TiVo Nearing Subscription-Free Australian Launch

According to the Sydney Morning Herald: THE Seven Media Group will launch its TiVo digital video recorder in July after a strategic overhaul that includes a surprise move to scrap a planned monthly subscription fee for the broadband-enabled service. TiVo’s launch plan comes as Seven’s wireless broadband group, Unwired, confirmed it was finalising deals with … Read more

Video Podcasts From TiVo Desktop 2.6.1 Just Work – Still Room For Improvement

TiVo Desktop version 2.6.1 (download here) was launched on April 9, 2008 (See TiVoPony’s announcement, Megazone’s post, and TiVo’s press release). For TiVo Desktop users that have upgraded to TiVo Plus ($24.99 USD), the most important new feature of version 2.6.1 is its integrated support for video podcasts. Video podcasts of your choosing can now … Read more

SDV Tuning Adapters In The Flesh

As promised, Cisco and Motorola SDV tuning adapters are on display at The Cable Show. Mari shot the photo below and EngadgetHD posted several pics of the Motorola SDV tuning resolver in action with a TiVoHD. I’m pleased TiVo customers will shortly (?) see a solution (even if it’s a kludge, bound to cause more … Read more

TiVo Resurrects Lifetime Service

TiVo’s been testing the return Lifetime Service on a promotional basis, and I’ve just received word that it’s back for good. (Until they shift course again…) Current DVR subscriptions run $12.95/month or $129/year, so it’d take about 2.5-3 years before benefiting from the $399 Lifetime Service fee. And since Lifetime Service is box-specific, you may … Read more

TiVo Network Remote Control Evolution

In less than two weeks, we’ve gone from a manual keyboard kludge to a more polished method of TiVo network remote control (Ubuntu above, iPhone below). By using the Crestron hooks TiVo incorporated into the Fall 2007 Update, folks are beginning to design graphical apps. However, I still believe there’s more powerful and practical uses … Read more

Amazon Unbox on TiVo Going HD

While I’ve heard murmurs from various corners for quite some time, this is the first official confirmation from TiVo that Amazon Unbox will be going HD: Unbox, the content-downloading service TiVo started with Internet retail leader Amazon.com last year, can’t process HD content, though the companies will announce HD capabilities “in the not too distant … Read more

Status Quo for DirecTV & TiVo

While relations between DirecTV and TiVo have thawed (extended pact, do-not-sue agreement, software update), there doesn’t appear to be much momentum based on comments made during DirecTV’s earnings call: I think we continue to see a few things — I think we have a constructive relationship. We are not doing a lot in all honesty … Read more

All About Comcast

P2P Bill of Rights Deep-Sixed After about three weeks, Comcast has abandoned their proposed P2P Bill of Rights in favor of collaboratively developing best practice guidelines within the Distributed Computing Industry Association. As I’ve said before, I’m glad to see them openly discussing these issues. Though, I’m not sure Comcast’s Net non-Neutrality stance has changed… … Read more