To take advantage of its multiple tuner capability, though, you'll have to add another tuner to your PC to complement the one inside this USB dongle. Also keep in mind that its tuner snags HDTV signals over-the-air, so if you don't have good TV broadcast reception in your area, the ReplayTV Personal HD is not going to do you much good.

Price for the software and hardware will be $99.95, and the company didn't say exactly when it would become available, but said it would be sold at online retailers and direct from ReplayTV.

Press release from ReplayTV:

REPLAYTV INTRODUCES "PERSONAL HD" SOLUTION FOR THE PC WITH HDTV, MULTI-TUNER AND IPOD SUPPORT

- "Personal HD" To Be Demonstrated at Pepcom Holiday Spectacular on September 19th in NYC. -

New York, September 19, 2007 — ReplayTV®, the pioneer of personalized digital video recording, today announced its new "Personal HD" all-in-one solution for the PC with HDTV, multi-tuner, and iPod® support.

Bringing hardware & software together to give consumers a living room quality DVR experience on their PCs, "Personal HD" goes the extra mile and easily makes shows "Good-to-Go." With ReplayTV Personal HD, shows can be taken on the road to watch on Apple iPhoneTM, video iPod, iPod nano, iPod touch, iPod classic and other portable devices. Additionally, shows can easily be streamed over Apple TVTM.

ReplayTV's popular DVR technology lets you pause live TV, rewind, skip ahead, find and record all your favorite shows on your PC with living room quality ease and reliability. Sit back with the included remote control, or lean forward with your mouse or keyboard.

"Customers are going to be thrilled with the new ReplayTV Personal HD," said David Riley, Director of Marketing at ReplayTV. "You can now take your shows with you on the new iPod nano, iPod touch, or iPhone as well as the older video iPods! ReplayTV's intuitive menus, ease of navigation, powerful searches, and our channel guide that works the way you want have always been popular. And now we are offering a tuner, antenna, and remote for an all-in-one solution. ReplayTV Personal HD is a terrific hardware/software solution at a great price."

The complete package includes a USB 2.0 ATSC/NTSC hybrid tuner, HD antenna, remote control, USB cable, software CD, Quickstart guide and one year of ReplayTV Electronic Program Guide service (annual EPG fee thereafter: $19.95 per year). ReplayTV Personal HD is slated for shipment this fall.

Complete Hardware/Software HD DVR Solution for the PC!
The all-inclusive ReplayTV Personal HD package includes a powerful, easy-to-install USB 2.0 ATSC/NTSC hybrid tuner that requires no additional power and provides off-air HDTV reception*.

The included remote control provides easy access to the intuitive ReplayTV on-screen interface and all of the system's powerful search features, and stores nicely in a PC-MCIA slot.

Most importantly, the system's reliable, easy-to-use software, including useful ReplayTV features such as "overlap manager" and show-based recording, ensures that a user's favorite shows will be available for enjoying anytime!

Among the many advanced features included in ReplayTV Personal HD are:

• Integrated iPod Support: With the new iPod support, users can watch high-def television via their Apple TV or take programs with them for viewing anytime anywhere via many popular models of the iPod including the iPhone.

• Multiple-Tuner Support: Multiple shows can be recorded at the same time if additional tuners are installed (not included). In addition to the included ReplayTV tuner, ReplayTV Personal HD also supports leading tuners from Hauppauge, ATI, and Pinnacle.

• Smart Channel Guide: ReplayTV Personal HD makes the Channel Guide work for you. You can place your favorite channels at the top of the guide so you can easily and quickly see what's playing on them. You can always tell what's being recorded because the time bar features a record indicator so you can plan what else you want to watch or record - with absolutely no guesswork.

• Powerful Search Features: ReplayTV Personal HD makes finding compelling content a breeze. Find your shows within seconds, such as primetime shows, season premieres, and finales. Easily capture shows that feature favorite actors, directors, and genres. ReplayTV Personal HD organizes shows by airing, making it easy and quick to pick your favorite series to record.

• Recorded Shows: ReplayTV's innovative Recorded Shows screen presents the latest shows you've recorded — What's New — right along with all your episodes grouped by show. This organizing principle makes navigating through hundreds of shows fast and accurate. And when it's movie night, ReplayTV organizes all recorded movies under one tab.

Availability and Pricing
ReplayTV Personal HD will be distributed at major online retailers and direct from ReplayTV. It can be purchased for the suggested retail price of $99.95., which includes a ReplayTV high-definition USB tuner with dual tuner support.

ReplayTV Personal HD is compatible with terrestrial antenna, most analog cable and select digital cable and satellite set-top boxes.

To be introduced at an event this Wednesday, this little bauble reportedly brings a few new features to compete against similar USB-based HDTV tuner/PVR devices from Pinnacle and AMD, with such enticements as multiple tuner capability and enhanced search features. We'll know more on Wednesday.

That means a Netflix set-top box, right? Follow the jump for unclarification.

Although the press release stresses that Wood's role will be to strengthen Netflix's budding Internet video platform—Watch It Now—currently available only on PCs, it couldn't help but mention that a) Netflix was "expanding its selection of instantly viewable content and [would] work to bring the feature to all Internet-connected screens, from cell phones to PCs to plasma TVs" and b) that "Wood is best known as the creator of the digital video recorder."

On the other hand, wasn't ReplayTV's latest version a software-only product? By then it was out of Wood's hands, but it definitely serves as a reminder that entering into the set-top box fray between the Comcasts and Verizons of the world may not be the best play, even for a powerhouse like Netflix. –Wilson Rothman

Netflix Taps ReplayTV Founder to Head Internet TV Group [BetaNews]

Yesterday, I watched a Frontline documentary called "The Dark Side," which covered Dick Cheney's efforts to expand executive powers after 9/11. That's not such a big deal, but the fact that I watched it online at www.pbs.com, I think, is. Here it is, weeks after originally the original airdate, and I can go to a website to see a show I missed last month. I like that kind of convenience, but as you've heard me say before, the option to aggregate those shows in one central location is something I want even more.

Well, this week, I may have seen another step toward that kind of integration when ReplayTV, which was first to market with digital recording, announced it had an Alpha version of DVR software for the PC. ReplayTV lost the initial DVR Wars to TiVo. But the company is shifting its focus to concentrate on allowing PC users to do all the same things you used to be able to with their box.

Well, this week, I may have seen another step toward that kind of integration when ReplayTV, which was first to market with digital recording, announced it had an Alpha version of DVR software for the PC. ReplayTV lost the initial DVR Wars to TiVo. But the company is shifting its focus to concentrate on allowing PC users to do all the same things you used to be able to with their box.

So last week, while TiVo was touting its new Series2 DT DVR, ReplayTV was demo-ing its PC Edition software, the company's latest foray into digital recording. ReplayTV claims the program "offers TV enthusiasts the ultimate DVR experience." Bill Loewenthal, ReplayTV's vice president and general manager gave me a walk through the software, which, at the moment, only works with Hauppauge WinTV/PVR tuner cards. "We had to look at where we were headed as a consumer brand," says Loewenthal. "And we believe TV and video will follow the path of music and photos, and migrate to the PC."

Given the emergence of sites such as YouTube, which just signed a partnership deal with NBC, and Guba.com, which recently signed a pact with Warner Brothers to distribute films via their site, it appears the company is on the right track.

The software is a lot like ReplayTV's box. It lets you discover and record shows and movies by genre, actors or director. It also allows you to record programming on one PC and watch it on another. The interface is clean and intuitive, and features a Recorded Shows screen that groups your latest recordings, and an overlap manager that allows you to record a second show even if the one your already recording runs a few minutes long. And Quickskip (a 30-second skip forward) tries to preserve one of ReplayTV's best features—the ability to de-commercial your television viewing.

Cool as ReplayTV's PC Edition is, however, it still doesn't allow me to record the Internet broadcasts I want. Loewenthal assures me that's coming, but can't offer a time frame.

Back in the day, when TiVo and ReplayTV were battling it out for DVR supremacy, I always liked ReplayTV better. Then the company's troubles began and I never bought one. But now, I'm being given a second chance. And when the folks at ReplayTV add the ability to record Internet broadcasts, I'll be among the first in line.

Folks interested in the ReplayTV replay can go to www.replaytv.com and download a free trial version. (Remember, you have to have a Hauppauge video tuner card.) If you like it, you can buy the ReplayTV PC Edition for $99. That covers the first year of service, which is $20/year thereafter.

Update: This week, the Senate Commerce Committee took up John McCain's pet project, cable a la carte, and roundly rejected it, 20 to 2. Ironically, the provision was part of a bill that allows phone companies to get into the television business. In short, the Senate gets to keep everyone—except consumers—happy. While Olympia Snow and McCain were the only two to support the amendment, Senators Ted Stevens and Trent Lott both promised a la carte pricing would come and encouraged cable providers to "get on with this." Lott even went so far as to say this was the last time he would vote against it. Kind of makes you wonder why, no?

Brian L. Clark is a reporter and consultant on all things digital, runs the The Tech Enthusiast's Network, and writes for Inc., Men's Health, and Laptop. Read more Tuning Fork here.

Poor ReplayTV. It's no secret that even though this company was the first to market with its DVR hardware, TiVo is certainly the winner when it comes to name recognition. You don't "Replay" something, you "TiVo" it. Ok, that's a low blow. But I do give ReplayTV credit for giving us true commercial-skipping technology (not the wimpy fast-forwarding we have now), even though lawsuits just about killed the company. Now, replayTV has realized that in order to compete in the current market, not just with TiVo, but with other DVR products, it'll have to dig deeper and start getting into the software world. Hence, the announcement that in 2006, you'll be able to buy a ReplayTV DVR with software for the PC. Teaming up with Hauppauge Computer Works, ReplayTV plans to bundle its PC DVR software application with Hauppauge s WinTV-PVR tuner/encoder PC cards, letting you record and watch live TV on your PC. Product and price announcements will come early in 2006, most probably at CES, so stay tuned.

ReplayTV Announces New Strategic Direction With DVR For The PC [ReplayTV]

Specs and pricing for ReplayTV [Amazon]