Court Rejects Studios and Networks' Copyright Beef With Cloud-Storage DVRs

Waaay back in 2006, Cablevision planned to roll out a DVR which stored shows on Cablevision's servers rather than on hard disk inside your set-top box. As they are wont to do, the studios and networks saw an opportunity to suck more revenue out of the system, citing obscure copyright conditions which call for fees when content is "retransmitted" in any way. Now, a judge has smacked down their suit to block remote-storage DVRs, meaning DVRs in the cloud could see the light of day after all. More »

Latest TiVo Firmware Brings Needed Speed Boost

TiVo HD is pretty awesome, but there's still a nagging issue of lag, particularly when doing more complicated things like changing Season Pass priorities. Our source at TiVo tells us that the latest firmware update, 9.3, has seriously juiced the system in terms of response time. Compared to the last significant upgrade, 9.1, here's a list of common features and how much they've been sped up: More »

TiVo Discovers Really Simple Way to Get Syndicated Web Vid

Yes, you guessed from my carefully coded headline there that today TiVo announced the capability to download video from RSS feeds on the web, by way of updated TiVo Desktop Plus software for Windows. You'll have to pay $25 for it, but just once—it's a free update to those who already use TiVo Desktop Plus to bring recorded shows over to their PCs, iPods and PSPs. Jump for details in an excerpt from the press release. More »

News Corp Set-Top Box Becomes DVR: Just Add External Hard Drive

How much simpler can it get? You take the HD satellite set-top box already sitting in someone's living room, perform a quick firmware update, plug an external hard drive into the USB jack and voila, it's a bleedin' DVR. Voila is right, though, since this News Corp-owned software fix is currently only available to Canal+ satellite customers in France. Correct me if I'm wrong, but there's no such thing for News Corp's DirecTV customers in the US, right? Nah, letting people keep their existing hardware is so un-American. It's bad for business, I tells ya! Press release after jump. More »

TiVo Makes You Look Cultured By Bringing Jaman's Obscure Foreign and Indie Movies To Your DVR

TiVo today announced it would soon add Jaman Internet Movie Service to all Series2 and Series3 broadband-connected DVRs, giving users access to Sundance and international award winning movies that you'd probably have a hard time finding otherwise. The idea here is that Jaman supplements the mainly Hollywood offerings of Amazon Unbox, so you get a ton of movie choices from right there on your couch—at least enough to make your girlfriend think you're smart or something. Rentals start at $1.99, but apparently some movies and shorts will be available for free. Not the good ones, of course. Press release after jump. [TiVo] More »

DirecTV buys ReplayTV for MoneyTV

The oft-bought-and-sold ReplayTV found a new master today in the form of DirecTV. My theory is that they just really liked each other's names. (In case you didn't realize it, there's no such thing as MoneyTV—I made that up.) But the deal makes sense for other reasons. D&M Holdings, the parent of Denon and Marantz, really isn't in the software biz, while DirecTV has boxes that could use better software. Replay has been pushing hard to develop DVR products for PCs and Macs. The real money is in set-top boxes, and DirecTV knows that business better, being one of its largest customers. [Zatz Not Funny!]

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 PowerWatch Program Sells Detailed User Info to Advertisers

Tivo's been selling data about people's viewing habits—what shows and commercials they watch (or skip), when they pause, fast-forward, rewind and so on—to advertisers for around a year. Now they're adding personal info to the Chex Mix of ratings data they sell: age, income, marital status and ethnicity. More »

DVRs Screw Up Nielsen; Commercials Now Rated Too

You knew it would happen: DVRs are finally breaking down the TV ratings system. More »

Cablevision Offers TiVo To Mexico City, But Not To Me

Fulfilling a promise they made last November, TiVo and Cablevision are rolling out the first-ever Spanish-language TiVo, for cable customers in Mexico City. Mexico city? Who does a news release based on Mexico City? If this doesn't demonstrate the bizarre relationship TiVo has with cable companies, I don't know what would. The TiVos will have SeasonPass, WishList and the typical DVR functions, but probably not TiVoToGo, remote scheduling or any of the connected stuff. I am happy that the people of Mexico City are finally getting TiVo, but as a Cablevision subscriber in the New York area (Cablevision's home turf), I am pretty pissed that all the carrier offers me is a POS Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300HD. More »

New DirecTV DVRs Can Mess Up Plasma TVs, But Not LCDs

According to Gary over at HD Guru, the newest DVR receivers from DirecTV, the H20 and HR20 models, border nearly every standard def 4:3 channel with vertical black bars. The black may be a nice touch visually, but if you leave one of those channels on your plasma TV too long, those bars will glow strangely bright when the whole screen is in use. LCD TV owners, of course, need not fret. 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 »

Cablevision Caves In, Postpones Network DVR

We mentioned earlier that Cablevision was in some legal trouble regarding its planned network DVR. If you don't remember, the network DVR differs from a regular DVR in that all of the content is stored on Cablevision's servers rather than a local hard drive while retaining all of the normal DVR features, such as pausing live TV and time shifting. Of course, Hollywood went crazy and started filing lawsuits left and right. More »

Hollywood Studios Looking to Stop Network DVR in its Tracks

Remember the network DVR we mentioned a while back? It seems that those dinosaurs in Hollywood and on Madison Avenue want to shut it down before it's even released by Cablevision, the New York-based cable company that had been planning to release it in the next few weeks. The studios claim that the network DVR's ability to pull down content from Cablevision's servers, rather than from the user's hard drive as is the case with regular DVRs, amounts to "willful copyright infringement." How surprising, the studios want to quell innovation. Who thought that would happen? More »

TiVo Central Online Upgraded

TiVo has upgraded its TiVo Central Online interface. The Ajax-based website lets users view TV schedules and record shows via the Web, but the upgrade s beauty goes more than skin-deep, too, because now users will find it easier to search and customize the site to their liking. More »