Wireless operators AT&t;T and Verizon Wireless are planning to introduce services which enable customers to program their digital video recorders using their mobile phones…that way, when they get home, they won’t have missed a single moment of their favorite television programming.
Tag Archive: digital video recorders
The Digital Home is Almost Here
By Michael Greeson, CEO, Co-Founder of The Diffusion Group
The Shot Heard Round the World
In a moment that sent shockwaves through the personal technology industry, Sonos CEO John MacFarlane told the BBC on Tuesday that he thinks the ‘digital home’ is still a decade away from becoming a reality. This pointed comment was picked up by hundreds of electronic and print publications… and not a day after I was speaking with a client on why the concept of the ‘digital home’ is wearing thin. I’m quite familiar with MacFarlane’s message – it’s one TDG has been sharing with its clients for several years.
Macrovision And Microsoft Working Together
The agreement allows entertainment content owners to benefit from greater distribution flexibility while maintaining rights protection on PCs, digital video recorders and portable media devices. Microsoft and Macrovision will roll out this functionality over the next year.
For the entertainment industry to deliver premium on-demand entertainment in the home, rights must be protected to prevent revenue loss. With about 10 million digital video recorders expected to ship in 2005, a surge in demand for PCs running Microsoft Windows XP Media Center 2005 and broad consumer adoption and use of digital media technologies, Microsoft and Macrovision are working to provide a flexible rights solution that allows the entertainment industry to take full advantage of new usage models for today’s digital home.
TiVoToGo Serice Targets Your PC
“TiVo, the best known maker of digital video recorders (DVR), said the upgrade is free, and will be available to standalone customers who own the “Series 2″ version of its set-top box. TiVo first announced the service one year ago.
“Other generic DVRs confine your entertainment experience to the living room, but with TiVoToGo, subscribers can take their favorite shows with them to enjoy on business trips or family vacations,” said Matt Wisk of TiVo, in a statement.
DVRs, PVRs And HTPCs Compared
If you’re still using a traditional VCR, now might be the time to step out of the 20th century. PVRs, DVRs and HTPCs are the new VCR, and if you aren’t currently using one, chances are you will very soon.
PVRs (Personal Video Recorders) and DVRs (Digital Video Recorders) are essentially the same thing – a hard-drive based set-top unit designed to record television shows digitally. HTPCs (Home Theater PCs) are computers designed to interface with your television and stereo, allowing access to all of your media files – and the ability to digitally record TV as well – in the comfort of your favorite viewing area.
ReplayTV, Tivo PVR Price Battle Heats Up
ReplayTV announced on Friday a new rebate program for its 5500 series Digital Video Recorders, countering Tivo’s recen’t 10 percent discount and rebate offers.
From now through September 30th, 2004, purchasers of all new ReplayTV DVRs will be entitled to receive the following rebates: $50 for the 40-hour Model RTV5504 (SRP: $149.99); $100 for the 80-hour RTV5508 (SRP: $299.99); $100 for the 160-hour RTV5516 (SRP: $449.99); and $200 for the 320-hour RTV5532 (SRP: $799.99). With each model, consumers have the choice of either purchasing the ReplayTV Service for a $12.95 monthly fee, or choosing service for the lifetime of the product for a single, onetime payment of $299.
Study Shows DVRs Increase Commercial Views
The report, “Demystifying Digital Video Recorders,” published jointly by InsightExpress and MediaPost finds that DVRs create more opportunities for viewers to watch TV advertising than those who do not use DVRs. The reason for this is that DVR users watch more hours of TV and are exposed to more ads – even while they are fast-forwarding. The report suggests that DVR users watch about 24 percent more TV than non-DVR users.
Comcast To Use Microsoft TV Software
Comcast agreed to adopt Microsoft TV Foundation Edition 1.7 software for rollout to as many as 5 million subscribers, with an option to raise that number at a later date. Foundation Edition 1.7 lets cable companies and some other TV providers offer an interactive programming guide, navigation tools and advanced features for capturing programs on DVRs (digital video recorders).
Read more at IT World.
New Hard Drives To Expand DVR Capacity
That’s why new external hard drives that are being designed to expand the capacity of cable or satellite industry digital video recorders will likely have to subscribe to the same copy protection standards dictated by Hollywood.
Maxtor Corp., the world’s second largest hard-drive maker, announced a new 160-gigabyte external drive this week that will be built as an expansion for cable or satellite set-top boxes.
Seagate Technology, the world’s No. 1 hard-drive maker, plans to announce next week a similar offering aimed at capitalizing on the growth of DVRs, now quickly gaining steam as the cable industry embarks on introducing DVR-equipped boxes to its massive customer base.
TiVo Series2 DVR Review
Quote from the review at Whining Dog:
“The VCR is dead. The coffin has been ready for many years now. The first nail in the coffin was in the form of DVDs. As this disc format to hold, VHS rentals tailed off quite a bit (look at the popularity of Netflix today as indicator of how well DVDs are doing). The next nail and the one that will probably close the lid for good is the concept of Digital Video Recorders or DVR’s. This concept was made popular by the likes of TiVo and ReplayTV and can now also be found in PC platforms such as ATI All-In-Wonder cards and the Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition OS. Today we’re going to take a look at one of the originators of the DVR concept
