ReplayTVBlog

PVR Wire has a nice photo post showing off a new TiVo Series 3 in it’s new packaging straight from the store. Check out the Apple like packaging on the Series 3! It definitely looks like TiVo has decided to add some perceived value to this $800 box with that little bit extra that they’ve put into the packaging. They have also made it very clear that this TiVo is all about High Definition TV (HDTV). Every where you look, you see the HD designation — on the outside of the box, on the inside of the box, on a wrapper around the TiVo unit, etc. They even have a new HD oriented slogan:

The TiVolution will now be televised in HD.

They’ve left no doubt — This TiVo is all about HD. It’s also got some very pretty packaging. Apparently, TiVo has been listening to Andre Agassi - Image is Everything.

Technorati Tags: TiVo, Series 3, HD, Apple, Andre Agassi, HDTV

Popularity: 24%

South Park, South Park, and more South Park with a side helping of Roasted William Shatner are what My ReplayTV is serving up for Today:

• South Park - Why is it that I never get tired of this show? No matter how many times I’ve seen an episode, it seems like I can watch it again and still laugh. Maybe it’s the old TV show references or that Cartman is one of the funniest TV characters ever created but it just never gets old. I think they will be able to make South Park forever.
• The Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner - William Shatner is a genius. So the idea of roasting him was a no brainer for Comedy Central. Add in my current favorite comic (Artie Lange from the Howard Stern Show) and this is a keeper.
• Bonanza - This is another show that I just can’t seem to get enough of — even if some of the shows are a little too “sweet” for my taste. While I’m not a big fan of Westerns, this is one TV Show that is good enough to transcend it’s genre and I would recommend it to anyone.
• The Beast of Bray Road - This is a horror movie that I haven’t actually watched yet but it sounds interesting. Something about actual werewolf sightings and DNA — count me in!

Technorati Tags: ReplayTV, Comedy Central, South Park, The Beast of Bray Road, Bonanza, Artie Lange, Howard Stern, William Shatner

Popularity: 62%

Engadget has the scoop on the latest entry in the Portable Media Player (PMP) market — the Maxian M800 PMP. This portable device will not only play a variety of video formats on the go on its 4.3 inch color screen, it also can record from just about any video source (including TV) to it’s internal 30GB Hard Drive. While 30GB may not seem like a lot of storage when it comes to video, it’s certainly enough to take a couple of movies on the road.

But, as seems to be the case with alot of the PMP devices, the M800 will most likely not be available in North America. I’m not sure if this is due to fears of copyright infringement on the part of the manufacturer or just (what the manufacturers believe) is a lack of interest, but it’s a shame that we won’t be able to get this in the US. You would think that after seeing the success of the Video iPod in the US, PMP makers would realize that there is a large market for these devices in the US.

Technorati Tags: Maxion, PMP, Portable Media Player, iPod

Popularity: 22%

Another win for Consumers and a definite blow to the Cable Companies bottom line. A Federal Appeals Court has upheld the recent mandate from the FCC that Cable Companies must provide consumers with CableCards. This means that newer TV’s and TV related devices (like the upcoming TiVo Series 3 DVR) that support the CableCard standard will not need a set top cable box to decode and display digital cable channels. Essentially, Digital Cable TV will be “Plug and Play”.

This is a good thing. Not only will it be easier to setup Digital Cable TV with DVR’s and other set top boxes, but the potential for dual tuners is just a second CableCard away — no more A/B switches and analog basic cable only tuners.

Of course the Cable Companies are not too happy about this mandate. It is estimated that the Cable Companies make approximately $2.5 Billion a year renting cable boxes to consumers. Not only will the CableCard eliminate the need for these boxes, but it will also cost the Cable Companies almost $470 million to implement the new CableCard technology. But don’t feel too bad for the Cable TV Industry. I’m sure they will make up for all that lost revenue by charging us a monthly fee for the CableCards they let us use.

Now I can’t wait to get my hands on a new TiVo Series 3 DVR and stick two cable cards into it — Mmmmmmmm…. Dual Tuner HDTV Recording Goodness!

Technorati Tags: FCC, Cable TV, CableCard, TiVo, DVR, PVR

Popularity: 23%

If there is one thing The Internet is good for, it’s rumors. This time, the current rumor making rounds involves the possible release date of the upcoming HD capable TiVo Series 3. Over at HD Beat, they say they have been informed by a source (and I use that term loosely) at Best Buy that the TiVo Series 3 will be available on September 17th, 2006 at a list price of $799. First off, don’t get too excited — this is a completely unsubstantiated rumor. Any or all of it could be completely wrong — including the price. And since I mentioned the price, $799. I’ll say that again — $799 Dollars — yes, that’s American dollars. I know that this is new technology and the price will certainly come down over time, $799 seems really high. As good as a TiVo is, who do they think is going to fork over $799 for a DVR And pay the monthly service fee when they can get an (admittedly inferior) DVR from their cable company for nothing other than the monthly charge?

While I love TiVo and I hope that the rumored date is right, I also hope that the price is wrong — $799 will Kill the TiVo Series 3 before it even gets started.

Technorati Tags: TiVo, Series 3, DVR, PVR

Popularity: 21%

TiVo has posted a new webpage on their site about the upcoming TiVo Series 3. Although there is not much information on this page, they do have a signup form for a Series 3 mailing list to get the latest info on TiVo’s latest products emailed to you as soon as it is available.

I also noticed that they are calling the TiVo Series 3 a Digital Media Recorder. Does this mean the Series 3 will be a DMR as opposed to a DVR (Digital Video Recorder)? I don’t think this really means anything as far as functionality of the Series 3, but it will be interesting to see if this name change from DVR to DMR actually sticks — I, for one, have become kind of attached to the DVR name.

Technorati Tags: TiVo, Series 3, DVR, PVR, DMR

Popularity: 21%

HD Beat has posted some of the first pictures of a Series 3 TiVo being used in the real world! They received the pictures from one of their readers who is part of the beta testing program for the Series 3 TiVo. Not only do the pictures show what appears to be an updated Series 2 TiVo from the front, but there are also pictures of the back of the unit that confirm some of the new features — Ethernet, eSATA, HDMI, Component Outputs (HDTV!), and TWO Cable Card Slots!

All of this is making me drool. Imagine — Dual Tuners, HD Recording, External SATA Hard Drives — enough with the Beta Testing! Hurry up and release the Series 3 TiVo!

Technorati Tags: TiVo, SATA, HDTV, DVR, PVR, Beta

Popularity: 23%

While we all think of TiVo and ReplayTV as having invented the DVR / PVR in the late 1990’s, apparently the first PVR dates back to 1967. PVRWire has an excellent article on the History of the PVR. In the article they talk about the Ampex HS-100, the first commercial PVR. While it may seem primitive by todays standards (it only holds 30 seconds of video!), for the time it was revolutionary.

While we are calling it a DVR (Digital Video Recorder), I’m not sure that that is 100% correct. If you read the article on PVRWire, they say the Ampex HS-100 records to a digital hard disk but in the comments it is noted that while it may be a disk, it is recording analog video, not digital. Either way, it’s amazing to think that there was something like this that long ago.

Technorati Tags: DVR, PVR, TiVo, ReplayTV, Ampex

Popularity: 22%

One of the most sought after features of any DVR is the ability to effortlessly skip TV Commercials. For all the effort (and money) advertisers put into making commercials, we just don’t want to be forced to watch them. How about AntiVirus for our DVR to get rid of those evil commercials.

Enter a new patent application that was recently filed for a system to detect and eliminate TV Commercials from recordings on a DVR. Basically, this system would involve a database of commercials stored on the DVR and anytime a commercial comes on, the DVR would check it’s database and if it found a matching commercial, it wouldn’t record it.

Of course, an application like this would require that it’s “database” of commercials is constantly updated with new commercials — just like virus definition updates for the AntiVirus program running on your computer!

While this sounds like an interesting idea, I don’t think it will ever be viable as a commercial product. As proven by the ReplayTV and it’s famous commercial advance, the TV industry will never allow such a product to come to market. In the case of ReplayTV and Commercial Advance, they were sued and forced to remove the feature from new ReplayTV models.

But there is always a chance that something like this could be developed as an open source application for Media Center computers . With no company to sue, there would be no real way for the TV industry to stop it.

Technorati Tags: DVR, PVR, ReplayTV, AntiVirus, Commercials

via USA Today

Popularity: 25%

Last year at this time, the Internet was filled with rumors that Google was going to buy TiVo. They has a boatload of extra cash lying around (and apparently they still do) and all the big technology websites were speculating on how Google might spend their hard earned cash. Cnet even reported that they had multiple sources that confirmed that Google was in negotiations to buy TiVo.

Fast forward one year later and the rumors are starting again. But this time, instead of Google buying a DVR / PVR company like TiVo or ReplayTV, they are supposedly creating their own DVR. Thomas Hawk has a post on his Digital Connection blog about the CTO of OpenTV leaving them to go work for Google. He believes that this is an indication that Google is working on some type of DVR. PVR Wire also has a post about the same rumor with some more speculation about some new domains that Google has registered (googletv.com and googlehdtv.net) that they also think may be an indication of something PVR related going on at Google.

If any of this turns out to be true (and it’s all speculation and rumor at this point), what could Google possibly be working on that could compete with the likes of TiVo or the upcoming ReplayTV PC edition. I don’t see Google developing a hardware based DVR (ala TiVo) — they are mainly a software company, not a hardware company. And even if it is a hardware PVR, it doesn’t really fit into their usual business plan of giving away the product for free — this might work for software, but not hardware.

So if it’s anything, it will probably be a software PVR that will run on a Windows based computer. Which will put them in direct competition with the likes of the upcoming ReplayTV PC Edition (Not Free) and SageTV (Also Not Free), which are much more mature offerings but, again, NOT FREE.

If any of this ever comes true (pretty unlikely), it will be interesting to see how a new, immature, and untested software PVR that is being given away for free will fare against tried and true software DVRs (ReplayTV PC Edition, SageTV) that are not free. My guess is, because it’s Google and it’s free, they will have no problem taking a huge share of the DVR market from the existing players. I, for one, will always pay for quality — but I think I’m in the minority. To quote Field of Dreams, Build It and They Will Come — oh, and if you make it free, they will come in droves.

Technorati Tags: DVR, PVR, TiVo, ReplayTV, Google

Popularity: 23%