I give up on Ceton Echo

[RyC]

Probably good thinking. The Echo seems to have the least problems if you just stick to live/recorded TV video

[Polen]

I also wanted to add that WMC is great at Music and Pictures. The interface for these features are superior to anything I have seen.

[Madcodger]

I'm sending mine back in the next few days, after previously thinking I had a solution. They've locked up TWICE tonight alone! And I didn't think I had any real network issues, frankly. I think these things are just unreliable little toys. My Verizon Fios STB would just run for weeks and weeks without problems, and that's all I really want - a solution that doesn't have me halfway through a show and then getting up to reboot, finding my spot in the show again, and hoping it doesn't crash yet again. My time is much too valuable to be fiddling with these little hobby toys. Just junk, really.

OK, I'm going to update my comments out of fairness to Ceton (tried to edit my original post quoted here, but can't). After LOTS of work on my WMC HTPC (new video card, SFC /scannow, updating audio drivers, etc. - things that I wouldn't think have anything to do with an extender) I have had three days of watching both live and recorded TV AND two ripped test movies using the Echo. Now, I do NOT know if these changes led to my improved experience and I am NOT ready to say I'm out of the woods yet. Also, I went to the trouble of also making every upgrade I could practically accomplish to my network to also improve things. But I will retract my "just junk" comment about the Echo, at least for now. Do I think Ceton has done a lousy job of continuing to update and improve it? ABSOLUTELY! Since their lead developer for it left the company they appear to be doing pretty much nothing, in fact. But it would now be unfair to say that it is performing as poorly as it previously was, for me. But the effort it took to get there? HUGE job of trying to track things down... Will plan to update as things continue, but I'm going to hold onto it for at least another week or so.

[jeonunh]

I'm sending mine back in the next few days, after previously thinking I had a solution. They've locked up TWICE tonight alone! And I didn't think I had any real network issues, frankly. I think these things are just unreliable little toys. My Verizon Fios STB would just run for weeks and weeks without problems, and that's all I really want - a solution that doesn't have me halfway through a show and then getting up to reboot, finding my spot in the show again, and hoping it doesn't crash yet again. My time is much too valuable to be fiddling with these little hobby toys. Just junk, really.

OK, I'm going to update my comments out of fairness to Ceton (tried to edit my original post quoted here, but can't). After LOTS of work on my WMC HTPC (new video card, SFC /scannow, updating audio drivers, etc. - things that I wouldn't think have anything to do with an extender) I have had three days of watching both live and recorded TV AND two ripped test movies using the Echo. Now, I do NOT know if these changes led to my improved experience and I am NOT ready to say I'm out of the woods yet. Also, I went to the trouble of also making every upgrade I could practically accomplish to my network to also improve things. But I will retract my "just junk" comment about the Echo, at least for now. Do I think Ceton has done a lousy job of continuing to update and improve it? ABSOLUTELY! Since their lead developer for it left the company they appear to be doing pretty much nothing, in fact. But it would now be unfair to say that it is performing as poorly as it previously was, for me. But the effort it took to get there? HUGE job of trying to track things down... Will plan to update as things continue, but I'm going to hold onto it for at least another week or so.

Did I miss something? How do you know the lead developer for the Echo left Ceton?

[dabretty]

Not sure if Madcodger is talking about the same person (I have no idea if he was the "lead developer" or not), but it appears that Motz left the company. I just followed his tag link on one of his last posts - http://www.motzwrit.es (under the subsection of a blog titled "Year 5 to 6"). Certainly Ceton didn't hire the guy intending on such a short stint, ending on an obviously pretty sour note. From our (end-user) perspective, the alignment of his departure and the lack of any Echo enhancements is all we can go by. Did the going get rough, and it was too much for Motz to handle?

I really am a bit amazed at how nothing has been updated (firmware) in 9 months, and yet the marketing side of the house continues to push hard on the Echo (see their front page, holiday marketing). Maybe they had a large production run - partly fueled by their software developers spouting dreams of Android to salivating management - and they just plain need to get rid of these things to recover losses. Who knows what their sunk cost is into these things, but at $99 I can't imagine that there's much - if any - profit. Maintaining radio silence is clearly the MO at this point.

[cncb]

Did the going get rough, and it was too much for Motz to handle?

It sounds like his new job was a good fit for him but I imagine the embarrassment about how the whole Echo thing went down might have had something to do with it.

[jeonunh]

Not sure if Madcodger is talking about the same person (I have no idea if he was the "lead developer" or not), but it appears that Motz left the company. I just followed his tag link on one of his last posts - http://www.motzwrit.es (under the subsection of a blog titled "Year 5 to 6"). Certainly Ceton didn't hire the guy intending on such a short stint, ending on an obviously pretty sour note. From our (end-user) perspective, the alignment of his departure and the lack of any Echo enhancements is all we can go by. Did the going get rough, and it was too much for Motz to handle?

I really am a bit amazed at how nothing has been updated (firmware) in 9 months, and yet the marketing side of the house continues to push hard on the Echo (see their front page, holiday marketing). Maybe they had a large production run - partly fueled by their software developers spouting dreams of Android to salivating management - and they just plain need to get rid of these things to recover losses. Who knows what their sunk cost is into these things, but at $99 I can't imagine that there's much - if any - profit. Maintaining radio silence is clearly the MO at this point.

I don't think Motz was the lead developer. I'm not even sure he was part of the Echo team. I thought he just worked on the companion app and was the "voice" of Ceton on the forums. In any case, I'm glad he found something new. I don't see much of a future for Ceton at this point. (At lease not in consumer goods) I agree that it's amazing that Ceton could so quickly abandon the customers that made them who they are today. In turn the sour taste they are leaving will haunt them in the future. If I were in the position of making a purchasing decision for in room entertainment for a hotel chain, and I had lived through the Echo fiasco, I know Ceton would be off my short list.

[dabretty]

Agreed, we don't really know what role Motz was/wasn't here. I would tend to think that he was a bit more than a companion app guy, though, or he'd be a strange choice to be Ceton's voice in this (Echo) forum. He also commented quite a bit in the past on Echo performance, supposed pending enhancements, etc. Anyways, for his sake I hope him the best, and hopefully his time at Ceton taught him a few lessons in the consumer reputation department (overselling and underdelivering).

[Motz]

Hey guys. Thanks for any and all kind words on my new venture. I will do some clarification for you though. I worked on several projects at Ceton in my 2 years that I was there. I was the lead mobile developer which included My Media Center, which is why I am still involved on discussions over on that subforum (I still use the app on a daily basis). I did not work on the original Echo at all, but did work on the Android parts that were later canceled due to the hardware issue that I had posted about a while back. Those projects you can see I had been pretty vocal about, but anything else that I worked on obviously I can not talk about as you would expect. You can read more details about more about my departure on my blog, but if you read it you can clearly see that I had a wonderful time working at Ceton. Like anyone though when your "dream" job presents itself you just can't pass it up. It was more than just a job change for me it was a career change as well.

.... So if you are looking to get into mobile development and know C# let me know and I will tell you all about Xamarin

[Madcodger]

My "lead developer" comment was based on the prominence of his posts, and the fact that when Motz left, firmware updates stopped, as best I can see. It was an assumption and I apologize if it was technically incorrect, but we have gone a long time without updates that are clearly needed and desired by owners of the Echo. So he may not have held that formal title, and I have NO information about Ceton - only what I experience with their products as noted on this board. Only Motz (clearly a gifted coder whose posts seemed very professional to me) can comment on his departure and he has done that. But we still don't have recent updates to the Echo...

I really want the Echo to succeed. It's a great concept, a great size - lots of positives. But updates are needed, and we need Ceton to please provide them, Motz or no Motz.

[jeonunh]

My "lead developer" comment was based on the prominence of his posts, and the fact that when Motz left, firmware updates stopped, as best I can see. It was an assumption and I apologize if it was technically incorrect, but we have gone a long time without updates that are clearly needed and desired by owners of the Echo. So he may not have held that formal title, and I have NO information about Ceton - only what I experience with their products as noted on this board. Only Motz (clearly a gifted coder whose posts seemed very professional to me) can comment on his departure and he has done that. But we still don't have recent updates to the Echo...

I really want the Echo to succeed. It's a great concept, a great size - lots of positives. But updates are needed, and we need Ceton to please provide them, Motz or no Motz.

Start preparing yourself for disappointment. The Echo WAS a great concept, but a poor execution. The market that Ceton had for the Echo has pretty much dried up at this point. The majority of the people interested in the Echo bought one on faith when it was released, so Ceton would likely only see a small increase in sales if they fixed the issues. My feeling is that they ran into issues with the hardware that just can't be overcome, or can't be overcome without huge investments. Given the nearly constant discounted price of $100 for the Echo, it's clear that Ceton is trying to recover as much of their losses as possible by shifting all the inventory they had built. As soon as the last unit is sold I would bet money that the Ceton website will be updated to remove all traces of the Echo.

[stuppid]

I have collected three over the past several months when they would go on sale. I have not had the need to expand my current system but I am trying to future proof myself. I currently run the HTPC in the living room connected to an HP EX495 server in the hall closet. I run a Samsung extender in the bedroom and a WD TVlive on the back patio to play streaming services and access network shares. I have a CAT 5e or CAT 6 drop to every room. I plan to add an extender at the kitchen, to the patio and to a future bedroom. I only use the Samsung Extender for My Movies, music, Pictures, and recorded TV. I have a cable TV drop to every room so the wife prefers just to use the tv tuners. Any show that we watch regularly we time shift so pause, rewind are not an issue for live tv at all. I recently added a TV and installed one of the Echos in my daughters room. Movies play flawlessly so far and music works as well. I have not tested live or recorded TV yet because I have not have the need. I have my DVD library ripped to dvr-ms. I plan to buy at least one more Echo while they are still available. My next move is to add a cheap Roku to the daughter's room for Netflix and Amazon. I will be testing recorded TV this week but I do not think it will be an issue.

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