Paul: Digital Video Recorders

Sun, 10 Jul 2005 16:49:11 GMT

"What is the SlingboxTM?

The SlingboxTM Personal Broadcaster is a consumer electronics product that a user connects to their personal TV source (including a TiVo, cable box, analog cable, satellite receiver, or virtually any other AV device) and to their high-speed network/internet connection (including DSL, cable modem, or other solution) for the purpose of "placeshifting the content" - enabling them to view their TV programming on any device. Once connected, the user can watch and control their personal TV experience from virtually any computer, PDA or mobile phone. Your TV. Any Device. Any Location."

Now tell me that isn't freaking cool!? Anything that timeshifts or placeshifts (it seems like those aren't even words for some reason...?) is cool in my book now. TiVo starting the timeshift revolution and now I believe slingbox will start the placeshift revolution. I'm a gadget geek and this thing has me going. Slingbox will be available at BestBuy and CompUSA starting tomorrow (Thursday, June 30th) and will run $249 with no montly fees.

[Alex Lowe]

Wed, 20 Oct 2004 22:32:10 GMT

Engadget Interviews TiVo CEO [Slashdot:]

Wed, 20 Oct 2004 22:31:27 GMT

Here is something I REALLY need to look into!

I have to admit, I set up a Vonage account a few weeks ago, not because I really needed it but because I really wanted to see how the consumer market had progressed in this area. The install was a piece of cake. I bought a Linksys RT31P2 router at Staples for $49.00 with the rebate. Set-up was over the vonage website and basically 5-10 minutes later the phone port gets activated and your good to go.

My weak link intially was the phone I used. Forgot that I needed an extra phone and all I had was an old 900 Mhz analog phone. Once I replaced it, the quality was good. Best of all it passed the wife test with ease. Right now it's a second phone, actually I got a phone number in my parents home town so they no longer need to dial long distance. Additional or virtual numbers are $4.99 a month. Now AT&T and the other cable and dsl companies are getting in the act. i think this will take off in the next 2-3 years.

My two cents. RR

VoIP is the killer consumer broadband app, Cisco CTO says. The future of converged services and the design of the Internet itself will be driven more by consumer demands than by the plans of carriers, technologists and equipment vendors, says Charlie Giancarlo,Â Ciscoâ€™s chief technology officer. [Network World Fusion NetFlash]

[Rock Regan's Radio Weblog]

Fri, 06 Aug 2004 01:26:24 GMT

FCC lets TiVo users share shows. TiVo gets regulatory reprieve: Forthcoming digital TV-sharing feature won't be banned by government after all. [CNET News.com - Personal Technology]

Thu, 20 May 2004 03:22:59 GMT

Something I am watching because I may be buying one soon.

Sirius satellite radio gets seriously Dish-y [CNET News.com - Personal Technology]

Sun, 11 Jan 2004 18:42:00 GMT

Cory Doctorow: TiVo's new PC-viewing deliberately broken [Tomalak's Realm]

Sun, 11 Jan 2004 18:41:52 GMT

PC World: TiVo Cozies Up to PCs, Satellite. TiVo will soon offer new services through its Home Media Option, notably the ability to transfer and burn recorded programs using a PC. At a press conference here at the Consumer Electronics Show, company executives also unveiled several upcoming hardware devices, including TiVo's first high definition-ready device produced in cooperation with DirecTV. [Tomalak's Realm]

Sun, 30 Nov 2003 00:17:25 GMT

Slate: Will the Broadcast Flag Break Your TiVo? Paul Boutin. But never mind the industry gossip. How will the broadcast flag affect your viewing? It'll be an annoyance for some, but it's not the end of the world some tech reporters predicted. Instead, it's more like the Big Four networks' last stand against their competitors. [Tomalak's Realm]

Thu, 18 Sep 2003 23:11:10 GMT

Here's a site that shows images from the various camera phones. [The Scobleizer Weblog]

Wed, 16 Jul 2003 00:07:02 GMT

Panasonic raises its DVR storage bar. A combo DVD-digital video recorder will have 50 percent more hard-drive capacity than its predecessors, a promise of longer recording times that could help the company hang onto its lead. [CNET News.com - Personal Technology]

Sun, 15 Jun 2003 21:11:31 GMT

SJ Mercury: Latest version of ReplayTV cuts ability to share shows, skip ads. The decision to jettison the features represents a major strategy shift by the device's new maker, Digital Networks North America. The company acquired the ReplayTV brand from bankrupt SonicBlue in April and is now seeking to soothe relations with the entertainment industry. [Tomalak's Realm]

Mon, 02 Jun 2003 23:44:42 GMT

Renewed TiVo. TiVo is selling Certified Factory Renewed Series2 80-hour DVRs for the price of a new 40-hour model. TechTV reviews the... [Bryce Yehl]

Mon, 10 Mar 2003 22:21:48 GMT

ReplayTV Rebate.

Amazon.com - ReplayTV RTV5040 40-Hour Digital Video Recorder $139.94 After Rebate.

"Amazon is selling the ReplayTV RTV5040 40-Hour Digital Video recorder for $239.94 with a $50 rebate (exp. 3/31/03) and another $50 rebate (exp 3/16/03 - copy of UPC). Please Note: Activation of this product requires payment of either a $9.95 monthly service fee or a $250 one-time service activation fee. More info about activation here. Just $129.94 with a $10 off $75 coupon." [More Stuff 4 Less Bargain Blog]

That means you can get a 40-hour DVR for $390 total. Not bad considering how expensive these machines still are. Another $100 and I think they'll start cutting into the mainstream some. If you've been waiting, perhaps this is a more appealing price point for you?

[The Shifted Librarian]

Sun, 09 Mar 2003 15:00:59 GMT

Another ReplayTV Convert.

Well, I'm certainly doing my part to maintain SonicBlue's bottom line. Bryce Yehl just bought a ReplayTV 5040 and it's already having an effect on him:

"In spite of the fact that I'm already used to watching my favorites shows on my own schedule, I do see my viewing habits changing. It's that Magic Pause Button. I like it. A lot."

Even better, he's pointed me to ReplayPC and QVision, two utilities for extracting shows from newer Replays to your PC. I've ordered a Linksys WET11 Bridge so when it gets here, I'll have to try these out. I figure I should be able to pull a couple of shows off the new Replay, convert their formats, and load them on my Archos Multimedia Jukebox to go. Then when we go on vacation, I can take music and video with us!

[The Shifted Librarian]

Wed, 05 Mar 2003 23:28:52 GMT

When TV Becomes "ReplayTV".

Just a quick story before I crash early tonight. Last week, we bought our third ReplayTV. Yes, you read that right - third. It's a financial risk, considering that SonicBlue isn't doing so well financially, but I feel confident that if SonicBlue goes belly up that TiVo will take over its subscriber service (or offer trade-ins) or some genius on Slashdot will come up with a hack for using an open-source programming guide.

So the question you're probably asking yourself is why on earth would we do this, especially since these machines are still so expensive? We did it because two weeks ago, soon-to-be-nine-year-old Kailee asked if she could watch TV. I said yes, and that she should use the one in the living room. Her response was, "No - I want to watch ReplayTV." You see, she records about 10-15 hours of shows on Animal Planet every week, along with The Saddle Club and Little House on the Prairie. Seven-year old Brent really only uses it to for Batman Beyond (he's outgrown Between the Lions), although today he asked me to start taping Yu-Gi-Oh, too.

Anyway, it was when I told Kailee she could watch ReplayTV that I suddenly realized how proficient she has become with it and that she was actually defining her customized "ReplayTV" differently than regular television. Then I watched Brent with it, and now that he is learning to read, he's actually reading the descriptions of what we've taped. Which presents a problem, since we tape plenty of grown-up programs that we don't want them flipping through inadvertently. We don't use VCRs in our house anymore (except for watching the occasional old videotape gathering dust on the shelves), so the obvious answer was a new DVR (Digital Video Recorder) for the adults.

I could have hedged my bets and gone with a TiVo, but the new ReplayTVs are too enticing. We bought an 80-hour version, swapped it with the family's 60-hour one, and set up the older one in the bedroom. The remote for the new Replays takes some getting used to, but there are some definite usability improvements and we already love the "commercial advance" feature that skips through most of the commercials. When a show fades out to commercial, it just picks right back up where the commercials end. Very spiffy, and it's really great when you have kids! Network executives will be happy to know that it's turned off by default out-of-the-box, but I changed that pretty quickly.

The new Replay has an ethernet port, so I can connect it to my home network and send digital pictures to it (which can also show up as the screensaver!). My network is a wireless one, though, so I'd have to get a Linksys bridge (or something similar) or buy a hub and run a wire. Naturally, I'd rather opt for the wireless option, but being a good citizen, I was just gearing up to re-implement WEP security now that everything is running smoothly again.

However I assume the ReplayTV won't understand WEP on its own, and there are no instructions in the manual for setting a WEP key on it. I never imagined myself asking this question, but how then do I add my DVR to my wireless network and secure it? Is the Linksys bridge truly the answer to my prayers? I think so, and I might just have to buy a second one for the PlayStation. :-)

[The Shifted Librarian]

Mon, 20 Jan 2003 18:19:59 GMT

Microsoft sets sights on CD piracy. The software giant releases a new program aimed at helping the music industry stop the unauthorised copying of CDs. [BBC News | Technology | UK Edition]

Mon, 20 Jan 2003 16:53:12 GMT

A trend worth watching. Digital videorecorders. I am thinking of getting one. So I will be looking and researching over the next few weeks.

Curtains for Digital Show Sharing. After being questioned by lawyers representing entertainment companies suing Sonicblue, the webmaster for Planet Replay -- an online forum for ReplayTV owners -- shutters an area on the site that helps users share recorded shows. By Katie Dean. [Wired News]