TiVo

Which Box is Making All Those Netflix API Requests?

The folks at Netflix ran a most interesting post yesterday on the company’s technical blog (via ReadWriteWeb). According to the director of engineering, one Netflix device is responsible for roughly 50% of total API calls. The same device, however, isn’t responsible for a comparable level of streaming traffic. In order to cut down on the … Read more

The Top Ads of Super Bowl XLV?

Another possibly Super Bowl has come and gone. The game was ugly early on and I feared a blowout. Yet many around me didn’t seem to mind, due to an overabundance of Steelers haterade. But Pittsburgh regrouped at the half and made it competitive, failing pull ahead of the Packers on the final drive. We … Read more

TiVo Launches Ad Comparison Widget (To Sell Services)

Click to enlarge. In an effort to drum up business for their commercial Stop||Watch audience measurement services, TiVo has launched a free web widget that compares the relative effectiveness of television brand advertising. I’d originally intended to pass on this bit of “news” as it’s not really directed at us gadget-loving consumers and I wonder if TiVo’s … Read more

The Best Netflix Hardware Experience?

ZNF friend Tech of the Hub has round up a variety of Netflix streaming hardware for comparison. They’re not the first to go down this path, but they are the most recent. Although I’d have liked to see an Xbox 360 in the mix, the Roku, Apple TV, Wii, PS3, and TiVo analysis is thorough… … Read more

DISH Network Calls TiVo Stale

Over the last several weeks we’re been hit by a large number of comments originating from DISH Network. While we encourage industry participation and greatly appreciate corporate disclosure, this is a clear case of astroturfing – these drive-by comments largely bad mouth the competition while pumping their own product lineup, versus joining the conversation. My friends at … Read more

Microsoft Sues TiVo (Again)

Generally speaking, patent litigation bores us. However, we offer up this (abbreviated) story in the name of completeness. Given TiVo’s success in extracting $100 million from Echostar/DISH, they set their patent infringement sights on AT&T and Verizon. As AT&T U-Verse television service is powered by Microsoft’s Mediaroom, MS joined the fray and sued TiVo. Apparently, Softie’s initial … Read more

TiVo’s Charter Deal & Multi-Room Clues

TiVo’s gone ahead and inked themselves another deal with a cable provider: Charter Communications, Inc. and TiVo Inc., today announced that Charter is setting its strategy for the next generation of television into motion with TiVo Inc. Charter and TiVo have finalized a multi-year agreement that will leverage the TiVo user interface to bring a … Read more

A Few FiOS TV DVR Notes (versus TiVo)

fios-gear1

As regulars know, we recently left the cable hegemony behind in favor of Verizon’s FiOS TV…. to overcome switched digital video (SDV) tuning adapter flakiness and a CCI Byte content lockdown that essentially neutered our TiVo ecosystem. And, on the technological front, we couldn’t be happier. (But I may follow up with a less glowing billing and support post, as many of you cautioned.)

We’re a three TV/DVR household, although currently only possess two televisions — one powered by a TiVo Premiere and the other powered by the Verizon FiOS DVR shown above. So the question is, what DVR will power TV #3 when the time comes?

Now that Cox Communication’s CCI Byte “guilty until proven innocent” restriction is behind me, TiVo once again provides multi-room viewing. Although my mothballed TiVo HD and Series 3 may not have the bandwidth to move content wirelessly in real time between DVRs, the way I could Premiere to Premiere. On the FiOS TV front, most of us are still running Interactive Media Guide (IMG) 1.8… which doesn’t utilize a 16:9 UI and multi-room viewing is limited to a DVR hub feeding set-tops. However, testing is underway for version 1.9 and deployment should begin in the near future. And I’m quite interested…

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