Recently in PVR Category

We mentioned the Netflix set top box for streaming movies to your TV earlier today and already there are a bunch of reviews posted. Here's a sampling:

PC Mag gives it 4/5 and says "For those looking to augment an unlimited Netflix subscription, this set-top box from Roku is affordable and easy to use. Here's hoping the movie selection becomes broader."

CNet gives it 7.7/10 and says: "While it's still a work in progress--and currently lean on quality content--the Netflix Player's simple operation, overall convenience, and cheap price makes it a compelling option for Netflix subscribers looking for instant gratification."

and Wired gives it 7/10 and says "Another nondescript black box to clutter up your living room. Just not as much content as we wish was available. Box and remote, while functional, just aren't very good looking."

Tired of waiting for your Netflix movies to appear in the mailbox? well if you have a Netflix subscription over $9/month and $100 to spare you can how pickup a Netflix set-top box that streams movies directly to your PC.

What's the catch? no HD so far, not too many new releases, no built-in title search. If you can live with that then you get access to 10,000 movies titles (with more being added all the time) for no extra fee above what you're currently paying for your subscription.

Netflix player from Roku via BGR

Dlink has announced their DLink DSM-750 HD media center extender is now shipping.

The $330 DSM-750 works best with Vista Media Center PCs (sorry XP Media Center owners, no HD for you) and streams HD content, music, and pictures from any device on your home network over 802.11n wireless or 10/100 ethernet to any attached TV.

We have to wonder though: why no gigabit ethernet: the extra cost over 10/100 would have been minimal and the performance improvement should be substantial.

Full press release on the DSM-750 follows.

DLink DSM-750 via SlipperyBrick

TiVo's VP of product marketing, Jim Denney, mentioned in an article on TV Week that TiVo and Amazon will announce HD "in the not too distant future."

HD has always lagged behind on PVRs so it's good to see some more availability in this area.

Amazon Unbox on Tivo at Crave

Equinux has introduced a hybrid USB television receiver that contains two tuners - one for analog signals and one for digital, allowing users to watch and record all their favorite programs.

The Tubestick comes with interesting software that allows you to chat with other people watching the same show as you and to transfer recorded shows to an ipod or iphone.

Obviously it isn't as good as a full dedicated media pc but for $129 it's a good way to watch TV wherever you go.

source

Jeff Atwood at coding horror decided to improve on his existing homemade home theater pc by taking advantage of the simplicity and low power of the AMD 780G platform.

He ended up with a small form factor home theater pc with directx 10 support and dual TV tuner, and you can copy his setup for around $500.

(full instructions at codinghorror)

Krunker took an old mac mini, upgraded the ram, adding some external hard drives, an external HD TV tuner, installed vista, and ended up with a very usuable vista media center pc.

Here's the summary:

"In this article, I’ve gone over the high level elements that I’ve undertaken to transform a Apple Mac mini into a Windows Vista Media Center system. At the end of the day, the Mac mini makes a solid and capable Media Center box. It’s even better when you use the system in conjunction with Media Center Extender systems since the Extenders can deal with the actual video processing and rendering. There are of course some limitations with the Mac mini - mostly in the areas of storage and expandability. Storage expansion can be solved via external hard drives or via a network attached storage device such as Windows Home Server (and I’ll delve into that in the near future). Additional capabilities can be added to the Mac mini via USB connections although it does destroy the simplistic look of the overall system a bit."

(full article at krunker)

Hot on the heels of AMD's announcement of a new processor designed for portable media players and their partnership with TivoToGo is this new linux powered PMP that uses the new AMD alchemy chip and that could (by an amazing feat of deduction) be compatible with TivoToGo.

The FIC Vassili is going to be announced at CES this week (so hopefully we will have some hands-on photos), and will likely be licensed and distributed by other companies under their brand names in the US.

The FIC Vassili features a 3.6" color LCD (resolution not known), 20GB hard drive, USB 2.0 and USB host, TV and Audio-out, 10/100 ethernet, and runs Linux but is also capable of running Windows CE.

Supported multimedia formats include MPEG4, MP3, WMA, WAV, ASF, AVI, and JPEG, battery life is said to be 4 hrs video or 12 hrs audio, dimensions are 4.9 x 3.5 x 0.75 inches, weight is 6.5oz, and expected cost is around $500.

Update: We got our hands on one at CES Unveiled, it looks great, the video quality is excellent, the menu system is unimpressive, and I like that it comes in multiple colors but who decided on a Hello Kitty pink?

(more at LinuxDevices via Slashdot)

Tivo has finally launched their TivoToGo service which will either get them a bunch of new customers or will get them sued into oblivion (I'm hoping for the new customer option not the suing).

They specifically got the FCC to approve this so I hope they will be ok.

TivoToGo sounds like a great service, if your Tivo is networked you can copy programs from it to another PC on your network (you need special software on that PC, programs can be shared with a maximum of 10 PCs, and TV stations "may restrict or limit the ability to record, display, view or transfer any particular program using a variety of copy protection mechanisms".)

If it lets me transfer shows to my laptop and watch them while I'm traveling I will be happy.

If you have a series 2 Tivo you can get on the priority list for the service upgrade at http://research.tivo.com/tivotogo/

(TivoToGo via PVRBlog)

Imagine taking 7 Tivos and squishing them all together inside a box, what do you end up with?: The Sony Vaio Type X.

Yes they stole the name from Jaguar but this is the Ferrari of video recorders: 3.6GHz Pentium 4 Processor, 1 GB RAM, 1 TeraByte (1000 GB of storage, dual layer DVD writer, and 7 (yes 7) TV tuners. The tricky thing will be getting it to work with your cable or satellite service.

In addition it can be configured with 17" to 23" LCD screens and a HD digital tuner version will be available in December.

Expect a basic Type X to be around $4,000 and a fully tricked out one to be closer to $10k.

Sharp has announced a 26" LCD TV and PC combo in Japan that is more PVR than PC.

The Sharp Mebius PC-TX26GS/TX26G has a 1366 x 768 pixel resolution 26" LCD TV (that needs a seperate tuner if you want to watch HD-TV), and a DVD recorder/PC with 250gb hard drive, celeron processor, and 512mb RAM.

The Sharp Mebius PC-TX26GS/TX26G will be available in Japan in December.

Sharp press release (japanese)

The Telly MC1200 is the third generation of Interact-TV's home entertainment server: basically a cross between a Tivo and a Media PC.

The Telly MC1200 is 16.5 x 4.6 x 12.2 inches, runs Linux, and is controlled with a wireless keyboard and remote control. It comes with a 80gb hard drive, 1.2ghz Via C3 processor, 256mb RAM, ethernet connection, and a DVD-CDRW drive but can be upgraded to 3 250gb drives, a DVD writer and 1gb RAM.

The Telly MC1200 has a software interface allowing you to choose and record tv programs as well as watch movies, listen to music, and view pictures.

press release

In what looks like a sign of despiration Tivo halved the price of their 40 hour model by offering a $100 mail-in rebate bringing the price down to $99.

The rebate is valid for other Tivo digital video recorders from Toshiba, Pioneer, and Humax.

In addition they are switching to cheaper packaging, starting to sell Tivo in a wider range of retail stores, and kicking off a national advertising campaign in non-tech related magazines.

Press Release

On the tail of yesterday's bad news for Tivo there is some good news:

The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has ruled in favor of Tivo's plans to allow subscribers to share digital TV shows over the internet with up to 10 other Tivo units.

More from News.com

PVRblog reports that Tivo might be in deep doo-doo!

Half of Tivo's customers come from their partnership with DirecTV, but recently DirecTV got bought by News Corp, DirecTV sold their Tivo stock, DirecTV honcho resigned from Tico's board, and now DirecTV is going to start selling the (vastly inferior to Tivo) NDS digital video recorders (also owned by News Corp).

(thanks PVRBlog)

The LA Times is reporting that wider use of Tivo and other PVRs along with competition from cable is resulting in the Networks scheduling less reruns in primetime.

Hooray!

LA Times Story

(thanks PVRblog)

Snapstream are giving away 50 of their new Firefly PC remote controls:

The Firefly PC Remote bridges the gap between the study and the living room. Play movies, TV shows, MP3s, photos and other media stored on your computer from the comfort of your couch. Skip tracks, change the volume, fast-forward, rewind and pause like you do with your current home theater. And Firefly works through walls, so you won't have to move the PC or yourself.

Firefly comes with Beyond Media Basic, a full-screen interface, so you can navigate your PC from across the room. Firefly is compatible with over 80 media applications, including Microsoft® XP Media Center edition.

Click Here to enter (requires email address only, ends 5/16)

Amazon currently has a great price on Series 2 Tivo's that let you record, pause, fast forward and playback live TV (requires either a monthly or lifetime subscription ot the Tivo service to work fully):

TiVo Series2 40-Hour Digital Video Recorder for $129.94 (after $50 mail-in rebate): Great Price!
TiVo Series2 80-Hour Digital Video Recorder for $269.87: ok price
TiVo Series2 140-Hour Digital Video Recorder for $349.99 (after $50 mail-in rebate). Good Price!

TelevisionWeek reports that TV network execs are starting to admit that Tivo is actually increasing viewership... exactly the opposite of their fears.

(thanks PVRBlog)

Photos posted over on the Tivo Community site of the DirectTV High Definition Tivo due to be release sometime this month.

If you own a TV you should visit the Tivo Community site, they have all the latest news on Tivo as well as hints and tips on how to "enhance" your TV (just like mine is enhanced with a much bigger second hard drive :)