/ WATCHMI FORUM

Find more watchmi tips and interact with your fellow watchmi users on the watchmi Forum

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/ LAB TECHNICIANS WANTED!

Share your ideas for improving watchmi! Want to help test out new features, have a say in what's coming up, and participate in surveys? Leave us a note byE-mail and have a peek at the Lab Blog .

/ MOST FREQUENT QUESTIONS

  • What is watchmi?

    watchmi is a new, better way to watch TV. Instead of having to explicitly schedule recordings of your favorite shows so you can watch them later, watchmi allows you to create personalized TV channels that quickly learn what types of shows you like based simply on what you do naturally: watching TV! These channels may be categorized by what's in them or who's watching them: “My Dramas”, “Kids' Programs”, “Romantic Movies”, etc...

    watchmi finds content that matches your viewing preferences and automatically places it in your Personal TV channel. It may find shows or movies you didn't know were on. It's also possible to fine-tune watchmi's understanding of your preferences in order to truly personalize your TV viewing experience. Moreover, watchmi offers you a selected range of online videos in the theme channels.

    watchmi is initially available for the Windows Media Center platform. It will be available on other platforms in the future.

  • What do I need to use watchmi? (System requirements)

    You will need:

    • A PC running Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate edition, or Windows 7 (Home Premium Edition or higher) with the most recent Service Pack installed
    • 2 GB RAM minimum
    • 80 GB free disk space minimum for recordings
    • An Internet connection (flat rate recommended, preferably broadband)
    • At least one TV tuner that is installed and compatible with Windows Media Center your PC (dual-tuner recommended)
  • Why is watchmi only available for Windows Vista and Windows 7?

    We developed the initial watchmi implementation for Windows Vista and Windows 7 because Windows Media Center, which is included with the Home Premium and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista and the Home Premium Edition (and higher) of Windows 7, was a readily-available platform that we could quickly build the watchmi service upon.

    We aim to develop and deploy the watchmi service on other platforms in the future. If you would like for us to keep you posted on developments of other watchmi versions, sign up for our newsletter.

  • What about privacy? Does watchmi collect my personal information?

    watchmi does not collect any personal information such as name, address, etc... of its users. The recommendation engine used by watchmi runs locally on the user's PC, and the preference profiles are also stored locally on the PC. watchmi does not transfer the transfer interest profiles to the server unless explicitly requested by the user, e.g. for data backup purposes.

    watchmi is advertisement-supported. Advertisements are placed in personal channels based on user interests. For reporting purposes, we may report the following information to our advertisers:

    • what advertisement was viewed, where and when (i.e. where it was placed when it was viewed)
    • whether you skipped, paused, or stopped a commercial
    • whether you responded to a call to action in the advertising material
    • what version of the watchmi software you used

    These data are collected on the PC and sent to our server. All data on the server is aggregated in anonymous user profiles. It will not be possible to identify individual users from their usage data.

    For more information, please see: watchmi Privacy Policy

  • Which TV channels does watchmi support?

    watchmi has only been released in Germany, and thus currently supports the following German broadcast channels:

    3sat, Anixe SD, ARD, Arte, ATV, Austria 9, BR, Das VIERTE, EinsPlus, Kinderkanal, DMAX, DSF, EinsExtra, EinsFestival, EinsPlus, Eurosport, HR, kabel eins, MDR, MTV, N24, NDR, Nick, n-tv, ORF 1, ORF 2, ProSieben, Puls 4, RBB, RTL, RTL II, Sat.1, SF1, SF2, Super RTL, Tele 5, TIMM, VIVA, VOX, WDR, ZDF, ZDFinfokanal, ZDFneo, ZDFtheaterkanal

  • Is watchmi really free of charge? How do you stay in business?

    watchmi does not charge the user for the use of the service itself. Please note that if your Internet connection is not flat-rate, you may be charged by your Internet provider for the use of your Internet connection. This is why we recommend that watchmi be used with a flat-rate Internet plan.

    We have incorporated innovative forms of advertising in order to keep the service operating. Our intention is to only deliver to watchmi viewers advertisements for products and services that they are interested in. In this way, we aim to keep the watchmi experience interesting, enjoyable and viable for all parties involved.

  • Why has a program not been recorded in my channel?

    There are a number of possible reasons for this:

    • At the time of the program, there were more recordings scheduled than available tuners. watchmi recorded the programs that it thought you liked the best. In the future, you can resolve such scheduling conflicts in the Scheduled Recordings dialog.
    • It is possible that at the scheduled recording time, the TV tuner was not connected or in use by another program
    • It is also possible that the power to the PC was off, so Windows was not able to activate the recording function.
  • How do I create a Personal TV Channel?

    There are a number of ways to create a Personal TV Channel.

    If you are zapping through channels or viewing program listings in watchmi, you can click on the [+] (Add) button. You may also use the guide search function in watchmi to conduct a keyword search, and click on the [+] (Add) button next to your program in the search results list.

    When you've clicked on the Add button, you will be prompted for the channel to add the selected program to. Select “Create new channel”, and name the new channel. That's all there is to it!

  • How do I program a recording?

    To record a program, you must add it to a personal channel. Go to the program detail screen for the program which you want to record, and add the program to a personal channel or create a new personal channel based on it.

  • Is watchmi a Network PVR?

    No. watchmi is a self-learning video recorder for TV programs and online content. All recordings are stored only on the local hard disk -- there is no central storage for the recordings. The only programs that may be recorded are the ones that can be received on the PC's TV tuner hardware.

  • When will watchmi be available in my country?

    watchmi is currently available in Germany. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter (links below) to get the latest updates from watchmi, including news about when watchmi will be available in your locale!

    watchmi on Facebook

    watchmi on Twitter

  • What are theme channels?

    Theme channels aggregate a selected range of Internet content, giving you the best of online video. Theme channels are displayed automatically in your channel listing. You can easily disable theme channels if you're not interested in the topic. The theme channels are not considered by the watchmi recommendation service, so their content won't be displayed in your personal channels.

/ SEARCH FAQS

/ MORE HELP

If you can't find the answer to your question, feel free to contact us.

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