IMG 1.9 release notes and discussion thread

[lolagoetz]

As you probably already know, IMG 1.9 is starting to roll out. FiOS TV's Joe Ambeault posted release notes that may just answer quite a few of your questions. (And here's a link to the press release as well.)

I see that several of you have already started posting about IMG 1.9. Great! We'd love to have a central place to refer people, so we'll be moving IMG posts over to FiOS TV Technical Assistance. That way things are together and you won't have to search as much to find what you're looking for.

Please feel free to post here with your observations, feedback and questions. I'm sure others will chime in to help with questions if they've already run across the answers you're looking for. And it'll save duplicated efforts as well.

[Hubrisnxs]

To lighten the mood,   

Project Management Explained

Nothing is as it seems....

[PeteKottmann]

I just received an updated to the FIOS iPad app indicating it was changed for the 1.9 UI. When will we be getting 1.9 on the STB?

Pete

Lakeland, FL

[mphare]

No one knows.. well, some people know, but they are not telling us. The scuttle is it starts back up by July 1. I *really* wish Vz would consider starting with the next VHO and leave 14,15, and 15a with what they have until the rest of us have had a shot at it.

If they just keep re-spinning 14, 15 and 15a then it could be a long, dry Summer.

[zich61]

Yesterday I asked Joe if 1.9 was still paused. This was his Twitter response: "yes - we are in test for the new kit - hence forth known as 1.9a."

[alden]

Vow, IMG development is a real disaster for Verizon. They did not yet fully implement IMG 1.9, then stopped rollout and now  1.9a is coming?!  Unbelivable!!!  Verizon tested beta version 1.9 for three+ months and now they realized that 1.0 is a piece of junk that had to be redone?

 Shame to you, 1.9 development team! You all should be fired!

[jumpin68ny]

Alden, I think you are way off base with your comments.  The new release of code 1.9 certainly was beta tested with a select group of folks that loved the experience and would do it all over again.  As with any new software there may be some unknowns that do come up, testing is never 100%.  In a Professional Manner, Verizon has decided to stop updating the rest of the user population with 1.9 so we all don't suffer problems and we can continue to watch TV without issue.

I for one am very proud of the development team. They are coming up with a new img for the STB that will provide a lot of feature/functionailty.  We all want to experience what 1.9a has to offer but I for one (and I know most people will agree) that we want an IMG that is working without issue.  I would rather they delay this to get the img 100% operational.

Kudos to Verizon!!!

Jim

[Justin46]

Excellent post jumpin68ny. I agree 100%.

__________________________________
Justin
FiOS TV, Internet, and phone user
QIP7232, IMG 1.8, Build 02.54
Keller, TX 76248

[GaryDoug]

---

@Justin wrote:

Excellent post jumpin68ny. I agree 100%.

__________________________________
Justin
FiOS TV, Internet, and phone user
QIP7232, IMG 1.8, Build 02.54
Keller, TX 76248

---

I agree 90%. There's always the 10% of me that likes to complain 😉

And remember, this is actually the pilot run, the third stage of development. And we wouldn't do a pilot run if we never expected problems.

[alden]

Re: Roll-Out Update

06-17-2011 10:40 AM

Alden, I think you are way off base with your comments.  The new release of code 1.9 certainly was beta tested with a select group of folks that loved the experience and would do it all over again.  As with any new software there may be some unknowns that do come up, testing is never 100%.  In a Professional Manner, Verizon has decided to stop updating the rest of the user population with 1.9 so we all don't suffer problems and we can continue to watch TV without issue.

I for one am very proud of the development team. They are coming up with a new img for the STB that will provide a lot of feature/functionailty.  We all want to experience what 1.9a has to offer but I for one (and I know most people will agree) that we want an IMG that is working without issue.  I would rather they delay this to get the img 100% operational.

Kudos to Verizon!!!

Jim

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One simple question - why Verizon decided to to roll-out software if it was not fully baked? If beta tests showed some problems and unknows - why not to fix tehm BEFORE roll-out, not after some VHS got it. This is the way Verizon operates and I know this first hand. Just yesterday I spent hour and 15 min online chatting with reps - in fact 6 of them. They relayed me one to another and finally I gave up without solving my problem, in fact ,with phone line. I dealt with Verizon before when I had DSL Internet and to deal with Verizon customer service is real pain in the a... The way Verizon decided to develop software just one more example how messy this company is.

P.S. I still love the quality, realibility and speed of FIOS Internet, although I had once short outage, and also TV picture is very good too. Still what is good is good and what is not so good - well, you know the answer.

[alden]

Alden, I think you are way off base with your comments.  The new release of code 1.9 certainly was beta tested with a select group of folks that loved the experience and would do it all over again.  As with any new software there may be some unknowns that do come up, testing is never 100%.  In a Professional Manner, Verizon has decided to stop updating the rest of the user population with 1.9 so we all don't suffer problems and we can continue to watch TV without issue.

I for one am very proud of the development team. They are coming up with a new img for the STB that will provide a lot of feature/functionailty.  We all want to experience what 1.9a has to offer but I for one (and I know most people will agree) that we want an IMG that is working without issue.  I would rather they delay this to get the img 100% operational.

Kudos to Verizon!!!

Jim

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One simple question - why Verizon decided to to roll-out software if it was not fully baked? If beta tests showed some problems and unknows - why not to fix tehm BEFORE roll-out, not after some VHS got it. This is the way Verizon operates and I know this first hand. Just yesterday I spent hour and 15 min online chatting with reps - in fact 6 of them. They relayed me one to another and finally I gave up without solving my problem, in fact ,with phone line. I dealt with Verizon before when I had DSL Internet and to deal with Verizon customer service is real pain in the a... The way Verizon decided to develop software just one more example how messy this company is.

P.S. I still love the quality, realibility and speed of FIOS Internet, although I had once short outage, and also TV picture is very good too. Still what is good is good and what is not so good - well, you know the answer.

[alden]

Alden, I think you are way off base with your comments.  The new release of code 1.9 certainly was beta tested with a select group of folks that loved the experience and would do it all over again.  As with any new software there may be some unknowns that do come up, testing is never 100%.  In a Professional Manner, Verizon has decided to stop updating the rest of the user population with 1.9 so we all don't suffer problems and we can continue to watch TV without issue.

I for one am very proud of the development team. They are coming up with a new img for the STB that will provide a lot of feature/functionailty.  We all want to experience what 1.9a has to offer but I for one (and I know most people will agree) that we want an IMG that is working without issue.  I would rather they delay this to get the img 100% operational.

Kudos to Verizon!!!

Jim

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

One simple question - why Verizon decided to to roll-out software if it was not fully baked? If beta tests showed some problems and unknows - why not to fix tehm BEFORE roll-out, not after some VHS got it. This is the way Verizon operates and I know this first hand. Just yesterday I spent hour and 15 min online chatting with reps - in fact 6 of them. They relayed me one to another and finally I gave up without solving my problem, in fact ,with phone line. I dealt with Verizon before when I had DSL Internet and to deal with Verizon customer service is real pain in the a... The way Verizon decided to develop software just one more example how messy this company is.

P.S. I still love the quality, realibility and speed of FIOS Internet, although I had once short outage, and also TV picture is very good too. Still what is good is good and what is not so good - well, you know the answer.

[jmw1950]

The unpleaseant reality is that software represents a 'state engine' with a truly enormous number of states (for all practical purposes, a number large enough that even in the entire product life it is unlikely that all of them will ever be entered). Your beta testing may provide tens of years of product experience. The problem is that when you put it out to tens of thousands of customers, you run up thousands of years of product experience in a hurry, and there is a very high probability that there will be some unpleasant surprises. My advice is always expect the customer to do the unexpected and use features in ways the developers and product markeing people never imagined!

I used to build computer hardware. At one point we built some of the fastest HDD controllers in the world.  I remember one particular problem that surfaced after we had been shipping for about 3 years, and we had literally hundreds of these things in the field. The reality is the problem had been there since day zero, and to this day I still don't understand why it took nearly 3 years to be noticed, because it was something pretty basic.....

[alden]

The unpleaseant reality is that software represents a 'state engine' with a truly enormous number of states (for all practical purposes, a number large enough that even in the entire product life it is unlikely that all of them will ever be entered). Your beta testing may provide tens of years of product experience. The problem is that when you put it out to tens of thousands of customers, you run up thousands of years of product experience in a hurry, and there is a very high probability that there will be some unpleasant surprises. My advice is always expect the customer to do the unexpected and use features in ways the developers and product markeing people never imagined!

I used to build computer hardware. At one point we built some of the fastest HDD controllers in the world.  I remember one particular problem that surfaced after we had been shipping for about 3 years, and we had literally hundreds of these things in the field. The reality is the problem had been there since day zero, and to this day I still don't understand why it took nearly 3 years to be noticed, because it was something pretty basic.....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I said before and I am saying now: Verizon should not get involved in the IMG development in the first place. Verizon is not software company it's media privider company. Their goal is to provide customers with quality media content , not to develop new software. That is what software companies are for, they equipped with expertise, knowledge, experience to make qood reliable software for reasonable price.

Somebody in Verizon top management ( who I guess does not have any clue what  software development is about ) decided that Verizon can develop new IMG on their own. Just hire IMG development team, explain them the goal and that's it.

As far as I know among cable and sattelite TV providers ONLY Verizon have chosen to develop new IMG themselves - other cable and sattelite companies hired software companies to develop IMG.

Result we are seeing now - delays. confusion, beta testing, rollout, then complaints by customers, stop rollout, IMG 1.9a redevelopment, then testing again, etc. etc.

It's very good example for any other media company how NOT TO MAKE WRONG BUSINESS DECISIONS.

[alden]

The unpleaseant reality is that software represents a 'state engine' with a truly enormous number of states (for all practical purposes, a number large enough that even in the entire product life it is unlikely that all of them will ever be entered). Your beta testing may provide tens of years of product experience. The problem is that when you put it out to tens of thousands of customers, you run up thousands of years of product experience in a hurry, and there is a very high probability that there will be some unpleasant surprises. My advice is always expect the customer to do the unexpected and use features in ways the developers and product markeing people never imagined!

I used to build computer hardware. At one point we built some of the fastest HDD controllers in the world.  I remember one particular problem that surfaced after we had been shipping for about 3 years, and we had literally hundreds of these things in the field. The reality is the problem had been there since day zero, and to this day I still don't understand why it took nearly 3 years to be noticed, because it was something pretty basic.....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I said before and I am saying now: Verizon should not get involved in the IMG development in the first place. Verizon is not software company it's media privider company. Their goal is to provide customers with quality media content , not to develop new software. That is what software companies are for, they equipped with expertise, knowledge, experience to make qood reliable software for reasonable price.

Somebody in Verizon top management ( who I guess does not have any clue what  software development is about ) decided that Verizon can develop new IMG on their own. Just hire IMG development team, explain them the goal and that's it.

As far as I know among cable and sattelite TV providers ONLY Verizon have chosen to develop new IMG themselves - other cable and sattelite companies hired software companies to develop IMG.

Result we are seeing now - delays. confusion, beta testing, rollout, then complaints by customers, stop rollout, IMG 1.9a redevelopment, then testing again, etc. etc.

It's very good example for any other media company how NOT TO MAKE WRONG BUSINESS DECISIONS.

[MrKal_El]

"IMG 1.9a started getting loaded into the network last night - nearly there..."

»bit.ly/m2p8hE

This was from Joe earlier today...hopefully we will start to see some movement on rollout of 1.9a...

[Keyboards]

---

I said before and I am saying now: Verizon should not get involved in the IMG development in the first place. 

---

Hate to tell you but 1.8 (the version you and most others have) was developed by Verizon, not an outside company.  This is not a new thing that Verizon just decided to do on a lark.

[Keyboards]

I said before and I am saying now: Verizon should not get involved in the IMG development in the first place. 

[jackmcgann]

---

@Keyboards wrote:

---

Hate to tell you but 1.8 (the version you and most others have) was developed by Verizon, not an outside company.  This is not a new thing that Verizon just decided to do on a lark.

---

Well now, That explains why I found 1.8 so lacking and "klunky".

[tns]

---

@jackmcgann wrote:

---

@Keyboards wrote:

---

Hate to tell you but 1.8 (the version you and most others have) was developed by Verizon, not an outside company.  This is not a new thing that Verizon just decided to do on a lark.

---

Well now, That explains why I found 1.8 so lacking and "klunky".

---

If you want to hear about "lacking and klunky", find someone who had the original FIOS interface that Microsoft had written for them.

1.9a, now starting its rollout, is a big step forward from 1.8.

[Keyboards]

---

tns wrote

---

If you want to hear about "lacking and klunky", find someone who had the original FIOS interface that Microsoft had written for them.

1.9a, now starting its rollout, is a big step forward from 1.8.

---

I resemble that remark.  Have had FiOS TV for over 4 1/2  years now and believe me that original M$ interface was the kluniest, slow, and just downright painful to use.  1.8 was an improvement (finally pushed early 2008 and many bugs / delays) and 1.9 is a major step  up from that.  Will it be wart free and please everyone - no, someone will always find something that they want done differently and manage to complain.  That's just the nature of the human beast.

[jgrahamiii]

I signed up for FIOS on June 17.  I had internet chats with several Verizon reps and techs tyring to get answers to questions before making the switch from Optimum.  My main concern was HD space, and no one could assure me that on Long Island I would get the 7232 DVR.  I was assured by two different reps/techs that the 1.9 software would allow me to hook up my eSata drive and would be rolled out nationwide by the end of August.

[jumpin68ny]

jgrahamiii, my neighbor recently switches from cablevision to FIOS and requested the 7323.  They were given the 7323.  Not going to say you will get one but they asked and received.

[barbshop]

---

@alden wrote:

The unpleaseant reality is that software represents a 'state engine' with a truly enormous number of states (for all practical purposes, a number large enough that even in the entire product life it is unlikely that all of them will ever be entered). Your beta testing may provide tens of years of product experience. The problem is that when you put it out to tens of thousands of customers, you run up thousands of years of product experience in a hurry, and there is a very high probability that there will be some unpleasant surprises. My advice is always expect the customer to do the unexpected and use features in ways the developers and product markeing people never imagined!

I used to build computer hardware. At one point we built some of the fastest HDD controllers in the world.  I remember one particular problem that surfaced after we had been shipping for about 3 years, and we had literally hundreds of these things in the field. The reality is the problem had been there since day zero, and to this day I still don't understand why it took nearly 3 years to be noticed, because it was something pretty basic.....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I said before and I am saying now: Verizon should not get involved in the IMG development in the first place. Verizon is not software company it's media privider company. Their goal is to provide customers with quality media content , not to develop new software. That is what software companies are for, they equipped with expertise, knowledge, experience to make qood reliable software for reasonable price.

Somebody in Verizon top management ( who I guess does not have any clue what  software development is about ) decided that Verizon can develop new IMG on their own. Just hire IMG development team, explain them the goal and that's it.

As far as I know among cable and sattelite TV providers ONLY Verizon have chosen to develop new IMG themselves - other cable and sattelite companies hired software companies to develop IMG.

Result we are seeing now - delays. confusion, beta testing, rollout, then complaints by customers, stop rollout, IMG 1.9a redevelopment, then testing again, etc. etc.

It's very good example for any other media company how NOT TO MAKE WRONG BUSINESS DECISIONS.

---

First let me say that I am a retired Verizon employee - 31 years in the IT department, so I have a little experience in "software development."   While it is true that Verizon is NOT a professional software development company, Verizon has been producing software for internal use for many many years, particularly in the service and billing area.  They have never used outside sources to do their software development.  As has been said here before, no matter how much testing you do do, and no matter how thorough it is, you can never uncover all of the things that will be revelaed when a product goes live.  Just look at Microsoft - now there's a professional software development company for you.  Ever have any problems with their work? There is no guarantee that had Verizon outsourced the development that things would have been any better.

Having said that, to repeat what has been said here a hundred times - this is not open heart surgery - it's just a user interface and as much as I am looking forwrard to it, I won't die if I don't get it immediately.  If this whole thing upsets you so greatly, why not just take your business elsewhere?

[barbshop]

The unpleaseant reality is that software represents a 'state engine' with a truly enormous number of states (for all practical purposes, a number large enough that even in the entire product life it is unlikely that all of them will ever be entered). Your beta testing may provide tens of years of product experience. The problem is that when you put it out to tens of thousands of customers, you run up thousands of years of product experience in a hurry, and there is a very high probability that there will be some unpleasant surprises. My advice is always expect the customer to do the unexpected and use features in ways the developers and product markeing people never imagined!

I used to build computer hardware. At one point we built some of the fastest HDD controllers in the world.  I remember one particular problem that surfaced after we had been shipping for about 3 years, and we had literally hundreds of these things in the field. The reality is the problem had been there since day zero, and to this day I still don't understand why it took nearly 3 years to be noticed, because it was something pretty basic.....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I said before and I am saying now: Verizon should not get involved in the IMG development in the first place. Verizon is not software company it's media privider company. Their goal is to provide customers with quality media content , not to develop new software. That is what software companies are for, they equipped with expertise, knowledge, experience to make qood reliable software for reasonable price.

Somebody in Verizon top management ( who I guess does not have any clue what  software development is about ) decided that Verizon can develop new IMG on their own. Just hire IMG development team, explain them the goal and that's it.

As far as I know among cable and sattelite TV providers ONLY Verizon have chosen to develop new IMG themselves - other cable and sattelite companies hired software companies to develop IMG.

Result we are seeing now - delays. confusion, beta testing, rollout, then complaints by customers, stop rollout, IMG 1.9a redevelopment, then testing again, etc. etc.

It's very good example for any other media company how NOT TO MAKE WRONG BUSINESS DECISIONS.

[prisaz]

---

@alden wrote:

The unpleaseant reality is that software represents a 'state engine' with a truly enormous number of states (for all practical purposes, a number large enough that even in the entire product life it is unlikely that all of them will ever be entered). Your beta testing may provide tens of years of product experience. The problem is that when you put it out to tens of thousands of customers, you run up thousands of years of product experience in a hurry, and there is a very high probability that there will be some unpleasant surprises. My advice is always expect the customer to do the unexpected and use features in ways the developers and product markeing people never imagined!

I used to build computer hardware. At one point we built some of the fastest HDD controllers in the world.  I remember one particular problem that surfaced after we had been shipping for about 3 years, and we had literally hundreds of these things in the field. The reality is the problem had been there since day zero, and to this day I still don't understand why it took nearly 3 years to be noticed, because it was something pretty basic.....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I said before and I am saying now: Verizon should not get involved in the IMG development in the first place. Verizon is not software company it's media privider company. Their goal is to provide customers with quality media content , not to develop new software. That is what software companies are for, they equipped with expertise, knowledge, experience to make qood reliable software for reasonable price.

Somebody in Verizon top management ( who I guess does not have any clue what  software development is about ) decided that Verizon can develop new IMG on their own. Just hire IMG development team, explain them the goal and that's it.

As far as I know among cable and sattelite TV providers ONLY Verizon have chosen to develop new IMG themselves - other cable and sattelite companies hired software companies to develop IMG.

Result we are seeing now - delays. confusion, beta testing, rollout, then complaints by customers, stop rollout, IMG 1.9a redevelopment, then testing again, etc. etc.

It's very good example for any other media company how NOT TO MAKE WRONG BUSINESS DECISIONS.

---

How do you know who is behind the curtain? They don't make the hardware, and I am sure some of the other things are done by others. can's say for sure. But someone must do the work. So HOW can you say they are poor business desisions. I know the T??? company does not come out with new hardware or software very often, and when they do, who writes it?

[prisaz]

The unpleaseant reality is that software represents a 'state engine' with a truly enormous number of states (for all practical purposes, a number large enough that even in the entire product life it is unlikely that all of them will ever be entered). Your beta testing may provide tens of years of product experience. The problem is that when you put it out to tens of thousands of customers, you run up thousands of years of product experience in a hurry, and there is a very high probability that there will be some unpleasant surprises. My advice is always expect the customer to do the unexpected and use features in ways the developers and product markeing people never imagined!

I used to build computer hardware. At one point we built some of the fastest HDD controllers in the world.  I remember one particular problem that surfaced after we had been shipping for about 3 years, and we had literally hundreds of these things in the field. The reality is the problem had been there since day zero, and to this day I still don't understand why it took nearly 3 years to be noticed, because it was something pretty basic.....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I said before and I am saying now: Verizon should not get involved in the IMG development in the first place. Verizon is not software company it's media privider company. Their goal is to provide customers with quality media content , not to develop new software. That is what software companies are for, they equipped with expertise, knowledge, experience to make qood reliable software for reasonable price.

Somebody in Verizon top management ( who I guess does not have any clue what  software development is about ) decided that Verizon can develop new IMG on their own. Just hire IMG development team, explain them the goal and that's it.

As far as I know among cable and sattelite TV providers ONLY Verizon have chosen to develop new IMG themselves - other cable and sattelite companies hired software companies to develop IMG.

Result we are seeing now - delays. confusion, beta testing, rollout, then complaints by customers, stop rollout, IMG 1.9a redevelopment, then testing again, etc. etc.

It's very good example for any other media company how NOT TO MAKE WRONG BUSINESS DECISIONS.

[tns]

---

@alden wrote:

...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I said before and I am saying now: Verizon should not get involved in the IMG development in the first place. Verizon is not software company it's media privider company. Their goal is to provide customers with quality media content , not to develop new software. That is what software companies are for, they equipped with expertise, knowledge, experience to make qood reliable software for reasonable price.

Somebody in Verizon top management ( who I guess does not have any clue what  software development is about ) decided that Verizon can develop new IMG on their own. Just hire IMG development team, explain them the goal and that's it.

As far as I know among cable and sattelite TV providers ONLY Verizon have chosen to develop new IMG themselves - other cable and sattelite companies hired software companies to develop IMG.

Result we are seeing now - delays. confusion, beta testing, rollout, then complaints by customers, stop rollout, IMG 1.9a redevelopment, then testing again, etc. etc.

It's very good example for any other media company how NOT TO MAKE WRONG BUSINESS DECISIONS.

---

Microsoft wrote them a very poor interface.  So they decided to write their own.  Many other Cable and Satellite companies also write their own.  Dish for example designed its own boxes and wrote their own sofware.  Dish also ended up with several delays of not months but years before they were able to  release promised revisions.

Verizon FIOS is about 6 months behind in what they planned for 1.9, but those who have it have praised it for a great improvement.

[tns]

...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I said before and I am saying now: Verizon should not get involved in the IMG development in the first place. Verizon is not software company it's media privider company. Their goal is to provide customers with quality media content , not to develop new software. That is what software companies are for, they equipped with expertise, knowledge, experience to make qood reliable software for reasonable price.

Somebody in Verizon top management ( who I guess does not have any clue what  software development is about ) decided that Verizon can develop new IMG on their own. Just hire IMG development team, explain them the goal and that's it.

As far as I know among cable and sattelite TV providers ONLY Verizon have chosen to develop new IMG themselves - other cable and sattelite companies hired software companies to develop IMG.

Result we are seeing now - delays. confusion, beta testing, rollout, then complaints by customers, stop rollout, IMG 1.9a redevelopment, then testing again, etc. etc.

It's very good example for any other media company how NOT TO MAKE WRONG BUSINESS DECISIONS.