SnapStream Blog

Several of us will be heading up to Austin this weekend to check out SXSW — a music, film, and interactive media festival. If you will be there and would like to meet up, just send me an email at soham AT snapstream DOT com with your cell number and I’ll give you a call.

SnapStream Media officially launched Firefly Mini today! The remote is now available for $29.99 in the SnapStream Store. You can read all about Mini, see a comparison chart with Firefly, and also see some great pictures on the Firefly Mini Product Pages.

Here are some of the cool things about Firefly Mini:

1) Smaller, sleaker, simpler, and maybe even sexier…

2) IR Based Technology. Check out Zack’s posting to see how you can now control your PC using a universal IR remote control.

3) No special drivers or software needed. Since Firefly Mini is a HID compliant device, you can just plug it in and start using it.

4) Supports a lot of applications right out of the box! Of course, we wanted Firefly Mini to work great with Beyond TV, Beyond TV Link, and Beyond Media, and it definitely does. However, we also wanted to offer a remote control that would work with other applications to maximize the value. Since Firefly Mini uses standard HID commands, you can use it to control any application that supports HID — a steadily growing list.

Here’s the button mapping.

Additionally, some keys are special to SnapStream products. Here they are:

Firefly – Launches Beyond Media, Beyond TV, or Beyond TV Link (can also be configured to launch any application).
Guide – Navigates Beyond TV to the Program Guide Screen.
Last – While watching Live TV, changes channels to the previous channel.
Menu – While watching a DVD in Beyond Media, launches the DVD menu. Otherwise, navigates to the main menu.
Option – Brings up the context-sensitive options menu.

That’s it. If you’re interested, you can also check out Chrissy’s official press release.

Okay, maybe there’s no reason to carry a PC remote control around in your pocket, but if you wanted to, at least it wouldn’t get scratched beyond all recognition (insert, all sorts of legal disclaimers here).

Ever since we launched Firefly, many customers have been asking us to create an IR version. Well, nine months ago, we locked two Firefly’s (a regular Firefly and Zack’s sexy red Firefly mod) into a dark closet, and today we’re happy to announce that SnapStream Media will soon be proudly delivering Firefly Mini!

All jokes aside, we will be publicly launching Firefly Mini this March. It uses IR instead of RF to communicate with the USB receiver and has a living room friendly 30-foot range. The smaller form factor gives the remote a nice, compact hold. We’ve streamlined the button count leaving just the essentials making it that much easier to use increasing the WAF. My favorite part is that it is a HID-compliant device, so there are no additional drivers to install. Also, since more and more applications are supporting standard HID media keys (such as play, pause, stop, etc), Firefly Mini will support many other media applications right out of the box. Beyond TV 4.1 and Beyond Media 1.1.1 already support the remote’s special buttons (such as the guide button).

More info coming soon…

We know that many of the readers of this blog are not just technology users, but also technology creators. So if you’re an experienced C#, .Net, or C++ developer and would be interested in working at SnapStream, please visit our Jobs page.

New hires would need to join us in Houston, Texas. SnapStream offers a great boundary-less work environment where every voice is heard.

Please spread the word to your friends and family as well. Digital media enthusiasts preferred!

Before I worked for SnapStream, I was actively involved in building plug-ins for Beyond Media. As a former community developer, I’m very happy to announce the opening of a new SnapStream website, http://code.snapstream.com. The site is designed to be a central resource for developers working on Beyond TV and Beyond Media plugins or skins. However, that isn’t the really cool part.

The part that is most exciting is that it is a completely open wiki system.  For those not familiar with a wiki, it is a web site that is editable by the visitors of that site.  The changes are immediately visible, and other users can add, edit, or enhance content as they see fit.  We have left it open for editing by anyone because we believe this is the best way to get the information that developers need as quickly as possible.  This really boils down to the following three things:

1.      If you are creating something and have a question there is a central location to look it up.

2.      If you can’t find the answer then you can leave a note asking for someone to write an article about it.

3.      If you know the answer to a question or if you found something really cool then you can write about it and share it with the community.

To give you a few ideas of items already on the site, there are

• the APIs for Beyond Media and Beyond TV APIs
• the Beyond Media SDK
• an article about the best practices for updating the Beyond Media UI from a background thread and
• documentation for Beyond TV’s third party guide updates.

If you have questions, someone has answers, so go check it out, and happy coding.

About the author: Jason Baumeister has been a Software Engineer for SnapStream Media for a little over six months. Before he started working here, he actively developed multiple plugins with the Beyond Media and Beyond TV SDKs. The extremely popular DVD Library plug-in, for example, is one of his creations.

Percy’s 11-tuner Godzilla PVR has been generating a lot of buzz lately. His blog post got Slashdot’ed and Dugg and also showed up on Engadget and the PVRblog. Sure, it may be a little overkill for the average user, but by building PVRs like this, we continue to fully exercise the software and stress-test its reliability and performance. If Beyond TV can handle Percy’s 11 tuners, I know that it’s going to run rock solid on my 2 tuner system at home.

Hey, how did Percy get SmartSkip for an HD recording?
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

Of course to keep up with Percy, we have to keep improving the software. Beyond TV 4 has been our most popular release so far, and today we’re releasing Beyond TV 4.1 with a handful of bug fixes, support for a couple of new cards, and a few new features. As some perceptive users noted, Percy’s HD recordings have SmartSkip chapters, Beyond TV 4.1 now supports SmartSkip for HD content. So just because commercials look better in HD doesn’t mean that you have to watch them if you don’t want to. Of course with the Super Bowl just weeks away, maybe you’ll be skipping to the commercials.

Click here for the full Beyond TV 4.1 Release Notes.

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.

One of the things we recently did here at SnapStream is codify a set of company values for the entire team. As Jack Welch puts it…”So much hot air about something so real.” I’d venture to say what Jack meant by that is that a lot of companies have values, but fail to make them *real* to their employees. Instead, by inaction they basically opt for equating their values to pithy sayings posted in the hallway.

We’ve had these values for a while in each employee, of course. Writing them down, figuring out what the real core of each value was, and making those values conscious, visible and actionable for all of our employees was the next step for the company.

The trick isn’t really in the writing down of these values themselves, as I’ve found out. Although, don’t get me wrong, that certainly took some time. It’s the process itself…involving people, embedding the knowledge of the values into the company culture, and translating the values into constant action that is the tricky part.

So without further ado, I thought it might be interesting for SnapStream enthusiasts to know what our values here at SnapStream are:

1. Only hire passionate, disciplined, and intelligent people. People are our most important asset.
2. Put a human face on the company.
3. Invest in infrastructure that allows us to get more done with less.
4. Cut waste and inefficiency relentlessly. Leaner and simpler is better.
5. Embrace and effect positive change, rather than looking for reasons not to change.
6. Never stop learning. Seize opportunities to improve yourself and the team.
7. Work together and cooperate to achieve our goals. Tear down any walls that form in the company.
8. Follow up on everything. Ask what the next action is, write it down, and follow up on your next actions.
9. Take the customer’s perspective constantly. Measure the company against the customer’s standard of quality and not just your own.
10. Look for the unexpected angles that will make customers remember us.
11. Make the company a leader. Favor directions that uniquely differentiate us from “regular� companies.

I could write an essay on each of the values…but I’m going to leave it at that for the moment.

Like I said earlier, everyone has to work and think constantly to make sure these values translate into real results. And by real, I mean changes that our customers can see. I and the others here have spent a lot of time working to create these values, and I’m spending more time this week checking up with everyone, getting feedback, and encouraging open thinking about how we can apply our values to our daily work. But I can see hints of change already, so I’m sure the effort will be worth it!

Yesterday, we launched microsites to sell Beyond TV and Beyond TV Link in Germany, France and the UK:

http://www.snapstream.de/ (Germany)
http://www.snapstream.fr/ (France)
http://uk.snapstream.com/ (UK)

We’re pretty excited to offer our products across the Atlantic as well as here in the States!

Our microsites and the products we’re offering in Europe are localized, so you can enjoy Beyond TV and Beyond TV Link in your native language. You can purchase products directly from these websites and pay in Euros or in British pounds, a special treat for those of you lavishing in the relative strength of the Euro compared with the dollar! Buy on the microsite, and the products will be electronically delivered to you.

We currently only offer technical support in English, though we’ve created forums for users in the UK, France and Germany. Our American users love the forums, because they can support each other and offer solutions to common issues with our products. We think and hope that the European community will embrace the forums as a means of supporting one another as well. It’s kind of like the European Union of technical support.

Our European product only has analog support right now. Our developers are hard at work on DVB-T/S support, because we know you want it, but it’s not quite ready to ship just yet. The great part is that if you buy Beyond TV or Beyond TV Link now, we’ll be sure to give you a free upgrade when we do add DVB-T/S support.

A special thanks to all the European beta testers who gave us feedback on the localization of the products and the websites. We couldn’t have created a product suited to our European consumers without your feedback. We are looking to expand our base of beta testers and our community in Europe, so if you are interested, check the microsites in the next couple of weeks for an opportunity to sign-up.

Chrissy Davis
Public Relations Coordinator