TiVo Hosts… Speed Dating?

This one’s pretty amusing… TiVo is hosting a match-making singles party (free drinks!) at a “hip” San Francisco hotel. I can’t decide if this is marketing genius or lunacy. TiVo says: Ever wish your TiVo WishList or TiVo Suggestions could score YOU the perfect match? Come flirt with the possibility of finding your own special … Read more

XM and Sirius Expand Sports Lineup

Both Sirius and XM have been expanding their sports offerings lately — no doubt to tap into the fanatical multi-gazillion dollar industry. Sirius recently concluded Winter X Games and Super Bowl XL coverage, and moves on to Winter Olympics updates beginning tomorrow. Meanwhile on XM, all 39 games of the World Baseball Classic will be … Read more

HBO Petitions FCC To Prevent DVR Recording

HBO continues their quest to specify what you can and cannot record to your DVR. They’ve been at the forefront of limiting our recording rights and are at it again, this time petitioning that subscription video-on-demand should be off-limits. It’s interesting that they attempt to segregate content… why should one network or type of programing … Read more

Offical TiVo Blog Goes Dark

Thomas Hawk reports the offical TiVo blog is offline. He’s also reporting that the blog sucks… though that may be subjective. Alex Raiano, of the unofficial TiVo Blog, raises questions as well. My expectations for TiVo’s blog weren’t very high, so I’m neither surprised nor disappointed. I always felt the blog was intended as another … Read more

Cisco Buying TiVo… Unlikely

I didn’t originally report the Cisco eyeing TiVo rumors of last week. The story struck me as pure speculation without any concrete sources cited. Had the writer not listed Nintendo as a possible acquisition target, I might have been able to evaluate the proposition more seriously. Trust me, Nintendo won’t be bought by an American … Read more

Netflix Queue Hack Debunked

Several weeks ago Thomas Hawk reported on a method to improve your odds when dealing with backordered Netflix movies. It goes like this… you only fill your queue with out-of-stock DVDs and presumably Netflix has no choice but to fulfill your request. Nice theory… but in reality we haven’t gotten a new movie in several … Read more

Engadget’s Audio Streaming TiVo Tutorial

In case you weren’t aware, a few months back my Engadget handlers let me out of the basement research department to write the occasional tutorial. This week’s how-to describes streaming any audio through your TiVo, such as Sirius, XM, or your locked down iTunes. While the hack isn’t new, it isn’t well publicized so I … Read more

Microsoft Attempts To Patent EPG

Microsoft has submitted a patent application encompassing the construction of an electronic program guide (EPG) from a variety of sources. For example, the DVR might grab guide info from multiple feeds and then compare it to scannable channels and build a lineup grid based on the results. Doesn’t sound much different than most other modern … Read more