Holy hell ... sorry for all the edits on my last 2 posts. I'd like to say my incoherence is from being drunk ... but that's not the case
I know Comcast is just VOD but was under the impression you could use the 360 to watch a limited number of live TV channels if you are a Verizon FiOS customer. Is that not true?
I may be abusing the term VOD, so sorry for the confusion. Yes it does involve some live content, but I'm not sure if it's literally showing 1:1 content from a given channel (for example I'm not sure if you tune to say NBC, it will literally display all the content 24 hours a day).
For some channels that actually may be true, but I was talking more from the tech side. The fact you need to also be a Verizon internet subscriber tells me this is likely streaming over the internet ... it is not literally acting as a cable card and using Verizon's
intranet. I suppose that's more of a semantics issue though.
The point is it only has some content, so either way it's hard to consider it a full-on replacement. Also as far as I know it doesn't allow streaming from your DVR? If that's the case, it's even more gimped for users of their whole-house DVR (like me :/)
Because absent information to the contrary it's entirely possible. There is a probability that it could work.
Of course it 'could' work, but why are we giving this the benefit of the doubt and not doing the same for alternatives? Especially given Nintendo's history for these sorts of features?
I'll reuse the shit example I gave before. Nintendo 'could' offer a BD license pack to playback, but will they? Obviously that's a bit of a stretch given at least the foundation exists for remote control ... but Nintendo's history for these sort of features is not one that would make me assume this.
Certainly I hope they do it, but I think people should wait and see instead of assuming the best (especially if in the same breath they're going to assume the worst regarding competitors' features). Moreover, there are plenty of other issues with this beyond a simple 'will they or won't they'. The devil is in the details for universal remotes. It's an area with a HUGE delta in performance and features ... and this coming from companies that specialize in this tech. That's of course before considering battery life, etc. Granted if you don't have any sort of universal remote and for whatever reason are obstinately against getting one ... obviously this is better than nothing. The issue is some are making grandiose assumptions on its capabilities and stating that this renders a universal remote moot. We just can't say that yet.
Why does it need to be a fully functioning universal remote though?
Woah ...
WOAH ...
I'm not the one saying it needs to. It's others who are and me stating we have no evidence it is. I've stated
several times that this has its uses ... but people shouldn't assume it will be a fully functional universal remote until it's demonstrated as such ... and we know how good it actually works if it is.
Edit:
Again, this is functionality out of the box for Wii U. It requires no additional hardware or apps beyond netflix. There's no guarantee that the apps will run perfectly on any given device and in the case of Apple TV it requires that you buy or already own an iPad.
We're going in circles here.
Yes it's well established this is out-of-the-box functionality for Wii, and certainly that's a plus. No one is arguing a large number of people would go out and buy a phone or tablet just to get this functionality. The point is many people already have phones and tablets, and that number is predicted to skyrocket in the next few years. So for people that have one already (and the console in question) ... it's a nice perk, and in the case of SmartGlass (and apps for Roku and Boxee, etc) ... has demonstrated some deeper integration with certain content providers than what Nintendo has shown thus far.
As to the argument about having to download an app though, I just don't think that holds water in this day and age. People are used to it ... both from phones and tablets, and even from consoles and other set-top boxes. It's not like Netflix is preloaded on your PS3 or Roku ... you actually have to download it. That certainly hasn't hurt adoption. As long as it's advertised, people will do it.
Lastly, yes I can see
some argument regarding app stability depending on your device ... though that's mostly on the Android side of things. iPad is a known target, and app compatibility has been demonstrated as very high. The same should hold true for W8. It's targeting relatively advanced HW and has relatively tight control over it. App performance and compatibility should not present a major issue.
SmartGlass on something like Android though, yes that could be more problematic. Some of the dedicated apps like Roku remotes and the like though aren't an issue. This isn't advanced stuff here. It's searching through Netflix and your queue ... and simply sending metadata on what item to launch when you press a button. Something more deeply integrated (like sending back live info on the specific scene you're watching) could present problems. Then again, it's not like Nintendo has demonstrated anything like that anyway (which has been part of the argument for SmartGlass to begin with).