SnapStream Blog

I don’t usually blog, but I had a great experience with our new version of Beyond TV, version 4 that I had to tell someone about. Let me tell you a little about myself. I’m a 29 year old graphic designer who loves to watch sports. By the way I also love the new BTV 4 look (I did design it). I live a busy life but I always try to make time to watch an Astros or Rockets game on TV. Yesterday I went into our lounge here at work to try out Beyond TV 4. There was this new “Browse by Categoryâ€? feature that I found very useful. Instead of aimlessly scrolling through the program guide, now I have a more precise way of finding my favorite sports show in one place. This feature helps out enormously when I’m trying to set my TV schedule for the week. I really enjoy shows like “Inside the NBAâ€? and version 4’s new browsing by sports category makes it so much easier to find similar shows. I’m really looking forward to using this feature a lot in the future (still need to upgrade my system at home!). In fact, I’m going to use it now to look up shows on fencing — something I’ve always wanted to learn more about. Blog you later.

Oh yes, it’s here.

We’ve covered some of what’s new in Beyond TV 4 in previous blogs, so if you need the quick rundown of what’s been going on, check out our previous posts:

• Beyond TV 4, coming to a website near you
• New HDTV PVR products bundled with Beyond TV
• Everything about HD – Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

And now that the new website is live, we have even more interesting articles and information to help you learn more about what Beyond TV 4 can do for you.

If you’re a new user, or maybe you’d just like to revisit all the things that make Beyond TV the neatest PVR software around, then here are some useful things to do.

• Head on over to the new Beyond TV 4 product page. You’ll get a high level rundown of what Beyond TV is all about.
• Make sure to check out our updated Beyond TV FAQ for general Beyond TV questions. And make sure to visit the all new HDTV Setup Center, which we set up specifically to give you some clear answers on how to get started with this cutting edge entertainment technology.
• After you’ve clicked through the above links and read up to your satisfaction, visit our download page and get the 21-day risk free trial of Beyond TV. It’s a zero commitment way for you to see first hand what running Beyond TV is all about. Or just pick up a complete bundle from the SnapStream Store and have it delivered straight to your door.

If you’re an existing owner of Beyond TV 3, then:

• Look at the Top Ten Reasons to Upgrade to Beyond TV 4 and our even bigger list of 50+ new things in Beyond TV 4.
• Check out the FAQ on upgrading.
• Get the new trial of Beyond TV 4, or simply click on the “Upgrade Now” button in the Upgrade Center to upgrade to Beyond TV 4 right away.

Finally, we do make it easy to get the necessary hardware you need in case you don’t have it already. Our HDTV hardware bundles are starting at $99.99 and include the card, cable, and antenna you need to get rolling.

Don’t miss watching all your favorite shows in their full high definition glory. Don’t miss out on all of the new additions in Beyond TV 4. It’s our best release yet.

One last thing. HDTV, DivX, FM Radio, and the new interface are all fantastic new features. But, as all of our customers will tell you, the best part of joining the SnapStream community might just be the fact that the developers here have been, and are continuing to, relentlessly make the software better month after month.

OK, I’ve said enough. We’re proud to bring Beyond TV 4 to you. Go get it!

We like TV.

We like you, our customers.

Which is why, right now, we’re really excited. It’s been a long time in the making. But the wait is almost over.

The gold bits have been sent for duplication. Some developers are sleeping regular hours again. In 5 days, you’ll finally be able to get your hands on the next version of Beyond TV.

The major highlights of version 4:

- Support for High Definition OTA (over the air) capture cards
- Support for DivX capture and ShowSqueeze
- New “Browse by category” screens let you find the kind of shows you like to watch.
- Support for cards with FM Radio tuners
- A huge number of tweaks and adjustments to refine the overall experience
- And a fresh new look and feel to top it all off!

The addition of high definition support is something we’re very excited about. Read our first HDTV article to see the difference for your own eyes. If you haven’t noticed yet, virtually every major manufacturer of HDTV cards has partnered with us to deliver HDTV support. When these companies wanted to deliver the best HDTV experience for their customers, they knew who to go to.

So if you want the best HDTV experience on your PC, then you should know what everyone else knows. You need to run Beyond TV 4, hands down.

There’s quite a bit more that can be said, but I’ll leave the detailed list of changes for the new website. The above list represents the top items our customers asked for over the past year. You asked, so we delivered. Change is great, and new things are fun, but keeping our development in sync with our customers as much as possible is a philosophy we keep the same year after year.

Beyond TV 4 will be $69.99. For existing owners of Beyond TV 3, we’ll be offering special limited time upgrade pricing at $29.99. Incidentally, if you don’t already have the needed hardware for HDTV, we’ll be offering some really great packages of HDTV hardware starting at only $99.99. These packages include TV cards from DVICO and special HDTV antennas. Is it worth it? Totally.

So mark the date. Put a big red X on your calendar. Create a task in Outlook to remind you when November 10th rolls around. Beyond TV 4 is your ticket to building the best PVR you possibly can. If these new features sound exciting to you, then do yourself a favor.

1. Visit http://www.snapstream.com on November 10th.
2. Pick up a copy of Beyond TV 4 and whatever cool gadgets you need to round out the experience.
3. Install and start enjoying the goodness that is Beyond TV.
4. Show all your friends how much better their shows look in high definition. (Optional, but all of us here at SnapStream highly recommend it)

If you like TV, then you’ll love Beyond TV 4. November 10th, folks. We’ll see you then.