TiVo Archives - Page 111 of 149

Win A TiVo With Lifetime Service

TiVo’s giving away a Series2 dual-tuning TiVo with Lifetime Service each month through July. All that’s required for entry is an email address. Interesting factoid #1: The package is valued at $549.98. Interesting factoid #2: Contradicting speculation on the TCF, “Each DVR requires its own TiVo service subscription and activation, and it cannot generally be … Read more

95% Of Canadians PVR-less

The Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) ran a study where they looked at PVR usuage in the US and in Canada and determined that only 5% of all Canadians are currently using PVRs and only 38% were even familiar with how they worked. When they surveyed American consumers, the number of people who have PVRs jumps up 15%, but even at that level, it’s still a pretty small number given how powerful the technology really is.

The crazy thing about a PVR is that it’s really tough to demonstrate the benefits to someone without seeing it first hand, but once a consumer experiences the power of time shifting, it’s very tough for them to go back to live TV.

When I bought my first TiVo, it was actually on accident. I had gone to Best Buy to buy a home theater system, but the sound set up that I wanted was a little too expensive. Rather than go home empty handed, I made an impulse decision when I saw the TiVo and after taking it home was immediately floored with how transformative the technology was. Going from a world where you had to schedule your TV to a world where everything was available on my own schedule had a huge impact on my life and instantly made me an evangelist for the company.

TiVo Sackpack Giveaway

I’m still doing a little house cleaning and reorganization… I came across a TiVo sackpack that I picked up at DigitalLife in October – it needs a good home. Leave a comment today, and I’ll randomly pick a winner tomorrow. Over the next few months, I promise to give out much cooler prizes… such as … Read more

TiVo v EchoStar Continues…

On January 26th, in response to a TiVo motion to enforce his earlier order to deliver certain documents, a frustrated-sounding U.S. District Court Judge Duffey slapped the wrists of Echostar and “non-party witness” Homer Knearl, requiring them to sign pre-prepared affidavits that they had, in fact, complied with his order. Duffey accused Knearl and Echostar of playing “a legal shell game” and called their earlier responses “vague, equivocal, and qualified.”

TiVo has been seeking documents produced by Knearl and his former associates at the Merchant and Gould law firm that relate to a legal opinion of non-infringement that M&G gave Echostar in their patent dispute with TiVo. That opinion was not allowed into evidence at trial (primarily because of Echostar’s failure to deliver related documents under an earlier court order), and has now become a significant factor in Echostar’s appeal and TiVo’s counter-appeal.

My review copy of Toast 8 Titanium arrived this week. Unfortunately, my only Mac is still running 10.3.9… and is not supported. I expect to have this rectified (running Tiger on something) in the next few weeks. Until then, check out iLounge’s review of the TiVoToGo features. Jeremy seemed generally pleased with Roxio’s ability to transfer TiVo shows for burning and playback, though he took issue with conversion times and the 320×240 output (same as Windows TTG) when converting for the iPod and PSP.

Toast 8 Titanium lists for $100, though prices are coming in under $50 after rebate in many cases — it pays to shop around. If you buy in, be sure to download the TiVo DVD menu theme. I’m still holding out hope that the TiVo Transfer portion of the app will be given away by TiVo/Roxio at some point. Though, for those who want to save a few bucks, the unofficial TiVoDecode Manager is free and will transfer, decrypt, and convert.

TiVo Takes Out $50 Million Marker, Adds Board Member

The Yankee Group may be predicting that TiVo won’t be around in 2010, but apparently, Citigroup doesn’t share the same dismal outlook. According to an 8K filing, TiVo announced that they’ve negotiated a new $50 million revolving line of credit with the bank. The line of credit will remain in effect until TiVo terminates the arrangement, violates the covenants or January 25th, 2010, whichever one comes first.

In the filing, TiVo indicated that they have the option of going back and requesting an additional $50 million be added to the line of credit if they needed it, but for the time being, they have no plans to borrow any of the money from the new loan. The line of credit replaces a $15 million loan with the Silicon Valley Bank that expired last September.

The terms and conditions on the loan impose standard debt restrictions in how TiVo can operate their business, but two notable features of the loan are the restrictions that could prevent TiVo from entering into certain M&A negotiations and the formula used for the interest rate calculation.

TiVo already has a poison pill in place, that all but ensures the company won’t be bought out in a hostile takeover scenario. To add to this, they also have language in both their Comcast and Cox agreements, that allow either company to terminate their cable deals, if TiVo is acquired by another company. While the inclusion of this type of language isn’t unusual for a loan of this nature, it existence is further proof that TiVo isn’t interested in selling the company, unless it’s on their terms.

James Kim Memorial Fund Charity Raffle

Stephen (aka TiVoStephen, aka Director of TiVoCast Operations) and I were deeply moved by the Kim family ordeal and the tragic death of James while trying to find help for his wife and children. I thought it would be worthwhile to leverage ZNF to raise money for the James Kim Memorial Fund, and I approached … Read more

TiVo @ CES Odds & Ends

MusicChoice
While at CES, TiVo announced a partnership with Music Choice to provide music videos. I was informed that this will be a free service for TiVo customers powered primarily by TiVoCast technology.

One True Media
One of the broadband initiatives announced in November may launch as soon as February. In a partnership with One True Media, folks can upload home video (fees yet to be disclosed) to the OTM website. Once uploaded, video can be “published” to the web, to DVD, or to a TiVo. Recipients will enter a code via their TiVo interface to receive the video, which should show up within 15 minutes.

TiVo Web Page
As reported on a few other blogs, the TiVo website is undergoing a facelift. More than just a new color scheme and Web 2.0 look, the updated site includes an enhanced personalized area and new features such as listings of the weekly top shows. Sounds like somewhere down the road, info from TiVo units may make it onto the site… such as pointing out scheduling conflicts.