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Tivo Signs Deal With Comcast
Chappy01 writes "TiVo has inked a long-term deal with Comcast, America's largest cable television operator, to develop a version of the TiVo service that will be offered to Comcast's DVR subscribers. The deal calls for TiVo to adapt its software to work on Comcast's existing DVR platform, and it allows TiVo to extend to Comcast subscribers the advertising it sells in the form of interactive video clips that automatically appear in the TiVo menu." From the article: "The move will increase TiVo's presence in American homes as it faces competition from generic DVRs offered directly by leading cable companies. Comcast Corp. expects to begin marketing the new DVRs, which will carry the TiVo brand, by mid- to late 2006." News also available from MSNBC and the Official Tivo Site.
Does it still need to connect to the phone lines these days? You'd think Comcast, with their digital service, could stop having to tie up the phone at strange hours of the night.
Comcast is constantly raising fees to the point where I'm dropping things I get from them. But I hope it works out for them.
Except for ending slavery, the Nazis, communism, & securing American independence, war has never solved anything.
Hopefully this will stop people from predicting TiVo's death.
Well if your a TiVo shareholder, obviously this seems like a good thing, but is having TiVo further in bed with content creators/delivery industries a good idea for consumers?
The one really cool thing that I hope comes of this, is some more traction for bidirectional CableCards leading to uber standalone HDTV tivos... which hopefully inturn leads to bidirectional CableCard PCI tuners for PCs (I can dream, can't i?)
e.
Build Your Own PVR/HTPC news, reviews, &
I'm a fan of Tivo, but I think any impartial observer would note that Tivo would've definitely been negotiating from a position of weakness. Here's to hoping that they were able to negotiate a deal that would be profitable for them despite them needing Comcast much more than Comcast needed them.
Since the stock is currently up 49.52%, it would appear that a lot of people think this really will benefit them (or there are a lot of shorts panicking and covering their positions).
I'm a big tall mofo.
Tivo shares up almost 50% on the news
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=tivo
What losers! Comcast's millions of customers could save so much money if they just built their own MythTV boxes from the spare computer parts they all have lying around their houses. I mean, it's the way I decided to do it, so it must therefore be the best possible solution for everyone on the planet!
As long as the product lines can remain distinct, Tivo gets the best of all worlds: MONEY, exposure through Comcast, and the ability to continue to have a full functioning stand alone DVR (i.e. no "unrecordable content", etc.)
However, if they follow the Sony model (where the home electronics suffer becuase of concerns from the content side*), they're doomed.
*After I learned my friends SONY surround sound system couldn't play CD-Rs, I decided Sony had gone too far.
In the future, I would want to not be isolated from my friends in the Space Station.
Substantial user interface design and testing went into the Tivo remote control, including many battles over which buttons to leave off (to reduce complexity), a special rubber for good click feel, and the distinctive peanut shape.
I wonder if Comcast will ship new remotes to their DVR customers if they sign up for Tivo.
James
While having good tech, brand recognition, and a hacker friendly box - before this Tivo was a company whose days were numbered due to competition and commoditization.
...before they used to say it couldn't be done.
Now they live to fight another day and build up their install base.
Cheers to another successful company using with Open Source Software.
http://hughgordon.com/
Wow. Way to miss the point...
We do enough Tivo stories here...
As a Tivo owner, I must say that I'm extremely happy about this announcement, as this will help keep the company from dying. However, we mustn't forget that they also lost their DirecTV deal, so they're not much better off than they were before. Hopefully Comcast pushes this onto its customers.
I guess this means Comcast isn't going to roll out the Microsoft version they were testing in limited areas. I was interested in the Microsoft version because Comcast's software really blows. I ended up taking my Comcast DVR back because not only did nobody at Comcast know when or if the Microsoft version would ever come out, they'd never even heard of it.
Now I'm using a HTPC solution, Beyond TV, which is barely acceptable. It has all the features a DVR needs, but the features don't all function on a level I would consider professional.
I'm about to go to MythTV, I had that running once a year or so ago, but it took a lot of time and effort to get it working. I understand that's not as big of a problem now, so I'm going to give it another try.
However, a Tivo/Comcast DVR really would be hard to beat. Well aside from the fact that Comcast wants to suck every last dime from my bank account every month. However, the quality of the Comcast DVR was excellent, it just lacked features.
I'll most likely go back to the Comcast DVR when the Tivo versions are out. Other than not being able to archive shows, I can see the Comcast/Tivo solution being unbeatable. My PC solution will be able to pick up the slack by recording any shows I want to archive.
No mention of using the TiVo remote in the new software. The remote and the interface are the best things that TiVo has going for them.
Since they are focusing on just the ads and the wishlist features, this could be a big letdown for Comcast users that have heard good things from TiVo users.
Important Distinction: Comcast is licensing Tivo software to be installed in their own boxes by mid to end 2006, and not the unit itself. Comcast also inked a huge deal with Motorola recently.
I just got my Comcast bill last night and it had a paper insert on this service - they want $9.95 per month for this.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Going from a Tivo to Comcast's DVR is an exercise in frustration. Suggestions are good, but the responsiveness of a Tivo to Comcast DVR is the difference between a sports car and shouting directions to Grandma while locked in the trunk of her Fairlane. I'd love to switch to Comcast for their HDTV, but refuse to give up my DirecTivo(s).
You are in a maze of twisted little posts, all alike.
Most annoying is that it doesn't 'time shift' properly. If it's recording a show, I have to rewind all the way back to the beginning to watch it.. Even worse is if the recording ends while I'm still in the middle of watching it, it'll stop and force me to fast forward back through everything I already watched!
They've slowly updated the firmware over the last several months, but this thing is DOA.. Just a clunky piece of well intentioned hardware. It is nice to be able to record two simultaneous HD streams, but it's just so poorly implemented..
This is a good move for Comcast as the recorder they gave me really feels like it's still in beta. Good for Tivo too as they need a wider net.
www.lonseidman.com
As someone who has visited the Gerrold/General Instruments/Motorola offices in Hatboro, PA, and who has spoken to a fair number of cable operators, I can tell you this:
The box that this system will be built on, and the services to which it connects will almost certainly not be of the quality that Tivo now provides.
First of all, check out the Wiki entry on this cable box, and you'll see it's not that impressive, although it does have a few nice features (HDTV, recording two channels at once, 120GB disk).
Second, remember that cable operators buy these units by the millions, so every extra penny is a big deal.
You wouldn't think twice about a nice feature in your Tivo box, even if it cost an extra $10. To a cable operator, an extra $10 per box is an insane, indefensible amount and they'll cut the feature instead.
Finally, embedded programming on a cable box is worlds cruftier and more limiting than the Linux underpinnings of the current Tivo architecture. It's virtually certain that some features just won't be portable to this new box.
Count me a curmudgeon on this if you like, but I'll believe it when I see it.
I think what we are seeing in the TiVo Comcast deal is Comcast making the very smart move of leveraging the TiVo brand. This is actually pretty good news for both. If things go well, don't be surprised to see Comcast make a play to buy TiVo outright. Yeah, I know many here think Comcast sucks, and maybe they do, but I wouldn't mind seeing what TiVo has built and their name survive, even as part of Comcast. So far I've been pretty happy with TiVo and as a Comcast customer, adding TiVo can only be a good thing!
To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
When they said "Pause live TV" they just forgot to include "every 15-20 minutes".
-- Thou hast strayed far from the path of the Avatar.
$0.02,
ptd
I'm an animal lover -- they're delicious!
I think that the point the GPP is making is that if you can't build your own MythTV box and set it up yourself and support it yourself, then you don't deserve to have a television.
And that's true - just like computers. And cars. If you can't build it yourself out of spare parts, you shouldn't be allowed to have one.
Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
This is a huge win for TiVo - egg on Hughes' face, maybe?
:)
(the reason I say this: We've been using the DirecTivo for a few months. It's not nearly as good as TiVo's own offering (dog slow, for one thing!) - and lags behind TiVo's own Home Media Options & TiVoToGo features--Hughes refuses to add these features, because they're going to introduce their own proprietary DVR "sometime this summer" that will "have all of this and more." It pisses me off, because the true TiVo boxes are outstanding--and Hughes is watering down TiVo's brand! I had expected TiVo to fade into obscurity, but this means Comcast recognizes that it's better to license this technology from a company who has already poured their heart & soul into developing it rather than trying to do it themselves...)
So if you're debating between DirecTV and Comcast cable, go with Comcast.
Hey Sean Penn, the guy was just joking.
Comcast is effectively raising fees by dropping channels offered to its analog subscribers, in an effort to force them to move to digital cable.
I was paying $85 for Expanded Basic and HBO. They removed Encore and HBO3 from my package a while back and replaced them with shit (IIRC, the Hallmark Channel and Turner Classic Movies). When I got the next bill, the price for the two remaining HBOs was the same as I had been paying for three. I called to question this and was told it wasn't a mistake. Incensed that Comcast was trying to force me to upgrade, I cancelled HBO, and bought one of those "converter testers" that let you get all the channels for free. It works like a charm.
Since I've been watching all the channels I can tell you that Comcast has continued to whittle down the analog lineup. Sometime in mid-February the lone Pay-Per-View channel available on analog went away. The beginning of March, Cinemax vanished. All that's left are HBO, HBO2, Showtime and The Movie Channel.
I'm so fed up with Comcast's tactics and gouging that I will eventually be cancelling my cable and switching to DirecTV-- once I feel that I've taken enough food from Brian Roberts' mouth by using my tester.
This should help existing TiVo subscribers (especially us lifetime-service-buyers) by ensuring TiVo's viability for the coming years, and it should help Comcast subscribers by giving them access to a better DVR. Personally, as long as my stand-alone TiVo retains its current level of hackability, I'm not too concerned about what kind of limits the ComcasTiVo might have.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
well i recently switched from a directv tivo unit to a comcast hd dvr unit and i miss the simplicity and stability of the product. yes the hd is cheap and the dvr price aint bad at all but it is very buggy. the sound constantly goes out(optical), the screen freezes, using the dvr has long pauses inbetween operations(so you think it froze on you), sometimes the guide doesnt show what shows are playing. that and its just not as friendly to use as the tivo unit.(my wife won't touch it, but did with tivo) looks like tivo will be around a little longer at least in name before comcast swallows it
So...
mmm... yeah... You see, we're putting the cover sheets on all TPS reports now before they go out...
the current tivo can use ethernet, AFTER THE INITIAL SETUP phone call to activate..
Not true, I used ethernet to activate my unit. I only had a VoIP line and had issues getting my tivo to dial up through this. All I had to do was put ",#401" as my dial prefix.
Can I get an eye poke?
Dog House Forum
ok-- but you couldn't sniff the activation packets could you? in a sense of knowing what control commands/strings/bits went between tivo and your box...
Actually if I were interested I would have been able to capture the packets in their entirety. I didn't really care, just wanted to get my shit working however.
yes, you could see the individual voip packets contents, but can you determine what passwords were exchanged?
Re-read my statement, I said I could NOT get this thing to register via VoIP due to issues. I said I got it to work via ethernet. I didn't state it in the clearest fashion, but to reiterate what I was saying, when you first pull the unit out of the box plug in a USB nic and set your dial prefix to ",#401" and it will register via ethernet instead of attempting to dial out through the phone line.
I was unclear, the fact is, you have to provide tivo with a pots sounding dialtone to initialize the system. (my employers inability to use voip may have been unique, but needing a dial tone is required)
I was unclear in the order I stated things, hope this helps.
Can I get an eye poke?
Dog House Forum
What'll really be cool is if you can get the on-demand stuff just downloaded to your TiVo and catch it that way. Maybe you can do that now, I dunno. I just hope they don't cripple any of the functionality of the TiVo. Eh, I guess it'd be okay for a 3rd room or something if they did.