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Tech NewsMicrosoftMicrosoft 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
By Alex Pareene -
io9TelevisionFCC: 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
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Tech NewsMicrosoftYou 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
By Jason Chen -
Tech NewsMicrosoftCeton’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
By Jason Chen -
Tech NewsMicrosoftNormal 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
By Jason Chen -
Tech NewsMicrosoftSystem 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
By Jason Chen -
ReviewsMoxi 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
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Tech NewsAmazonMoxi 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
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Tech NewsFCC 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
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Tech NewsLifeware’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
By John Mahoney -
Tech NewsFCC 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
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io9TelevisionTiVo 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
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Tech NewsCableLabs 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
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Tech NewsCableCard 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
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Tech NewsPanasonic 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
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Tech NewsDell 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
By Jason Chen -
Tech NewsGadgetsTiVo-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
By Jason Chen -
Tech NewsTiVo 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
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Tech NewsSony 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
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Tech NewsLife|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