Tech NewsMicrosoft

Microsoft Built a Cable Box Killer. Then They Killed It.

Last month, Microsoft confirmed that Windows Media Center would not be included in Windows 10. It was not a surprise, because almost no one uses Windows Media Center (it was only available as a paid add-on in Windows 8). But it is a shame, because Windows Media Center might be the best DVR software out … Continued

io9Television

FCC: Whoops, CableCARD Was a Total Disaster

Yesterday the FCC admitted that CableCARD—a system originally designed to open up the market for video content—is a failure. Here’s what they’re doing to fix it. The regulator is seeking comments “on how to encourage innovation,” which basically means how to move past the total failure of the CableCARD system and on to something that … Continued

Tech NewsMicrosoft

You Don’t Need a TiVo Anymore

This chart of TiVo’s slipping subscriber numbers may be surprising, seeing as TiVo is the television recording device (and it’s so good), but it’s something we’ve seen coming for a while. We love you TiVo, but you’re fast becoming obsolete. https://gizmodo.com/tivo-is-slowly-dying-5412735 The typical TiVo user is a person who just wants their TV recordings to … Continued

Tech NewsMicrosoft

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. Engadget got them to say that, depending on your order, the four-tuner version of the card … Continued

Tech NewsMicrosoft

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. What it means to you, theoretically, is that you should be able to go out and buy CableCARD tuners and add them to … Continued

Tech NewsMicrosoft

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. Previously, you could only get a HTPC hooked up to watch digital cable using a CableCARD that was authorized by CableLABS, … Continued

Reviews

Moxi HD Review: Beats Cable, But It Ain’t TiVo

When I hooked Digeo’s Moxi HD DVR up, I told my wife it’s like TiVo, and she said, “Then why don’t we just use TiVo?” After several weeks testing it, I have no good answer. If you’ve never heard of Moxi or Digeo, you are forgiven. Although the company has been making set-top boxes for … Continued

Tech NewsAmazon

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. Besides adding Rhapsody music, an enhanced Flickr with “mosaic” photo viewing, and DLNA connectivity for streaming video, music and photos … Continued

Tech News

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 … Continued

Tech News

Lifeware’s LMS-810 Media Center PC Can Drive Ten TVs at Once

See these 10 TVs? They’re all being driven by the same, single Media Center PC. Taking what they came with last year and doubling it, Lifeware has crammed eight CableCARD tuners (two on board and six more in the external Lifetuner box on top) into a dual Intel Quad Core, 12TB RAID 5 box that … Continued

Tech News

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 … Continued

io9Television

TiVo Switched Video Tuning Adapters Appear at CableLabs

At long last, the SDV dongles that TiVo promised would arrive this year from Motorola and Cisco have been submitted to CableLabs for formal testing. For those unfamiliar, these little devices allow for two way communication between CableCard boxes and Cable Companies, so that only the needed programming data is sent, and bandwidth is conserved. … Continued

Tech News

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 … Continued

Tech News

CableCard Users Are Getting Screwed Out of HD Channels

Our friend Gary Merson, the HD Guru, has uncovered an issue that may soon piss you off. Cable customers who use the current CableCard to decode signal directly in their TV, a TiVo or Windows Media Center PC may soon start losing HD channels because of a change in technology. To conserve bandwidth, cable carriers … Continued

Tech News

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 … Continued

Tech News

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 … Continued

Tech NewsGadgets

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 … Continued

Tech News

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 … Continued

Tech News

Sony Updates VAIO AR Laptops with Blu-ray and CableCARD

Sony’s AR series of VAIO notebooks with their Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 and T7500 processors are already in our catbird seat but now the company’s goosed its 17-inch versions, giving them the ability to do a lot more both on the road and in the home theater. How does a Blu-ray drive on board … Continued

Tech News

Life|Ware Shows Quad-Recording Media Center with Four CableCARDs

Life|Ware rolled out what it says is the first media center PC running four CableCARDs at the same time, and it proved to us that the whole thing actually works today at CEDIA 07. Its life|media Media Center PC is the new top of the line for the company, and it’s packing an Intel Quad … Continued