»A new way to search TV: SnapStream Mini, $2,000
Today, we’re taking pre-orders for a new TV search product from SnapStream – the SnapStream Mini.
There are many organizations that don’t need all of the power of a SnapStream Server, but still stand to gain alot from being able to monitor TV with our TV search technology. And that’s why we created SnapStream Mini.
So like the SnapStream Server, SnapStream Mini gives you all the same power to search inside traditional TV shows for mentions of whatever it is you might be looking for. With SnapStream Mini you can:
- Record traditional TV from regular cable, digital cable, or satellite (SnapStream Mini includes a learning IR blaster)
- Schedule recordings using our simple program guide
- Search by keyword within recordings
- Get e-mail alerts notifying you of mentions of keywords on TV
- Easily create TV clips and then download them or e-mail them
- Burn DVDs of full recordings or clips
But here’s how SnapStream Mini is different from SnapStream Server:
- SnapStream Mini costs $2,000 (vs. SnapStream Servers which start at $8,000).
- SnapStream Mini can record 2 channels of TV simultaneously (SnapStream Servers can record as many as 10 channels simultaneously)
- SnapStream Mini can record and search over 1 terabyte of TV recordings, equal to about 1,100 hour (vs. SnapStream Servers have a default capacity of 2 terabytes space, about 2,300 hours, and can be purchased with up to 8 terabytes of usable space, about 10,000 hours.
- SnapStream Mini’s hardware doesn’t have any redundancy (vs. all SnapStream Servers have redundant power supplies and redundant storage arrays in RAID-5 configuration).
(this comparison table goes into a little more detail on SnapStream Mini vs. SnapStream Server)
So, SnapStream Mini is a $2,000 TV search appliance geared towards individuals and smaller organizations that want monitor television for whatever it is they are interested in.
We’re taking pre-orders now (place your pre-order here) and we expect to ship the first batch of SnapStream Minis on or before December 15th. And all orders include free U.S. ground shipping.
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:09 am
[...] [re-posted from over at the SnapStream Enterprise Blog] [...]
December 8th, 2008 at 10:12 am
Is it possible to get the SnapStream Mini with a four channel capability?
December 8th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Hi Randy, A single SnapStream Mini can’t be expanded to record 4 channels, but you could easily purchase two systems to monitor a total of 4 channels. In fact, one of the “markets” that I thought might be a home to SnapStream Mini was the “NDS” media monitor. With it, you could eliminate all of the Postech hardware and complexity that accompanies your typical TV monitoring setup. SnapStream Mini generates time-coded transcripts automatically that I believe could easily be fed into the NDS central database.
December 9th, 2008 at 12:07 am
Hi Rakesh,
Thanks for the quick response. I would be interested in giving your Mini a try. You’re right, this would probably work well with the NDS platform. Has anyone else in NDS demo’ed the Mini?
Randy
December 9th, 2008 at 3:02 am
I don’t think any NDS members have tested out SnapStream Mini — we just started taking pre-order a week or two ago and we’ll ship our first units next week. I’ll e-mail you and we can get a conversation going about a trial…
December 25th, 2008 at 5:17 am
Seems like a waste. Most of us that do not know how to built our own HTPC just want a decent computer to record up to 4 channels (2 HVR 2250) and stream TV off the internet. There are more people that want to get away from paying for the right (TIVO) to record and burn our own DVDs without having to put togeather our own HTPC and worry with making it work. TIVO has the market to itself with Co’s like your building cards and software for a very small market of DIY’ers