TiVo’s New Pricing Summarized

There’s still quite a bit of confusion regarding TiVo’s new pricing, so here’s a brief summary… Lifetime Service New and existing TiVo units are eligible for Lifetime Service at $299 if activated by April 15. Lifetime Service will not be offered for sale after 4/15. Lifetime gift cards will be honored when redeemed as will … Read more

TiVo Series 3 HD Pricing and Timing

TiVo is running an American Idol contest over the next 11 weeks — each week you vote who’s going home. That’s all well and good… but the real interesting news is that in 11 weeks they’ll be giving away a Series 3. Though TiVo officially has up to four months beyond the sweepstakes to deliver.

So speaking of worshipping that false idol, we now have a little more info to base our speculation on. I’ll go first… Series 3 HD will be available 9/1 @ $800 a pop. What’s your guess?

Update: This is now a contest! Predict the Series 3 release date and cost to win a TiVo-branded wireless adapter. Details are in the comments.

Grand Prize: 1 Special Limited Edition TiVo Series3 HD Digital Media Recorder w/Product Lifetime Service
Average Retail Value: $1,500.00

Selected entrants will receive the the weekly prize by mail within thirty (30) days of the Weekly Sweepstakes end date and the Grand Prize by mail within four (4) months of the end of the Sweepstakes Period (exact timing subject to change based upon availability of Grand Prize, which is scheduled to be released for public sale in the second half of 2006).

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SlingPlayer Mobile… Getting Closer

It won’t be long now… The Slingbox portable player is on the way. If you recall, this will let you access your Sling stream via recent Microsoft PDAs and phones (PPC 2003, WM5) using WiFi or your cellular carrier. You can sign up to receive an email when the mobile player is ready for public … Read more

Firefly Mini HTPC Remote

SnapStream, the BeyondTV folks, has added the Firefly Mini to their arsenal. Unlike the original RF Firefly, the new remote is IR and button presses trigger keyboard commands to control many common software apps without requiring configuration or the installation of any drivers. Both Firefly remotes fully support BeyondTV and other SnapStream software, but it’s … Read more

Slingbox Player For Origami

The Sling folks have announced a custom Slingplayer for Microsoft’s new Ultra-Mobile PC platform, aka the Origami. The refreshed application is designed to accommodate the touch screen and unique resolutions of UMPC devices. No specific delivery dates for UMPC or Slingbox software have been announced. Hmmm… these midget tablets might actually be useful. Sling Media … Read more

TiVo’s New Pricing Plans

The big news out of today’s conference call is the implementation of the long rumored pricing structure modifications. As expected, TiVo has dropped the upfront hardware fee and is charging for service only. Additionally, resellers such as new partner Radio Shack can handle service orders. The caveats? Monthly fees have gone up and Lifetime service … Read more

ShowShifter Has Died

You knew it was coming… Once Microsoft entered the space with Media Center Edition, it became inevitable many multimedia software pioneers would be killed off. On the other end of the spectrum from MCE, you’ve got MythTV which is both full featured and free. That doesn’t leave much room in the middle… It will only … Read more

iTunes Experiments With Subscription Pricing

Doesn’t look like any major interface or DRM changes to iTunes yet, but Apple introduced monthly subscriptions today for both The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Ten bucks for 16 shows is better than $1.99 a pop, though I’d prefer paying a little more and having unlimited downloads — Heck, under that model, I’d … Read more