These
HD sets with built-in PVRs will only be available in Japan, but we can
drool, can't we? Unveiled last week in South Korea, the latest Plasma
Display Panel (PDP) line from Hitachi will feature an optional
integrated 160GB hard drive for recording High Definition programming.
The
sets will vary in 37-, 42- and 55-inch sizes and range in price from
$4,332 to $7,768 depending on screen size and inclusion of the PVR
option. Dual HDMI inputs are standard on all three models, ensuring a
high-quality digital input signal. No mention on the amount of HD
programming that can be stored on the PVR, but based on HD PVR units
available today, our estimate is a meager 20 hours of HD storage.
Is the marriage between DirecTV and TiVo coming to a close? J.P. Morgan seems to think so, according to comments made on Friday. J.P.Morgan's expectation is that DirecTV will roll out their own PVR technologies and no longer need to rely on TiVo.
Ironically, you could argue that TiVo relies on DirectTV. Approximately 70 percent of TiVo's subscriber base comes through DirecTV suscriptions. If non-TiVo DirecTV PVRs are introduced, TiVo will have to find another source for subscription revenues and hardware sales. The divorce could be starting soon, according to J.P. Morgan. Their expectation for DirecTV to begin a non-TiVo hardware rollout is within the next two months.
If you have one of the older verison Dish 921 PVR receivers, be wary
of the next software upgrade. Dish just upgraded the software version
from L2.15 to L2.16 and apparently has caused quite a ruckus. It
appears that this upgrade is causing issues with the OTA channels and
guide.
This forum
has dozens of recent comments on the situation. Apparently many Dish
customers that aren't local channel subscribers have lost their OTA
local channels and guide information. Some of the forum members are
claiming this is Dish's method to push local channel subscription for
additional revenue. Until this sorts itself out, we'll stick to
watching reruns off of our PVR.
Seagate, a leading hard-drive manufacturer, recently indicated that by the end of 2006, all of their drives will utilize perpendicular recording technology. Perpendicular recording increases the storage capacity of a hard drive by standing the data bits on end, allowing for up to ten times more capacity with no physical size inrease. Check out Hitachi's comical, but informative Flash-based presentation for more information. The disco-dancing data bits make it worth your while.
Although none of the PVR manufacturers have indicated the usage of perpendicular recording hard drives in their units, we expect the technical advance to become fully adopted over the next few years. The prospect of increasing the amout of television recording capacity in a PVR without increasing the PVR's size is a win-win for manufacturers and consumers alike. When you see the first gigabytetera petabyte-enabled PVR, just remember you heard it at PVR Wire first.
On your next trip to the museum, be sure to look for the work of art we all know and love as "TiVo". Did we just say TiVo? Yes, indeed, the recording device that has changed the way we all watch television will be featured in a U.S. Patent Office Museum exhibit.
TiVo is joining other every day inventions in "The Invention Machine: A Day in My Life" exhibit alongside those other must-have gadgets, like the toothbrush and alarm clock. We're not sure what worries us more: the idea of an unused TiVo box collecting dust or the fact that the Patent Office has their own museum.
Look out cable companies and satellite providers! There's a lawsuit brewing over patent number 6,285,746. The plaintiff in the suit is a software company called Forgent Networks. We'll save you the look-up on the patent number that was filed on October 4, 2002.
Here's an abstract summary: "A computer based television signal recording device is provided. This
recording device allows for the recording of input streams onto a mass
storage device such as a computer hard drive. A user interface is
provided which has a list of the recorded television signals and the user
can select for playback any of the listed recorded television signals."
Sounds remotely like a TiVo or any other PVR \ DVR out on the market to me. You have to wonder if all of this part of Forgent's business strategy; allegedly 15% of their revenues are from software sales, while 85% is derived from royalties, licensing fees and lawsuits.
USA Today is running a nice summary write-up and review on the top-of-the-line HDTV PVR from Dish; the model 942. The review originated from The Louisville Courier-Journal and provides a great overview of the multi-tuner PVR.
Two of the best features pointed out in the review are the multiple recording and remote delivery functions. Two tuners weren't enough for the 942, so Dish added a third. The first two built-in tuners are for satellite content, while the third is for OTA programming. I've seen this unit first-hand and while the review doesn't mention it, the Electronic Program Guide (EPG) will actually integrate your OTA channels with your satellite channels; a great feature.
The remote delivery mechanism is a second output complete with a second remote control. With the 942, you can output a second signal to another TV or use the additional tuner for picture-in-picture (PIP). There's no additional set-top box required.
TiVo upgraded their software today for about one million subscribers. The upgrade is an effort to introduce the viewer directly to the advertisers by releasing personal contact information if you're interested in the advertisement. The ability to request information is completely up to the user, so no contact info is provided if no user action is taken.
The upgrade also will add special logos or tags to commercials. These tags are visible when fast-forwarding through commericals as well, but no detailed information is available on the usage of the tags. It's possible that these are just branding logos for the viewer to see.
Only TiVo Series 2 models are currently capable of the software upgrade. DirectTV-branded TiVo boxes will not see the upgrade at this time. In some respect, the idea of a "click-through introduction" provides value to the consumer. Let's see if there is any backlash from the TiVo community.
Update: The original instructions appear via syndication from The Dallas Morning News. Thanks Will!
Sure, folks have known about TiVo To Go for a while now, but mostly the intended audience is the technically inclined. Let's give it up for the "Midwestern Digital Mecca" known as Wichita, Kansas! Over the weekend, the Wichita Eagle newspaper ran a detailed "how-to" for transferring TiVo recordings to a Sony PSP.
These are the most down-to-earth and simple instructions I've seen on the process, so if you haven't tried this due to bad instructions or fear of blowing up your TiVo or PSP, this is the article for you. Where were effective directions like this when Dorothy was trying to get back home to Kansas?
TiVo has shared the most recorded shows for the week ending today, July 17th. All statistics are based on Season Pass rankings. There are no changes in the top four shows and just minimal changes through the rest of the list.
It's interesting to note that no single network commands the top ten; there is good representation from the three major networks as well as Fox. HBO also checks in with the critically acclaimed "Six Feet Under" at the sixteenth spot.
We'll be up front and call this "educated speculation", but the folks at Hacking Netflix have both us and Engadget putting two and two together. Late last year there were reports of talks between Netflix and TiVo. Is it possible that a Netflix screen shot has tipped the hands of both companies? The screen below was reportedly captured off of someone's account information screen via their Netflix account:
Now, we don't know if this confirms last year's suspicions of a TiVo powered Netflix player to download movies or not, but we'll be watching. Live that is; not recorded.
If you own or lease a Dish Network PVR Model 942, double-check your software version on the System Information screen. Looks like Dish upgraded the software a few days ago from version L2.26 to L2.27. Unfortunately typical of Dish upgrades, no details are available on the upgraded functionality.
The PVR 942 is Dish's premiere HDTV, multi-output receiver that also functions as a PVR unit. The 942 contains a 250 GB hard drive capable of recording 180 hours of SD television, 25 hours of HD programming or a combination of both.
Don't touch that FF button! Japanese broadcasters are claiming that skipping ads is a violation of Japanese copyright law. In fact, in an effort to show the benefits of television advertising, August 28th is designated "TV Commercial Day" in Japan. This day coincides with the anniversary of the first television commercial ever shown on Japanese TV.
All of this raises a couple of questions. If you get off the couch during a commercial, are you violating copyright laws? What if you rewind your TiVo to watch a commerical mutliple times; are you still in violation? Most importantly, how much money did the greeting card industry pay to Japan to designate a new "TV commerical" holiday? Sheesh!
We continue to research TiVo alternatives out of the goodness of our hearts for you. Hey, that's just the kind of folks we are. Topping our Linux list is MythTV of course, but we're adding a new kid to the block: KnoppMyth.
This Knoppix-based Linux distro was developed to make the entire Linux and MythTV install as simple as possible. Typical of Knoppix distros, you can run KnoppMyth directly from CD-ROM if your computer is capable of booting from CD; providing you with a simple and risk-free method to trial without actually installing to a hard drive partition. As an added bonus for those addicted to Wiki's: there's a killer KnoppMyth wiki for all of the latest and greatest documentation and discussion.
So you want to record live television, but you don't want to pay any subscription fees. There are a number of ways to do this and Plextor has just added another with the introduction of a $99 solution called the PX-TV100U.
The TV100U is a member of the ConvertX PVR line from Plextor and connects your video source and your PC, which acts as a media storage device. Since most desktops and laptops typically have gigabytes of storage-space available, we like this option over other units that record only to portable media.
These
HD sets with built-in PVRs will only be available in Japan, but we can
drool, can't we? Unveiled last week in South Korea, the latest Plasma
Display Panel (PDP) line from Hitachi will feature an optional
integrated 160GB hard drive for recording High Definition programming.
Is the marriage between DirecTV and TiVo coming to a close? J.P. Morgan seems to think so, according to comments made on Friday. J.P.Morgan's expectation is that DirecTV will roll out their own PVR technologies and no longer need to rely on TiVo.
If you have one of the older verison Dish 921 PVR receivers, be wary
of the next software upgrade. Dish just upgraded the software version
from L2.15 to L2.16 and apparently has caused quite a ruckus. It
appears that this upgrade is causing issues with the OTA channels and
guide.
Seagate, a leading hard-drive manufacturer, 
On your next trip to the museum, be sure to look for the work of art we all know and love as "TiVo". Did we just say TiVo? Yes, indeed, the recording device that has changed the way we all watch television will be featured in a U.S. Patent Office Museum exhibit.
Look out cable companies and satellite providers! There's a lawsuit brewing over patent number 
USA Today is running a 
Sure, folks have known about 
If you own or lease a 
Don't touch that FF button! Japanese broadcasters are claiming that skipping ads is a violation of Japanese copyright law. In fact, in an effort to show the benefits of television advertising, August 28th is designated "TV Commercial Day" in Japan. This day coincides with the anniversary of the first television commercial ever shown on Japanese TV.
