Virtual Joey

[Scherrman]

I had a feeling this would be one of their announcements for CES after seeing it at Team Summit last year.

 

[Time_Shift]

Read an article in another thread that stated Playstation would also be getting this app. Downside, but not unexpected, there will be a monthly fee for this Joey (pricing not yet announced).

If you still have to pay the monthly fee for the PlayStation app, I fail to see the point. I mean, I guess it's great for those who do not have coaxial connection in the bedroom, but if virtual Joey runs anything like the other current dish mobile apps (as in, they run like crap, in my experience), and there's no cash advantage, IMHO, it would still be much better to just go ahead and install the extra coaxial cable.

 

[TheKrell]

Supposedly the Virtual Joey is just as snappy as the Physical Joey.

 

[Scherrman]

Supposedly the Virtual Joey is just as snappy as the Physical Joey.

When I saw the demo last year it looked great. Seemed as if I was watching the Joey itself. Nothing looks different at all.

 

[Stargazer]

Dish's mobile apps are over the internet vs. the virtual Joey would be over a home network. That is why the virtual Joey is probably more solid. The DishAnywhere app ran off the home network though if you was at home trying to access it and some people reported problems with it. I thought it ran the best at home which is what I would expect.

 

[Scherrman]

I just watched some of Dish's training on their new products and while there wasn't much I do have some info. Most of the info was for the Virtual Joey.

Only 1 Virtual Joey is allowed per account.
It is not limited to a device so you can use the app on multiple devices.
You will only be able to use the Virtual Joey on one device at a time.
Standard Business Rules apply so it counts as a physical Joey. This means that if you have 1 Hopper you can only have 3 Joeys. Ex: 1 Hopper, 2 Joeys and 1 Virtual Joey.

There was not word on any pricing or any wiring diagrams yet.

 

[darrengs]

I see no reason why the monthly fee would be any different than the standard Joey fee. The only selling point would be no box to connect.

 

[king3pj]

What about remotes for the PS3/PS4. These systems have no IR receiver. The PS3 has an optional bluetooth bluray remote but the PS4 doesn't even have that. Right now the only way to use a standard remote with a PS4 is through HDMI CEC. This isn't a good option for lots of people with AVRs in the middle or a TV that doesn't support CEC.

If you can't use that your only option is to watch TV using a gamepad with no number buttons on it. You also have to wait for the PS3/PS4 to boot up every time you want to watch TV and then launch the Dish app. There are benefits to those of us who already own these systems so I'm glad they are offering it as an option. I just can't see it being as good of an option as a standard Joey for most people if it costs the same amount of money.

 

[Scherrman]

What about remotes for the PS3/PS4. These systems have no IR receiver. The PS3 has an optional bluetooth bluray remote but the PS4 doesn't even have that. Right now the only way to use a standard remote with a PS4 is through HDMI CEC. This isn't a good option for lots of people with AVRs in the middle or a TV that doesn't support CEC.

If you can't use that your only option is to watch TV using a gamepad with no number buttons on it. You also have to wait for the PS3/PS4 to boot up every time you want to watch TV and then launch the Dish app. There are benefits to those of us who already own these systems so I'm glad they are offering it as an option. I just can't see it being as good of an option as a standard Joey for most people if it costs the same amount of money.

You raise some very good points there. I really wish I had more details right now. It sucks being stuck here in my office, the only info I can get is from Dish's retailer site and from what the SatGuys crew are giving us. I feel so helpless!

 

[darrengs]

I would like to some xbox one love here. Forget the app I would be happy with full Hopper/Joey functionality.

 

[Scherrman]

The Xbox One is pretty new, I'd have to think it's going to take longer than a couple months for them to work together flawlessly.

 

[king3pj]

I would like to some xbox one love here. Forget the app I would be happy with full Hopper/Joey functionality.

Me too but they don't have full functionality with any provider. The TV stuff is cool when it works but there is no way to access your DVR recordings. They also don't differentiate between the Hopper and Dish's other receivers. This means that saying "Watch Big Ten Network" or "Watch Fox Sports Detroit" doesn't work because the XBOX thinks BTN is 439 instead of 405-1 and FS Detroit is 430 instead of 420-12.

I blame Dish for this more than Microsoft though. It's silly to have the channel numbers be different depending on which receiver you have. It's silly to nest the RSNs if you don't have multisport too. If FS Detroit is the only RSN I have it is the only thing that shows up in that nest but I still have to press 5 numbers if I want to get to the HD channel.

The Xbox One is pretty new, I'd have to think it's going to take longer than a couple months for them to work together flawlessly.

Honestly, I don't know if that is ever coming. The Xbox One is basically just a universal remote. It doesn't understand what you mean when you tell it to play Game of Thrones from the DVR. For that to work it would need to know how to get into your DVR menu and then be able to read the titles of the shows you recorded so it could find the right one. This would have to have to specifically design it to work with each individual DVR because they are all different.

They demoed it being able to know what shows are by name too but that doesn't work. They said "watch Price is Right". In reality it only works with channel names they have programmed it to understand and if you don't say it exactly the way they have it worded it doesn't work. For DVR functionality they would have to either make this system smarter and able to understand common language or they would have to take the time to program each show's name into their acceptable voice command list.

There is just so much that would need to be done for them to integrate with each cable and satellite box. They aren't actually integrated in any way. As far as the hopper knows it's just being controlled by an IR remote, not a smart device with it's own guide.

 

[JM42]

It is not limited to a device so you can use the app on multiple devices.

That gives it some extra value for situations where there are multiple occasional use TVs. The problem is it is only announced on more expensive devices at this time, likely attached to or are primary use TVs.

They need it on a roku or android stick class device that can be put in the kid's rooms, guest rooms, etc.

 

[Scherrman]

That gives it some extra value for situations where there are multiple occasional use TVs. The problem is it is only announced on more expensive devices at this time, likely attached to or are primary use TVs.

They need it on a roku or android stick class device that can be put in the kid's rooms, guest rooms, etc.

Maybe it will be someday. They have to partner up with these companies in order to provide it though. This could be the future of our primary way of watching TV.

 

[Stargazer]

This new Virtual Joey (VJ) could be a replacement to DishAnywhere in the future. Think about it. There was some talk jokingly about them possibly charging for DishAnywhere. They limit you to one VJ per account and you can only do one DishAnywhere connection per box. They can say that this will replace it but you will get the full functionality of your Joey anywhere you are at on your mobile device or computer. It would be nice to have a Joey that can connect somewhere else in a similar fashion but I doubt they would allow that.

 

[mike123abc]

The virtual joey could be OK if you have a few smart TVs or PS3/4s that you do not want to dedicate a joey to. Since they limit you to one per account, it is slightly easier than having a physical joey you move from TV to TV as needed. Otherwise if it has the same fee as a real joey, why bother with it?

 

[Scherrman]

The virtual joey could be OK if you have a few smart TVs or PS3/4s that you do not want to dedicate a joey to. Since they limit you to one per account, it is slightly easier than having a physical joey you move from TV to TV as needed. Otherwise if it has the same fee as a real joey, why bother with it?

Some people don't always have a way to get a Joey connected in a room other than you could use a Joey with a WiFi adapter. Some may just want a TV mounted int the bedroom without any cables. Just think, all they would need to do is buy an LG Smart TV that picks up WiFi, mount it on the wall and plug it in.

 

[mike123abc]

Some people don't always have a way to get a Joey connected in a room other than you could use a Joey with a WiFi adapter. Some may just want a TV mounted int the bedroom without any cables. Just think, all they would need to do is buy an LG Smart TV that picks up WiFi, mount it on the wall and plug it in.

If Dish did not release a wireless Joey I would agree, virtual Joey would be very popular. It is limited to LG TVs, how many would buy an LG TV for this feature in advance of a Dish install? How many would want to buy an LG to get rid of an existing Joey? I see it more letting the the kids watch TV from their PS3/4. They need to get it on to XBox One too.

 

[navychop]

I suspect Vizio will want to add the app. One more selling point to build even greater market share, and Dish would no doubt do a little advertising for them, with every Virtual Joey ad, listing them as "compatible."

Samsung might also, just to prevent LG from being able to say they have something Samsung doesn't.

 

[theoak]

Samsung seems the type to throw everything and the kitchen sink into their devices, so it would not surprise me if VJ was added to Samsung TVs soon. Mind you it is possible that LG got exclusivity for a time frame.