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Microsoft Takes on TiVo
CatsCradle writes "The Seattle Times has an article about Microsoft's Foundation and their new partnership with Comcast to provide a TiVo-like service."
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I've never seen a BSOD on a TV before. Hopefully through the deal Comcast will supply the NTLDR.
Didnt' they already try this?
Yup thought so
</joke>
There is nothing like seeing a Blue Screen of Death on a 50 inch plasma screen. And there's nothing like having the "URKEL32" teleworm wipe out your Simpsons recording collection.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
If MS wants to have Windows Media Center infiltrate the living rooms of America, this is a logical step. It also follows that they want to get their DRM involved at this side of things, both for encoding saved shows, and if there are Windows Media decoders at the set-top, perhaps on the production/encoding side of the cable.
500GB of disk, 5TB of transfer, $5.95/mo
Just one virus and I'll get free porn for life.
---Technology will liberate us if it doesn't enslave us first.
There's also the fun of when some kid in Hong Kong gains control of your TV through an unsecure port and starts to change the channels on you.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Hmmm....
I wonder if it will include Binky, the Helpful Paperclip...
"Hi Buddy, looks like you are watching Porn - do you want me to inform all people you know?
Press [YES] to confirm or [YES] to continue
+++ MELON MELON MELON +++ Out of Cheese Error +++ redo from start +++
Hardly. Tivo has name recognition in the DVR market (so much so that many people don't know what a DVR is, but certainly know what a Tivo is). Tivo's been in the market for years and has a large installed userbase. Microsoft will have to fight hard to catch up to this. In my opinion, this is similar to Microsoft entering the console market with the XBox. The XBox sells decently in the US, but it can't compare to PS2 sales in any market. Why? Sony has name recognition and beat MS to market in the current generation of consoles. I think that MS is going to have a very difficult time unseating Tivo as the King of DVRs.
Is there anyone who can offer genuine non-zealous commentary on Microsoft's MCE2005?
I'm currently running SageTV (http://www.sage.tv) for my PVR needs. Before that I was running MythTV which I really liked, however it was really flakey.
I wonder how MCE2005 compares to either or both of the two.
TIA
"Control and customize your viewers' experience.
With Microsoft TV Foundation Edition's new UI Customizer tool, you can make changes to the viewer's user interface, preview the changes, and then almost instantaneously publish them to the viewer's set-top box."
Gee, thanks Redmond, I was looking for an outside corporation to control my "experience" (there's that damned word again from the dot-com era). I like how they'll just have the vendor just make bulk changes then push them to my set-top box without asking me if I want an update or not. I suppose that's part of the agreement, though. Looks like another MS service I'll be ignoring.
I'm sure "SlashdotMedia" will improve on all the wonders that Dice Holdings blessed us all with
Everyone who has a DVR (that I know) calls it TiVo, or says they'll "TiVo it" even though it's not a TiVo. They don't care where the product comes from, and that's Microsoft's entry point. They can take a loss on their product and beat out the competitors.
Wow, now there's a losing combination. Here in Chicago Comcast is long running corporate joke. Very poor service both in their TV and Cable modem divisions and a broadband network they can't seem to keep up for very long.
I switched to DirecTV w/ Tivo long ago and will probably give that up eventually as more shows become available on bitorrent. Considering I only watch perhaps three shows regularly, its overkill. Also, Rupert-Owned DirecTV with DirecTivo does have its downsides.
Then again, never underestimate the power of bundling services.
Not that I worry much about Microsoft. I worry more about Comcast. They control more of my life, in the format in which I receive my home internet connection and cable television, than any other entity right now.
What if, in their infinite wisdom, that Comcast requires that you use a Windows box to take advantage of "special features" of their device that MS creates propriatarily? In simpler language, I am used to Microsoft making things that don't fully integrate with my Mac OS arrangement (and generally, I usually don't care since I have plenty of alternatives with my platform). However, Comcast loves to charge its customers for things they don't or can't use, and it's hard enough to know exactly how they are sticking it to me as it is.
On the plus side, they may be a company that I worry about, but my cable internet from Comcast is 2.5MBits and whomps my office connection easily.
Vos teneo officium eram periculosus ut vos recipero is.
MSNBC
MSCBS
MSABC
MSFOX
The History Channel (sample show: Microsoft invents the GUI with Windows 1.0)
EA-SPN. (the sports network where you get to watch guys play sports videogames)
Animal Planet. (featuring the microsoft mouse)
Lifetime (featuring details of how long the Microsoft EULA binds you)
MTV (featuring Ballmer Beach Dance Blast!)
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
I have Comcast's current HDTV/PVR offering, and it pales in comparison to my series 1 standalone TiVO. To get a season pass, you search by title, and individually record each episode that shows up in the search results.
Just about everything you like about the TiVO ain't there yet for "Com-assed". The one big thing the box has going for it is direct firewire access to the current video stream including on demand content, hdtv, and stuff from the dvr library. Of course, once MS gets loaded on the box, you know they're going to lock it down.
Intelligent Life on Earth
Microsoft was responsible for the software that runs on the Dish Network Dishplayer (7200-series). And they sucked at it too. The thing crashed constantly. At least now that Dish is responsible for the software directly, it works a little better, but they're still dealing with the horrible base that MS laid.
I don't think TiVO has a thing to worry about.
-Todd
"The details of my life are quite inconsequential..."
Seriously? It was yesterday, during boot-up. I had to power it off. Thankfully, it did not blue-screen during the next boot.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
CatsCradle writes "The Seattle Times has an article about Microsoft's Foundation and their new partnership with Comcast to provide a TIVO like service."
Thanks for that link to the Microsoft homepage! I've been looking for that.
Slashdot comes through again!!!
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography." -- Ambrose Bierce
Tivo has name, and proven track record.
:)
Microsoft has money and can buy name and track record.
That aside, competition is most aways a good thing it drives up inovation. The more brands availible the better off we are as consumers.
But look at other comcast products, G4, after the merger of G4 and techtv, they took one crapy network and one decent network(Techtv), and produced a crapy network.
Now i can use my comcast DVR to make sure i dont ever have to see a retarded G4 show again
People are missing the point here. Now with comcast you can get an affordable HDTV DVR (as opposed to the $1000 diretivo model).
s p
Check it out:
http://broadband.motorola.com/dvr/dct6412.a
That's pretty good for $10/month.
OK, TiVo has a huge share in the DVR (or PVR, as my Cable company calls it) market, but didn't Netscape used to have like 92% of the browser market? Name recognition means crap when competing against Microsoft. Sorry, but unless TiVo partners up with cable box makers YESTERDAY, then they're done.
Hey TiVo, you need to call someone over at Motorola. I have a Motorola cable/PVR/HDTV box and it SUCKS. Bad. I've had TiVo for three years, and I love it. The Motorola box crashes all the time, the controls suck, the program guide sucks. Looks like it was programmed in the 80's.
-Arthur
Cave ne ante ullas catapultas ambules
Tivo's stock price has dropped 4% from yesterday's close on the announcement and over 6% from earlier this week... People are in a state of panic and for good reason. TiVo has been building up their Tivo to go services and working out rights management details with the NFL and other interested parties. They're also rumored to be including full Netflix movie download services in their next box. Tivo has been network agnostic while the MS box is geared towards comcast customers. This gives MS both a leg up and a problem. The advantage is in being able to offer specific PPV/pay per download movie choices while keeping it under the cable company's control may be a weakness. Also note that this is one cable company taking on the new box. Unless we start hearing that these boxes are also broadband web browsers and offer new features bundled in with comcast's cable modem or that other cable companies are joining on, Tivo is in good shape. They still have DirectTv and retail space that MS would have a while to catch up in. My final thought is Microsoft's trump card. If they somehow manage to integrate control of the set top box into the OS (do I smell anti trust case?) they could very well be able to kill off Tivo.
One of the above words has correct use of the apostrophe. You decide which one!
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Putting Microsoft between you and your content seems like a mistake... even if the hardware is cheap. You have 233 day and counting to get your broadcast flag free capture cards.
TiVo needs to position themselves as the Google of DVRs and adopt the "Do No Evil" policy.
Here I was thinking I could make some quip about this new service recording and inserting additional ads into your recorded content, and tag a fast "5:Funny". Something like this:
"I hear Microsoft plan to go for an untapped market niche neglected by the TiVo. This new recorder records just the ads around the program, as well as inserting a few of its own."
Surefire positive moderation and reassurance for my meaningless existence centered around Slashdot karma right? Well, it seems the comedians at Microsoft have already stolen my thunder. From the Microsoft Foundation page...
Sell and secure HDTV homes.
Promote offerings with targeted ads and recommendations.
Insert ads and promotions...
Control and customize your viewers' experience.
It seems that they have they thought of all my best gags and implemented them as actual features. Dammit. What a sad day when a monolithic company can spent thousands on marketing a product whose primary purpose is to deny a Slashdotter the simple pleasure of a two-line quip. *runs and cries*
You're right. You don't ever see a BSOD on XP because Microsoft "fixed" it by having it automatically reboot as soon as it does it by default.
Yup, no more BSOD! Just random reboots instead. Good work team!
Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
The difference is that the cable company is packaging this. If I am a comcast digital customer and want to use my Tivo, I'm stuck with two incompatibal guides. I'm forced to have Tivo using an IR blaster of some sort to change the channel on my cable box. I'm forced to purchase a second cable box if I want to watch and record something at the same time. This service builds all that in. Plus it's cheaper. With this service there is no compelling reason for a comcast customer to get tivo.
Jack Valenti and Orrin Hatch will be first up against the wall when the revolution comes.