I've been giving the new 360 software a whirl. I'm going to try and be objective here and give a balanced take things based on the current software version. Before I start, here are some
health warnings:
- I'm normally a Sky+ user
- These are just my opinions
- I only played around with it for a couple hours
- I've not tested the profile section
- It's a good while since I've properly used the TiVo based software so might be being unfair in some criticisms
- The box I was using was an upgraded V6 rather than a fresh install
- My lack of overall usage may mean I've missed some shortcuts that might make some of my criticisms irrelevant, and I'm happy to be corrected.
- I appreciate that with all new things, there is a learning curve
So let's start with the
positives.
It looks a whole lot better than the TiVO based software and works really fast. This is very subjective I know, but I like it. Channel change is near instantaneous and matches Sky+ which is great.
Watchlists I think will actually be really useful. If you've found something you don't want to watch immediately, and it was hard to find, you can save it there and get super quick access. If they can find some way of working around Netflix's stupid stance on search integration I think this will actually be one of its better features.
I was in the "voice search is a gimmick" camp but actually is really useful. It's usually the fasted way of getting to things in most cases if you know what you are looking for. I think it would become my preferred method of search in the long term.
The new guide is nice and clean and doesn't feel cluttered. It's just a bit of a change to have the programme information at the bottom when just about every thing else I've used has it at the top. This isn't wrong, just not something my brain is used to.
I think some of the menu layouts are a lot more user friendly than TiVo and in some respects does a better job displaying information. I also don't feel like I'm going really deep down into menus like I used to.
Start Over is actually a really cool idea - it's just a shame it's across limited channels. I'm not here to get into a debate about this is just a rebrand of catch up (it isn't) but I think this kind of gets around the need to have the box buffering multiple channels itself - a great feature I admit, but I suspect most box users have no clue it's there on the TiVO and I'm not even sure people who do find it get it. This makes the whole thing a lot more accessible for the average user. And it removes a significant overhead on the boxes in ordinary use which will help with overall performance.
But quite why start over and catch up have the same icon I don't know.
So where am I
on the fence.
I quite like the new filtering system in the guide and on demand as it's a quick way of reorganising things but it's not easy to clear filters once they are set. This is where the old clear button would have come in useful. It would be good if you could save a preference for the sort by filter because that's "popular" by default and I'd much rather it was alphabetical. More on that in the section below.
Whilst the new mini guide is nice and clean, information hierarchy isn't great and it's hard to see what you are looking and or what is the most important piece information.
The remote itself. I'm not sure what it is but I feel they could have done better.
The new programme info screens. They look great, but if I only want to see a synopsis it's a bit of an overkill but it does remove that quirk of the TiVo software where pressing info on a programme shows something different depending on whether or not you have the mini guide open.
OK so to what I
don't like.
My biggest issue is there seems to be some really odd UX choices that make things unnecessarily complicated.
You go into a very similar sections and the layout is completely different for no obvious reason e.g. Catch Up VS Sky Cinema.
There are multiple ways to get to the same content but they behave very differently. The TiVO system was guilty of this too admittedly.
The home key doesn't behave consistently. Sometimes it goes back to home, sometimes it goes back one step.
If you're trying to get people to understand a new system consistency is key.
Is it clear that pressing OK expands menus in the new home screen? I'm not so sure. Once you've worked that out, it's fine but my parents were confused.
The fact there isn't really a proper list of your series links is an interesting omission given that is probably the best feature of the TiVo based software. There is the upcoming section but that's not really doing the job.
There are the broader series link issues which are well documented so won't say too much. But to have done such a half arsed job of it for launch, given the series link heritage of TiVo, especially when you're trying to convince some higher paying customers to move across seems a very interesting decision. It just did it's job cleverly and the user didn't have to think too much about it. And this is something that definitely isn't flagged clearly.
From a recording perspective, the default is to show all recordings across both boxes which I feel is an odd default but you need to remember that there is meant to be a parent and child box set up. It's already caused a number of accidental deletions (which you coincidentally now can't retrieve from a deleted folder - once they're gone, they're gone) because the other household member didn't remember setting up those recordings. Yes you can filter it for your box, it doesn't remember the next time you come in. I guess this is because it's geared towards a parent and child box set up rather than two parent boxes.
And this audio sync bug that doesn't seem to have been officially acknowledged by Virgin. Not sure how wide spread it is and whether it affects only those who upgraded their V6 boxes with external amplifiers. But every day you turn the box on, the audio/video is out of sync to a different degree and needs to be manually adjusted. I think I've found a solution but it's a bit annoying.
A more minor quibble is the fact that it doesn't remember your filters. Which is a good and bad thing and there is no right and wrong answer but it would be good to have the choice. For sort by and also what recordings you are looking at e.g. all VS a specific box.
Some
speculation and opinion now.
So that's my take on the new software as it stands. A lot of this can be resolved with software updates which I'm sure will come. But I think it might be a interesting change in direction for Virgin.
You have an existing platform that is feature rich, but is possibly costing a small fortune to license when 90% of its user base uses only half of its features. I've made these numbers up by the way but that's an assumption I've made.
So you start your own platform and make it do what 90% of the user base want and save on the licensing costs. Lower fees passed onto the user. To be clear, the 360 platform isn't at this point yet.
This approach will obviously annoy a certain customer segment but I guess they hope that some of those more advanced users move across and settle. Not that I'm saying that this is the correct or fair approach, nor this is actually the approach that Virgin are taking. This is my reading of the situation so it's just an opinion.
So what would I recommend:
- If you're a new customer, you don't have a choice
- If you're an existing customer on the right package and aren't a power user, I'd probably hold off unless you want the slicker interface
- If you're a power user, stick with what you've got
Hope people have found this useful!
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