General Discussion about Airtel Xstream Devices

[Advik]

The above post was more specifically aimed at that user @Velu61. He multiple times asked on Tata Sky about Android STB, then started comparing with Airtel by giving example of Xstream box. Moved to it with little to no research. Now regretting.

I can't comment on favorite audio as i don't use the audio feed option on any of my set favorite chsnnels. And, i apply don't fix it unless it's broken logic on my DTH. OTT can be served through OTT sticks, TV built in chromecast etc. Multiple Airtel Xsteam customers shared their terrible experiences due to the half baked product but still if someone taken it knowingly than who is responsible bro.

I also booked Xstream box as soon as it was launched but luckily spared as it wasn't not available on my location as per them, their website bug let me book! I then learnt from our forum members it is a bad decision to buy it.

Yes bro its true, I agree with you. Xstream box is not up to the mark. It comes with several issues as mentioned by many members here.
Hope Tata Sky will soon launch an android STB. Otherwise I will take normal HD connection of TS with in 2-3 month.

 

[Velu61]

You moved out of Tata Sky due to no Android STB and now regretting. Tata Sky never released a half baked product like this which is why they take more time in launching new STBs.

Rightly said

 

[Velu61]

Still I have not surrendered my ts box n waiting for exchange of tatasky android stb

 

[Bapun]

Still I have not surrendered my ts box n waiting for exchange of tatasky android stb

They may/may not launch an Android STB considering they imported boxes long back and never released it. Yes, there isn't any surety yet, you should use whichever DTH you prefer more. Else you are wasting money on something you are not satisfied with.

 

[Happy Self]

I do not see any problem in Android platform as such. Also, I do not see any problem in hardware as well. Implementation by Airtel is bad rather pathetic .....probably, because of a bunch of jokers Airtel has employed. For company of Airtel size it is shameful.

Company like Amazon should come in field or ....TRAI should come up with service provider neutral STB.

While watching DTH, if press ’rec’ button, a pop up massage says ‘recording option will come soon‘. It is coming for last 3 months. I am going to sue AirTel soon.

I have reduced to monthly subscription to watch only News Programme because it is difficult for me to coincide my time with other live programs. So AirTel is not bothered about its revenue!!!

All these indicate that AirTel is not bothered about its customer and it has no right to exist. It will die soon.

 

[alienwrz]

I do not see any problem in Android platform as such. Also, I do not see any problem in hardware as well. Implementation by Airtel is bad rather pathetic .....probably, because of a bunch of jokers Airtel has employed. For company of Airtel size it is shameful.

Company like Amazon should come in field or ....TRAI should come up with service provider neutral STB.

While watching DTH, if press ’rec’ button, a pop up massage says ‘recording option will come soon‘. It is coming for last 3 months. I am going to sue AirTel soon.

I have reduced to monthly subscription to watch only News Programme because it is difficult for me to coincide my time with other live programs. So AirTel is not bothered about its revenue!!!

All these indicate that AirTel is not bothered about its customer and it has no right to exist. It will die soon.

Hi Happy Self

Being in this domain for 7 years STB/Broadcasting, i dont think STB inter operate-ability will come anytime soon (Forever) there are a lot of things going on in the background. the whole industry should co ordinate with each other which includes STB manufacturer, CAS (conditional access system) and SMS(subscriber management system). different company (DTH/MSO) have different CAS and different STB manufactures should make their STB programmable to adapt to different CAS,
next would be security (piracy protection) different CAS has different security patents and they have invested a lot on it.

Coming to recording part i want to clarify whether xstream app has any catchup feature since it is VOD, if so then implementing rec is just waste of time. If the catchup feature is not available maybe they are working on it which IMO is the future and worth spending time and money on it.
since android based STB are quite new, the development is quite difficult for our domain on the whole. the older linux/unix based STB softwares are quite old and resource for it are abundant so development are easy.

You may ask why so much in implementing the catchup/VOD features? the reason might be piracy. so much standards are in place to stop piracy in broadcast/VOD. The recent Amazon and google fight are on this particular topic " certification" not all device running android and amazon/netflix certified meaning it cant be certified for piracy HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection ) topic of the year IMO.

Again im not defending airtel nor i am anyway associated with them. But all R&D is done from Chinese STB manufactures who simply dont understand english and STB engineers in india dont understand both chinese and english

Just my opinion

 

[dino29]

I do not see any problem in Android platform as such. Also, I do not see any problem in hardware as well. Implementation by Airtel is bad rather pathetic .....probably, because of a bunch of jokers Airtel has employed. For company of Airtel size it is shameful.

Company like Amazon should come in field or ....TRAI should come up with service provider neutral STB.

While watching DTH, if press ’rec’ button, a pop up massage says ‘recording option will come soon‘. It is coming for last 3 months. I am going to sue AirTel soon.

I have reduced to monthly subscription to watch only News Programme because it is difficult for me to coincide my time with other live programs. So AirTel is not bothered about its revenue!!!

All these indicate that AirTel is not bothered about its customer and it has no right to exist. It will die soon.

Yes, it is true that airtel needs to pull up socks but ur saying that "not bothered about customer or will shut shop" is rather being very harsh on them. There r so many great things they have done till now & keep coming up with, most people r happy .... Ofcourse overcoming shortcomings is always welcome but no company can ever be perfect. Above all if customers want to pinpoint problems in a company then they should also look inwards as how much they r willing to pay for quality product or service.

Also u can access ur favourite content using VOD service of airtel, XStream platform has all what u want including catalogue of tv channel content. Recording functionality may not be available either due to some tech or licence limitations which will b sorted soon

 

[Siva]

Hi Happy Self

Being in this domain for 7 years STB/Broadcasting, i dont think STB inter operate-ability will come anytime soon (Forever) there are a lot of things going on in the background. the whole industry should co ordinate with each other which includes STB manufacturer, CAS (conditional access system) and SMS(subscriber management system). different company (DTH/MSO) have different CAS and different STB manufactures should make their STB programmable to adapt to different CAS,
next would be security (piracy protection) different CAS has different security patents and they have invested a lot on it.

Coming to recording part i want to clarify whether xstream app has any catchup feature since it is VOD, if so then implementing rec is just waste of time. If the catchup feature is not available maybe they are working on it which IMO is the future and worth spending time and money on it.
since android based STB are quite new, the development is quite difficult for our domain on the whole. the older linux/unix based STB softwares are quite old and resource for it are abundant so development are easy.

You may ask why so much in implementing the catchup/VOD features? the reason might be piracy. so much standards are in place to stop piracy in broadcast/VOD. The recent Amazon and google fight are on this particular topic " certification" not all device running android and amazon/netflix certified meaning it cant be certified for piracy HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection ) topic of the year IMO.

Again im not defending airtel nor i am anyway associated with them. But all R&D is done from Chinese STB manufactures who simply dont understand english and STB engineers in india dont understand both chinese and english

Just my opinion

Yes, it is true that airtel needs to pull up socks but ur saying that "not bothered about customer or will shut shop" is rather being very harsh on them. There r so many great things they have done till now & keep coming up with, most people r happy .... Ofcourse overcoming shortcomings is always welcome but no company can ever be perfect. Above all if customers want to pinpoint problems in a company then they should also look inwards as how much they r willing to pay for quality product or service.

Also u can access ur favourite content using VOD service of airtel, XStream platform has all what u want including catalogue of tv channel content. Recording functionality may not be available either due to some tech or licence limitations which will b sorted soon

Xstream app on Xstream Box doesn't have TV channels on it, so I'm not sure what's there to catch up on that app.

Per the update I got from the field team, recording will be enabled this month.

 

[Velu61]

There are tonnes of issues yet to be resolved by adtv. Airtel xstream app not enabled, Mobile not yet updated issue, Live tv not enabled, catch-up tv not available etc... Before setright all Tatasky will come with a complete box..

 

[Happy Self]

Hi Happy Self

Being in this domain for 7 years STB/Broadcasting, i dont think STB inter operate-ability will come anytime soon (Forever) there are a lot of things going on in the background. the whole industry should co ordinate with each other which includes STB manufacturer, CAS (conditional access system) and SMS(subscriber management system). different company (DTH/MSO) have different CAS and different STB manufactures should make their STB programmable to adapt to different CAS,
next would be security (piracy protection) different CAS has different security patents and they have invested a lot on it.

Coming to recording part i want to clarify whether xstream app has any catchup feature since it is VOD, if so then implementing rec is just waste of time. If the catchup feature is not available maybe they are working on it which IMO is the future and worth spending time and money on it.
since android based STB are quite new, the development is quite difficult for our domain on the whole. the older linux/unix based STB softwares are quite old and resource for it are abundant so development are easy.

You may ask why so much in implementing the catchup/VOD features? the reason might be piracy. so much standards are in place to stop piracy in broadcast/VOD. The recent Amazon and google fight are on this particular topic " certification" not all device running android and amazon/netflix certified meaning it cant be certified for piracy HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection ) topic of the year IMO.

Again im not defending airtel nor i am anyway associated with them. But all R&D is done from Chinese STB manufactures who simply dont understand english and STB engineers in india dont understand both chinese and english

Just my opinion

I am not at all in this field.. but as I understand, there is a fundamental difference between DTH and OTT platform. The bandwidth requirement on DTH platform depends on number of channels being transmitted and does not depend on number of stb connections. Where as, OTT platform does not transmit any channel as such. If there is no viewer, there is no transmission. The bandwidth requirement on OTT platform depends on number of viewers. So, if there are 1 million viewers, there will be 1 million channels. With fibre optics we are now able to technologically meet the requirement at the cheapest rate in the world. However, even this rate is still expansive to many of consumers and in my view in country of over 1.3 billion population, DTH will continue for some time. With recording facility available in DTH STB, you are able to make any programme available to view at any suitable time.

Personally, I have fibre to home with unlimited data at free of cost provided by my organisation, I am working for. Still I look for recording facility because of Catchup/ VOD facility does not exist in a convenient way. Ease of navigation is key for a good customer experience.

As far as piracy is concerned, all the web series of tech czar like Amazon or Netflix are available to download load. It is beyond capacity of AirTel to stop it. It is just an excuse for not providing the service because of incompetance.

Anand