FixYa’s report finds consumers dissatisfied with web TV box-top products; Google TV and Apple TV register major issues, with Boxee and Roku garnering higher praise.
San Mateo, CA – Today FixYa, the leading product Q&A destination on the web, announces the first-ever report comparing consumer issues across all the most popular web TV systems including Apple TV, Google TV, Boxee and Roku. With Internet-connected TV poised to reach 500 million devices by 2015, the market is on the verge of exploding in scale. FixYa’s latest Web TV Report, released today, looks at market-leading products and pits them head-to-head, basing its findings on thousands of troubleshooting requests.
With the recent Apple TV upgrade, rumors of a full-fledged smart TV built by Apple, and even Intel jumping into the mix, consumers are increasingly intrigued by the promises of web TV. However, the market for web TV products continues to be an opaque one, with consumers often confused by the pros and cons of each product. The FixYa Web TV Report seeks to cut through the fog by looking at the main troubleshooting trends across the four standout players.
Below is a summary of FixYa’s Web TV Report findings:
- Apple TV’s iTunes connectivity is its most appealing feature, but also its most troubling.
- Google TV is plagued by a lack of content, making it the worst value for consumers.
- The Boxee Box is the most widely respected web TV device for users looking to take full advantage of web TV services. Consumers rank this as the best choice, overall.
- Roku’s simplicity, price point, and reliability provide a good option for users new to web TV.
- Web TV in general has not gained much traction with mainstream consumers due to uncertainty in the benefits of owning a web TV product. Meanwhile, consumers who have jumped on the Web TV train are disappointed that their set-top boxes cannot record content.
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Welcome to the second edition of Takeoff Tuesday, a weekly feature on the FixYa blog that highlights the new site features that were released on Tuesday morning.
Along with giving you an idea of what new tools you will be able to use, this feature allows you to send us feedback on what is awesome and what you would like to see added in the future.
Just like last week we have a minor addition that will improve your interaction with FixYa. Unlike the Edit Categories feature however, which will be used by Experts to improve their ability to solve questions when they are on the site, our new Email Settings page is meant to improve interaction with FixYa when you are offline.
As many of you have told us, the email updates FixYa sends when someone comments on a thread is invaluable. It gives you the power to stay involved in all of your conversations without manually checking the thread every day. It’s effective, non-intrusive, and an integral part of your experience on the site.
Although this is all well and good, we also understand that no two users are the same. Some enjoy staying constantly plugged in while others only want to think about FixYa when they are on FixYa. And while this set of users is small based off the feedback we’ve received in the past, it’s also very important for us to accommodate everyone’s needs as we strive to create the best site experience we can.
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Welcome to the first edition of Takeoff Tuesday, a weekly feature on this here blog that highlights the new site features that were released on Tuesday morning.
Along with giving you an idea of what new tools you will be able to use, this feature allows you to send us feedback on what is awesome and what you would like to see improved.
Since it’s our first Takeoff Tuesday let’s fill you in on how this is going to work. Every Tuesday we have a release on the site that improves existing features or introduces entirely new ones. Sometimes the update is big and sometimes the update is small. No matter the size of the update we will be here communicating exactly what we are doing and why we are doing it.
Furthermore, and perhaps most importantly, we aren’t going to bore you with all of the back-end changes we’re making. Everything found in these articles will be directly relevant to you and your experience on the site. No fluff, only the good stuff. All of this happens here, on the FixYa blog, every Tuesday afternoon.
So what did we add today? So glad you asked!
Today we added an “Edit Categories” section to allow Experts greater freedom in selecting what categories they want to solve questions for. We felt compelled to make this addition due to a myriad of factors, the most important being the number of experts asking for it over the course of the last month.
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San Mateo, CA– It is well documented how the iPad 2 and Kindle Fire stack up when it comes to features and pricing, but today FixYa, the leading product Q&A destination on the Internet, sheds light on the top consumer issues on each device. The findings, which are included in the FixYa Tablet Index, are based on tens of thousands of issues for each product.
The top Kindle Fire Issues are as follows:
- One-Click Shopping Security: Amazon has made online shopping a breeze, with the Kindle Fire storing your credit card information as well as instituting ‘one-click’ shopping. Although convenient, consumers complain that the lack of password authorization represents a huge security issue, with the possibility of accidental purchases (such as children or touchscreen foul-ups) and greater losses in the case of theft. This is an especially important issue due to the social nature of tablets, which are often being used as family devices. Worse, there is no direct fix for the issue (although Amazon has signaled that they are working on one), aside from password protecting your Wi-Fi connection and device.
- Wi-Fi Connection Issues: The Kindle Fire’s Wi-Fi has been plagued with significant issues from the start, with numerous FixYa users complaining of faulty connections, getting kicked off in the middle of browsing, and being unable to connect to the Internet at all. Considering the fact that Wi-Fi is the only way users can access the Internet on the Kindle, this problem is a significant one for anyone who wants to spend a lot of time online. Updating Kindle software to the latest version has a 30 percent chance of solving a Wi-Fi related issue.
- Lack of Parental Settings: A common issue owners have with their Kindle Fire is the lack of parental controls for children safety. Once again, this poses a larger issue due to the social and family nature of tablet devices: children can easily access content that parents don’t want them to see. Setting a Wi-Fi password only solves this problem for web browsing.
Although more reliable overall, the iPad 2 also has some serious issues:
- Wi-Fi Connection Issues: iPad 2 owners have reported fairly widespread issues with connecting to (and staying connected to) Wi-Fi. Although this is a widespread issue that affects those without a 3G-enabled iPad or those close to their monthly data cap, there are a number of successful fixes. Turning Wi-Fi on and off, renewing the DHCP lease, and resetting the Wi-Fi network settings usually solves the issue.
- Backlight Bleeding: 15 percent of iPad 2 issues registered are related to display problems, mostly the prominence of splotchy light patches around the edges of the device. This is an eyesore that becomes more noticeable in the dark. Adjusting device screen brightness can alleviate this somewhat, although a full fix is more difficult because it is a hardware issue.
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FixYa is proud to announce the release of the Experts Leaderboard, a brand new feature which tracks Experts’ activity over the course of a week. Along with giving our best Experts the ability to see where they stand in regards to their peers, this Leaderboard highlights all of our phenomenal Experts and gives them a dedicated place on the site that celebrates their accomplishments.
An Expert’s score is the total number of points they have earned during the week. Experts earn the majority of their points by solving questions, and bonus points are given out for a solution that receives a positive rating from the community or solutions that are posted within a few hours of the question being asked.
Another front-end feature we released today was the addition of the Top Experts Leaderboard teaser that can be found on the FixYa Home Page. This teaser gives us the ability to do the exact same thing as the Top Experts Leaderboard– celebrate the accomplishments of our Experts– as well as keep each and every user on FixYa up to date on which Experts are truly the cream of the crop.
The Leaderboard wouldn’t be complete without recognition for the number one spot of course, and on that front we have delivered as well. A Top Expert achievement badge will be bestowed upon the #1 Expert at the end of the week, giving that Expert the deserved recognition for a job very well done.
If you see an Expert with that badge solving your questions you can be certain you are in the best of hands.
For more information on our Top Experts leaderboard, please click here. If you’re looking for more information on the Top Experts badge, please click here.
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