PVR Wire

So Wired has an analysis of Apple's new Cover Flow, a system for visually browsing through your music or movie collections. There's no doubt Cover Flow is a beautiful system that makes your digital media seem almost tangible.

The article goes on to say that as Apple carries this level of graphical ease of use into the living room when it releases the iTV next year, it could win the living room wars. TiVo has held on to its fan base largely based on the superiority of its interface. But Apple's is prettier (argues Wired commentator Leander Kahney).

This raises a question -- if Apple isn't releasing a PVR, and in fact, Steve Jobs said the iTV is meant to sit on top of your cable box and DVD player, is Apple trying to win the battle of the living room? Could it?

At $1.99 per TV show, is it feasible that one could live on iTunes alone? I did some quick math this morning and realized that maybe I could. I'm paying $54 a month for cable service right now. That's 26 TV shows.

Now, assume I'm canceling my cable service, I'd probably by an over the air HD TV tuner or two for my computer. Now I'm getting high quality copies of most of the network shows I watch for free. And if the shows I watch that are on cable networks only air about 4 times a month, I can afford to keep track of 6 different series simply by buying them on iTunes. Or I could probably get them even cheaper if I purchase the whole season at once.

I'm not saying that Apple plans to replace the current model of TV distribution -- but the idea's not as far fetched you might think.

Will O'Brien over at Engadget has a handy feature on getting DivX, XviD or other AVI formatted videos to play on your Series2 TiVo.

This requires some pretty hefty hacking of your TiVo, and installing TiVoServer software on a separate Linux box that acts as a server. (Your TiVo will think it's another networked TiVo box). The software will transcode your files on the fly so that you can play them on your TiVo.

There are faster ways to get videos from your desktop to your TV. And there are probably cheaper ways as well, that don't require having a TiVo and a separate computer. But TiVo hacking has never been about convenience so much as doing it because you can.

There's no word on whether the TiVoServer hack will work with the new Series3 boxes.

Thanks to our friends at Engadget, who are live blogging Apple's latest media event, we can tell you that the iTunes store is adding movies, and that Apple has made some significant improvements to the iPod with video.

First off, it doesn't look like Apple's releasing the "true" video iPod with a wide screen that many had been hoping for. But the iPod with video is being upgraded to have a 60% brighter screen and 75% more battery life when playing video. That means up to 6.5 hours of battery life when watching video.

Probably the biggest announcement is that movies are being added to the iTunes store. Right now, Apple's adding about 70 films from four Disney-owned companies. Disney also owned the rights to the first TV shows made available via iTunes last year, although Apple has been able to expand the number of TV shows for sale significantly since then.

More after the jump.

And the award for device I'd like to have with me on a desert island (if the desert island can pick up broadcast television signals) goes to the Prestigio PMR-701.

This isn't the first portable media player that allows you to record video from an external source. But it is the first PMP I'm aware of that includes an integrated TV tuner so you can record broadcast programs on the go.

The PMR-701 comes in 20GB and 30GB varieties, has a 3.5" 320 x 240 pixel screen, and supports playback of MPEG-1, 2, and 4, ASF, DivX, XviD, WMV, MP4 video files, as well as MP3, WMA, AC3, AAC, and OGG audio files.

The device will be released in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

Is it just me, or is there something really annoying about this ad, aside from the spokesperson's outfit? Anyway, TiVo's showing off their new box, and here's the video to prove it.




So there you have it. New remote, new front panel display, THX, and sound dampening on the box. Oh yeah, and dual hi-def tuners and digital outputs.

Notice that while they're pointing out the advanced features available with a broadband connection, they conveniently forget to mention that TiVoToGo has not yet been enabled for the Series3.

Just before 8:30 this morning, TiVo added the Series3 to its website. You can get the hi-definition box for $800, but wouldn't you like to read a few reviews first?

Here's what folks have to say:

• Engadget - Dave Zatz tells us that this is TiVo's best looking DVR to date, has all the usual TiVo options including Season Pass and Wish List, and that it takes a lot of work to get those two cable cards installed.
• PC Magazine - Robert Heron at PC Magazine gives the Series3 a 4 out of 5. The menu fonts and icons all appear to have been copied from the Series2 and don't look as good on a high definition screen, but the video playback looks great. And perhaps most importantly, you can still program the remote control with a 30-second skip hack.
• Gizmodo had a surprisingly easy time configuring their Time Warner cable cards, given the problems others had reported. The Series3 doesn't do a great job of displaying high resolution photos transferred through TiVo Desktop. There's also no TiVoToGo, meaning you can't transfer videos from your TiVo to your computer. TiVo reps say they may include this feature in a future update. And you can't use video on demand Time Warner's program guide with this generation of CableCards, but who cares? You've got a TiVo Series3.
• CNet gives the Series3 an 8.3 out of 10. "Considering that non-TiVo DVRs are readily available from most cable providers for "free"--or without an up-front cost, at least--it all comes down to whether or not you're willing to pay an enormous premium for TiVo's superior interface and value-added features"
• Megazone's FAQ - probably the best place to get quick answers to your questions about the Series3.
• Megazone's Photos - Megazone hasn't posted his review yet, but it should be up any minute now. In the meantime, check out the best selection of photos I've ever seen for any product. Ever.
  

It was bound to happen at some point or another, but who expected it this soon? Mr. Dave Zatz of Zatz Not Funny fame has posted his Hands on with the TiVo Series 3 story at the wee hours of the AM Tuesday morning.

Dave has had the Series 3 for a good 30 days and has written up an extensive preview over at Engadget. More photos from his review and several more details if you follow the link.

Some highlights include:

• TiVo Interface is relatively unchanged.
• Toggling between tuners can be performed via the programming info menu or by pressing the LiveTV button on the remote.
• Any two incoming signals can be recorded simultaneously with the option of watching a third signal of recorded content.
• Familiar features such as Wishlists, Suggestions, and Season Passes are present. Music and photo streaming from Mac or PC also work as expected.
• $799 will be the price as speculated
• Service fees remain $12.95 a month, or $6.95/month for those who currently have a non-bundled pricing unit subscription.

And for the question on availability. Units go on sale today at TiVo.com and you should start seeing them trickle into the retail channel next week.

In addition videos of the unboxing, startup sequence, and video mode options can be found here.

Thanks to Dave Zatz and Engadget on the posts.

I think it's doing this device a disservice to call this device a portable media player. But Korean company Visual Live is showing off its Viliv P2 device that has a 480x272 pixel touch screen display, plays music, movies, and oh yeah, runs Windows CE and Linux with Qtopia desktop, as shown on this video from IFA2006.net.



Both operating systems include media player software. And both can handle a host of other applications including word processing, spreadsheets, and video games. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure why this device dual boots into Windows and Linux. But it sure is cool

The video also includes demonstrations of the device being used as a GPS receiver, a document viewer, and a calculator. The battery should last about 4 hours for video playback and presumably much longer for other functions. No word if and when this will be available outside of Korea.

Miglia Technology has released a TV tuner card designed to fit in the MacBook Pro's ExpressCard/34 slot.

The card is targeted at Europe, with a DVB-T digtial television tuner.

It comes bundled with Elgato's EyeTV 2 PVR software, an amplified antenna, and costs €149 or £99 with an expected release date in in October

The free PC PVR software GB-PVR has just been updated to version 0.98.8.

The latest release includes a whole host of updates, but the biggest is the addition of PC client support. This means you can install GB-PVR on multiple computers on your home network, and watch videos recorded on system on another.

My understanding is that you could use a Hauppauge Media MVP with previous versions of GB-PVR to stream media throughout the house. But the latest release makes streaming video across multiple clients much more robust.

This release also includes a number of bug fixes, and tweaks to make the program more skinnable, and improvements to the program guide screen.

Okay, we're just about a day away from knowing whether this is real or not, but there's a rumor going around that Apple's going to announce the real video iPod at tomorrow's "Showtime" event.

Of course, every time Apple holds a media event, a rumor goes around that Steve Jobs will announce a video iPod, an iPod phone, and an Intel-based iMac. Hmm, I guess sometimes those rumors are true.

Anyway, someone who claims to work in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco allegedly snapped this photo of a banner showing the video iPod.

But wait, don't the latest iPods support video playback? Yes, but speculation is that Apple's been working on an iPod with a bigger, wide-screen display, which is possibly touch sensitive, and may even have a virtual scroll wheel which disappears when you're not using it, to give you more screen space for watching your videos. If and when Apple does announce this video iPod, they're also expected to announce a full-fledged video store, which will likely just mean adding a video section to the popular iTunes Music Store.

Take this photo with a grain of salt... but go ahead and get your hopes up, because what else have you got to do today?

AOL (this blog's parent company) and NBC are getting on the "let's showcase our TV shows on the web" action. AOL will stream the full-length premiere episodes of Twenty Good Years and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip a week before they are set to air on NBC.

Both episodes will be shown commercial free -- which raises a good point. Right now, I get the feeling that television executives are thinking of the web as a way to build buzz for their TV shows. But in the long run, as more and more people begin watching video online, we may see more and more programs running "without" commercials.

That's not to say there won' t be advertising. But it could be in the form of banner ads. Spam email sent to you address when you sign up for a service (hopefully you set up an account just for signing up for such services, or have a good spam filter), or other web-based advertising techniques. I don't know if this is a good thing or not, but at least it could lead to more programs being available without commercial interruptions.

Or you could just use a PVR and skip the commercials.

Back to the AOL/NBC deal -- this follows announcements that Yahoo will stream three new CBS shows, and NBC's Heroes, and MSN will offer three CW shows. It's not clear if AOL will host any episodes of the NBC shows after the premieres.

Microsoft plans to enter the user-generated-video market, and is expected to unveil a public beta of its Soapbox web site in the next few weeks. Soapbox, currently in private beta, is expected to be a YouTube competitor, allowing users to upload video in nearly any format, including the ability to upload directly from a number of digital cameras.

You can upload and share videos with file sizes of up to 100MB, embed videos on your website or blog, and create your own personal RSS feeds for videos you're interested in watching.

Overall, it doesn't sound too different from existing sites like YouTube or Google Video. But with Microsoft continuing it's world domination efforts, it should be interesting to see how Soapbox fits into the company's overall strategy. For example, will you be able to view Soapbox videos on Xbox Live? How about Windows Vista machines running Media Center software? Can you download videos to a Zune?

LiveSide reports that you'll be able to use your Windows Live Spaces profile with Soapbox, but I'd like to see a little more convergence than that.

Palmsolo over at Geek.com posted an interview with Sling Media's Jason Krikorian and Brian Jaquet. Sling develops the SlingBox, which allows viewers to watch their live or recorded television programs on the go with SlingPlayer software on a PC or mobile device.

The transcript is up on the PDAgeek section of the site, so there should be no surprise that the interview focuses heavily on Sling Media's mobile projects. Sling has already released SlingPlayer for Windows Mobile PDAs and smartphones.

There may also be plans to develop a client for Symbian devices or other platforms. Responding to direct questions, the Slingers avoided direct answers as to whether there would be clients for the Zune (maybe), PSP (probably not), or DS (seems more likely than the PSP).

A Mac client is also being beta tested.