Forgive me if I’m a little slow in covering the “news” that came out yesterday, as I assume the blog-dwelling, TiVo fans and investors are up to speed on the New England Comcast Motorola TiVo service rollout. Details from TiVo’s release:
The new service combines TiVo’s award-winning interface and exclusive features, including WishList® searches, TiVo Suggestions and Season Pass™ recordings, with Comcast’s comprehensive channel lineup and massive On Demand library – which includes the most high-definition viewing choices on the market – in one box. The Comcast DVR with TiVo service uses the existing Motorola DVR set-top box provided by Comcast so customers don’t need to purchase additional equipment. The service is just $2.95 more than standard HD DVR service, and customers who want to subscribe can call Comcast to schedule an installation appointment.
I’m living in a hotel this week… So while I’ve missed some coverage, the USA Today is being delivered to my room. They printed a nice chart differentiating Series3/Series2 stand-alone units from the new Comcast TiVo service and the write-up is a good read. Some highlights: Emphasizing “Tru2way“, acknowledging bugs, discussing delays due to technical challenge, Comcast-TiVo partnership good through 2014, though no details on a broader deployment.
Given how much Tivo needs this to be a success, its really sad how long this is taking…
I’ve only read a little about it, but as far as I know it has all the problems of a cable company DVR (unpredictable response to keystrokes, slow GUI operation) with a pretty Tivo interface. Whether it has the sort of crashing, not recording etc I’ve yet to hear about.
I’m not clear why anybody would honestly want this at this point, and I’m a big Tivo fan.
And the stuff about this being True2way? That doesn’t even seem remotely true… I though True2way was basically a rebranded OCAP, and I thought his was NOT implemented using OCAP…
http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/01/22/video-first-look-at-comcast-tivo-interface/
id really like to get my hands on it to try it out to see if its worth it or not.
It’s a tough call… In some cases the interface is improved, in others it suffers from the Comcast/TiVo tug-o-war, early bugs, and reported hardware limitations. The price seems less (and surely there’s no upfront hardware fee), but the compelling stand-alone unit network features are missing. VOD is a big deal for many and Comcast is HUGE, so this could really bring TiVo to the masses But I don’t think I’d subscribe even if I could.
Encouraging…?
“There have been a couple of instances where Ive been fast forwarding and pressed the play button to bring it back to normal speed and it hasnt responded for maybe 3-5 seconds. It hasnt crashed yet or missed recording something, but Ive only had it for a couple days now. Its definitely WAY better than the old Comcast interface, though. It seems like TiVo actually had a big hand in the software, not just Comcast slapping a TiVo interface on top of what was already there.”
— Doug Aamoth (Crunchgear)
I realize that this may not be the best location to post this question, but I am not sure who else might know the answer.
I have 2 small(2 inch screens) portable analog tvs. Are there going to be digital tuner versions of these types of tvs after the the conversion next year?
thanks.
Dave, If someone thinks they can make money on them they will show up in the market. Though I’m not sure how large the market is for dedicated handheld TVs… I did see one or two small ones recently, but not as small as you’re currently using – more kitchen counter size. They could be out there, though – or on the way.
It will be interesting to see if the Comcast deal will have any effect on the net loss on non-tivo owned subscriptions next quarter.
SOrry to burst people’s bubbles, but I have now had Comcast’s version of TIVO on my Moto box for 2 weeks and my whole family despises, disdains and utterly loathes it. It is truly horrific. They could not have made it worse if they tried. In fact, it is so bad that we have started laughing at all the crazy things it does and wondering if Comcast is videotaping us for a Punked episode.
Here’s a very partial list of Comcast TiVo’s little shop of horrors:
1) ghosts that change channels by themselves;
2) the infamous green screen, much like the Microsoft blue screen of death, that blots out all else on its own whim
3) season passes that create themselves, and can’t be deleted. We have one for the News at 9:00. Even three thumbs down won’t kill it! It is to Comcast Tivo as Spyware, Malware and WOrmware are to one’s PC
4) DELAYS like you’ve never seen before–delays changing channels, delays going to OnDemand, menu delays, time setting delays, searching and taping and deleting delays…
5) If nothing else proves how horrific and nighmarish this thing is, then get this: my whole family is praying to get our old Comcast interface back as soon as possible!!! The irony is, when I called Comcast to ditch this horror show, they begged me to keep the Tivo until a new patch came out. Would anyone like to venture a guess as to the timef rame for aforementioned “illusory” patch?
According to a company rep, a patch would be rolling out shortly. As is always the case in these situations, we shall see.
http://www.tivolovers.com/2008/01/25/updates-coming-for-comcast-tivo/
(Atlanta, GA) Opened my Comcast bill today and found out that Comcast is now charging $19.95 for a standard DVR (without Tivo).
Called Comcast and they confirmed the rate hike.
Looks like Comcast has finally found away to kill a good thing. At this price it has now become cheaper to get a full blown Tivo ($12.95/mn + $49 for a dual tuner series 2). Getting a Tivo box over a Comcast DVR will pay for itself in under 1 year!
Once the come out with the Tivo add-on in my area that will drive the price of the DVR to about $25 month…. WAY TO GO COMCAST…..!!!!