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An anonymous reader writes "Embedded Linux and an open, hacker-friendly architecture power the world's first high definition media player, the $499 Roku HD1000. The brainchild of ReplayTV inventor Anthony Wood, the device could touch off a cottage industry of third-party applications and media packs that work with its Linux-based OS and user-friendly media APIs. Out of the box, the HD1000 can stream MPEG and MPEG2, play music, loop JPEGs, and more to an HDTV -- all at the same time. Roku is selling "Art Packs" of everything from museum-quality art to hot-rod cars as memory cards that work with the device. And, the company will release a C/C++ SDK for the HD1000 before 2004. Finally, there's something to actually show on your $5,000 54-inch plasma TV or 37-inch LCD TV." (Roku is also one of the companies mentioned in an earlier posting about using hi-def displays as digital art galleries).

j0atz writes "The New York Times is running a story today that, while it's a bit redundant in the beginning and a bit short on technical details later, gives a rundown the newest features for ReplayTV (numbered 4000 or above) and TiVO (Series2); basically, you can program your favorite DVR to record a show from a remote computer or from another (same-brand) DVR. Along with that, you can stream MP3's and pictures with TiVo now. Still...I'd much rather use something like FreeVo or MythTV and actually burn my shows to cd, stream whatever I want, etc, etc."

An anonymous reader writes "Here's the announcement that many have been waiting for all week. Yesterday, the ReplayTV and Rio product lines of now-defunct SonicBlue were auctioned off in a bankruptcy court. Despite earlier negotiations failing to result in a deal, the Japanese holding company D&M, makers of high-end Denon and Marantz stereo gear, bought the product lines for $36.2 million. The big question is what about all of the "lifetime subscriptions" that people bought? No answers as of yet, but we can all be hopeful."

EyesWideOpen writes "Here is an interesting article at Wired which mentions that existing DVR devices (Tivo, ReplayTV) aren't equipped to handle the digital TV signal that broadcasters are scheduled to start delivering in 2006. Also mentioned is a proposal being considered by the FCC that would allow cable companies to 'turn off' the firewire port, which DVR's will use to connect to digital televisions, so that some broadcasts can't be recorded. The proposal is being considered no doubt in response to fears like that of MPAA head Jack Valenti who has said that without proper security measures, the industry won't allow its movies to be broadcast because they don't want viewers to record 'perfect copies' of movies."

mcglk writes "I was happy to see that SonicBlue had released its new generation of ReplayTV, the 4500. And it was $250 cheaper than the 4000. Except for that $250 one-time service activation fee. Worse is the agreement that goes along with it. Term1A basically says, No more hacking. Term1G says that they can enable or disable anything they want without notice. And Term2C says that if someone even alleges you are infringing on copyright, you can be shut down with no notice, no recourse, and there's nothing you can do about itthe agreement indemnifies them completely. I was really looking forward to getting one of these, too." Under that agreement, SonicBlue claims the right to destroy your device when you connect for updates.

Lefty writes "This article in today's Boston Globe talks about the napsterization of TV shows and how the PC as a media server is going to make it happen. Burning TV shows to CD/DVD, e-mailing your friends TV shows, streaming TV over the Internet -- all things the dedicated set-top boxes can't do... The article talks about Snapstream, a PVR competitor to Moxi and ReplayTV, that runs on the PC and has media server capabilities. from the article: "Already you can find a great deal of pirated video material online. If SnapStream gets installed on millions of PCs, there'll be plenty more. And the TV moguls will find themselves knee deep in the digital acid bath.""

zonker asks: "We are getting hooked up with Dish Network Satellite TV this weekend and opted to go with one of their PVR (personal video recorder) plans. I started wondering if anyone has done any technical reviews or comparisons of the video quality (not just features) of the various digital video recorders out there (TiVo, DishPVR, ReplayTV, etc.). I am curious mostly about recorded video quality compared to the source video. All of them make claims to have various recording 'speeds' like VCR's. VCR's analog output is predictable (fuzzy recording with bits of static here and there, worse when signal quality is bad). However digital recorders have varying levels of pixelization. I was curious which ones fared the best and if anyone has comments on either systems?"

lkd7 asks: "I have recently decided to buy a DVR, but I'm not sure whether to go with Tivo or ReplayTV. I know that it is a shaky market right now, but my VCR is just not cutting it anymore. I have tested out both Tivo and ReplayTV, and would be happy with either one (I do not have satellite service and so UltimateTV is not an option for me). The Tivo stocks and SonicBlue/ReplayTV stocks are not the most reassuring. I know that going with either one is taking a risk, but I would like to go with the less risky bet. I'd rather not invest in a $300 paperweight. Does anyone have a recommendation?"

boskone noted that Replay TV's site has updated with a variety of new information that will definitely allow the Tivo/Replay flamewars to escalate. Besides the networking capability we mentioned earlier (send shows to friends, or to other Replay's on your home LAN), and the gigantic 320 hour maximum storage capacity, there are more detailed specicifcations. Also notable is the progressive video output port, and the fact that it actually requires ethernet, but doesn't require a subscription! I'd love to try one of these buggers out when they ship.

REden writes " ReplayTV announces their ReplayTV 4000 Series networkable PVR. Features include video sharing between LAN attached Replays, sending a show to another Replay over the internet, and automatic commercial skip. Prices start at $700 for a 40 hour unit and max out at $2000 for a 320 hour unit. ReplayTV guide service included. Units are scheduled to ship November 14th." 320 hours. I can't imagine holding on to that much TV - but space is cheap, so, eh, why not?

REden writes " ReplayTV announces their ReplayTV 4000 Series networkable PVR. Features include video sharing between LAN attached Replays, sending a show to another Replay over the internet, and automatic commercial skip. Prices start at $700 for a 40 hour unit and max out at $2000 for a 320 hour unit. ReplayTV guide service included. Units are scheduled to ship November 14th." 320 hours. I can't imagine holding on to that much TV - but space is cheap, so, eh, why not?

Muttley asks: "There are plenty of projects out there to provide Free Software replacements for products like like TiVo, ReplayTV or AudioRequest. However the one thing that these replacements don't have, AFAIK, is a TV-based interface which doesn't look anything like the standard GUIs we all are familiar with (see the screenshots). Are there any projects out there that would make it very simple to do this sort of interface? It wouldn't need to handle multiple windows open at the same time just some simple widgets for doing simple interfaces but it would have to look pretty with lots of eye candy (alpha blended text and so on). Talisman goes part of the way but it's for Windows. How does Tivo do it and are they going to release the technology as Free Software? Or is there some way of doing it with existing window managers and widget Sets?"

Muttley asks: "There are plenty of projects out there to provide Free Software replacements for products like like TiVo, ReplayTV or AudioRequest. However the one thing that these replacements don't have, AFAIK, is a TV-based interface which doesn't look anything like the standard GUIs we all are familiar with (see the screenshots). Are there any projects out there that would make it very simple to do this sort of interface? It wouldn't need to handle multiple windows open at the same time just some simple widgets for doing simple interfaces but it would have to look pretty with lots of eye candy (alpha blended text and so on). Talisman goes part of the way but it's for Windows. How does Tivo do it and are they going to release the technology as Free Software? Or is there some way of doing it with existing window managers and widget Sets?"

crazyj writes: "According to this article, Digital Video Recorder maker ReplayTV is calling it quits in the hardware business. Instead, they plan to cut staff and license their technology. Apparently, the competition from TiVo was too much."

tminator asks: "I was perusing the archives over at ZDnet when I came across a commentary about DVR's (Digital Video Recording). In the talkback section, someone mentioned a site called Singularis. It's a web-based television programming guide with thumbs-up/down rating of genre, title, actor, etc. You tell it what you like, it pulls up when similar shows are one, and the best part is it works with 'Singularis Personal Video Recorder (SPVR)' so you can record mpeg encoded programs on your PC. You can even modify and record programs while you're away! Just use their website to schedule the show and it'll go. You do need a TV Card, but it sounds like it'll beat the pants off TIVO and RePlay...'cause it's FREE." Unfortunately, the service is limited to Microsoft Operating Systems, but it's still an interesting experiment. If some of you have tried this service, I'm sure the rest of us would like to hear your experiences.

seanldunn asks: "Currently I am looking at digital video recorder solution to help flesh out my home theater, I've taken a look at the two consumer boxes that I know of, RealplayTV and TiVo"> link however their stance on not being able to upgrade their hardware without taking it into the shop doesn't float my boat. After all, why should I pay them $300 for a 30gig IDE hard drive, when I can buy one off the shelf for $180, and I can get a 60gig for about $200 in a year? Currently I'm am thinking about adding a few components to my personal web/file server running Linux... I'm looking at grabbing a video capture card supported by bttvgrab and some sort of mpeg decoder card with TV out, maybe a Creative Labs Dxr2. Quite frankly a software decoder with a TV out converter doesn't sound good for playing on a P-133... Anyone know if there are any better/cheaper solutions then this?" Interesting thought. If such a solution were put together, how would it compare in quality with the comsumer solutions?

Rick writes "Several companies now market digital VCR-like devices ReplayTV and TiVo). Articles on such were featured in this weeks Newsweek and the Wall Street Journal. These offer 10-14 hours of archivial TV, computer recording setup, random access playback, and easy commercial skipping. These free you from fumbling with tapes or arranging your evening around a TV schedule. A bit pricey now- $699/$499- but as with all new technology, should decline. "

An Anonymous reader wrote in to say "Ever wondered what you would get if you plugged together a cheapo mainboard, a hardware MPEG codec, a large hard disk, and a remote? Replay TV seems to have what VCRs are meant to be. Only drawback: starts at $999. "