The battle we have been anticipating is heating up. This isn’t the battle between the Xbox, Playstation, and Wii, nor is it the battle between Voodoo, Alienware, Dell, Gateway, and HP; it is the battle between PCs and game consoles. Sony’s Playstation still owns the market with PS2 sales setting the benchmark, but this is an old product, and the new PS3 has created more red ink for the company than most companies could handle and survive. Dell has been under pressure to perform as well, but not only have their standard gaming products been strong, they also bought Alienware, the largest of the gaming specialty PC builders, and used it to lead the PC market.
Tag Archive: digital video recorder
TiVo Mulling Free Set-Top Boxes
At the Reuters Global Technology, Media, and Telecoms Summit in New York, TiVo CE Tom Rogers said that the company is considering testing a variety of new pricing plans to increase its subscriber base, including a plan which would include a free set-top box.
TiVo Tests Pop-Up Ads
“The company confirmed late Monday that it released the first in a series of advertising features to a random and limited number of subscribers to the digital-video recorder service. The first test feature–a tag–pops up on the screen when a viewer is fast-forwarding through an advertisement.
If viewers press the thumbs-up or select button during the half second the tag is displayed, they will be redirected to a menu that leads to more information about the advertised product. The tag takes up about 25 percent of the screen, according to the company. TiVo said it is working with only one advertiser, a movie studio, on the trial balloon. ”
TiVo Gives Away Free DVR’s This Friday
“The digital video recorder company on Friday will give away 40GB Series 2 recorders to Comcast customers who bring their cable bill and a gift for The Family Giving Tree charity to TiVoheadquarters in Alviso, Calif. The giveaway will last from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., or until they run out of units, and will be limited to one recorder per household.
Service fees are not included the giveaway, which is only for first-time TiVo owners. “
Comcast will begin rolling out their new DVR service which is supposed to cost less than TiVo’s. It looks like the Bay Area may see the new Comcast units first.
Toshiba Unveils DLP TV Lineup
The company is also adding 10 fully integrated HDTV sets with CableCard digital cable-ready compatibility, and a high-definition-capable digital video recorder designed to work exclusively with its own IEEE-1394-enabled integrated HDTV sets.
At the same time, the company said it would continue to support CRT-based rear-projection and direct-view products, although with fewer SKUs capable of analog-only input, and it will add more SKUs and screen sizes in flat-faced, widescreen HDTV-capable models.
Read more at TWICE
TiVo Faces Off With Flattering Clones
Debra Baker tells people she has TiVo. But she really doesn’t. The 33-year-old New York tax consultant has a variant – a digital video recorder offered through her cable company. She didn’t know what “DVR” stood for until then.
“I thought DVR was Time Warner’s name for TiVo,” she said.
So, like many others, Baker simply uses the leading DVR brand as the catchall term for the new love in her lounging life: a machine that lets her easily record her favorite TV shows and watch them whenever she wants.
Sony PSX’s 90nm CPU Is ‘Not 90nm’
Sony’s PSX Playstation-cum-personal digital video recorder is not based on a 90nm processor as is widely believed but a 130nm version of the chip, Canadian technology analysis company SemiconductorInsights has claimed.
“Sony claims to manufacture at 90nm, but the design rules are relaxed to 130nm,” SI says. “The e-DRAM trench cells are also laid out using 130nm design rules.”
The company bases its conclusion – to be outlined in an forthcoming report Quick Look I: Sony CXD9797GB Emotion Engine and Graphics Synthesizer – after getting its hands on the chip andopening up the packaging.
Matsushita Ends Production Of Q
The attractive silver Q system was widely considered to be one of the most desirable pieces of gaming hardware on the market when it first launched, and Nintendo was quick to latch on to the appeal of the Q by launching its own silver hued GameCube.
The price of the system has fallen significantly since its initial launch in 2001, however, and it now costs a mere 34,800 Yen (
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