Hauppauge Launching MediaMVP-HD Next Month

I sat down for a nice chat with the Hauppauge folks earlier this afternoon. Where I learned they’ll be launching the MediaMVP-HD next month for $149. This device resides in the same space as Western Digital’s HD WD TV, in allowing you to playback a variety of local media via USB storage or the network … Read more

Ceton to Unveil CableCARD Quad-Tuner ($399)

I’ve just received word that Ceton will be unveiling a low profile, PCI Express “Quad-Tuner” card at CES. Strike that. Steve Ballmer will be unveiling the Ceton card. During Microsoft’s opening CES keynote tomorrow evening! The $399 PC accessory is expected to ship in Q1 and enables simultaneous tuning of four live channels of digital … Read more

SiliconDust to Announce CableCARD HDHomeRun

We’ve been hearing of something exciting coming from SiliconDust, the company that brought us the popular HDHomeRun network dual tuner product (a favorite of mine), and it looks like this is the week we’ll be getting the details on it. Over on the SiliconDust forums, the company revealed (screenshot above) they’ll be announcing a new … Read more

How’s Your Cable Company Treating You? (HD)

Being enrolled in auto-pay, I rarely see a cable bill. However, now that Dexter and Californication have come to an end for the year, I took a look at my latest statement before canceling Showtime ($16/mo) earlier this week. When I moved over the summer, from a Comcast region to Cox, I gave up several … Read more

TiVo Responds To The FCC (Cable Discriminates)

As you may have read earlier this month, the FCC went on the record in expressing their dissatisfaction with separable security CableCARD technology, related to industry openness and innovation. Something I’ve been harping on for ages. And there’s plenty of blame to go around. (Pot, meet kettle.) So the FCC has opened up the floor … Read more

What’s next for TiVo?

new-tivo-ui

Over at EngadgetHD, Ben Drawbaugh lays out a case (and wishlist) for the imminent release of new stand-alone TiVo DVR hardware. Given the recent TiVo price drops, upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January, and long gestation period since the last hardware refresh (Summer, 2007), it’s not an unreasonable proposition.

However, when it comes to tru2way, the cable industry as a whole isn’t quite there yet. CableCARD separable security was federally mandated, whereas the vision of a universal tru2way infrastructure is merely an unenforceable memorandum of understanding amongst many industry players. Who blew right on past their self-imposed deadline. So any new (imminent) stand-alone TiVo box would either need to forgo tru2way capabilities or remain operable in non-tru2way cable environments.

As far as CES is concerned, I get the sense that TiVo fears any big product announcement would be overshadowed amongst thousands of other companies vying for attention. In the years I’ve been attending, TiVo’s CES presence is usually understated — they’re tucked away off the show floor, in a back room conducting mostly invite-only briefings/meetings. Also, if TiVo isn’t prepared to begin shipping new hardware within a few weeks of a show product announcement, they’d potentially cannibalize TiVo HD sales while customers wait it out. And given timing of the new, super-powered Broadcom chip announcement, I don’t foresee it being implemented anytime soon. (Not that this is/was known to be a TiVo Series 4 component.)

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The Windows Media Center CableCARD Update

Over the weekend, Microsoft released the CableCARD firmware update for Windows 7 Media Center which relaxes DRM for recordings in a big way and adds support for SDV.  The package arrived as the “ATI Digital Cable Tuner 1.19.12.09050155 firmware” — available to all of those with the ATI CableCARD tuners via Windows Update. Next, Microsoft … Read more

SARA, The Steampunk DVR OS?

As I mentioned yesterday, the cessation of TiVo multi-room viewing (MRV) and ongoing SDV tuning adapter resync annoyances has me playing the field. Over the years, I’ve known a few people running Scientific Atlanta’s 8300HD line of DVRs. I haven’t used one in a couple years, but the issues that bothered me then are still … Read more