Hands On With TiVo’s New Broadband Features

Many of TiVo’s new broadband features were on display last night in NYC. I wasn’t able to attend (I’m out of vacation time at work) but Engadget heeded the call and snapped about two dozen pics for your viewing pleasure. Go check it out!

The Internet: Where TV Shows Go To Die

One of the first shows canceled this television season was CBS’ Smith. As one of about a dozen viewers, I was disappointed when they decided to pull the plug on the weekly heist drama after only three episodes. But I can’t say I’m surprised… The show obviously had a big budget for actors, sets, and … Read more

Breaking News: Wii Movie Playback

This just in… Nintendo has confirmed Wii DVD movie playback will be available “the latter half of 2007!” In related news, Blu-ray support is slated for 2013. In all seriousness, the Wii looks quite entertaining (as a gaming console) and I may have to pick one up.

Does The Zune Matter?

I’m not sure how anyone could have missed it, but Microsoft’s Zune hits the streets today at $249. On the positive side, the iPod competitor integrates an FM receiver and WiFi functionality. But the Zune is bulkier than the iPod, offers fewer store downloads, has a small selection of accessories, isn’t cross platform, and it … Read more

Digital Media Bytes

A periodic roundup of relevant news… Live NASA broadcast from Space Station in HD: EngadgetHD Most PVR users watch recorded shows within three days: PVRWire How to improve the music cellphone: LiveDigitally Comcast adds HD art-on-demand: Press Release Internet TV directory beta application released: tVadio

TiVo Unveils Broadband Video Delivery Strategy

TiVo has announced a comprehensive broadband video delivery approach for both Series2 and Series3 units: Peer-to-Peer Video Sharing Working in partnership with One True Media, TiVo is offering a breakthrough new service feature which will provide friends and families scattered across the country with an easy way to share their home videos, by sending them … Read more

The ZNF Annual Update

The blog portion of ZNF is a little over a year old. In that time I’ve been interviewed for print (New York Times, Mercury News, Wall Street Journal), cited by mainstream web destinations (CNET, CNN Money, PC World), contributed to Engadget, had several job offers, pissed off at least one CEO, pissed off at least … Read more

TiVo Pricing FAQ

Seems like I’m not the only one displeased with TiVo’s new pricing initiatives… Alex of TiVo Blog is considering a new hobby, HDTiVo is considering Vista, and the 477 posts on the TiVo Community Forum suggest there are many confused and/or angry customers. TiVo responded today with a Fall 2006 Pricing FAQ to clarify their new plans.

Q. What happened last Sunday and why?
A. TiVo modified its pricing plans to lower the upfront cost for its Series2TM boxes to customers. It also made TiVo pricing consistent for both tivo.com customers and retail customers.

Q. How can you justify increases in some of the service fees?
A. The overall price that a customer pays for the TiVo box and service came down in most, but not all scenarios. You can still get TiVo service for $12.95/month, but with a 3-yr commitment. The upfront price of the Series2 box was either lowered or went away completely depending on the model. You can also get a TiVo box and service for significantly less than $12.95/month when you prepay for 3 years of service. As another example, you can get a single tuner TiVo DVR with one year of service for $199 total under the new plan. Under our previous pricing, the offer would have cost a total of $224 — $69 for the box and then $155 for one year of pre-paid service. Overall, we want to reward customers who expect to utilize the TiVo service for a longer period of time by offering discounts for multiple year commitments and prepaid plans.

Q. How does this change what I am paying today?
A. The new pricing doesn’t affect any of our current customers’ rates for boxes that they own. If you are a monthly customer today, the monthly fees on your current boxes will not change with this change in pricing. This also applies to boxes currently covered under our multi-service discount program. New pricing applies only to new boxes purchased.

Read more