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There may finally be a light at the end of the tunnel. In what has been a textbook case of Vaporware, it appears that the Comcast TiVo may actually be almost ready! Over at Zatz Not Funny, Dave Zatz has a sneak preview of the upcoming Comcast / Motorola / TiVo DVR.

According to the article, the new TiVo software should be available from Comcast sometime this spring (still no firm availability date). Even better, to get the new TiVo software, existing Comcast DVR customers will only have to call Comcast and request the new TiVo DVR. Apparently (and I’ll believe it when I see it), Comcast will just “flip a switch” and the new TiVo software will download and install on your existing Comcast DVR box. After a reboot, you will have a beautiful TiVo DVR! As always, I’m sure it won’t be this simple in the real world.

There are still a number of questions that remain unanswered:

1. Will this work with ALL Comcast DVR Hardware? – So far, only the Motorola Boxes have been mentioned as being upgradeable with the TiVo software. Even though the new TiVo software is written entirely in Java for portability, it remains to be seen if it will ever be available for Scientific Atlanta boxes.
2. How much will it cost? – Comcast has stated that there will be a modest fee charged for the TiVo above and beyond their standard DVR offering but there has been no indication of what Comcast considers “modest”. While I would be willing to pay a little bit more, I’m not sure that I could stomach $25 – $30 a month for my DVR on top of my regular cable bill!
3. When will we actually be able to get it? – This is the big daddy of all the questions. It’s been over two years since Comcast and TiVo originally announced this partnership and we still can’t get a TiVo from Comcast. Even the TiVo Series 3 is out and we still don’t have a TiVo from Comcast. If they don’t ever release it, all of these great features mean nothing.

Making TiVo (and DVR’s in general) available to more people through different channels (Cable Companies) is a great thing — but I don’t think I can (or will) wait another year for a Comcast TiVo. It could be time to seriously think about a nice shiny Series 3 TiVo.

Technorati Tags: TiVo, Comcast, DVR, PVR, Cable TV, Motorola, Scientific Atlanta

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