XBMC 12 - support CableCard

[Dean L. Surkin]

On Engadget, I saw a comment saying that the new version of XBMC supports CableCard and the HD HomeRun Prime. I have not yet tried to confirm this, but if true, it has great implications for the (non)future of WMC and the future of the Echo.

[update] I did a little checking around, and it seems that XBMC supports CableCard tuners for live TV and for copy-freely flagged programs, but not for the kind of copy-protected programs that WMC does. All in all, false alarm.

[Sammy2]

There is no support yet for copy once material outside WMC. That said I don't think it will be too long before it is using DCTP-IP. I would think that ceton would want to jump on that with the echo running android to strech its legs a little longer in the market.

[foxwood]

There is no support yet for copy once material outside WMC. That said I don't think it will be too long before it is using DCTP-IP.

I'm willing to bet $10 that the PS3 will be still be the only DTCP-IP hardware client that you can walk into a major retailer and buy in January, 2014. You're not going to see it in any FOSS project either, for much the same reason that nobody has stumped up for a PlayReady license for XBMC or any other FOSS client.

(There's an outside chance that Sony might add DTCP-IP to some of their BluRay players, but beyond that? I don't see it).

[foxwood]

On Engadget, I saw a comment saying that the new version of XBMC supports CableCard and the HD HomeRun Prime.

I should point out that Ceton provides Linux drivers for the InfiniTV and that XBMC users have been using the InfiniTV for some time (though they need to use a cable-provider that doesn't slap extraneous Copy restrictions on most of their content).

[Sammy2]

There is no support yet for copy once material outside WMC. That said I don't think it will be too long before it is using DCTP-IP.

I'm willing to bet $10 that the PS3 will be still be the only DTCP-IP hardware client that you can walk into a major retailer and buy in January, 2014. You're not going to see it in any FOSS project either, for much the same reason that nobody has stumped up for a PlayReady license for XBMC or any other FOSS client.

(There's an outside chance that Sony might add DTCP-IP to some of their BluRay players, but beyond that? I don't see it).

I'm sorry. By "it" I actually meant the echo, not XBMC. It is more likely that the echo will support DCTP-IP than XBMC as supporting it and also implementing DLNA into their own tuners, ceton can extend (no pun) the echo beyond the Windows environment where M$ has inadvertently or purposefully locked the gate to the garden wall.

[Sammy2]

On Engadget, I saw a comment saying that the new version of XBMC supports CableCard and the HD HomeRun Prime.

I should point out that Ceton provides Linux drivers for the InfiniTV and that XBMC users have been using the InfiniTV for some time (though they need to use a cable-provider that doesn't slap extraneous Copy restrictions on most of their content).

That's good for expanded basic in Charterland but I have their "digi-tier" packages for things like sports, palladia, HDNet, Universal, etc. I don't have any of the typical premiums like HBO and the like but the line-up in the digi-tier packages is copy once.

[foxwood]

I'm sorry. By "it" I actually meant the echo, not XBMC. It is more likely that the echo will support DCTP-IP than XBMC as supporting it and also implementing DLNA into their own tuners, ceton can extend (no pun) the echo beyond the Windows environment where M$ has inadvertently or purposefully locked the gate to the garden wall.

So your suggestion is that Ceton should add a feature to their Echo hardware so that a rivals company will be better able to sell a feature that is only of value on paper at the moment, and in doing so make their own tuner less attractive?

Yeah, that sounds like a winner. Not!

[foxwood]

That's good for expanded basic in Charterland but I have their "digi-tier" packages for things like sports, palladia, HDNet, Universal, etc. I don't have any of the typical premiums like HBO and the like but the line-up in the digi-tier packages is copy once.

Well apparently, that's not a problem for XBMC users, because if it was, they'd be WMC users, wouldn't they

[Sammy2]

I'm sorry. By "it" I actually meant the echo, not XBMC. It is more likely that the echo will support DCTP-IP than XBMC as supporting it and also implementing DLNA into their own tuners, ceton can extend (no pun) the echo beyond the Windows environment where M$ has inadvertently or purposefully locked the gate to the garden wall.

So your suggestion is that Ceton should add a feature to their Echo hardware so that a rivals company will be better able to sell a feature that is only of value on paper at the moment, and in doing so make their own tuner less attractive?

Yeah, that sounds like a winner. Not!

When this actually works It could sell more echos because they don't need to be inside the WMC walled garden. There is no reason that they cannot make this work in a new tuner or maybe via f/w in their existing tuners. Ceton is on the edge and SiliconDust follows behind either learning from their mistakes or doing something a little different like their project connect which came out after SiliconDust saw problems with going that route with the lack of Win8 support.

[foxwood]

When this actually works It could sell more echos because they don't need to be inside the WMC walled garden.

Just how big a market do you think there is outside that walled garden - you can get a small "net-top" PC for not much more than the Echo that would deliver everything an Echo would, and more - except for the protected cable-card content that is only available inside that "walled garden".

And note that the "wall" that you talk about is provided by PlayReady, which is something that you can license from Microsoft. But there aren't any commercial solutions, other than WMC, because that market isn't big enough. DTCP-IP doesn't change that. You can't distribute a fully open-source client, because then anyone who wanted to could strip the DRM bits out, and if the source didn't care about whether the DRM was there or not, they wouldn't bother putting it in in the first place.

[slowbiscuit]

There is no support yet for copy once material outside WMC. That said I don't think it will be too long before it is using DCTP-IP.

I'm willing to bet $10 that the PS3 will be still be the only DTCP-IP hardware client that you can walk into a major retailer and buy in January, 2014. You're not going to see it in any FOSS project either, for much the same reason that nobody has stumped up for a PlayReady license for XBMC or any other FOSS client.

(There's an outside chance that Sony might add DTCP-IP to some of their BluRay players, but beyond that? I don't see it).

According to Ben Drawbaugh (engadget reporter), many of the 2012 TVs have DTCP-IP built in because they support RVU. A number of Samsungs frex. I'll PM you my Paypal address.

http://www.silicondust.com/forum2/viewt ... 47&t=14318

I agree that it's a tough nut to crack for any open source dev team, and will probably never see the light of day on something like Myth on Linux.

[foxwood]

According to Ben Drawbaugh (engadget reporter), many of the 2012 TVs have DTCP-IP built in because they support RVU. A number of Samsungs frex. I'll PM you my Paypal address.

How many of these TVs have hard drives that can record encrypted content, so that you can watch it later? If all you can use it for is watching live TV, you might as well just use the cable-company's set-top box.

[foxwood]

Doing some followup research of my own, it looks like DirecTVs "Genie" system might actually be using this technology, allowing the aforementioned TVs to be clients of a DirecTV "server". Which is probably a rather more restrictive "walled garden" than WMC will ever be, and doesn't seem to offer much of an opening for Silicon Dust.

What I can't find is whether DirecTVs C31 client is open enough to work with anything other than a DirecTV server. If it is, then it already does what you want the EWcho to do, for half the price.

[slowbiscuit]

According to Ben Drawbaugh (engadget reporter), many of the 2012 TVs have DTCP-IP built in because they support RVU. A number of Samsungs frex. I'll PM you my Paypal address.

How many of these TVs have hard drives that can record encrypted content, so that you can watch it later? If all you can use it for is watching live TV, you might as well just use the cable-company's set-top box.

Yeah, but that wasn't the bet you made. You still owe me $10, which you'll be able to afford because you don't have to rent an STB.

[barnabas1969]

EWcho? Was that intentional? If so, very funny. I like it.