http://www.pvrwire.com PVR Wire http://www.pvrwire.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.pvrwire.com en-us Copyright 2008 Blogsmith, LLC. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/31/control-your-house-with-your-tivo-homeseer-tivo-hme-applicatio/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/31/control-your-house-with-your-tivo-homeseer-tivo-hme-applicatio/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/31/control-your-house-with-your-tivo-homeseer-tivo-hme-applicatio/#commentsFiled under: General, News, TiVo, DIY, Home Networking

Now this is cool! Control electronic devices in your house from the comfort of your couch using a TiVo remote control. That means you can now annoy other family members by turning off their lights from the comfort of your couch!

You may of heard of HomeSeer for Windows Media Center Edition which allowed you to control your house using a Media Center PC. Well the same thing has now arrived on TiVo making use of TiVo's HME development platform.

Once you have Homeseer installed there seems to be no limit on what devices can be controlled. If its got a button, a setting, a switch or anything like that then its likely that you could control it from your TiVo.

[Via TiVo Lovers]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
]]>hmehomeseertivoChris Tew2007-01-31T12:18:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/31/tivx-5010-p-hd-tv-recorder-odd-shaped-diskless-media-streamin/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/31/tivx-5010-p-hd-tv-recorder-odd-shaped-diskless-media-streamin/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/31/tivx-5010-p-hd-tv-recorder-odd-shaped-diskless-media-streamin/#commentsFiled under: General, HDTV, News, Reviews, Home Networking, Streaming

The new TiVX 5010-P HD TV recorder is one unique and sleek PVR from DViCO. To start off this futuristic grey cylinder does not contain an internal hard drive but requires you to add your own external one via a USB port.

I actually quite like the option of being able to add my own external hard drives as it makes for easy upgrades. But wait there's more; this HD TV recorder is more than just a weird looking PVR, it's also a media extender.

It can record videos in 1920 x 1080 resolution and stream files to and from a PC in a variety of video formats including MPEG-1, MPEG-2, (VOB, ISO and IFO), AVI, TP, WMV9. It can also send pictures and movies around the house too.

Other features include:

• An Electronic Program Guide to use on your TV
• ATSC hi-def television tuner
• DVI, component, S-Video and composite video outs
• 2x USB 2.0 ports for adding external disk drives
• A third USB port for other storage devices (e.g digital camera, MP3 player)
• fixed 10/100Mbps Ethernet or 802.11b/g WiFi
  

It is currently being launched in Korea and will cost $352. There is no word on releases in other territories, but hopefully there will be.

Permalink | Email this | Comments
]]>DViCOHD TVHdTvTiVX 5010-PTivx5010-pChris Tew2007-01-31T08:08:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/29/announcements-from-nds/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/29/announcements-from-nds/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/29/announcements-from-nds/#commentsFiled under: General, News, Home Networking, Streaming, IPTV

NDS is the company that is majority owned by NewsCorp and previously replaced TiVo to create the DirecTV PVRs. While these PVRs have not had the best of times, NDS has today announced some very innovative IPTV products.

The first is what NDS call the "Distributed DVR" which allows users to use hard drives from anywhere on a home network instead of being restricted to a hard drive on a single PVR. This itself is brilliant and will give users a lot more freedom when it comes to storing content.

The second is ShareTV where users can share content stored on their PVRS with other subscribers over a P2P network making the world's first Peer to Peer PVR (from what I'm aware of).

It sounds like the recordings will be protected by DRM and only available to other subscribers to the IPTV service, but it does sound like you will be able to download TV shows that you haven't even recorded.

This effectively allows you to get huge libraries of videos and TV shows, which you can then store anywhere on your home network. I very much like the sound of this.

I wonder if this will end up being rolled out as a DirecTV service given the close ties NDS has with DirecTV already.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
]]>iptvndsp2ppeer to peerPeerToPeersharetvChris Tew2007-01-29T05:33:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/27/video-tour-of-appletv-interface/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/27/video-tour-of-appletv-interface/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/27/video-tour-of-appletv-interface/#commentsFiled under: News, Apple, Home Networking, Streaming

A few days ago I posted a video of the Apple TV in action and you could see the menu on the TV set, and it did look pretty good and easy to use.

Now here is another video giving you a full tour of the AppleTV interface and once again I'm impressed and didn't expect anything less from Apple.

But I just can't understand why Apple hasn't allowed you to cut out the PC entirely on this one. Getting a new video or music involves going to the PC first and then downloading the video off the net through iTunes.

Why not just let you access iTunes directly through your TV and download the videos you want from there, and then synch everything you download back onto your PC for permanent storage.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
]]>apple tvAppleTvvideoChris Tew2007-01-27T14:22:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/25/the-apple-tv-in-action-its-everything-apple/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/25/the-apple-tv-in-action-its-everything-apple/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/25/the-apple-tv-in-action-its-everything-apple/#commentsFiled under: News, Apple, Home Networking, Streaming

I was a bit disappointed with the Apple TV to say the least but I have to say it was nice to see RocketBoom being shown on a full screen TV set via the Apple TV, although the Apple TV is of course one of the many products that can do this.

The video below shows the Apple TV in action and it looks and smells all Apple-ey. It's small, looks good next to your TV set, and has a friendly user interface that my girlfriend could even figure out.

It was of course expected that Apple would deliver a user friendly, fashionable device, but its just a shame the Apple TV is all about getting you to buy from the iTunes store, while also lacking many much needed features that can be found elsewhere.

I don't think Apple will be threatening TiVo and the Cable companies just yet.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
]]>appleapple tvAppleTvvideoChris Tew2007-01-25T12:01:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/24/tivo-net-play-almost-any-video-file-from-your-pc-on-your-tivo/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/24/tivo-net-play-almost-any-video-file-from-your-pc-on-your-tivo/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/24/tivo-net-play-almost-any-video-file-from-your-pc-on-your-tivo/#commentsFiled under: Hacks, News, Software, TiVo Series 2, TiVo, Home Networking, Streaming

Announced at the TiVo Community forum was a neat piece of Windows software called TiVo.net that allows you to use your TiVo as a media extender so you can play a variety of video formats from your PC.

A list of video formats and codecs that TiVo.net supports can be found here. The software works by converting the video on the fly to MPEG2 TiVo compatable video that can then whizz across your home network to your TV screen, via your TiVo.

TiVo.net is an open source project so others can get involved. It's early days for the software and if you experience any bugs it would be worth pointing them out to the developer.

[Via TiVo Lovers]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
]]>extenderformatmedianetworkstreamtivovideoChris Tew2007-01-24T08:21:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/23/hava-gold-hd-entry-level-high-definition-slingbox-competitor-rel/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/23/hava-gold-hd-entry-level-high-definition-slingbox-competitor-rel/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/23/hava-gold-hd-entry-level-high-definition-slingbox-competitor-rel/#commentsFiled under: General, HDTV, News, Software, Home Networking, Streaming

The HAVA Gold HD has been launched today at the highly respectable price of $129. For this small price you can turn a regular Windows PC into a PVR and also stream MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 video to multiple PCs on your home network, and also over the internet, just like a Slingbox.

Additionally when used with Windows Media Center (both XP and the soon to be released Vista MCE) it opens up the option of using the HAVA Gold as a TV Tuner appearing on the PC as an installed TV Tuner card.

The HAVA Gold HD will connect to any TV source such as Cable, Satellite, DVD, TiVo or a Camcorder allowing you to spread your TV to any PC over your home network or the internet.

Unlike the higher end HAVA Wireless HD model it does not come with built-in wireless features and fewer I/O options.

I have to say as an entry level Slingbox device I like the specs and I like the price.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
]]>gldhavehdslingboxChris Tew2007-01-23T22:09:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/23/no-room-in-the-living-room-for-the-apple-tv/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/23/no-room-in-the-living-room-for-the-apple-tv/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/23/no-room-in-the-living-room-for-the-apple-tv/#commentsFiled under: General, News, Apple, Home Networking

Not so long ago I expressed my views that the Apple TV was an extremely disappointing device which brought us nothing that we couldn't really do already using non-Apple alternatives and did not innovate in any way.

At the point of writing the article I felt pretty confident that the Apple TV is not going to have major penetration into the living room with only true Apple enthusiasts taking it on board.

The San Francisco Chronicle also supports this argument by raising the point that people's living rooms are already over-packed with consumer electronics and adding another one just isn't appealing not to mention the number of established companies that Apple is competing with here.

Its my personal belief that an Apple TV type product will only really hit mainstream when it becomes integrated into a PVR, or with a games console, like has already been done with the successful Xbox 360.

[Via TVPredictions]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
]]>appleapple tvAppleTvhypeliving roomLivingRoomChris Tew2007-01-23T14:43:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/20/mythtv-player-for-windows/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/20/mythtv-player-for-windows/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/20/mythtv-player-for-windows/#commentsFiled under: MythTV, Home Networking, Streaming

Want to run MythTV but don't have the energy to install Linux? I can't help you with that, but if you've already got a MythTV system up and running and you'd like to be able to watch recordings on your Windows machine, you're in luck.

MythTV Player is a PC-based program that lets you watch videos stored on your MythTV backend box. It's not a full frontend, but simply a way to access your recordings. There's support for MythTV bookmarks, skipping commercials, and you can delete recordings using the player.

MythTV versions 0.18 to 0.20.1 are currently supported.

[via Missing Remote]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
]]>linuxmythtv playerMythtvPlayerBrad Linder2007-01-20T20:30:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/19/who-needs-a-computer-to-view-user-generated-video/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/19/who-needs-a-computer-to-view-user-generated-video/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/19/who-needs-a-computer-to-view-user-generated-video/#commentsFiled under: News, Apple, Microsoft, Home Networking, Streaming

Mark Cuban poses an interesting question: Why are companies like Apple and Microsoft working so hard to give you a way to move video from your PC to your TV screen? Why not just make the video available on your existing set top box or PVR?

Basically, he argues that cable or satellite services could transfer video feeds directly to your PVR and you could peruse video clips from content producers like CBS or from frat boys running around like idiots. No computer needed. Your PVR is already designed to let you easily sift through a large amount of video content to find what you're looking for, all from the comfort of your couch.

The problem is, you'll never be able to store the same quantity of video content on your PVR hard drive that you can access by visiting sites like YouTube. Nor, I suspect, would you want to. The beauty of internet video is that it's there waiting for you if you want it, and it's not taking up space that you'd rather use for other things, like say, choosing your own television programs to record.

While I agree with Cuban that you could easily access internet video with a PVR, I think the way to do that is to connect more PVRs to the internet. Throw a web browser on there. You can already access online video using PC-based personal video recorders like Windows Media Center (with Yougle), or SageTV (which can access Google Video). Why not add the same functionality to set top boxes, which are basically stripped down computers these days anyway.

Or you could always buy an Apple TV or Xbox 360 to stick next to your TiVo so that you can record shows to watch on one box, and flip a switch to use another box that will let you watch programs recorded on your third box, the PC in the other room. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
]]>google videoGoogleVideomark cubanMarkCubansagetvyoutubeBrad Linder2007-01-19T18:36:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/18/linspire-users-get-sagetv-6/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/18/linspire-users-get-sagetv-6/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/18/linspire-users-get-sagetv-6/#commentsFiled under: Linux, Software, SageTV, Home Networking, Downloads

Good news if you're a user of the Linux-based commercial desktop operating system Linspire or Freespie; SageTV has released SageTV Media Center Version 6 all for you.

I've neve used SageTV myself, but I understand it's pretty nifty.

Get yourself along to the one-click download and installation location at www.linspire.com/sagetv if you want to get your hands on a copy right away for $99.95.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
]]>downloadsagetvMartin Conaghan2007-01-18T16:45:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/18/toying-with-tivoserver/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/18/toying-with-tivoserver/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/18/toying-with-tivoserver/#commentsFiled under: Hacks, Software, Tips, TiVo, Reviews, Home Networking, Downloads

We've mentioned TiVoServer here before on PVR Wire, but we've never really gone into any great depth as to its functions, foibles and fun-filled features.

However, Dan Farber and Larry Dignan (also featuring David Berlind!) of ZDNet have taken a stab at this technology for your Mac, Linux box or PC which allows you to share TiVo content with other TiVos around your house.

Of course, there's a few issues over DRM (which can obviously be worked around), but this sort of open-source software could spell the beginning of the end of the locked-down tyrants behind iTunes (and TiVo), who don't really want you to do anything with your own content, except pay them to watch it.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
]]>serverstreamingtivoMartin Conaghan2007-01-18T16:13:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/17/buffalo-and-d-link-announce-streaming-digital-media-centers/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/17/buffalo-and-d-link-announce-streaming-digital-media-centers/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/17/buffalo-and-d-link-announce-streaming-digital-media-centers/#commentsFiled under: News, Home Networking, Streaming

I thought I'd published this one, but it seems to have slipped through the net.

Along with D-Link, Buffalo announced a new streaming digital media center at CES.

(I won't bore you with what a streaming digital media center does; if you're a regular reader of this blog, you'll already know).

Th Buffalo comes in two flavours; 250GB and 750GB, with the 250 model starting at about £106.

The 750GB model will cost you aound £360 -- but they look nice.

The D-Link MediaLounge won't be available until Spring, but will be capable of streaming HD video.

It supports 802.11n wireless and 802.11g and has the vital HDMI connector.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
]]>media centersmedia extendersMediaCentersMediaExtendersMartin Conaghan2007-01-17T15:00:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/14/apple-tv-a-load-of-hype-for-nothing/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/14/apple-tv-a-load-of-hype-for-nothing/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/14/apple-tv-a-load-of-hype-for-nothing/#commentsFiled under: General, HDTV, News, Apple, Reviews, Home Networking, Downloads, Streaming, IPTV

There was a lot of hype that the codenamed Apple iTV (now named the Apple TV) would revolutionize the TV industry and make Apple a mainstream competitor in living room entertainment.

What came out of Macworld was not the impressive revolutionary device that was expected. Rather all that came out was an inferior media extender that allowed you to watch iTunes videos on your TV.

If all Apple set out to do was let you watch iTunes video on your TV then it has succeeded in doing that, but that's neither revolutionary nor impressive, but it will keep the hardcore Apple fans happy.

The Specs and features:

• HDMI, USB, Ethernet
• 40 GB Hard Disk
• 802.11 b, g, n wireless networking (AirPort)
• Works with Apple Remote
• 720p HD (H.264 Playback)
• No video/audio cable included
• Supported video codecs
  o H.264
  + Baseline profile LC (640x480x30 p)
  + Baseline profile (320x240x30 p)
  + Main profile (1280x720x24 p)
  o MPEG-4 simple profile (640x480x30 p)
  o does not support DivX, XviD or WMV.
• Supported audio codecs: AAC (16-320 kbps), MP3 (16-320 kbps VBR), Apple Lossless, AIFF and WAV
• Supported image formats: JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF and PNG
• Auto-sync content from your PC
• Stream content (wirelessly) from up to 5 computers
• Take's 10 most recent unwatched movies and automatically stream in the background to Apple TV and be stored on the hard drive.
• Theatrical trailers streaming from Apple.com
• Costs $299 - will be released in February

Other media extenders are much better

Take a look at the NetGear EVA700 to see what a decent media extender can do. Many existing Apple TV alternatives already out-compete the Apple TV in functionality.

That's not even mentioning the new media extenders in the pipeline including the NetGear EVA800, the Xbox 360 IPTV and the MediaGate media extenders.

What's the deal with the hard drive?

It appears that Apple will sync your iTunes playlists with the Apple TV hard drive much like it does with your iPod. I guess the reason for streaming from the Apple TV rather than directly from a PC/Mac is because it means you can still watch the videos if your TV/Mac is off. This is one feature which I think Apple has got right.

PVR Functionality

Many people beleived that because the Apple TV had a hard drive it would also have PVR functionality. It was even suggested that Apple would be partnering or acquiring TiVo.

I've said before that Apple would never partner with or aquire TiVo, nor would it include PVR functionality in the iTV, although with such a high demand for PVR functionality on the Apple TV I did begin to wonder. But despite a huge demand for PVR functionality on the Apple TV, Apple hasn't delivered it.

But Apple's mission has never been to give the consumer what they want unless it encourages them to buy from the iTunes store. That is unless Apple really had to implement something to keep customers happy, such as MP3 support on the iPod.

However, with EyeTV you can get some form of PVR functionality in the respect you can watch TV recordings from your Mac on your TV, but that's about as far as it goes.

What can I do with the Apple TV?

• Do all of my videos have to be played from iTunes on my PC Mac?

Yes, the Apple TV syncs up with your iTunes playlist much like with your iPod.

• Am I restricted to the video formats that I can watch?

Yes, the Apple TV is very restricted only supporting .264 and MPEG-4. It does not support Xvid, DivX or WMV. In my opinion this is extremely restrictive meaning you'll need to do a lot of converting of video to watch everything through your Apple TV device.

The Xbox 360 is also is restricted to WMV but you can use something like TVersity to convert video on the fly. Maybe some similar third party app will be made for the Apple TV.

• Am I restricted to watching stuff downloaded from iTunes, or can I watch any videos I've downloaded?

Really the Apple TV is designed for letting you watch video that you have downloaded from the iTunes store. You can add other plain Quicktime movies into your iTunes library though but this is still very limited.

You can use a third party program such as Movie2iTunes to add other video to your iTunes library, depending on the file format some of these videos could be played through the Apple TV.

• Can I rip DVDs (which I own) and watch them on it?

Yes you can provided you convert them to a format compatible with the Apple TV.

How easy is it to watch TV:

• According to the Apple TV website:
  1. Download movies, TV shows and more from iTunes.
  2. Sync wirelessly from your Mac or PC.
  3. Watch everything on your widescreen TV.
  

• Lets compare this to a TiVo
  1. Turn on TV and play recorded programs straight away
  

• Let's compare this to the Xbox 360 with the Xbox live video marketplace
  1. Download movie from Xbox Live marketplace
  2. Play on your TV
  

You can see from this that the Apple TV is the most complicated way to watch TV. Couldn't Apple have removed the need for a Mac or PC entirely and allowed the Apple TV to interact with iTunes directly? All this synching from PC/Mac to Apple TV is just an extra complication that will confuse the less techie mainstream consumer.

What other people say:

"For $100 more you could pick up an Xbox 360 with TV and Movie downloads direct to the console, no PC required. Oh yeah, you can do a bunch of other stuff too. The second issue I have is that Apple continues to lock us into their ecosystem - A model that has worked well for them with audio, but may not be as successful with video in the era of YouTube and DivX: The iTV has limited multimedia format support compared to products such as Netgear's new Digital Entertainer HD."
Dave Zatz

"This thing sucks, and I'm not just saying that because I'm a Media Center user. It just doesn't do much of anything that can't already be done with other products that have been out for years! Why cache on the HDD? Is your network not fast enough with 802.11n to get that done? No PVR functionality. Tops out at 720p.

Other than Mac support, I don't think this offers anything new. Sure, it's really the first device to play video purchased from iTunes, but that's about it."
Chris Lanier

To Sum Up

The Apple TV is not a great product, but if you desperately want to hook up the iTunes movie store and your Mac with your TV then the Apple TV is the way to go. But if you want a more universal solution then the Xbox 360 or one of the many Apple TV alternatives will serve you better.

But there is one reason why the Apple TV will at least be partially successful. Apple really knows how to market a product.

Permalink | Email this | Comments
]]>appleapple itvapple tvAppleItvAppleTvmedia extendersMediaExtendersxbox 360Xbox360Chris Tew2007-01-14T16:02:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/13/eyetv-will-work-with-apple-tv/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/13/eyetv-will-work-with-apple-tv/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/13/eyetv-will-work-with-apple-tv/#commentsFiled under: Apple, Home Networking

Still bummed that Steve Jobs didn't deign to throw a TV tuner and PVR software into the Apple TV? Well, Elgato wants you to know that you can still use their EyeTV products to make your Mac into a PVR.

According to Elgato's FAQ, EyeTV can export recordings in Apple TV-friendly formats like H.264 or MPEG-4, which it already does if you export shows to iTuens for transfer to an iPod. Now, the list of recordings in iTunes will be available to Apple TV. It looks like EyeTV's MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 recordings are not Apple TV-compatible, meaning you'll always need to do some file conversion before watching your videos, although the process can be automated.

EyeTV exports programs at 640 x 480 and 320 x 240 resolutions, but Elgato says it's looking into enabling 720p recordings, since the Apple TV will support HD.

So for the price of an Apple TV and an EyeTV tuner, you've got yourself a Mac-based PVR, as long as you don't need to watch TV live. Granted, you'd still have that PVR without the Apple TV, but now you can easily display your recordings on your television set in the living room, no matter where in the house your computer is.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
]]>apple tvAppleTvelgatoeyetvBrad Linder2007-01-13T11:00:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/13/how-to-use-a-tivo-like-a-slingbox-sort-of/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/13/how-to-use-a-tivo-like-a-slingbox-sort-of/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/13/how-to-use-a-tivo-like-a-slingbox-sort-of/#commentsFiled under: Hacks, Apple, TiVo, DIY, Home Networking, Streaming

Okay, I don't have a lot of experience performing TiVo hacks, so don't expect step by step instructions here, but kennybain over at the TiVo Community Forum poses an interesting question: do you really need a Slingbox to watch TiVo recordings remotely?

The answer is, kind of. Kennybain applied the "Zipper" hack to his TiVo and installed TiVoTool on his PowerBook. This allowed him to download and stream shows from his TiVo. And then he went and opened up some ports on his router allowing him to access his recordings from sites outside of his home network. He was even able to watch live TV, although it wasn't a particularly smooth stream.

There's a few problems:

1. It's not secure.
2. You can't change channels on live TV.
3. It's really not secure.

But this does raise the question... if all it takes is a couple of software hacks to allow users to remotely access and stream their TiVo recordings, isn't this something TiVo could implement if it wanted to? Sure, TiVo recently started selling Slingboxes at the TiVo store, but wouldn't it create a richer, fuller user experience to just build placeshifting into the TiVo box? As TiVo continues to add broadband features, unlike my colleague Chris Tew, I wouldn't be surprised if the company's working on something like this already. But given the rate of progress at TiVo, I wouldn't expect to see it anytime soon.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
]]>placeshiftingslingboxtivotoolzipperBrad Linder2007-01-13T09:30:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/12/directv-not-looking-after-its-customers-directivo-problems-fau/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/12/directv-not-looking-after-its-customers-directivo-problems-fau/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/12/directv-not-looking-after-its-customers-directivo-problems-fau/#commentsFiled under: General, HDTV, News, Satellite TV, DirectTV, Home Networking

Despite some good news and announcements coming out of DirecTV CES camp this week including 100 new HD channels, the possibility of cheaper PVRs due to improved satellite receiver chips, and an interesting but confusing OnDemand service that could be a Slingbox idea or some pseudo IPTV VoD service, DirecTV is still getting a sharp stick in the belly over the issues with its PVRs and HD service.

Faulty HR20 HD PVRs

There's the ongoing issue of the faulty HR20 DirecTV Plus HD PVR which is reportedly plagued with problems. While not everyone is getting the problems a huge chunk of people are and DirecTV seem to be nothing about it.
Tom Starner of HDTV Magazine goes into detail about these HR20 issues (nice work Tom!) and the conclusion is "there's little doubt a significant number of subscribers will hit the boiling point (of course, some already have) if the HR20 isn't fixed real soon."

DirecTiVo users

Since DirecTV decided to use NDS to make its PVRs and dropped TiVo, many DirecTV subscribers really began to miss the more reliable and functional DirecTiVo.

TiVo was dropped because NewsCorp's Rupert Murdoch, who owned a substantial chunk of DirecTV, also had a stake in NDS so decided to let NDS manufacturer the DirecTV PVRs from then on. Now NewsCorp has traded its share of DirecTV to Liberty Media to regain 16.3% of its own shares.

But even DirecTV users are not left out of the DirecTV's bullets of bad customer service. A post over on TiVo Lovers explains how DirecTV has "deliberately crippled" the feature set on DirecTiVo units.

DirecTV has disabled features such as Music, Photos, HME, and online scheduling which normally work on regular TiVos and can be re-enabled on DirecTiVos through hacks.

HR20 Home Networking Issues

It doesn't stop there. The HR20 has a network port allowing you to connect it to your home network. However DirecTV has only recently enabled home networking for just Intel Viiv PCs, announcing it at this weeks CES. Unfortunately they are leaving everyone other PC owner out of the loop.

This is partly to do with the benefits of the Intel technology making DirecTV PVRs the first digital set-top box with integrated digital media adapter (DMA) functionality verified to work with Intel Viivtechnology. But I'm not sure why DirecTV felt it necessary to leave out every other PC user.

Inferior HD Quality - "HD Lite"

While DirecTV promises to increase its lineup of channels it is still receiving plenty of complaints about an inferior HD service which has been nicknamed HD Lite.

Ben Drawbaugh of our sister site EngadgetHD questioned Rômulo Pontual, the Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of DirecTV, about the whole HD Lite issue (nice work Ben).

To sum up Rômulo Pontual denied that the DirecTV HD service was reduced and that when you compare screens side by side and look at the quality DirecTV HD is the same and denied that the lower bitrate and lower resolution of DirecTV HD was an issue.

This doesn't change the fact that many DirecTV HD subscribers feel that it is not true HD quality and that they can visually tell the difference, or the fact that DirecTV still has a pending court case from an unhappy subscriber over the issue.

To Sum Up

With all these issues I'm surprised DirecTV is continuing to increase its subscriber base. Maybe the company should focus a little less on advertising for new customers and make the ones it has now a lot happier. After all research shows it's a lot more expensive to gain a new customer, than keep an old one.

Permalink | Email this | Comments
]]>directivodirectvhdlitehr20hr20-700Chris Tew2007-01-12T12:03:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/12/a-cheaper-version-of-tivotogo-for-mac-could-be-in-the-pipeline/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/12/a-cheaper-version-of-tivotogo-for-mac-could-be-in-the-pipeline/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/12/a-cheaper-version-of-tivotogo-for-mac-could-be-in-the-pipeline/#commentsFiled under: News, Software, TiVo Series 2, Apple, TiVo, Mobile, Home Networking

A Mac version of TiVoToGo was finally announced a few days ago but unfortunately it did not come cheap. Mac users would have to fork out for the full Roxio's Toast Titanium 8 package which costs $100.

The Roxio Toast Titanium package offers full DVD/CD burning capabilities plus a little bit more but many MAC users will probably have software that does this already making $100 extremely expensive for just TiVoToGo considering regular Pc users can get it for $25.

Fortunately Roxio has said at this weeks CES that there is a possibility of a standalone Roxio TiVoToGo for Mac which would of course be sold for a lot cheaper.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
]]>macroxiotivotogoChris Tew2007-01-12T08:29:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/11/hava-gold-at-ces/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/11/hava-gold-at-ces/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/11/hava-gold-at-ces/#commentsFiled under: News, Home Networking, Streaming

I love ironic naming systems. Snappy Multimedia has decided to go with three varieties for their HAVA place-shifting devices, Wireless, Pro, and Gold, with prices ranging from $250 to $129. Can you guess which one's the cheapest? That's right, the HAVA Gold. Where else can you get a chunk of gold this size for $129?

If you haven't been paying attention, the HAVA box is basically like a Slingbox, but it lets you stream video to multiple computers simultaneously. The Gold version is just a basic place-shifter, while the higher end versions include a TV tuner, letting you use the box as a tuner with Windows Media Center.

Dave Zatz got a look at the HAVA Gold on the floor of CES. He says the company's also launched some skins with branded remote controls (for example, one that lets you control playback with a virtual TiVo remote). But with Sling Media making a number of major announcements in the last few days, it will be tough for HAVA to catch up.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
]]>havamonsoonplaceshifterplaceshiftingslingboxsnappyBrad Linder2007-01-11T18:15:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/11/monster-media-center-extender-from-monster/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/11/monster-media-center-extender-from-monster/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/11/monster-media-center-extender-from-monster/#commentsFiled under: Media Center Edition, Home Networking

No longer content to put out overpriced A/V cables, Monster is branching out into what promises to be and overpriced lined of A/V devices.

CE Pro reports that Monster is working on a line of Media Center PCs and media center extenders that will also serve as home automation systems with Exceptional Innovation's Lifeware automation software.

The new boxes are part of Monster's new "Monster Life" line, which will include media center PCs and "PowerCenters" which will include media center extender functionality. This makes Monster the first company besides Microsoft (with the Xbox 360) to announce a media center extender that will work with Vista.

Monster didn't have any of the new Monster Life devices ready for CES, but they'll be on display at the Electronic House Expo in March.


[via Engadget]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
]]>cablesmedia center extenderMediaCenterExtendermonstermonster cablemonster lifeMonsterCableMonsterLifeBrad Linder2007-01-11T11:30:00+00:00