It is getting hard to find. Most of the online stores don’t have new ones. Even the WD store doesn’t have it.
frigido wrote:
It is getting hard to find. Most of the online stores don’t have new ones. Even the WD store doesn’t have it.
Considering what even basic tablets and phones can do these days (virtually all have HDMI ports for a good reason!), I suspect the WDTV, Roku and the rest are reaching the end of their usefulness and relevance.
I think that the Hub is in line to be refreshed before the SMP. WD wants to have three devices out; entry-level, mid-range, and high-end. The WDTV Play (entry-level) was just released. The SMP is newer than the Hub. Also, the Hub is not as good as the SMP in some ways (no wifi, weaker internal hardware, and $100 price difference which can easily be offset by just buying a 1TB HDD for the SMP and you still come out spending less).
Bottom line is that, unless WD is abandoning the market, I don’t forsee the SMP being refreshed for at least a little longer. As for the tablets and such, none offer the ease of use and features of something like a Roku, which even my mother-in-law can use. Ouya with XBMC has potential, but early previews show it stuttering during some playback. Might have to wait for their 2014 Tegra 4 refresh before that is viable.
Medion wrote:As for the tablets and such, none offer the ease of use and features of something like a Roku, which even my mother-in-law can use.
Android Tablet ease of use:
Find movie you want to watch. Press it on the tablet screen. Movie opens in MX Player.
Want to watch on big screen? Remember to plug the HDMI cable into the HDMI port on the tablet.
My sympathies to your mother-in-law. 
OK, I warned you in another thread…tablet “ease of use”…snort, snort…hah, hah…ROTFLMAO.
ncarver wrote:
OK, I warned you in another thread…tablet “ease of use”…snort, snort…hah, hah…ROTFLMAO.
I suspected as much. You ARE Medion’s mother-in-law! 
I think there are two routes to go down, and I hope WD do both.
One is an all-singing, all-dancing player that is set up to do all manner of things with networks, streaming, etc, etc.
The other is a very, very (did I say very?) simple media player that will…well, play your media.
Remember when we had CD players and VHS devices? Play, pause, fast forward, rewind?
Would VHS, CD or even DVD have taken off if they’d required regulat firmware updates, tweaks, etc, etc?
Get a product out there that’s finished. It will play all the major media files. It has several USB ins on the back.
Rip a CD, DVD or Blu-ray Disc, put it on your HDD and it will play.
That’s what 99% of people want.
An iPod for their films.
Steve W
Noone other than WD knows for sure, but I agree the lack of product on the market does make you wonder.
Amazon has them back in stock next week.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005KOZNBW/ref=dra_a_cs_mr_hn_it_P1700_1000?tag=dradis-20
I believe that a likely explanation for what is being seen is that the way products like the WD TV units are produced is that WD contracts with a factory in China to manufacture a run of say the SMP, and then WD sells the produced units. When their supply of units is beginning to get low, they will order another production run. You can certainly see how a company might wait too long to order another run or production might get delayed, etc., and stock could get very low.
roscolo wrote:> Android Tablet ease of use:
Find movie you want to watch. Press it on the tablet screen. Movie opens in MX Player.
Want to watch on big screen? Remember to plug the HDMI cable into the HDMI port on the tablet.
My sympathies to your mother-in-law.
If you think that configuring an android tablet for use on an HDTV is as easy and intuitive as using a TV-style remote on a television-designed user interface, then you are sadly mistaken. Basically, either you are trolling (and don’t really believe what you posted), or you are deficient in mental capacity.
Medion wrote:
roscolo wrote:> Android Tablet ease of use:
Find movie you want to watch. Press it on the tablet screen. Movie opens in MX Player.
Want to watch on big screen? Remember to plug the HDMI cable into the HDMI port on the tablet.
My sympathies to your mother-in-law.
If you think that configuring an android tablet for use on an HDTV is as easy and intuitive as using a TV-style remote on a television-designed user interface, then you are sadly mistaken.
Uh, really? It’s not “as easy”…it’s easier and more intuitive. Just how hard do you find it to:
A: Plug HDMI cable from TV into HDMI port on tablet. If your tablet has no HDMI, well, you got a krapblet and should have made a wiser purchase.
B: Find the movie you want to watch (locally or via DLNA media server)
C: Press the movie on your tablet touchscreen
D: Select “Play with MX Player” (or BS Player)
E: Enjoy your movie!
Helluva lot easier and infinitely more intuituve than hunt-and-peck with the WDTV remote on that clunky interface. Reminds me of a Speak-and-Spell.
It appears that this thread is going downhill. So, before you guys really start throwing things at each other, I’m closing this down. By the way, the SMP isn’t going anywhere for a while.
