It’s that time of year again. We’re more than halfway to the holiday shopping season and CES 2008, which means CE companies are starting to panic about what they can get on to store shelves or at least out of production in time to take advantage of the year’s biggest buying season and biggest PR … Read more
Looks like some of those upcoming AT&T U-verse features actually won’t be making an appearance any time soon: Photos, VoIP, U-Bar, Yellow Pages (Q4, 2007) 2 HD Streams, Pair Bonding, iNID (Q2, 2008) Whole Home DVR (Q3, 2008) Caller ID on TV (Q4, 2008) Though, the most interesting new DVR interface/functionality I want to check … Read more
Ben Drawbaugh over on EngadgetHD reports that Time Warner Cable will be deploying switched digital video (SDV) to 50% of its markets before the end of 2007. That’s great news in the sense that SDV should free up significant bandwidth. Like analog reclamation, SDV will make it possible to offer more HD content as well … Read more
Originally announced at CES, I’ve been given word that Verizon’s FiOS TV Interactive Media Guide ~aka FiOS TV 2.0~ is rolling. The new GUI has just launched in Fort Wayne, IN and will be deployed to existing FiOS TV customers as a software update on existing hardware over the summer. To the best of everyone’s … Read more
On Monday, Digeo announced that in Q4 they’ll offer MSOs a new Moxi HD set-top box with CableCARD support allowing them to comply with the FCC’s separable security mandate. They hope to sell these to cable-cos (i.e. Charter) at 1/3 the price of their current boxes. Some features: Moxi 4.1 software improvements including faster rendering … Read more
It’s pretty amazing when you stop to think that the TiVo interface has been around since the 90s, yet the ease of use coupled with some powerful functionality still hasn’t been matched in a set-top box. So I’m always interested in seeing what others are planning… Gemstar intends to release an updated personalizable My TV … Read more
The press release drops tomorrow, but I’ve got the deets (and a sexy pic) today. A few months back, Digeo announced they were switching gears expanding new markets by prepping a stand-alone HD DVR to be sold through electronics retailers. (Current Moxi boxes are distributed through cable providers, such as Charter, with 400,000 in circulation.) … Read more
According to a letter the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) submitted to the FCC, TiVo is working on an Open Cable Application Platform (OCAP) port. Long term, this seems like an inevitable software engineering initiative if TiVo plans to continue working with the likes of Comcast and Cox. Multiple guides, multiple VOD applications, switched … Read more