Ceton's CableCARD Solution Has Six Tuners In One Slot

This Ceton Multi-Channel CableCARD is very interesting, both for its ability to decode six cable streams at once to record six shows at once on your Windows Media Center, and for the fact that it's not all that expensive. More »

Normal People Can Now Install CableCARD Tuners On Windows 7 PCs

FINALLY. Microsoft and CableLabs are finally opened the door to have regular people add in CableCARD tuners by themselves, after they've purchased the PC and set it up. This is good news. More »

System Builders Bypass CableCARD Certification With BIOS Tweaking

Tweakers have finally bypassed the one thing in the way of getting CableCARD tuners working on any old PC by fiddling with the BIOS and entering in certain product IDs. It's a good start. More »

Moxi Steps To TiVo, Adding Rhapsody Music and PlayOn for Netflix, Hulu and More

Digeo today brings its Moxi HD DVR in range of TiVo with some capabilities it was sorely lacking in a big way, including DLNA 1.0 for home streaming, and PlayOn for grabbing major net video. More »

FCC Fines Big Cable for Ditching TiVo Owners

Ars reports that the FCC has bitch slapped cable companies that adopted the new switched digital video (SDV) CableCard protocol because, as we discussed in the spring, it totally left TiVo owners hanging. Cable companies say they should be free to do whatever they want with hardware; the FCC says, well, you still need to support companies that bend over backward to adopt to your existing technologies. More »

FCC Head Wants to Bust Open Cable and the Internet (But Without Neutrality Rules)

A day before the FCC is expected to slap Comcast's Hellboy-like wrist, FCC Emperor Kevin Martin gave the the NYT his big hairy vision for openness for cable, wireless and the internet: He wants to set a "very high bar on what network operators can do in terms of putting limits on consumers.” But that doesn't mean he wants true net neutrality, or even actual rules, saying that “hard and fast rules can...have adverse impact.” More »

Sony Signs on With tru2way: Kiss Your Cable Box Goodbye

Joining Panny, Sammy and LG, Sony has signed on with the cable industry to support tru2way (aka OpenCable). Basically, sets with tru2way can do everything you'd usually need a set-top box from your cable company for, like VOD, programming guides and other interactive stuff, without the box (sounds like a future Giz Explains!). With Sony now, all of the major TV players are now on board, along with all the big cable companies like Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, etc., so it looks tru2way really might be a national cable standard, and not just a marketing thing with a cheesy brand name out of the mid-90s. Hopefully the cable boxes are now well on their way to extinction. More »

CableLabs Responds to CableCard Screwjob Allegation

The good folks at CableLabs replied to today's piece about CableCard customers getting screwed out of HD channels. To their credit, they did not ask for a correction, because we didn't print anything inaccurate (though they do claim the HD Guru may have). They just wanted us to consider some "clarifications," arguments that go far to highlight the tension (hatred bordering on violence?) that exists between Big Cable and the consumer-electronics companies. The short version: Cable content is always changing, two-way CableCard exists in theory if not at Best Buy, the dongle could work on anything with a USB port and upgradeable firmware, and, oh yeah, you'll probably be buying all-new gear before this thing blows over. Jump for a more spelled out—but still excerpted—version of CableLabs' rebuttal argument: More »

Panasonic Kills Rear Projection, Promises 2-Way CableCard By Summer

Today in New York, Panasonic showed off the Viera flat-panel TVs it launched at CES, including its badass flagship PZ800 and PZ850 plasma sets and its premiere LZ800 LCD, all coming this summer at prices to be announced. During the meeting, Panasonic also confirmed officially that it was no longer in the rear-projection business, owing to a price crunch in flat panels that basically drove any discount value out of the chunkier projection sets. Bottom line: people would rather pay $3K for a smaller and thinner set than a larger but fatter one. Panasonic also addressed the issue of OpenCable (aka OCAP aka Tru2way) two-way CableCards. More »

Dell Reintroduces CableCARDs on XPS 420s

We've been keeping an eye on Dell's discontinued CableCARD systems since they first introduced them on the XPS 410s because they were a relatively cheap way to get HD recording on a reasonably-priced desktop. Well, fantastic news! Chris Lanier says that Dell's reintroduced the CableCARD option on their XPS 420s, which you can customize and get out the door starting at about a thousand bucks. According to Dell, this is a "functional upgrade to the platform", which means you'll be able to get the CableCARD on this line for the foreseeable future. Sounds like a cheap alternative to our set-top-box wishlist item. [Dell via Chris Lanier]

TiVo-Compatible SDV Tuner May Enable Video on Demand

Remember the USB connector device we pointed at a couple days ago that could bring two-way cable communication? It be this Motorola USB SDV tuning resolver. Dave Zatz explains that this tuner, which will plug into the back of your TiVo in order to enable two-way communications between your box and the cable company, will be in deployment by the end of Q2 2008, and may support video on demand in the future. Even if it does not, the point of an SDV device is to tell the cable company which channel you're watching so they can feed you only one at a time, which then lowers bandwidth, which then allows a larger selection of channels for everyone. [Connectedhome2go via ZatzNotFunny]

TiVo Fiddles with Nero to Build PC DVR

Why let Microsoft's Media Center PCs have all the fun? Today, TiVo announced a partnership with Nero to "develop a software solution that will bring TiVo features to the personal computer." The company claims that this is in response to the "growing PC TV tuner market," and in our opinion its a wise move. TiVo lost a lot of momentum not anticipating CableCard. Now that cable technology is getting easier and easier to move to the PC, it's not long before the demand for PC recording hits the mainstream. Replay TV and others are already there, so joining with Nero gives TiVo a solid foothold. Only question is this: what happened to Roxio? I thought TiVo and Sonic-owned Roxio had a nice relationship. [TiVo via Zatz]

TiVo Confirms TiVoToGo and Multi-Room Viewing Will Hit Series3 and TiVo HD This November

The rumors we posted are true: TiVo is finally getting its balls back. TiVo has confirmed with Gizmodo that TiVoToGo and multi-room viewing have returned to the new Series3 boxes—including the TiVo HD—and will be available in November. We are told that the hold up was DRM—getting the rights stuff figured out with CableCard was a hassle. But once that was solved, insiders say it took a "LONG time" to get the software to work right on the Series3 platform. More »

TiVo HD Review From Late Last Night

That's a beauty shot of the $300 TiVo HD we reviewed last midnight. If you use a DVR, you have to check it out. This thing is pretty badass for three bills. [TiVo HD Review]

New ATI TV Wonder Cards Add Enhanced DVR Functionality, QAM Tuner

Today, ATI announced the 600 USB and 650 PCIe cards, one for USB one for PCIe. The USB is a single tuner HDTV device for laptops, like the Pinnacle. The 650 PCIe is a desktop card with two tuners (that's new) that records and plays an analog and digital source simultaneously. Both cards have Orb DVR software which allows other PCs on the network to stream shows from the host PC. More »

Cable Companies To Charge More For Box Rental, Thanks To CableCard

The good news is, as of July 1 cable companies are required to ship new cable boxes that use new bi-directional CableCards, a move mandated by the FCC to support CableCard-based alternatives such as TiVos and Vista Media Center PCs. The bad news is: Everybody's gonna pay for it. By next January, set-top box rentals may go up $2 to $3 per month, and the rate hike may apply to every cable-box renter, and not just those who opt for the super-deluxe new models. More »

500 HD Channels on Cablevision? No More Programming Until CableCard Is Easy!

Reuters today said that Cablevision would have "the capability" to carry over 500 high-definition channels. This would include the 15 channels that Lazarus-like startup Voom HD Networks (now owned by Cablevision) plans to introduce next Tuesday, along with the 20-some HD channels that are allegedly in the lineup now plus, I suppose, 460 more channels of come what may. (Never mind the fact that Cablevision doesn't even carry BBC America, the company itself acknowledges there are not yet 500 channels worth of HD programming.) More »

When's CableCARD 2.0 Getting Here?

Engadget HD has the story on why CableCARD 2.0—the standard that everyone's waiting for to provide bi-directional high- def cable support like video on demand—isn't here yet. Turns out the standard for bi-directional certification isn't there, and the associations and coalitions of companies can't agree to agree on what's needed for certification. More »

Poll: TiVo Series 3 vs. Vista CableCARD Media Centers

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CableCARD Media Centers Shipping: Get a Sneak Peek Now

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Cisco Super-DVR On The Way?

Cisco is finally getting its Linksys and Scientific Atlanta armies in lockstep, and is devising a home-theater assault that could actually gain ground, according to BusinessWeek. At the vanguard is a mystery "souped-up" set-top box that combines DVR functionality and wireless networking for one-box, whole-house distributed video. The boxes would also likely include software from another acquisition, KiSS Technology, to retrieve media files from PCs and also the Internet. (Might even have a browser....a slight feeling of déjå vu is coming over me.) More »

TiVo Fights Cable With Cute Ads

I have to admit something: I unplugged my TiVo in late 2004, and have used high-def Scientific Atlanta DVRs ever since. I was sad to see the thing go, and to this day, I have diminished TV enjoyment because of it. You may know what I mean. More »

CableCARD 2.0 to Support On-Demand and Pay-Per-View

CableCARD 1.0 has yet to catch on, yet CableCARD 2.0 is already breathing down its neck promising features not found in the current version. CableCARDs were supposed to make our lives easier by letting us swap our bulky cable box for a tiny card we could install in our TVs, but things didn't work out that way. More »

S1Digital Joins CableCard Media Center Bonanza in Early May

Now that ATI's CableCARD problems are fixed and CableLab's five-week certification process is almost done, more companies are jumping in on offering CableCARD-compatible media centers. The latest is S1Digital, which just announced that they will offer Media Centers and Servers with HD DVD and Blu-ray playback, 1080p HDMI output, 7.1 channel surround, multi-terabyte storage, quad-processor computing and Vista Ultimate. More »

ATI CableCARD Problems Fixed, CableLabs Holding Up Process

Remember when we told you that CableCARD Vista Media Centers were being delayed thanks to problems with CableCARD? Well, turns out there were some bugs on the tuners when switching between analog and digital on some Scientific Atlanta networks. But here's some new info: More »

Velocity Micro First to Ship CableCard-ready HTPCs

The wait felt like an eternity, but it appears the first CableCard-friendly PCs are ready to roll. Velocity Micro's top-of-the-line Grand Theater systems are "100 percent" and shipping this week while the Pro Cinema systems will ship a few days behind. While other companies have announced Vista MCE boxes with CableCard certification, these will be the first to actually to hit the streets. Let's hope they're worth the wait. – Louis Ramirez More »

Rumor: Niveus CableCARD Media Center Shipping Next Week

We often send our intern blongo to sift through various companies' dumpsters—he gets to keep whatever food he finds—but most of the time all he comes back with is a handful of useless press releases, some pens, and garlic breath. This time, however, he's discovered that Niveus may be planning to unleash their CableCARD-capable Vista HTPCs next week. More »