New Firmware

[onlineN]

Ok..lets rely on hard work Netgear guys doing to provide us a full updated firmware....'
Why they dont release a patch to make Youtube working?

Is this abandonment or not ?

[lesken]

Originally Posted by ablevy

Can any company justify putting resources on a machine they have already described as EOL? Especially when the box is now selling for about $100 and apparently not sold well in the US at least. I would be shocked if Netgear actually lives up to their previous committment, and if they do post an update, it will probably only include bug fixes that they had fixed six months ago. Heck, if I were CEO I would probably du the same.

The sad part is the box is darn close to the best thing on the market if the interface was improved and the known bugs fixed.

The even sadder part is that these boxes are a dying breed. For the most part these services are being incorporated into TV's and DVD players with limited options but suitable for the masses.

Alan

Alan, you're absolutely right, the box is so close to being the best, but expected sales (U.S.) obviously never materialised, so further expenditure has been canned. Now I don't know about American law, but in Europe Netgear would find it impossible to prove that the product is fit for purpose. By definition European law dictates that goods must be fit for purpose when sold. The description is :- something that is fit for purpose is good enough to do the job it was designed to do. The very fact that it has not been released with functional production software, does not match with advertised functionality, plus a myriad of other faults says that anyone in Europe at least could get their money back regardless of age.

My problem is, I don't want to. Despite Netgears' best efforts to ignore me as an unhappy customer and alienate me as a future customer, I would like to keep my NTV550s. But they are giving me no choice. Products with fully committed development, even though using the same chipset (Dune HDI) basically do "what it says on the tin".

Just to keep you updated with the responses from Netgear Support, here is their effort from 20th April:-

"I regret to inform you that Engineering has not yet provided us the ETA of the final release firmware for the NETGEAR NTV550."

It says it all really. I'll keep pushing up the Support channel, but I'm not holding my breath.

Lesken

[Batnun]

I was really hoping to get this feature:
http://www.connectedhomeworld.com/co...p-tv-neotv-550

Not holding my breath now...


Batnun

[muzicman61]

Originally Posted by Batnun

I was really hoping to get this feature:
http://www.connectedhomeworld.com/co...p-tv-neotv-550

Not holding my breath now...


Batnun

Yes, I'm was looking forward to this as well. Hopefully when the final version of the firmware is released, they will simply remove the "Streaming TV and Movies" menu item.

[lesken]

Just to keep you updated on the lack of effort from Netgear Support:

"This is Jen from NETGEAR support and I am responding to you in behalf of Gerry.

We are also still waiting for product engineers final decision on the final release of the firmware of this product. I apologize but we do not have ETA yet when this final FW will be released.

Regards,
Jen
NETGEAR support
4/24/2012 10:53:00 AM"

And my reply:-

"Jen,

OK let's keep this brief. You guys in Support have not been told about an ETA by Engineering, is that their call? If so please escalate my query directly to the person in Engineering that can make that decision. If it isn't an Engineering call, please escalate this to someone in Management that can respond.

Let's be very clear here. Netgear has taken money from me for 3 NTV550s under what appears to be false pretenses. The product is not complete, and as an organisation you have mislead the entire NTV550 user base with a false date for a proposed fix.

This is no longer a Support issue, please pass this to the person responsible and I will await their response."

Lesken

[HeiB]

If you send them stuff in legalese like "false pretense" and "not fit for purpose" this will go directly to the legal department ... and ends up in the bin !

[bls1965]

Count me in as one more disappointed Netgear customer. Sigh.

Thanks to anakin1138 and lesken for the alternate media player product info, I was just about to inquire on that.

[onlineN]

Ok. This is really a deception!!!!No news...no official announcement from Netgear
I have supported NTV 550 so much since now and this kind of behaviour shows me that Netgear people have no respect to their customers.

I should contact my lawyer