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Due to the fact that IceTV reps have failed to even acknowledge any of the constructive criticism about the EPG I can only assume that updates to it's layout and function will not be happening in a hurry.

Yes Bob it was a surprise that the link actually opened a .pdf document. I expected a dead link until the real manual was uploaded. So I posted to let others know, is that okay with you?

I just downloaded a pdf from the link on my phone and the pdf read manual coming soon. Just to save others from wasting their time.

How about this 6 year old article that discusses that ad skipping has already been available on HTPCs for a long time back then http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/22/how-to-automatically-skip-commercials-in-windows-7-media-center/

I would guess that your home SKIPPA runs software and analyses the shows you have recorded locally on it's HDD, it would start this analysis as soon as the recording is finished, thus why you have to wait awhile after the recording as they have stated, this software would periodically check that you have a paid up sub to use it and if you don't will not run.

It's not new by any means, but has always been a bit hit and miss, what is new is that they feel confident enough that their software will work well enough to charge a subscription fee.

So it must have passed their initial testing with great results, but there is still the disclaimer on the website that real world results may vary (or similar words) so we will see, I assume it will be fairly reliable.

It would want to be more reliable than bored housewives who would forget to press the flagg button half the time or be outside having a smoke :)

[The launch of SKIPPA has generated terrific feedback from our customers]

Warkus I can see your point...but I can also see that all the negativity has been generated by IceTV comments (or lack of them) and haphazard promotion style, they only have themselves to blame.

Thier reaction to all this negativity is one again typical of what we have come to expect from them  ::)

Quote IceTV email

"The launch of SKIPPA has generated terrific feedback from our customers"

Now if we take that at face value then I really can't see how that can be true, between here and Whirlpool customers are disgruntled, disappointed and anxious about what the product will be like, hardly what I would call terrific feedback.

But if we read between the lines and check the online dictionary meaning of "terrific" we find that yes that is an apt description as terrific doesn't actually mean good or positive at all.

terrific
təˈrɪfɪk/Submit
adjective
1. of great size, amount, or intensity.
"there was a terrific bang"

2. archaic causing terror.
"his body presented a terrific emblem of death"

So yep, the feedback has been terrific.

I think it would be logical to assume that IceTV are NOT going to pay for people to watch and flag the ads for all the free to air TV in Australia all the time nearly all the stations (apart from the shopping station which is just one big ad anyway) 24hrs a day, even the shitty low rating shows just in case a Skippa user wants to watch the most rubbish show on TV one day.

I remember betting a six pack that I wouldn't get my Skippa in July.... no one took me up on that one :( .....now I'm willing to take a risk and bet a six pack that the ads are not manually flagged by people watching the TV shows, first taker only :)

Yes everyone is skeptical about how well it will work and if the stations will be able to break it. That said people have been autoskipping ads with their HTPCs for years, fairly reliably from what I hear, so it is possible. But I don't know much about how that works and I don't have a HTPC, I probably wouldn't be here if I did :)

My PVR has been on it's last legs and giving us the craps for about a year now, but seeing as Skippa was FINALLY going to available BEFORE Xmas last year we held off buying a different PVR.

Now here we are...........but I doubt I'm on the friends and family list :)

Good luck Brett.. nice try LOL

I'm not out to sabotage, I do hope I am happy with my Skippa purchase, but I am not very impressed with the way marketing and information has been handled or feedback to posts here. Nearly everytime staff post people here are disappointed or annoyed by what they have said, they don't need me to sabotage they are doing a fine job themselves.

That said, I know we are quite a difficult bunch to impress and for every unhappy post there could be a few who are happy and don't bother posting.

Beat ya :)

Probably because you consistently said you could not answer any questions about what the finished product would be like and then we were told that the test units would go into production about a week ago to be tested by family members when they arrive, yeah I think that would be it.

No I really wasn't being sarcastic, I'm out of the loop with what is happening on commercial TV, about the only show I watch that is aired on local commercial TV is Modern Family and the episodes I watch are up to date and have no ads at all, it's like magic ;)

I only use our PVR to record SBS and ABC....but my wife and son watch and record some commercial TV so they will be testing the auto skip feature here. I use our PVR to stream media from our PC so I'm more interested to see what I think of Plex + Skippa V's Beyonwiz + FTP

Yeah you are right about the percentage of people using autoskip being small....it never ceases to amaze me that even though I have been spruiking the benefits of PVRs for what seems like a decade I think only a small percentage of people I know use one and most just watch live FTA packed with ads WTF? why? crazy stuff.

Even so I think the stations will be in a panic about the potential.......perhaps they could use scare tactic ads to stop people skipping? "You wouldn't kill a puppy.....so why would you skip ads?" ;D

Some members here feel the need to remind us that IceTV can do whatever they like in terms of pricing and marketing (as if we didn't realise that) with seemingly the underlying attitude that people should not complain and should just let the market decide, I think you are missing the value of having a forum such as this, and I wonder if IceTV are missing that point also.

What we have here is people willing to spend their time to give instant feedback before the product goes to market, what an opportunity.

It seems that early on IceTV wanted to utilize that opportunity by asking for suggestions for their upcoming product, but somewhere along the line they decided to move away from that concept and just do their own thing. I can see many examples lately where perhaps that decision has not worked out as well as it could have for them. The EPG screenshot thread being just one of them, rather than asking what people wanted from the EPG and getting free feedback from experienced PVR users they just picked one and have found that from feedback now a percentage of people would prefer a different one. Personally I hope they take this on board and give us an option of two or three EPGs to select as we see fit, and due to this forum that may just happen.

They don't seem to be thanking anyone for their constructive criticism (again another missed opportunity) but I do hope they are busily collating all feedback behind the scenes and doing their best to make Skippa meet everyone's needs and expectations.

Criticism is sometimes more valuable than praise, something that the fanboi's don't understand, if we are to be dissuaded from criticising them there is no point in having this forum at all really.

I hope that is not a disseminatory comment  ;)

[Here is a brief update on what's happening with SKIPPA: SKIPPA HAS BEEN EXTENSIVELY TESTED User requirements, software programming and testing were conducted concurrently in an agile approach. This enabled us to work with well-tested software at every stage, with just a short pre-manufacturing test at the end.]

I just re-read what the email on the 19th of June says.............makes me wonder if they are assembling them by hand themselves in someone's shed in Sydney thus cutting out the shipping times from China. Although that would employ more people in OZ which would be great I seriously doubt that is going to happen, and even if it was their dates are not feasible. Quoted from email in Italics and Bold.

Here is a brief update on what's happening with SKIPPA:
SKIPPA HAS BEEN EXTENSIVELY TESTED
User requirements, software programming and testing were conducted concurrently in an agile approach. This enabled us to work with well-tested software at every stage, with just a short pre-manufacturing test at the end.

Yeah ok sounds good.

MANUFACTURING IS STARTING
Next week, we'll manufacture our first batch of SKIPPAs in a pre-production run. This gives our employees' families a month to experience SKIPPA and suggest any changes. When customers set up their SKIPPA for the first time, it will automatically check for software upgrades via the internet.
SHIP DATE IS JULY


Here is my take on that second paragraph, happy to be told I am wrong, I actually hope I am, but so far my predictions have been correct.

So this email was sent on Friday 19th of June stating that next week they will start to manufacture their FIRST pre-production run, so from this I gather sometime this week the factory puts a short run of Skippa's online for testing. This will be a test run for the manufacturing line but lets be positive and say all goes well and they get a batch of them done in just a couple of days (is that  possible?) and have them boxed up ready to ship by Friday. Then it's the weekend so they wait until Monday 29th and send them express airmail from China because IceTV have a deadline to meet. Maybe the Skippa families will have them in their homes and set up ready to test by about the end of the first week of July?

Then they will start their "month of testing" I'm sure the Skippa families are very familiar with PVR's but I do hope they have been put through a quick course on stress testing beta software and bug reporting. So that brings us into the first week of August.
Sometime during this month of testing the decision would be made to go into full production to supply our pre-orders. Maybe they will make that decision quickly and start full production after only having the test boxes for two weeks, meaning the factory would START a full run of them in the third or fourth week of July. These would need to shipped and not airfreighted, how does a week of manufacture to get the 1000 (plus a few to cover duds) produced and ready to ship and then add two weeks shipping time? That puts them at the Skippa warehouse towards the end of August, then a few days to get them ready for dispatch from the Sydney warehouse and delivery to our homes can commence in the first week of September, if everything goes well. 


Mass manufacturing takes place in early July. We will dispatch your SKIPPA from our Sydney warehouse in the last week of July.

Really?


I notice that there is now no mention of delivery date on their website at all that I could find, July has been deleted and not updated. Those who are buying this second lot of pre-orders do not have any release date to go by, just buy one and pay now and assume you will get it sometime. I wonder how popular that is ?

Yeah make that 4 votes for a customizable EPG without the bling so that more channels and shows can be seen on the one screen. Some may want flashy logos and preview panes etc but to me they just take up valuable screen space that could show me more EPG.