New Media Player at CES 2013?

Features I would like to see integrated into a next gen WD TV:

  • Integrated bluetooth for mice, keyboard, headphones
  • Internal drive bay.  Patriot Memory Systems has such a media player
  • Ability to act like a “Slingbox” for people traveling or on the go
  • More than two USB ports (perhaps 4?)
  • Ability to compose and read e-mail

^^ They have much to address with state of current player before adding all that!

Especially as it’s a media player so there’s no need for email.

Features I would like to see integrated into a next generation WD TV LIve:

  • 4 USB 3.0

  • WIFI dual band 802.11ac, support 5 Ghz band

  • more aplications, example compatibility with Android aplications

  • More Aplications in spanish. For example, to see films.

  • Interna capacity to install more applications

  • XBMC

  • etc

I Forget DLNA compativilidad as feature for the new generation of WD TV Live

Hi!

While searching for a next gen (gen 4?) WDTV Live I found this thread.

Are there any official announcements for a new generation?

I want to buy a WDTV HD Live  (WDBGXT0000NBK-EESN) and was worried, 

because there are nearly no shops in Austria which have it on stock.

Now I want to know, if I should buy the gen 3 or should wait for gen 4 if its released within the next month.

regards,

Sebastian

There is a lack of sellers in the US as well.  It seems to be “out of stock”.  You need to draw your own conclusions.

I would bet a new WDTV device is coming soon.

How much do you want to bet and how long are you prepared to wait.

There are 2 parts to this answer:

1.  There will definitely be a successor to the WD Live SMP – that’s life with technology.

2.  The question is when?   Who knows?!  I think sometime well before Christmas, so they can become Xmas presents!  Most major new gizmos appear late summer to early fall.  (Unless the target date slips and they are late!)

A new device where networking just works would make the forum for that device a pretty quiet place:stuck_out_tongue:

dcb917 wrote:

A new device where networking just works would make the forum for that device a pretty quiet place:stuck_out_tongue:

Hmmm, not a chance – most network problems are not caused by the player; they are caused by improper setup by the USER, or sub-standard wireless connection, and anything else BUT the player.  :dizzy_face:

Given that I have gigabit ethernet and a Cisco 300-28P switch and no other device has a networking issue outside of the WD SMP I find that a most curious thing for you to say.

That said, the WD SMP is far superior to its immediate predecessor which remains a complete joke still, after many firmware updates.

But I guess its my fault this is the single device that takes a few minutes to find the server that other devices take a few milliseconds to find. How amusing.

mattritchie wrote:

Given that I have gigabit ethernet and a Cisco 300-28P switch and no other device has a networking issue outside of the WD SMP I find that a most curious thing for you to say.

 

But I guess its my fault this is the single device that takes a few minutes to find the server that other devices take a few milliseconds to find. How amusing.

I guess I should then say, how amusing that you think it isn’t your equipment/setup’s fault, since the SMP functions flawlessly in my network (and many other people’s), which uses different gear.   My file server is found instantly, I can play 60+ Mbps files, etc.  If the SMP just doesn’t work properly, how is it that it works perfectly for me?  Luck?

Mike’s point is completely valid.  There are a large number of reasons why the WD units might not function “properly” within a particular network.  People should remember that setting up and maintaining networks is something people train for and get employed to do.  It is quite ridiculous then to think that people with little/no knowledge of computer networking should be able to buy a bunch of cheap networking gear, from a range of manufactureres, throw it together, and everything will definitely function flawlessly.

I think his point was that all his other gear functions OK with his network except his WD player.

The user, RichUK, is correct. That was my point.

I also didn’t suggest the device didn’t play large files over the network merely that it takes a disproportionate amount of time to connect to the network the first time after a reboot. Devices running Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 Preview, Mac OS X, Ubuntu and Android don’t have this problem.

Perhaps my Cisco 300-28 ~$500 gigabit switch is “too cheap”. Or maybe my expectations are high and yours are not. Or maybe the 802.3ad Dynamic Link Aggregation (dual gigabit) connection to the server is causing mystery issues that don’t occur with other devices… 1,650~ mbps of throughput with 2 or more clients…

The ‘gen 2’ device was worse, you couldn’t even access the network for several minutes after booting the machine and unlike the SMP that sits there running hot whilst “in standby” you never got that opportunity with that device. I reported that issue years ago and many firmware updates have come since then.

richUK wrote:

I think his point was that all his other gear functions OK with his network except his WD player.

Oh I got that.  My point was, so what?  Meaningless.  Computer networking is nothing like, say, your electrical wiring, where if only one appliance doesn’t work then you can absolutely definitely know it is that appliance’s fault.  Different networking gear can involve different protocols, packet sizes, throughput requirements, Ethernet settings, etc., etc.  It is trivially easy to have one network component cripple a different component’s ability to function on the network.  This means that you cannot just automatically assign blame to the one network component that “isn’t working right.”  In fact, you can easily find many, many cases of postings on this board where people got on blaming their WD units and then later found it was some setting or other hardware in their network that was causing the problems.  Finally, if it is the SMP that is “defective,” as is being claimed, why does it work “perfectly” in my network?  You don’t think this difference could possibly have anything to do with the rest of the components/settings in our respective networks??

I think your version of “perfect” is merely a lower set of expectations and a higher tolerance for the failings of the device. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the thing and that’s why I preserve with the unit – but when a device takes a minute to detect SMB shares, well then the programmer has made some mistakes.

There have been reports considering problems when connected to GBit ports. Can your router switch to 100 mbit?

mattritchie wrote:

I think your version of “perfect” is merely a lower set of expectations and a higher tolerance for the failings of the device. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the thing and that’s why I preserve with the unit – but when a device takes a minute to detect SMB shares, well then the programmer has made some mistakes.

You are free to believe whatever you want to believe.  I was giving you my opinion as a CS PhD/prof with fairly extensive networking experience.  Blame whatever you like–makes no difference to me.  My SMP detects my SMB server and shares instantaneously on my network.  (I am done in this thread.)