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/edit-recorded-tv-shows-in-vista-move-maker/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/31/edit-recorded-tv-shows-in-vista-move-maker/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/31/edit-recorded-tv-shows-in-vista-move-maker/#commentsFiled under: News, Software, Microsoft, Media Center Edition, DIY

Yesterday I mentioned Microsoft's propriety video format MS-DVR which is used for Windows Media Center recordings.

Previously you would need to convert the videos to a more standard format using something like DVRBox so you could edit them with ease. However Vista Movie Maker now comes with full support of MS-DVR files so editing out those adverts is now pretty easy.

And if you get stuck you can always ask for help in the Windows Movie Maker forums.

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]]>cista movie makerCistaMovieMakerms-dvrvistaChris Tew2007-01-31T10:17:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/31/hauppauge-tv-tuners-are-vista-ready/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/31/hauppauge-tv-tuners-are-vista-ready/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/31/hauppauge-tv-tuners-are-vista-ready/#commentsFiled under: News, Software, Microsoft, Media Center Edition

The Vista launch has come upon on us and so it's a busy time for a lot of PC related companies. One of which is Hauppauge which has announced that it has the widest range of Vista ready PC tuner cards available.

Hauppauge will now be offering the new Vista driver software with every Hauppauge product shipped from today. Existing customers can upgrade from the Hauppauge website.

If you are keen to read more about the Windows Vista launch then check out Engadget.

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]]>HauppaugevistaChris Tew2007-01-31T07:07:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/30/convert-your-dvr-ms-mce-recordings-to-xvid-x264-and-mpeg-4/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/30/convert-your-dvr-ms-mce-recordings-to-xvid-x264-and-mpeg-4/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/30/convert-your-dvr-ms-mce-recordings-to-xvid-x264-and-mpeg-4/#commentsFiled under: News, Software, Microsoft, Media Center Edition, DIY

DVR-MS is a proprietary Microsoft format that is used in Media Center Edition to record videos. Unfortunately this format can't be played on may other devices so you may want to be able to easily convert your DVR-MS video recordings to some other format..

DVRBox is free open source software that does just that converting your DVR-MS video files into other formats including Xvid and MPEG 4. Features include:

• Editing of DVR-MS videos
• Batch processing
• Automatic crop detection
• Scheduled compression
• Outputs to MPEG-4 including XviD, x264

In development is manual cropping, directory scanning, profilesand iPod Support.

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]]>dvr-msdvrboxmceMPEG-4x264XvidChris Tew2007-01-30T13:41:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/30/sagetv-announces-support-for-amd-live/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/30/sagetv-announces-support-for-amd-live/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/30/sagetv-announces-support-for-amd-live/#commentsFiled under: General, News, Software, SageTV

SageTV, the popular provider of PC PVR software, has announced support for AMD LIVE! Home Cinema And Home Media Server.

An AMD LIVE! PC is much like a Windows Media Center PC offering a complete solution for video, music and photo access through an easy to use interface. With SageTV an AMD LIVE! Home Cinema will also provide the popular complete PVR functionality from SageTV too.

Click here to learn more about AMD Live!

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]]>amd liveAmdLivesagetvChris Tew2007-01-30T11:57:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/25/beyond-tv-skins-customize-the-look-of-beyond-tv-with-themes/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/25/beyond-tv-skins-customize-the-look-of-beyond-tv-with-themes/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/25/beyond-tv-skins-customize-the-look-of-beyond-tv-with-themes/#commentsFiled under: General, Hacks, News, Software, Tips, Beyond TV, DIY, Downloads

Everyone likes to customize their PC with some pictures and themes, if its not a picture of some hot girl or a desert island on your desktop, it's a load of fishes swimming around on your screensaver.

The Snapstream community has created a nice set of skins for the BeyondTV PVR interface meaning your TV experience can now be that little more personalized too.

A selection of the skins available can be seen here including dolphin, desert island and pirate themes. Installing a skin is easy and requires simply replacing one file in the BeyondTV directory.

Anyone fancy making a PVR Wire theme? You know you want too!

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]]>beyond tvBeyondTvskinsthemesChris Tew2007-01-25T14:19:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/25/dvdxml-com-gets-a-facelift/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/25/dvdxml-com-gets-a-facelift/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/25/dvdxml-com-gets-a-facelift/#commentsFiled under: News, Software, Media Center Edition, Downloads

Back at the end of October Brad talked about an XML file that could be used within Windows Media Center which would automatically download cover art, descriptions, ratings, cast, etc about any DVD that you may have ripped.

Now although that site has been a huge help in that it saves you from having to create these individual files for each DVD on your system, there were some short comings with the site. Well hopefully most of those have been taken care of.

DVDXML.com has just completed a major overhaul that includes a new, easier to use download section, and a new and improved search engine. However because of the upgrade they are temporarily not accepting new XML files, but that restriction will be lifted in the near future.

If you have a Windows Media Center based PVR and you like to keep your DVD's on your hard drive, be sure to check out this site. It's all the little things like this that make you realize how customizable a do it yourself PVR really can be.

Found via.

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]]>downloadsquadmcemedia center editionMediaCenterEditionpvrMatt Crape2007-01-25T10:01:00+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]

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]]>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.

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]]>gldhavehdslingboxChris Tew2007-01-23T22:09:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/22/11-reasons-to-give-vista-a-chance/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/22/11-reasons-to-give-vista-a-chance/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/22/11-reasons-to-give-vista-a-chance/#commentsFiled under: News, Software, Tips, Microsoft, Media Center Edition

Dean Takahashi of the Mercury News has put together one of those "xx reasons" type of lists, this time about the forthcoming Windows Vista.

The launch of Vista (for consumers) is only a few days away, and already the hype machine is working its magic.

Chief among Dean's reasons for getting a hold of Windows Vista is the fairly obvious one for me: #5 Vista has a built-in version of the Windows Media Center user interface.

However, I'm not so sure that "when you move your mouse over the borders, you'll find they're a little thicker so it isn't as hard to grab them and expand the size of a window" is a sufficiently good reason to go out and spend the money on an upgrade so early in the day.

Make up your own mind.

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]]>microsoftvistawindowsMartin Conaghan2007-01-22T15:42:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/19/mytv-genie-recommendations-come-to-windows-media-center/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/19/mytv-genie-recommendations-come-to-windows-media-center/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/19/mytv-genie-recommendations-come-to-windows-media-center/#commentsFiled under: News, Software, MCE Plugin Spotlight

Recommended recordings. You either love them or you hate them. There might be a middle ground, but I don't know anyone who lives there.

When I got my first TiVo, I loved the idea that it would track my viewing patterns and record more programs that it thought I would like. There were just two problems. Between my wife's habit of recording home makeover shows, and my tendency to thumbs up science fiction shows, I think we broke the thing. And what's worse, we had a 40-hour unit, which was only 20 hours at a decent quality. And I love saving up recordings to watch in marathon sessions. That didn't really leave room for recommended recordings.

Well, recommended recordings have finally made their way to Windows Media Center. Proxure's MyTV Genie lets you rate programs you like or detest, and it will recommend future programs you might like, and it will go ahead and record them for you if you let it. If you're too lazy to rate the shows, MyTV Genie will just track your viewing habits and go from there.

It's free, and a future release will have one feature missing from TiVo: community. You can share your favorites with friends or subscribe to a friend's "channel," to try recording some of their favorites.

[via Chris Lanier's Blog]

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]]>mytv genieMytvGenieproxureBrad Linder2007-01-19T10:00:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/19/get-20-off-of-replaytv-pc-edition/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/19/get-20-off-of-replaytv-pc-edition/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/19/get-20-off-of-replaytv-pc-edition/#commentsFiled under: Software, Bargains

ReplayTV is offering a 20% off coupon code for purchases of their PC-based PVR software if you buy a copy by February 27th. That brings the price down to about $80, which brings it closer to its competitors' prices. You can pick up a copy of BeyondTV for $70, and SageTV goes for $80.

ReplayTV is not only a newcomer to the PC software market, it's also one of the highest priced options available. I'm willing to cut them some slack, since they did help to popularize the concept of PVRs with their set top boxes. And some of the search options in the ReplayTV PC edition are quite cool.

To get the coupon, use the code RTVJAN0720 before February 27th. There's also a 30 day free trial of the software, so you can test it out for a full month if you like before deciding whether it's worth spending $80.

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]]>couponreplaytvBrad Linder2007-01-19T07:30:00+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.

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]]>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.

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]]>serverstreamingtivoMartin Conaghan2007-01-18T16:13:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/17/test-driving-vista/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/17/test-driving-vista/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/17/test-driving-vista/#commentsFiled under: General, News, Software, Microsoft, Reviews

Even if you're well and truly embedded in the fast-paced world of technology and software, the imminent release of Microsoft's new operating system, Vista, might still be somewhat something of an unknown for you.

For example, most people I speak to seem to think of it as another bloated upgrade to Windows XP, rather than a top-to-bottom makeover -- and fewer realise that it's actually a massive expansion on Windows Media Center Edition -- which tells its own story, really.

Tom Gromak of The Detroit News has made a start at presenting a brief run-through of what to expect when the product hits the shelves (for regular consumers) on January 30.

His first bit of advice is not to rush, which is sensible. Don't be panicked into thinking you need to upgrade your PC, software, mouse, or any other part of your computer; rather, think of it as an opportunity to sit back and see what happens when Vista starts throwing up bugs -- and, more importantly, if the drivers will be available to operate the key peripherals you rely on for day-to-day operation (think printers, scanners, cameras).

Otherwise, Tom reckons Vista is pretty cool (a few moans aside); it has improved security, better networking, some nifty add-ons and, of course, the all-important Media Center tweaks to turn your PC into a PVR.

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]]>mcevistawindowsMartin Conaghan2007-01-17T14:38:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/16/joost-the-new-name-for-the-venice-project/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/16/joost-the-new-name-for-the-venice-project/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/16/joost-the-new-name-for-the-venice-project/#commentsFiled under: HDTV, News, Software, Streaming, IPTV

News broke late yesterday and I have just received an email from The Venice Project team that it has now been renamed to the much more catchy name: Joost. Here's what the email from Fredrik de Wahl of Joost said:

"While we're still in beta, we hope that Joost will become synonymous with the best of TV and the best of the Web.

We're working on putting more content on the platform and creating more and more applications and functionality. For those of you who've already been on the client, you can expect to see some of these updates in the 0.8 release - which is not far away at all.

Now that we're Joost, we're going to be sending out many more beta invitations. I know some of you have been waiting quite some time for your invitation and I appreciate your patience. We've been somewhat conservative about expanding our beta - but that's going to change pretty rapidly now. So please keep a lookout for your invitation if you haven't gotten one already. And when you do receive it - please tell us what you think."

Along with the launch of the new name has come the brand new Joost website.

Looking at the screenshots of Joost in action its easy to see how it could be ported over to a PVR or set top box to bring high quality internet TV into the living room.

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]]>Chris Tew2007-01-16T03:14:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/15/how-to-put-a-tivo-dvd-theme-using-tivotogo-for-mac/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/15/how-to-put-a-tivo-dvd-theme-using-tivotogo-for-mac/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/15/how-to-put-a-tivo-dvd-theme-using-tivotogo-for-mac/#commentsFiled under: Software, DVD, Apple, TiVo

So first TiVo goes and outsources TiVoToGo for Mac to Roxio, and then Roxio leaves out one of the promised features, a TiVo theme on DVDs you burn from TiVoToGo recordings.

Well, it turns out that since TiVoToGo is built into Toast Titanium 8, and since Roxio figures that a fairly small number of Toast users will really be using the TiVo functions, they left the TiVo theme out of the official release. That seems a bit silly. Why bother building TiVoToGo functions into your product and then leave out a theme that only takes up a few megabytes?

Anyway, Dave Zatz posts a link to download the TiVo theme. All you have to do is download the file, unzip it, save tivo.psd to the Toast DVD Menu Styles folder, and you're done. Zatz also points out that since the file is a psd file, you could probably use Photoshop to edit the theme to your liking

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]]>dvd themesDvdThemesmacroxiotivotogotoast titanium 8ToastTitanium8Brad Linder2007-01-15T13:43:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/14/yahoo-replacing-go-tv-with-my-channel/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/14/yahoo-replacing-go-tv-with-my-channel/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/14/yahoo-replacing-go-tv-with-my-channel/#commentsFiled under: News, Software

Ah, it;s the classic story. Big company buys smaller company and rebrands its product. Then big company decides it doesn't need the smaller company's product and shunts it off to the side, bringing forth something completely different instead.

Okay, maybe not so classic, but it's starting to look like that's Yahoo's plan for PVR software. The search giant purchased Meedio last year, and almost immediately rebranded Meedio's PVR software as Yahoo! Go TV with a new purple interface. There were a some nice features, including easy access to online video content.

Now it looks like Yahoo's decided to go a different route, showing off its My Channel software at CES. Dave Zatz snapped a few photos, and it really doesn't look like it's based on the Go TV platform. It's possible that it's just a new user interface, but it's also possible that Yahoo's written two completely different programs designed to do the same thing. It's been known to happen.

Anyway, seeing as how you can't even get to the Go TV website anymore, it looks like if Yahoo plans to move forward with PC-based PVR software, you can expect to call it My Channel, rather than Go TV.

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]]>go tvGoTvmeediomy channelMyChannelyahooBrad Linder2007-01-14T20:14:00+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.

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]]>macroxiotivotogoChris Tew2007-01-12T08:29:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/08/vault-360-video-transcoder/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/08/vault-360-video-transcoder/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/08/vault-360-video-transcoder/#commentsFiled under: General, News, Software, DVD

Another product out of CES this week is the Vault 360 media converter from Bamboo Technology that acts as a central hub for your media, allowing you to manage and convert your media collection so it is ready for playback on a variety of devices.

Rather than using a whole suite of software to convert various formats into other various formats, Vault 360 will handle it all.

When it comes to video Vault 360 can convert video files such as AVI, DivX, MPEG, WMV, etc to DVD format and other formats ready for playback on portable devices. It can also import and convert video from DVDs, camcorders, video recorders such as TiVo, Media Center PCs, DVRs and even from VCDs and VHS

Vault 360 supports "virtually any portable device" converting video files into the correct format. It already supports a number of specific products and Bamboo will also add support for new devices as they come out. Vault 360 also contains a built in scripting language that allows others to add support for more media devices.

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]]>conversionmediavault 360Vault360videoChris Tew2007-01-08T17:54:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/08/making-tivotogo-for-mac-a-little-cheaper/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/08/making-tivotogo-for-mac-a-little-cheaper/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/08/making-tivotogo-for-mac-a-little-cheaper/#commentsFiled under: News, Software, TiVo, Bargains

Great, there's finally an official TiVoToGo program for Mac users, but it's part of Roxio's Toast Titanium 8 package, which costs $100.

Well, Roxio currently has a $20 rebate coupon on their site, so that helps a bit. And it turns out that Roxio has another hidden promotion. If you get a 404 error on their site, there's an apology message an a 10% coupon code. I won't list the code here, but all you have to do is direct your browser to a page that doesn't exist, like says www.roxio.com/tivotogo.

Since the coupon is applied a checkout, unlike the rebate, it should bring the price down to $90, making the software $70 after rebate. That's still too much if you're only looking for TiVoTogo, but not too bad for a complete CD/DVD burning suite with TiVoToGo functionality.

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]]>macroxiotivotogotoasttoast titanium 8ToastTitanium8Brad Linder2007-01-08T14:00:00+00:00