Cablevision sees RS-DVRs as a way to reduce the price of service and offer more storage, and the option to expand your storage if you can't bear to part with your saved seasons of Big Brother, seasons 20-26. I see a potential bandwidth problem considering how often my Time Warner on demand is "unavailable." Either way never a terrible thing to see tech defeat ridiculous copyright haggling. [Reuters]

• "Content available on cable networks is changing all the time. New services are added, some are redesigned and others are removed."

• "SDV technology is designed to expand the range of services offered by cable operators, not reduce them."

• "Many CE companies chose to implement receivers that lack the necessary circuitry to provide a full two-way cable experience with the CableCard."

• "No product was ever originally designed to work with this new Tuning Adaptor including the existing Tivo UDPC products...Since consumer products don't use Microsoft Windows, they don't have plug-in drivers. Instead a new firmware update is needed to include the necessary driver controls to interact with this new external device. Makers of any existing UDCPs that already have a USB port (there are many) are just as able to provide new firmware as Tivo, if they chose to do so."

• "Consumers should look for products identified as tru2way to ensure they will be able to get all the new and advanced services their digital cable systems can deliver."

Last we checked, Panasonic was the only one with a tru2way TV pegged to an actual shipdate, and Comcast was the only cable company even talking about implementing it this year, but again, hopefully we'll hear a lot more about this come the NCTA's Cable Show on May 18-20. We certainly look forward to hearing good news from CableLabs (and we're sure they look forward to sharing some). [CableLabs; Original HD Guru Story]

Cablevision and Time Warner Cable say that there is a CableLabs fix, a USB-based dongle that will enable the upstream communication required for SDV. But Merson says makers of CableCard TV sets (fewer and farther between these days) can't make use of any USB dongles. TiVo, on the other hand, said in December it would release the SDV-compatible dongle at an unspecified time this year, though they're not talking any more about it at the current time.

It's a lot of cable-tech mumbo jumbo, but if it means losing channels (and not getting any kind of payback for the loss, says Merson), well, it's a crisis. Fortunately, the big industry Cable Show will be happening soon, so let's make sure they have something to talk about. Check with your provider, and let us know if you're experiencing any SDV-related shafting on your end. [HD Guru]

All the usual VOD rules apply still: 24-hour viewing window, etc. This take on VOD is like Hollywood's wet dream though, since there is literally no cannibalization of the DVD sale, and they rake in most of the money here, not the distributor.

I think a better solution—i.e., one people use, maybe—would be giving you the option to buy the DVD after you've watched it on demand, and for a reduced price. If I'm watching something on demand, I'm really just checking it out—I don't know I want the DVD. And if I really want something on DVD, especially on release day, I haul my ass over to whichever B&M or online store has it cheapest and buy it. The way it is now, it's like a mutated Goomba from the Super Mario Bros. movie, which has "fail" written all over it. [CNN via Broadband Reports]

Press release:

TiVo Service Now Available to CABLEVISION Subscribers in Mexico City

- Spanish language version of TiVo user interface helps CABLEVISION further differentiate services and expands TiVo's international presence -

ALVISO, Calif., Sept 13, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ —

TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), and CABLEVISION, S.A. de C.V. (CABLEVISION), Mexico's largest digital cable operator, announced that beginning today TiVo(R) DVRs and the TiVo(R) Service are available for the first time to CABLEVISION's digital cable subscribers throughout Mexico City.

CABLEVISION subscribers can now access the first Spanish language version of the Emmy(R) award-winning TiVo user interface, which includes internationally recognized TiVo features like SeasonPass(TM) recordings, WishList(R) searches and TrickPlay functionality, which enables users to pause, rewind, instant replay and slo-motion live TV.

Chief Executive Officer of CABLEVISION Jean-Paul Broc said, "The combination of TiVo's state-of-art technology and breadth of services with CABLEVISION's superior digital cable programming creates an unmatched television viewing experience for our subscribers in Mexico City. We are extremely enthusiastic that the opportunity to bring the TiVo service to Mexico City has come to fruition and are confident that the TiVo brand will not only increase customer loyalty but serve as a driver of new cable subscribers."

"TiVo continues to make sustained progress across international markets and CABLEVISION in Mexico is another example," said Tom Rogers, President and CEO of TiVo. "Growing our business with the right partners is critical and our strategic distribution relationship with CABLEVISION, and its parent Televisa, is proof of that. TiVo will enable CABLEVISION to further differentiate its pay television service and maximize its programming packages. The combination of TiVo and CABLEVISION will offer the best entertainment experience for subscribers in Mexico."

CABLEVISION is introducing the TiVo service to Mexico City consumers through a broad-based media campaign including cross-channel and broadcast television, print, online, radio and outdoor advertising. In addition, CABLEVISION plans to leverage its extensive programming assets and celebrity spokespeople to promote TiVo capabilities on air.

TiVo service is being offered to CABLEVISION subscribers as a package with a monthly charge covering both service and box rental.

As a Cablevision subscriber with all of the channels the carrier now offers, all I can say is, "Please, dear God, no more programming!" Why would I say this?

The story mentions that Comcast and DirecTV are also building up capacity for HD, but not once does the story mention how the hell anyone intends to access this veritable sh'load of content. Cablevision, based mostly in and around the New York metropolitan area, uses the same Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300HD that its archrival Time Warner Cable NYC uses, yet with an even worse user interface, if you can imagine it:

• There's no way to search for shows (without growing a full beard in the process)
• There are 17 redundant options for scheduling a season pass, yet no way to skip recording one given episode
• By default, old content stays and when capacity is reached it stops recording new content, with no warning
• DVR and VOD options are separate channels, so there's no good way to do contextual search, among many other problems

I have been contemplating it, but now I will solemnly vow it: I will walk the fiery-coal path towards a Cablevision CableCard, to use with DVRs from TiVo and Microsoft. I will do so in the name of Giz, and in the name of 500-channel shitty-DVR sufferers everywhere. Down with the CableCo-mandated EPG!!! – Wilson Rothman

Cablevision could air 500 HD channels by year-end [Reuters]

Strange things afoot at Cablevision. They're apparently working on a DVR without a hard drive—the content is stored remotely on Cablevision servers and then pulled down when needed. Customers "record" by pressing a button, ensuring that the cable company's server's don't get bogged down by simply recording everything that goes over the customer's tuner.

The new service, called RS-DVR, will launch in Long Island, NY and then possibly spread to other areas. There is no major hardware upgrade needed, although existing cable boxes will need a small firmware upgrade.

While I'm all for off-loading the storage burden to folks who might have some money for a few terabytes of storage per user, I'm wondering about privacy and fair use implications.

Cablevision to test network DVR [News.com.com.com]