, Echo remains a great solution for anyone that wants the core Extender feature set of whole-home TV, DVR, movies, music and video in a great looking, small, silent device that consumes a fraction of the electricity used by other extenders and set-top boxes.

While this doesn't imply we'll ever see any more updates, it doesn't rule them out either. So as with any company, if there are issues, we need to continue complaining loudly until they are resolved, and if we aren't satisfied, take our business elsewhere. Problem is, there is no elsewhere, so I'm inclined to cut them a little more slack.

Peace

[kingwr]

Business as usual seems like a much more likely scenario...

Maybe, but where is the fun in speculating that its business as usual?

Ceton's silence begs for speculation, and speculation is what they will get until there is some hard, concrete information. Why should Ceton be immune to what this community does to Apple and Microsoft and other tech giants everyday? As far as your logic being superior to mine in speculating about Ceton -- I 've got 30 years working in technology to back up my logic, but I will admit its all based on observation and no specific facts. After all, that is what speculation is!

[staknhalo]

Ceton's silence begs for speculation

Not really. Those who speculate beg for speculation.

[Dragonfly]

...and my $100 extender (several of them actually) works as well as any other overall.

Did I miss the $100 sale? Or are you talking about the two-fer promotion?

[mdavej]

...and my $100 extender (several of them actually) works as well as any other overall.

Did I miss the $100 sale? Or are you talking about the two-fer promotion?

I think it was the deal back in June when they were $129 on Amazon minus $60 when you buy 2, for a net cost of $99 each. This is probably TMI, but I actually went one better and bought a couple more than I needed, which I then resold on ebay after the sale was over for $150 each, bringing my net per unit cost down to about $50 when all was said and done. Plus I used Discover cash back money to pay for them. So my last two $50 Echos were essentially free. If I factor in the higher prices I paid for the used Echos I already had, I'm back at a $100 average cost. That's probably a lot more work than most are willing to do, but I'm always looking for creative ways to keep my electronics purchases under the radar, hence keeping the wife happy.

[staknhalo]

That's just damn fine work to be honest ^

[jasonic8]

I wonder if they hadn't spent effort on Android that effort could have created stability on a par with xbox360. That's all we needed for win7, but on the Echo recorded .wtv files of h.264 transmissions just don't have the Xbox's stability.

[mariob33]

Tough crowd.

Most consumer electronics companies don't communicate at all with their users, much less have any technical presence on forums like this. So I greatly appreciate the info and interaction we do get, sparse as it may be at times. They happen to be the only 3rd party WMC extender maker in the world, so unless they screw up really, really badly, I'm going to support them, even if their product isn't perfect. Generation 1 works ok for the most part, and generation 2 will probably have all the kinks worked out (if there is a generation 2). So what if it doesn't stream Netflix and MKVs. While that would be nice, it's a decent enough extender, which is all I ever wanted or expected. Sure they made some promises they couldn't keep. But at the end of they day, they did all they could, and my $100 extender (several of them actually) works as well as any other overall.

To be fair, they did say in their last announcement,

We’ll continue to sell and support Echo as a Media Center Extender, as we have all along. While we won’t be able to add new the capabilities Android would bring, Echo remains a great solution for anyone that wants the core Extender feature set of whole-home TV, DVR, movies, music and video in a great looking, small, silent device that consumes a fraction of the electricity used by other extenders and set-top boxes.

While this doesn't imply we'll ever see any more updates, it doesn't rule them out either. So as with any company, if there are issues, we need to continue complaining loudly until they are resolved, and if we aren't satisfied, take our business elsewhere. Problem is, there is no elsewhere, so I'm inclined to cut them a little more slack.

Peace

Except you forget that the Xbox is a far better extender. But when your this invested the blinders come forward.

[mdavej]

I'm not really heavily invested at all. I could make a healthy profit if I sold all of my Echos tomorrow and replaced them with much cheaper used Xboxes, as I had to begin with. I simply like Echos better for various reasons. However, I completely understand why many are very upset with Ceton for all the bugs and performance issues and failing to deliver on other features.

[warpster]

Well, they aren't the only extender made, I just picked up a new Xbox 360 4GB for $175 including tax...cheaper, it's a better extender than the Echo and I can game if I desire. Now if Ceton had a fire sale say for $50 per unit I would think about another Echo, but honestly that is all they are worth in their current incomplete state. The Echo will get relegated to the least used TV in the house....

[dabretty]

The xbox is normally cheaper, yes, except for days like today when they do their Newegg $129 sale. Somebody at Ceton clearly has their hand on the dial a lot, to try to dump more inventory of these things ...

[ucfknight]

Given the history of this tragic product, I expect a new firmware release the 2nd Sunday of Never.

[jeonunh]

The xbox is normally cheaper, yes, except for days like today when they do their Newegg $129 sale. Somebody at Ceton clearly has their hand on the dial a lot, to try to dump more inventory of these things ...

I actually went to check, considered briefly whether I should buy another one, and then slapped myself back into sanity. Before the Android announcement I was kicking myself for missing the last good Echo sale, but now I'm thankful.

[lithium630]

Given the history of this tragic product, I expect a new firmware release the 2nd Sunday of Never.

I expect a token update, then it will fade away.

[adam1991]

Q3.

[escargot_burrito]

The echo isn't discontinued - it's just not really continued...

[hmmurdock]

Noncontinued?

Uncontinued?

[adam1991]

Unnoncontinued.

[videolog]

If you listen carefully you can hear a distant echo.

[Diverge]

Tough crowd.

Most consumer electronics companies don't communicate at all with their users, much less have any technical presence on forums like this. So I greatly appreciate the info and interaction we do get, sparse as it may be at times.

Thing is these guys started off as part of this community, and were still a big part of it for maybe a year after InfiniTV4 released. Then slowly stopped being part of the community, or giving technical info on bugs, or status updates, ect. That's why a lot of us are annoyed. They shifted how the communicate with us, and a great deal of people shifted their perception based on this, and the current state of products.