The new app “enhances and evolves” the DirecTV mobile scheduler located at m.directv.com. Features of the new app include:

• Browse the entire programming guide by channel or date/time
• Keyword search option lets you search by actor, title, and description
• Programs can be scheduled up to 14 days in advance
• View detailed program information including air date, duration, and description

[Check it out]

Read this in Chinese Simplified and in French

Technorati Tags: DirecTV DVR Scheduler, Apple iPhone, Apple iPod touch

Featuring a dual eSATA/USB 2.0 interface, the DVR Xpander 1.5TB external drive can provide up to 843 hours of standard programming or up to 187.5 hours of HD programming to your DVR. Yes, that does mean you can record a single HD station for over 7 days straight!

Other storage capacities options are 500GB, 750GB, and 1TB with each drive supporting a wide array of DVRs including the popular Scientific Atlanta 8300 series DVR and the DISH Network ViP Series HD DVRs.

Finally, these DVR Xpander drives are rather affording. The prices are as follows: 500GB for $119. 750GB for $149. 1TB for $179 and 1.5TB for $239.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Apricorn 1.5 TB DVR Xpander, DVR, External Hard Drive

CNET’s Crave blog has already published a hands-on look at the new service on TiVo HD box. Here’s what they have to say:

“The most important takeaway for us is that we watched several movies without any hiccups and each movie started up in a few seconds. While many streaming services “feel” like you’re streaming video over the Internet, this feels more like you’re expanding the recorded content of your TiVo. And while you lose some of the benefits of watching the actual DVD (special features, surround sound), we couldn’t help but notice that in some ways it’s better than DVD; movies loaded right away and with no previews.”

While I no longer use TiVo, I can say this much for the Netflix Watch Instantly service – it rocks – especially for owners of the Xbox 360 console. If there’s one single reason to upgrade the Xbox 360 to the New Xbox Experience, it would be for the Netflix streaming support. While video on-demand is free for subscribers, I for one would not mind paying a bit more for unlimited movies on-demand. Forget about renting on a per title basis. Go the music subscription route and let users subscribe to unlimited movies on a monthly basis.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: TiVo HD, TiVo Series 3, TiVo HD XL, Netflix

Victor-JVC announces the new DR-BX500 Blu-ray HDD Recorder in Japan. Coming out in November, the DR-BX500 features a 500GB hard drive, two digital TV tuners, one analog TV tuner, and a Blu-ray burner. Specs include:

• Record in MPEG-2, MPEG-4, AVC/H.264
• 1080/24p support
• 10/100 Ethernet port
• HDMI, Deep Color support
• Measures 430 x 77 x 361 mm
• Supports BD-RE, BD-R, DVD-R DL, DVD-R, DVD-RW

According to Akihabara News, the DR-BX500 will be available for a price of 1299€.

[Check it out via Akihabara News]

Technorati Tags: Victor-JVC, DR-BX500, Blu-ray HDD Recorder

Ever wish you could bring the TiVo user interface to the PC platform? Well soon you’ll be able to do so thanks to the upcoming Nero LiquidTV | TiVo PC package. LiquidTV | TiVo PC is essentially another DVR application for the Windows OS except this one happens to bring along the famed TiVo user interface. If you’re one to record and watch TV content on your desktop PC, then you definitely might be interested in this package.

Major features of the Nero LiquidTV | TiVo PC package include the following:

• Features TiVo’s user interface
• Watch and record shows in HD or SD format on your TV or PC
• Export shows to portable media players
• Burn shows to DVD or save them to your hard drive
• Schedule TV recordings online
• Pause Live TV on your PC
• Includes 12 month subscription
• Features TiVo KidZone, Season Pass and WishList etc

Now keep in mind – this isn’t exactly a full on replacement of Windows Media Center. The Nero app won’t manage your music or photo collection for you like Windows Media Center can. However, if you’re just interested in recording television shows and having a near endless amount of storage space for TV shows, then the LiquidTV app is certainly something you should consider (along with Media Center and any number of other competing DVR applications). Now if you MUST have the TiVo interface, then heck.. this is your only way to go on the PC platform.

As this PC Mag review notes, LiquidTV is not a replacement for the TiVo DVR device. This is a package that’s designed for folks who are ok with the notion of watching and recording TV on their PCs. Also – remember that LiquidTV supports OTA ATSC which means you won’t be able to record premium HD channels unless you hook up a cable set-top box to your PC (you’ll also record lower quality video via S-Video).

Speaking of the PC Mag review, here’s what they thought of it.

Nero’s LiquidTV brings the top-notch TiVo interface and all its talents to your PC. While it’s not a replacement for a traditional TiVo DVR, it’s a solid attempt at convergence between your computer and your living-room entertainment.

Nero LiquidTV | TiVo PC will be available in two packages. There’s a $199.99 hardware/software bundle that includes the software application, a 12 month subscription to TiVo, a TV tuner card with A/V cables and antenna, a TiVo PC remote control, and an IR blaster and receiver. If you don’t need the hardware, there’s also a $99.99 software package which includes the application and a 12 month subscription to TiVo.

[Check it out via News.com]

Technorati Tags: Nero LiquidTV | TiVo PC

No .. this isn’t a normal ball.. it’s not even a billiard ball.. it’s called the DVR CamBall and as the name implies, it’s a small ball (about the size of a ping pong) with an embedded video camera. With the DVR CamBall, you can record video clips at resolutions of either 320 x 240 or 640 x 480. There’s even an SD card slot allowing you to up the storage capacity to 8GB. There’s also a navigational pad that allows you change settings on the cam. I’d love to be able to tell you more but I can’t machine translate the product page since the Korean text is actually a part of the web graphics.

So the real question is – what the heck would you do with such a device? Of course the first thing that comes to mind is a nanny cam.. but hey.. I’m sure many of you can figure out other good uses for this cam.

The DVR CamBall is going for $185.

[Check it out via Crave]

Technorati Tags: DVR CamBall

The TUR252H features the following specs:

• Freeview+ (previously known as Freeview Playback)
• One touch recording
• 8 day TV guide
• Pause and rewind live TV
• Twin digital tuners
• Simultaneous 2 channel recording whilst watching a pre-recorded programme
• 250Gb hard drive (up to 125 hours disc capacity)
• Series recording
• Split recording
• Multiple/Alternative recording
• Subtitle recording
• Setanta Sports compatible (Subscription and CAM required)

The MSRP is £199.00 (currently sold out at Sharp’s website).

Meanwhile, the TUR162H Digital TV recorder features the following specs:

• Freeview+ (previously known as Freeview Playback)
• One touch recording
• 8 day TV guide
• Pause and rewind live TV
• No subscription
• Twin digital tuners
• Simultaneous 2 channel recording whilst watching a pre-recorded programme
• 160Gb hard drive (up to 80 hours disc capacity)
• Series recording
• Split recording
• Multiple/Alternative recording
• Subtitle recording

This system has an MSRP of £149.00 and is available.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Sharp, UK, TUR162H, TUR252H, Digital TV recorders

[Check it out via GearLog]

Technorati Tags: TiVo, Amazon, product purchase

Now on the plus side – this device captures HD video (granted it’s 1080i/720p video) via component signals. This means you’ll be able to hook this device up to your cable/dish box and record HD premium channels via the component outputs. Now granted this is not necessarily the highest quality video but let’s be real here – cable video is only at most 720p these days anyhow. You do get slightly lower video quality since the device captures via an analog signal as opposed to digital – but it’s still much much better than say recording from an S-Video or Composite input.

So, what did ExtremeTech think of the unit? Here’s their verdict:

If you’ve been looking to record high def video on your PC from set top boxes, then the HD DVR works fine as a time shifting device. But expect conversion to other formats to be problematic.

Yeah.. apparently ExtremeTech found the included conversion utility to be rather buggy.. but if you have the time and patience you can probably find other workarounds for that. Another interesting notion mentioned in the article – don’t forget that you can now record HD content from other types of devices via component outputs. This means attaching say an Xbox 360 and recording your game play onto your PC for others to view.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Hauppauge HD DVR, ExtremeTech, Review

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: TiVo, YouTube, Series3, TiVo HD

Let the gigabeat go on!.. ok. that was a little lame I know. In any event, Toshiba has updated their gigabeat V lineup with their new gigabeat V81 portable media player. The V81 features 8GB of storage space and comes with an SDHC compatible media card slot. The card slot is important because the V81 comes with an integrated TV tuner. Recorded television shows can then be copied onto the SDHC card and then brought over to another PC or device for playback.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Toshiba, Gigabeat V81

SE2 Labs had a smooth booth at CES 2008 showcasing their ITC One – their personalized all-in-one home entertainment solution. With each ITC One, custom installers or end users can design a personalized system from the SE2 Labs website. According to SE2 Labs, every ITC One is then built and shipped within two weeks. You can choose from the following components for the ITC One:

• Microsoft Xbox 360 console
• Xbox 360 HD DVD player
• Nintendo Wii
• DirecTV
• High Definition TiVo
• Dish Network DVR
• National Cable Providers DVR including Comcast, Time Warner, Cox Cable etc
• AMX Netlinx Control System
• High End Digital Surround Processor
• Bryston Pre-Amp Processor with full digital outputs
• IcePower High End D Class Amplifers
• High End Video Processor
• Front Touchpanel Screen
• Apple Video iPod with Dock
• Proprietary Remote Control
• Power Conditioning
• Super Quiet Cooling System
• Super Easy 2 Connect Rear Panel
• Transparent Cabling and Cable Harness
• Anti-Noise and Vibration System

The idea is simple enough – do you want to build a complex home theater system yourself or do you want to purchase an all inclusive system that’s put together by a system integrator? I just wish the box was a bit more.. attractive looking??

What’s even better – once you’ve designed the ITC One on the website, installing it is a cinch – simply connect the power, video source, and speakers, and then turn it on. There’s no cabling to deal with – no racks to install, and no integration issues to deal with.

Starting prices for the ITC One is $24,995.

Here’s the side profile of the ITC One:

Here’s the back panel

Here are some official press images:

Finally, SE2 Labs won the “Best of Innovations 2008″ for the Integrated Home Systems category.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: SE2 Labs, ITC One, CES 2008

[Check it out via PC Magazine]

Technorati Tags: TiVo, Nero, DVR

[Check it out via PVRBlog]

Technorati Tags: TiVo HD DVR, WeaKnees

Here’s another review of the newly announced TiVo HD DVR system – this time from the folks at CNET. You’ll find both a written review as well as a video review on the site. CNET rated the box a 7.7 out of 10 and had this to say as their verdict:

While it’s not compatible with your cable company’s pay-per-view and video-on-demand services, the TiVo HD’s excellent onscreen interface and long list of network and Internet features puts it in a class above the generic high-def DVRs offered by most cable providers.

Curious about the cons? Here’s the list from CNET:

Until expandable storage option is supported, the TiVo HD is limited to 20 hours of HD video capacity; requires monthly fee in addition to cable bill; sluggish transitions between menu screens; does not work with pay-per-view, video-on-demand, and switched digital video services; no TiVo To Go or Multi-Room Viewing functionality; must program 30-second skip; no picture-in-picture.

The problem I have with their cons is the mention that the box doesn’t perform pay-per-view nor video-on-demand. This will never work with any third party set-top box except for ones provided by the cable company. So you might as well say this is a con for any Windows Media Center based HTPC too. That’s where the added value comes into play from the cable company’s vantage. So the real question to all of you is – how valuable is the pay-per-view and video-on-demand services to  you at the end of the day? I never use mine so I’d gladly switch to TiVo for their awesome UI.

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: CNET, TiVo HD, Review

As had been recently rumored, TiVo announced a new addition to their family of DVRs today called the TiVo HD (no it’s not called the TiVo Lite). The company bills the product as the “ultimate HDTV companion” – “combining the clarity of high definition with the smart, easy-to-use TiVo Service”.  TiVo HD has the following key features.

• Intelligent search features – allows you to find a specific director, actor, player, or team. Perform WishList searches and TiVo will automatically record the HD version and place it in your Now Playing list
• Record movies in HD
• Download movies from the Internet. Select a classic or new release from an online selection, order it from your remote control and have it directly downloaded to the box
• Access your music library with your remote control by connecting the TiVo HD box to your home network
• Schedule an HD premiere – perform your TV scheduling from any computer when you are away from home. Just log into TiVo.com, click on the show, and you’re all set.

Here are the key specifications to TiVo HD (taken from the TiVo website).

Product Overview:

• Controls cable TV with Record, Pause, Rewind, and Fast-Forward in HD
• Records two HD channels at once, while watching another recorded show
• Records up to 20 hours in HD (or 180 hours in Standard Definition)
• Designed specifically for cable customers
• Video output modes include: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i

Product Features:

• Download thousands of movies directly to your TV
• Share home movies with your friends and family on their TV
• Get broadband videos, music and photos on your TV
• Schedule shows online
• Discover broadcast and broadband shows with universal Swivel Search
• Easily pre-approve what your kids watch with TiVo KidZone

Product Dimensions:

• 16.5″ W x 12.625″ D x 3.375″ H
• Weight: 12 lbs.

Product Specifications:

• Signal sources: Digital cable, Analog cable, Digital antenna (ATSC) and Analog antenna channels (satellite not supported)
• Outputs: HDMI, Component video, S-video, Composite video, Optical audio, Analog audio
• Video output modes include: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i
• Inputs: Dual CableCARD support (2 slots), Cable coax, Antenna coax
• Ethernet connection, USB 2.0 ports (2), phone line, E-SATA
• Works with the TiVo Wireless G Network Adapter
• TiVo Series3 architecture

Comes with:

• TiVo HD box
• TiVo remote control
• Manual
• Quick Start guide
• Composite, Component, Power cables

If you have additional questions about the new TiVo HD box, check out the FAQ here. Here are some of the major tidbits that you’ll be interesting in:

• TiVo HD comes with a 160GB Hard Drive (expect that to be modded right away!)
• The box will sell for $299.99 MSRP
• It’ll be available from TiVo.com, Best Buy, Circuit City,and Amazon.com
• You can choose from 1,2, or 3  yr TiVo monthly or prepaid service plan. One year minimum service plan required
• You’ll need at least one CableCard or 2 CableCards to receive HD digital channels from your cable company
• Does not support satellite programming
• The TiVo Series3 is still the premium HD DVR with the larger HD, THX certification, front panel display, and a programmable back-lit remote control
• No support for TiVoToGo and Multi-Room viewing
• No HDMI cable included so make sure to buy one yourself

You can purchase the TiVo HD box right now here on TiVo’s website. The box is expected to ship in 14 to 21 days.

Finally, PC Magazine has already published a review of the unit here on their website. Their verdict is definitely a good one for TiVo as they’ve given the TiVo HD box their “Editor’s Choice” award stating:

Combining the best of the legendary simple-to-use TiVo interface with dual CableCARD readers and an affordable price (finally!), the new TiVo HD delivers the promise that the TiVo Series 3 HD made.

Folks – Say hello to TiVo’s savior – the TiVo HD box.

[Check it out]

[Check out the PC Mag Review]

Technorati Tags: TiVo HD, HD DVR, CableCard

Think the current TiVo Series3 DVR is just way too expensive? Join the club. Paying $799 for the Series3 DVR makes me want to opt for the crappy DVR set top boxes that come from cable companies. However, recently, rumors have been spreading around the net about a supposed new “Lite” version of the Series3 box. Images and specs have also surfaced over at the TiVo Community Forums. Here’s what we know thus far in terms of rumored specs for the “Lite” system.

• BCM740x DVR CPU w/ integrated MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 decoders
• 1x dual MPEG-2 encoder (BCM7041 or possibly an encoder from LSI)
• 2x Samsung S5H1411-based tuners (analog/QAM/8VSB)
• 128Mb DDR SDRAM
• 160Gb SATA HD
• Smaller, lower-cost PCB
• Cheaper power supply
• No THX certification
• No OLED display
• Standard TiVo remote
• MSRP of $299

Quite honestly, the “Lite” system isn’t dramatically different from the regular Series3 box. The major changes have to do with the smaller hard drive, the lack of THX certification, no OLED display, and the use of a standard TiVo remote control. Yet the price is $299 – $500 dollars less than the regular Series3 price of $799.

Given that price differential, I’d gladly buy a TiVo Series3 “Lite” over a standard Series3 box.

[Check it out via KrunkerHD]

Technorati Tags: TiVo, Series3 Lite

The most exciting feature about this new product upgrade to the TiVo service is the ability for customers to simply browse the television and movie catalog using their existing TiVo boxes. There’s no need to sit down at a computer and browse some website. There’s no need to sync content from the PC to the TiVo box. There’s no need for any media streaming from a PC to the box. Everything is done via the broadband connected TiVo box.

To sweeten the deal a bit, TiVo will provide new customers with an additional $15 dollar instant discount and a free, factory-refurbished wireless adapter when they purchase a new TiVo Series2 Dual Tuner box with a service plan by July 23rd of this year. 

[Check it out]

Technorati Tags: Amazon, TiVo, Buy on TV, Amazon unbox