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SBC Builds A TiVo Rival
ChipGuy writes "With all the hoopla around Tivo To Go, SBC Communications has launched its own PVR-plus-set-top box which integrates SBC DSL with its satellite service. From the looks of it, this could be the trend where phone operators offer their one set-top box/ home media servers. This is not good news for TiVo or Microsoft which harbors living room ambitions. 2Wire might be the dark horse in set-top box sweepstakes."
Fiber To The Home could make this a kickass box. Anything, Anytime...
Could this be a saving grace for Blockbuster to finally get into the fray again with Netflix?
Seems like a good opportunity. With MythTV and/or VideoLAN you can create a pretty nice Tivo-clone-box that you could get your telco to resell to their customers. I envy your opportunity to have such a fun hobby/business sitting in front of you.
Oh, and by "new killer features" I meant something like:
:)
You're on your lunch break at work with a high speed 'net connection and have nothing else to do, so you log into your SBC/2Wire box via a password protected web browser and see, basically, a java version of the PVR's menu. You pick one of your favorite shows and hit Play and the 2Wire box transcodes the video in realtime to a streaming format so you can watch the recorded show (or live tv, even) right there in your browser while you're away from home as it pipes the stream out the integrated SBC 'net connection.
Yeah, I know there's no way they could do that with the quality of most SBC 'net connectivity, but you know...
Seriously, SBC cant get DSL right (PPPoE, WTF?), I have no confidence in their ability to get TV working as well.
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I agree 100%. I used to work for a company that was hired by SBC to do their DSL tech support. At first SBC promised everything, tons of jobs for everyone. 2 years later my entire tech support center was the shutdown. (For all of you Mac users out there, our support center started the dedicated DSL Mac support... remember our Minnesota accents?) SBC is growing in sales and slashing its support. Our support center had the best stats in the company, but we were let go. It's a shame...
One thing I never hear mentioned is the state of play in the UK. Is the TiVo here or coming here at all? What about this one? (Didn't RTFA, getting ready for work...)
How does the TiVo service compare with the Sky+ service we can get over here that appears to allow the same features?
Yesterday I had a discussion on set top boxes with a couple of colleagues. It seems to us that the living room of the future will have its own rack full with set top boxes. A set top box for your digital radio, a set top box for digital tv, a set top box for internet/dsl connection, a set top box for video on demand, a set top box for I don't know what else for a kind of DRM protected content.
I can see all these set top boxes actually harming competition. Having to introduce a new set top box for a new service seems like a proper waste of money. The consumer might like a different provider per service but buying a new box just to make it work will be prohibitively expensive
It would be great if we would get systems that are modular, maybe work with a set of chipcards or something along those lines.
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TV is dying, folks. While the symptoms may not be outwardly apparent yet, the insides are rotting away like so much necrotic carcinoma. How much longer can TV keep going while a greater and greater (what is it now, over half?) part of the US (and world) establishes broadband connectivity?
Do you think people can split themselves in two?
TV already shot itself in the foot when it spawned 400-channel versions of itself and divided up the interest by its newfound extra channels. All that's left now is to watch as the shows go to crap, the heads roll and the whole burgeoning monstrosity becomes cannibalized by BigBand.
I wonder if they will start making shows that go straight to DVD. :-P
Anyone who says "this is going to compete with TiVo" has never owned a TiVo. It's not the fact that it can record shows, it's how it records shows, and how it interacts with you. Excellence in design. Right number of features that require little or no explanation, because they work the obvious way.
You can pry my countoured TiVo controller from my cold dead fingers.
All hail TiVo-Crack!
Disclaimer: I am a Tivo subscriber and like it.
I agree. Tivo is almost like Google. Tivo "gets it". They know what their customers want/need and keep it simple.
Companies keep trying to come out with Tivo killers and fail. These companies either think they have a better product or their product is good enough.
Companies that think they have a better product than Tivo probably don't "get it" when it comes to Joe Average.
Companies with the "good enough" approach are just trying to be greeedy and will probably never succeed. You can't take this approach unless you already have a huge market share. Think Microsoft. These companies should just cut deals with Tivo and license the technology.
Keep the Classic Slashdot.