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."

Comments

Standardization of set top boxes

[Raindeer]

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.

FFS, die already, won't you?

[MerryGoByeBye]

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.

Re:SBC institutionally incompetent?

[Skeezix]

Think again, Monkelectric. I just finished SBC's ADSL2 trial and it was amazing. We're talking 10-12Mb/s downstrea, over 1.2Mb/s upstream, brilliant HDTV over IP and no, it is not PPPoE anymore. Stay tuned....