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More on the Replay TV 4000

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the oh-thats-so-yummy dept.

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.

8 of 178 comments (clear)

  1. Progressive output is actually VGA (Dsub 15) by [amorphis] · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I thought progressive output for compressed NTSC would be pretty silly, till I saw it was actually a VGA connector
    Cool!

  2. Open standards... by swordboy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What we need is an open standard for digital entertainment. Something that everyone can agree upon (consumers, manufacturers, advertisers, etc). It would be nice if I could buy one box and then have the option to hook it up to the cableco or my particular satellite provider. You could then hack in a hard drive for the PVR features and possibly add gaming functionality. Bahhh.... The possibilities are endless but the only company smart enough to put something like this together isn't going to make it "open".

    --

    Life is the leading cause of death in America.
  3. Re:subscription by Syberghost · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Don't be so quick to jump on the "no commercials" idea.

    The broadcast networks can only afford to be free if they have income, and if enough people start skipping the commercials, they'll have to do something about it.

    So unless you wanna pay a monthly fee for access to the networks and your local stations, you better hope Autoskip stays a niche product.

  4. One FAQ, I'd like to see answered by eam · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I read the FAQ on their site, but there was one important question that went unanswered:

    If I buy a Replay4000, and Replay goes under, will I still be able to use it, or will it go dead when it can't get schedule updates from the Replay server?

  5. Hidden "features" like spyware, rights management? by tmoertel · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Two questions:
    1. What kind of information about users will these units gather and transmit back to ReplayTV?
    2. Do these units incorporate any kind of "rights management" system that would infringe upon fair use or home-recording rights?
    --
    Easy, automatic testing for Perl.
  6. Where's the DVD recorder? by TokyoJimu · · Score: 2, Interesting

    In Japan, Toshiba sells a PVR with a built-in DVD recorder, allowing for easy archiving. I wonder when we'll see that here (where here=anywhere but Japan).

  7. Security, anyone? by nuetrino · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Let me see if I got this right. The RePlay unit is now to be connected to Internet 24X7. The company needs to have access to the unit to upgrade software and presumable download viewing statistics. The software is remotely upgradeable. And to say more precisely, it doesn?t look like it can be behind a firewall because the company needs access to the unit.

    So, are we talking a gleaming new attack vector into the home network with a guaranteed propagation strategy as user exchange content, or has security been taken seriously? I do not see anything in the specs or FAQ.

    I would probably let a M$ box onto my network first.

  8. Microsoft's terra server by peter303 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Microsoft and Oracle anticipated this have had terabyte video raid disks around for years. The stored TV market isn't quite there yet, so they have a demo on web that serves satellite images. Once there is a market, MicroSoft will be there.