Posted by
Hemos
on from the upgrade-upgrade-jiggity-jig dept.
ethaz writes "Tivo has announced dual tuner support in version 2.5 of it's software for DirecTV-capable Tivos (DTivos). So much for Ultimate TV's advantage." Too bad it's only DIRECTV TiVos - with the larger hard drive, better output, my TiVo pales in comparasion.
no new hard drive
by
tweedle
·
· Score: 5, Informative
Actually, the hard drive is the same size. The increased space is due to the fact that it takes the actual mpeg2 stream straight from directv, so it's a lot more efficient than the SA tivos, since it doesn't have to be reencoded. the increased quality is due to this as well, since DTV uses hugely sophisticated encoders to get the best mix of quality and size, the tivo doesn't have to use it's $5 encoding chip to do the work.
Re:no new hard drive
by
iceT
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Are you sure? I was under the impression that it had a 60GB hard drive in it...(I actually haven't cracked open my DirecTivo due to the warranty)
Also, I've never seen an MPEG2 data stream that took 1/2 the space of an MPEG1 data stream of the same quality.....
30GB Tivo = 9 hours of HQ recording time 30 Hours at a quality slightly better than a slide-show...
DirectTivo = 35 hours of HQ recording time (no choice as to recording time)
It HAS to have a larger HD in it... MPEG2 CAN'T be 4x more efficient than MPEG1.
-- -- You can't idiot-proof anything, because they're always coming out with better idiots.
On August 28, TiVo closed a $51.75 million private placement with financial and strategic investors.
The private placement was done using what is commonly referred to as "death spiral notes," aka "toxic notes." These are convertible notes (bonds), but unlike typical converts, their conversion rate is based on a fixed dollar amount, not a fixed share rate. The lower the stock price goes, the more shares the bonds can be converted for, which equals more dillution for current shareholders, which equals a lower stock price. Rinse, repeat.
Excite@home issued these notes just weeks prior to its demise. These notes encourage the holder to dump the stock price of the company (via shorting the stock.) The lower the stock price goes, the more shares the toxic note holder gets. Unlike @home, TiVo has a "floor" (maximum conversion rate), but these are not standard convertible bonds by any stretch.
I wish TiVo the best of luck (I own one), but the future isn't so bright they have to wear shades...
TV good, TiVo better?
by
alewando
·
· Score: 5, Funny
According to Reuters, India plans to subsidize television sets so couples can sit back and watch television instead of having sex and contributing to India's burgeoning population.
That's the kind of news I'd expect to hear from adequacy.org, but it's gotten me thinking: if mere television can be successful, then how much better would India's public funds be spent on TiVo instead? Television can be watched at length, but there's a limit to the amount of interactivity. With TiVo, couples would not only be watching more television than they'd previously wanted to (because of the convenience TiVo offers in recording shows otherwise missed); they'd spend additional numbers of hours every year fiddling with options and programming their device.
If there are any Indians in the audience, I encourage you to write your representative in parliament and encourage him or her to consider TiVo instead of television. Thousands of geeks use it, and they're having less sex than perhaps any other segment of our population. The choice is clear.
Re:What about standalone TiVo?
by
PaxTech
·
· Score: 3, Redundant
The standalone TiVo, as opposed to the DirectTiVo, doesn't have dual tuners. The DirectTiVo has dual tuners, but lacks MPEG compression chips, so you can't record from any source other than DirectTV.
-- All movements for social change begin as missions, evolve into businesses, and end up as rackets.
Re:What about standalone TiVo?
by
Burdell
·
· Score: 3, Informative
Your understanding is flawed. The SA units only have a single tuner and a single MPEG encoder chip. The DirecTiVo units have two tuners and no encoder chip (since they record the digital bit stream direct from the satellite).
It would be nice to have two tuners in the SA box, but there are a LOT of technical issues that would have to be worked out. It wouldn't be too difficult for straight CATV RF input, but for people with external tuners (cable boxes, satellite receivers of all types), TiVo would have to provide twice as many inputs on the back of the box (and there isn't much space for that). The setup interface would be significantly more complex (is the cable box hooked up to tuner input 2? what about the IR blaster?) for arguably little gain. Some "power users" may want dual tuners, but most of the power users already have TiVo. The target market for TiVo now is the grandmas that sit their and watch their VCR blink "12:00" all the time. How many of those are going to care about (or understand) dual tuners?
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010827/en/tele vi sion-replay_1.html
"ReplayTV is planning a post-Labor Day introduction of a souped-up DVR that could store as much as 320 hours of TV programming and send programs by email to other DVRs. It may also allow users to copy photo files from a PC to the DVR."
"Survey describes in detail the new product and asks respondents how much they would be willing to pay for it. Pricing proposals in the survey range from a model with 40 hours of storage capacity that could retail for $699 to a 320-hour model that might sell for $1,999."
"According to the email survey, the product could work with a standard dial-up phone modem for a monthly fee of $4.95 or a broadband Internet connection using an Ethernet home network at no monthly charge. The broadband connection is required for sending TV programs by email."
I love my ReplayTV 3030. I might have to get a second one...assuming my job stays there when these have been out a while.
Re:What about standalone TiVo?
by
Scutter
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
What are those technical details? I know they sell TV sets with dual tuners for Picture in Picture that only need one cable hookup. For those of us who hook the cable right into the back of the TV(no cable box) why wouldn't this be an easy thing to? (with additional hardware of coures)
They wouldn't just have to have dual tuners. Straight dual-RF would be pretty easy. The problem is that they'd also have to deal with dual cable boxes, which means twice as much hardware. And the interface would become exponentially more complicated, as you try to explain which input is connected to which cable box, and try to configure two separate IR blasters running on the same frequencies, etc. etc.
Right now, TiVo is not being marketed to power users (which are the ones who would want dual-tuner capability). They're trying to sell it as a VCR replacement.
--
"Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
I'll admit, as a TiVo owner, the thought of having a dual tuner would be really nice. A few times it is a problem, but I haven't ran into anything so serious that I would record on TiVo while watching another program on another channel on another TV. Of course, this isn't the same for all people.
For those of you who MUST have this functionality, you've got to decide if you're going to swap for a DirecTivo/UltimateTV (where possible --- major markets), or buy another standalone TiVo aka a "conflict TiVo" with limited storage.
Conflict TiVos are somewhat popular, and you only need a 15gb drive to handle the cases (typically prime time) where it happens. And TiVos are running REALLY CHEAP right now!
Nice to hear about TiVo's cash burn rate. As a *subscriber*, that is good news. If it didn't have a service element to it, and I wasn't dependent upon TiVo, personally, I'd go for a company that has a very high cash burn rate and get all the goodies I can below cost.
My current favorite is "1-800-555-TELL" (YES, an ACTUAL REAL telephone number... try it, especially the "phone booth" option). I'm calling an 800 number for free to get news/weather/games and to make a free 1 minute telephone call. I'm attracted to companies that have a high burn rate. Except, of course, ones that I am dependent upon.
Re:LOL, I've been pirating DirecTV for about 6 mon
by
RedX
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Sure, go ahead and pop your hacked HU card in a DirecTiVo. There are no technical problems that would prevent it from working. Keep in mind that DirecTV and TiVo are sharing all data collected from DirecTiVo boxes (unlike the SA Tivo's), so don't think you'll have your setup active for too long.
TiVo Web Project
by
Lightn
·
· Score: 4, Informative
Shameless plug. The Tivo Web Project is designed to give you a web interface to your TiVo. And it does, the TCL branch allows you to browse, edit, create, delete entries in now showing, todo, season passes, browse the channel guide, look at suggestions, preferences (thumbs ratings), etc. It's themable, modular, runs directly on the TiVo and is pretty mature.
The last time I posted on a tivo article the TCL branch wasn't released, and I haven't seen as many downloads as I would expect so far. So have fun.:)
What I want to see...
by
cr0sh
·
· Score: 5, Interesting
I want everything the Tivo offers, plus:
1. The ability to add drive storage as I see fit. 2. The ability to record and play back MP3s from any source (TV, radio, CD, etc), as well as load MP3s from a network or CD-ROM. 3. The ability to record into the system from any video medium (tape, DVD, VCD, mpegs off the net, etc). 4. Other file storage for regular data files, etc. 5. Network support using standard protocols. 6. Open spec system, to allow OS choice!
In other words, a very damn nice file server, with special hardware for sound and video recording, ala Tivo. I want this to act as a central home server (there could be other possibilities as well - x-10 control, video security, web admin, etc), that was nice and expandable, easily - like a PC.
It damn near can be done today with commodity hardware, but the video record/simultaneous playback/channel guide stuff isn't there yet - we need a fast filesystem for that stuff (the simultaneuous record/playback so you can "pause" TV). Does anyone know of such a filesystem being worked on?
I am planning on building a largish networked fileserver, but it won't be anything like I described - at best it would be able to play back MP3, maybe record to it, but it wouldn't be an all-in-one solution. Is there anything like this at all - even ultra-expensive solutions used by TV studios for quick DVR editing?
I doubt we'll ever see such a thing (short of a major hacking effort - though I bet the antcomputing guys could pull it off) - it would allow the user too much control...
WOW! How did I ever get along without this thing? I've had it for two days, and have very rarely actually watched "live" TV.
I got the Sony 30 hour (Tweeter says the Phillips had a lot of returns). I started punching in the shows I wanted to watch (easy searching) and it started to record other shows that I might be interested in. If I don't watch those shows, they just get erased. Given the local PBS station is showing Red Dwarf and Red Green at 1AM, I can get my Red* fix the next morning, since Tivo has already recorded it for me.
My wife and I are still getting used to being able to hit "pause" to go to the bathroom, answer the phone, etc.
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Actually, the hard drive is the same size. The increased space is due to the fact that it takes the actual mpeg2 stream straight from directv, so it's a lot more efficient than the SA tivos, since it doesn't have to be reencoded. the increased quality is due to this as well, since DTV uses hugely sophisticated encoders to get the best mix of quality and size, the tivo doesn't have to use it's $5 encoding chip to do the work.
The private placement was done using what is commonly referred to as "death spiral notes," aka "toxic notes." These are convertible notes (bonds), but unlike typical converts, their conversion rate is based on a fixed dollar amount, not a fixed share rate. The lower the stock price goes, the more shares the bonds can be converted for, which equals more dillution for current shareholders, which equals a lower stock price. Rinse, repeat.
Excite@home issued these notes just weeks prior to its demise. These notes encourage the holder to dump the stock price of the company (via shorting the stock.) The lower the stock price goes, the more shares the toxic note holder gets. Unlike @home, TiVo has a "floor" (maximum conversion rate), but these are not standard convertible bonds by any stretch.
I wish TiVo the best of luck (I own one), but the future isn't so bright they have to wear shades...
According to Reuters, India plans to subsidize television sets so couples can sit back and watch television instead of having sex and contributing to India's burgeoning population.
That's the kind of news I'd expect to hear from adequacy.org, but it's gotten me thinking: if mere television can be successful, then how much better would India's public funds be spent on TiVo instead? Television can be watched at length, but there's a limit to the amount of interactivity. With TiVo, couples would not only be watching more television than they'd previously wanted to (because of the convenience TiVo offers in recording shows otherwise missed); they'd spend additional numbers of hours every year fiddling with options and programming their device.
If there are any Indians in the audience, I encourage you to write your representative in parliament and encourage him or her to consider TiVo instead of television. Thousands of geeks use it, and they're having less sex than perhaps any other segment of our population. The choice is clear.
The standalone TiVo, as opposed to the DirectTiVo, doesn't have dual tuners. The DirectTiVo has dual tuners, but lacks MPEG compression chips, so you can't record from any source other than DirectTV.
All movements for social change begin as missions, evolve into businesses, and end up as rackets.
It would be nice to have two tuners in the SA box, but there are a LOT of technical issues that would have to be worked out. It wouldn't be too difficult for straight CATV RF input, but for people with external tuners (cable boxes, satellite receivers of all types), TiVo would have to provide twice as many inputs on the back of the box (and there isn't much space for that). The setup interface would be significantly more complex (is the cable box hooked up to tuner input 2? what about the IR blaster?) for arguably little gain. Some "power users" may want dual tuners, but most of the power users already have TiVo. The target market for TiVo now is the grandmas that sit their and watch their VCR blink "12:00" all the time. How many of those are going to care about (or understand) dual tuners?
Replay today announced somethings too.
e vi sion-replay_1.html
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010827/en/tel
"ReplayTV is planning a post-Labor Day introduction of a souped-up DVR that could store as much as 320 hours of TV programming and send programs by email to other DVRs. It may also allow users to copy photo files from a PC to the DVR."
"Survey describes in detail the new product and asks respondents how much they would be willing to pay for it. Pricing proposals in the survey range from a model with 40 hours of storage capacity that could retail for $699 to a 320-hour model that might sell for $1,999."
"According to the email survey, the product could work with a standard dial-up phone modem for a monthly fee of $4.95 or a broadband Internet connection using an Ethernet home network at no monthly charge. The broadband connection is required for sending TV programs by email."
I love my ReplayTV 3030. I might have to get a second one...assuming my job stays there when these have been out a while.
What are those technical details? I know they sell TV sets with dual tuners for Picture in Picture that only need one cable hookup. For those of us who hook the cable right into the back of the TV(no cable box) why wouldn't this be an easy thing to? (with additional hardware of coures)
They wouldn't just have to have dual tuners. Straight dual-RF would be pretty easy. The problem is that they'd also have to deal with dual cable boxes, which means twice as much hardware. And the interface would become exponentially more complicated, as you try to explain which input is connected to which cable box, and try to configure two separate IR blasters running on the same frequencies, etc. etc.
Right now, TiVo is not being marketed to power users (which are the ones who would want dual-tuner capability). They're trying to sell it as a VCR replacement.
"Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
I'll admit, as a TiVo owner, the thought of having a dual tuner would be really nice. A few times it is a problem, but I haven't ran into anything so serious that I would record on TiVo while watching another program on another channel on another TV. Of course, this isn't the same for all people.
For those of you who MUST have this functionality, you've got to decide if you're going to swap for a DirecTivo/UltimateTV (where possible --- major markets), or buy another standalone TiVo aka a "conflict TiVo" with limited storage.
Conflict TiVos are somewhat popular, and you only need a 15gb drive to handle the cases (typically prime time) where it happens. And TiVos are running REALLY CHEAP right now!
Nice to hear about TiVo's cash burn rate. As a *subscriber*, that is good news. If it didn't have a service element to it, and I wasn't dependent upon TiVo, personally, I'd go for a company that has a very high cash burn rate and get all the goodies I can below cost.
My current favorite is "1-800-555-TELL" (YES, an ACTUAL REAL telephone number... try it, especially the "phone booth" option). I'm calling an 800 number for free to get news/weather/games and to make a free 1 minute telephone call. I'm attracted to companies that have a high burn rate. Except, of course, ones that I am dependent upon.
Sure, go ahead and pop your hacked HU card in a DirecTiVo. There are no technical problems that would prevent it from working. Keep in mind that DirecTV and TiVo are sharing all data collected from DirecTiVo boxes (unlike the SA Tivo's), so don't think you'll have your setup active for too long.
The last time I posted on a tivo article the TCL branch wasn't released, and I haven't seen as many downloads as I would expect so far. So have fun. :)
I want everything the Tivo offers, plus:
1. The ability to add drive storage as I see fit.
2. The ability to record and play back MP3s from any source (TV, radio, CD, etc), as well as load MP3s from a network or CD-ROM.
3. The ability to record into the system from any video medium (tape, DVD, VCD, mpegs off the net, etc).
4. Other file storage for regular data files, etc.
5. Network support using standard protocols.
6. Open spec system, to allow OS choice!
In other words, a very damn nice file server, with special hardware for sound and video recording, ala Tivo. I want this to act as a central home server (there could be other possibilities as well - x-10 control, video security, web admin, etc), that was nice and expandable, easily - like a PC.
It damn near can be done today with commodity hardware, but the video record/simultaneous playback/channel guide stuff isn't there yet - we need a fast filesystem for that stuff (the simultaneuous record/playback so you can "pause" TV). Does anyone know of such a filesystem being worked on?
I am planning on building a largish networked fileserver, but it won't be anything like I described - at best it would be able to play back MP3, maybe record to it, but it wouldn't be an all-in-one solution. Is there anything like this at all - even ultra-expensive solutions used by TV studios for quick DVR editing?
I doubt we'll ever see such a thing (short of a major hacking effort - though I bet the antcomputing guys could pull it off) - it would allow the user too much control...
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
WOW! How did I ever get along without this thing? I've had it for two days, and have very rarely actually watched "live" TV.
I got the Sony 30 hour (Tweeter says the Phillips had a lot of returns). I started punching in the shows I wanted to watch (easy searching) and it started to record other shows that I might be interested in. If I don't watch those shows, they just get erased. Given the local PBS station is showing Red Dwarf and Red Green at 1AM, I can get my Red* fix the next morning, since Tivo has already recorded it for me.
My wife and I are still getting used to being able to hit "pause" to go to the bathroom, answer the phone, etc.
Now watching: Son of Flubber