TiVo to support HDTV by "Year-End"

JMorgan in Seattle writes "TiVo has (finally!) announced support for HDTV. It's a ways off (end of the year), but at least we know that HD TiVo is on the horizon. In two separate press releases, we learn that TiVo will support both standalone and DirecTV hi-def PVRs. TiVo is really on a roll--first Rendezvous support, and now this. Now if only DirecTV would add more HDTV channels..." I've been waiting to get an HDTV receiver for this. Joy.

Comments

Re:Not yet

[SuiteSisterMary]

You're not paying a subscription to record TV.

You're paying a subscription for a well-updated TV guide, and software updates.

You need never give TiVo any money other than to buy the hardware; if, however, you want the value added services, you pays for them.

Hey, it's better than just auto-bundelling the price into the cost of the unit, aye?

Re:Space Issues?

[Jeff DeMaagd]

Now I'll be able to record the first 5 minutes of my favorite HDTV program!

I recognize that this is funny, but all the TiVo has to do is record the compressed bitstream, much like the Direct Tivo. Even on DirectTivo, recording the bitstream is higher quality and saves space over recording and encoding an analog signal.

Re:Not yet

[Ciannait]

Besides, if you've got DirecTV and their Total Choice Premier package, the TiVo subscription fee is waived. (Or, included in the package, if you prefer to look at it that way.)

Either way, a TiVo subscription for a DirecTV DVR is all of $4.99 with their less-inclusive packages. If you can afford a TiVo, you can afford $4.99 a month.

Re:Interested

[McSpew]

The subscription is only for the program guide data. You can still pause/rewind/fast forward live TV, and schedule recordings manually, without a subscription.

This is no longer true. DirecTV models have always required a subscription (ridiculously cheap at $4.99 per month for up to 8 TiVo units or free with some DirecTV programming packages) and standalone units have required a subscription since they began shipping with the 2.0 software. All Series 2 TiVos require subscriptions.

Anybody who complains about the TiVo subscription might as well cancel their cable or satellite subscriptions because they pay more for cable or satellite subscriptions and those alone won't bring someone the immense functionality and satisfaction a TiVo will.

Re:Just out of curiousity...

[karmawarrior]

If you remember, a few days ago I was talking about Dish Network's weak grasp on the market.

And I thought it was very insightful too. I wrote a good critique here. A critical problem though that DN needs to get past if it's to progress in terms of market share, was something you didn't raise: namely the crippling effect of the DMCA. Dish Network has problems getting out of a rutt where, by all reasonable standards, cable companies have the upper hand. Cable companies do not have the same kinds of limitations when it comes to decoding multiple channels, they have two-way infrastructure, and they have the capabilities of adding non-television services such as telephony and broadband Internet services to their arsenals.

Dish Network can only get beyond this point by making use of its relatively niche position to create specialised services such as PVR integration systems built into its decoders, and such. This, however, requires changes - it is content providers that restrict the use of equipment to view and record content, and, with the DMCA, the content producers have the final say. If they want to enforce a "no record" bit, Dish Network's equipment must enforce it, regardless of how useless such a tool would be.

This quagmire of Dish Network offering nothing but a wider choice of channels and cheaper programming to compete against entrenched cable monopolies will not disappear by itself. Unless people are prepared to actually act, not just talk about it on Slashdot, nothing will ever get done. Apathy is not an option.

You can help by getting off your rear and writing GPL'd content parsing code which uses the DMCA in nasty ways in order to discredit it. Write code that makes it impossible to use it to produce encrypted, DMCA protected, content, but at the same time enforces little limitations upon its use. Appreciate the work being done by groups like Ogg Tarkin but that if these systems are shipped with DRM systems, such as Real intends to do with Helix, use less and less secure and intelligently designed alternatives. Get SMP working in OpenBSD so that you can efficiently deploy that operating systems on your workstations and servers. Think about freedom, openness, and choice, and work to create software that protects all three. This is an issue that effects YOU directly, YOU code, and that your code is dependent on opened systems.

You CAN make a difference. Don't treat coding as a right, treat it as a duty. Keep your skills up to date, keep writing great code that makes the world a better place. And, most importantly of all, code.