Filed under: Home Entertainment

Any lingering trick-or-treaters still hanging around and giving you the creeps? If your Magic Message Mirror isn’t quite covering every nook and cranny that needs to watched over, CCTVdynamics has the all-inclusive setup for you. The four-channel home surveillance DVR system includes an AverMedia EB1304 80GB DVR, four easy-to-hide dome cameras (with matching power supplies and 50-foot runs of cable), MPEG4 video compression, 120fps display / recording resolution, NTSC and PAL compatibility, scheduled modes, password authentication, and a wireless remote to spy on your property while kicked back in your recliner. The machine timecodes all video capture and allows searches by dates, times, and “events,” boasts watermarking capabilities, and supports AVI outputs to external storage devices via USB. So if paranoia is keeping you awake at night, and you’d rest easier feel better throughout the long, cold nights if you could keep a constant watch over your oh-so-targeted domicile, the eagle-eyed kit will cost you just $699 (and presumably all of your suddenly suspicious friends).

[Via PVRWire]

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

---

BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

So if you’re a consumer electronics manufacturer in the midst of a highly-publicized product release, you’d think that the last group of customers you’d want to alienate would be the die-hard fanatics who participate in your forums everyday and were among the very first to place orders for said product, right? Well judging by the tone of the comments on the TiVo Community boards, that’s exactly what the company has down to its so-called VIP subscribers — you know, the ones who possess those coveted lifetime subscriptions and woke up extra-early this past Tuesday to ensure that their new Series3 boxes would arrive the next day. Except TiVo apparently wasn’t ready to handle the deluge of orders that it received, and after two days of wondering what the heck was going on (calls to customer service were met by confusion and misinformation on the part of the phone reps), everyone finally received an email confirming the delays and promising shipment by Friday. Luckily TiVo had the good sense to refund the shipping charges — in some cases $50 worth — to these early adopters, but much to the VIPs’ displeasure, they learned that they’d be unable to cancel their pending orders if they wanted to go the retail route; and what’s more, there was some confusion as to whether store-bought TiVos would even be eligible for the $200 lifetime subscription transfer. As of this writing it seems that only a handful of folks actually got their boxes on Friday, with everyone else scrambling to reschedule the CableCARD installation appointments they’d made with their cable providers. So while there’s little argument that TiVo makes a fine product with a world-class interface, perhaps when it eventually comes out with the Series4, it’ll do some better planning or leave distribution to the professionals — apparently, TiVo and e-commerce don’t seem to go too well together lately.

[Via HDBeat]

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

---

SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Media PCs

Niveus has just announced its latest media centers, dubbed the Rainier and Denali Editions, the two products that comprise the 2007 Summit Series line at this year’s CEDIA, being held in Denver. The just-over 4-inch tall Rainier ($3,500), runs Windows Media Center 2005, and is loaded up with HDMI, WiFi, an SD/MMC reader, IEEE 1394, dual USB ports, VGA, composite and S-Video in, eight-channel analog audio out, S/PDIF, and of course, Ethernet. Further, it boasts up to three television tuners (two NTSC and one ATSC), 750GB of storage, 2GB of RAM, and an ATI X1600 Pro graphics card. If that wasn’t enough to whet your appetite, the 8-inch tall Denali ($7,000) is even more loaded, with an Intel Core 2 Duo (no word on what speed yet), four television tuners (a pair of NTSCs and ATSCs), NVIDIA’s GeForce Series 7 graphics card, a full terabyte of storage, a whopping 4GB of RAM, and even has, as we previously reported, built-in support for CableCARDs. Expect both editions to ship on September 30, but while you wait we’ve got more pics of the Rainier and the Denali Editions on the other side.

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

---

SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

So the worst-kept secret in the consumer electronics industry right now is that TiVo is on the verge of releasing the CableCARD-sportin’, HD-recordin’ Series 3 box — but no one seems to know exactly when you’ll be able to buy one. We heard from Todd the Best Buy employee that the new machines will be in stock on the 17th of this month, and now our friend Dave over at ZatzNotFunny has spotted the highly-anticipated DMR (remember, they’re not DVRs anymore, and TiVo won’t sell you one if you use that terminology) on Circuit City’s website showing an October availability. Now does that mean October 1st? The 15th? The 31st? Well if we knew, we’d tell ya, but at least now we seem to have an actual release window: the Series 3 will (probably) be available sometime between September 17th and October 31st. As usual, we’ll keep you posted as more information comes to light, but if that’s not good enough, you’re always welcome to switch over to satellite and pick up on of DirecTV’s new HR20-700 HD DVRs — thanks to HDBeat, we know that Best Buy will ship you one of those post haste.

Read- Series 3 [Via ZatzNotFunny]
Read- HR20-700 [Via HDBeat]

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Presigio may be setting a new trend in portable media players with its new “portable multimedia recorder,” the PMR-701. This device purports to record video or single frames from an external source like a TV, DVD player or camcorder. There’s also an integrated TV tuner (doesn’t say what kind) to pick up free broadcast channels, and while the press release claims you can also watch cable, but there’s no apparent dock or coax jack. That said, its built-in 20 or 30GB storage turns it into a portable DVR, which is sorta sweet. The PMR-701 has a 3.5-inch 320 x 240 color display and it supports MPEG-4, AVI (DivX and XviD), WMV9 and MP4 and MP3, WMA9, AC3, AAC, and OGG files. Funny though, the press release fails to list a price, and says it will be available “immediately at Prestigio partners’ stores across the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa.” What, no love for the Americas, Western Europe or Asia / Oceania?

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Portable Video

Fast Forward Video has just begun shipping the imaginatively named NDT 200, a new hard drive-based digital video recorder for video professionals in the field. This $1,500 DVR plugs into existing video cameras and can record footage onto its removable drive. It has an iPod-like interface on the front, with a jog wheel and screen to access various files. The NDT 200 records in QuickTime or in FFV secure video formats and has various selectable compressions ratios, ranging from 4:1 to 30:1, and supports dual channel audio, and analog composite and S-Video inputs and connects to a computer via USB 2.0. We’re assuming that the NDT bit stands for No Damned Tapes, but we’re still not exactly sure what the 200 refers to.

[Via PVRWire]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Home Entertainment

We know that the TiVo isn’t inexpensive by any means: currently the highest tier (180-hour TiVo Series2 DT DVR) will run you a few hundred dollars per year. However, the newest TiVo, the Series3 will retail for $800, a fair jump from its last iteration. HDBeat examines the question: is the Series3 is really worth 400 Jeffersons (or 80 Hamiltons, take your pick) ? Here’s some of the things you’ll get for shelling out that wad of dough: NTSC, analog cable and un-encrypted QAM support, eSATA support, front panel display, Ethernet port, two USB ports, HDMI TOSLINK and component out, can record OTA or cable, and, of course, has CableCARD support. Also, we should remind you that your lifetime TiVo subscription is transferrable to the Series3 for an additional $200 (though it’s possible that TiVo’s dealings with Cox and other cable companies may make it possible for you to get yer paws on a slightly stripped down model for far less cash). Still, TiVo certainly has a lot of catching up to do in the marketplace, and the high price will make it difficult to help out the company’s bottom line — we’re gunning for ‘em, though.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Networking

If you’re tired of waiting for DirecTV’s continually-delayed HD DVR, or just one of the lucky few who actually have access to FiOS service (and want to extract every ounce of greatness from it), Verizon is looking to hook you up. Available only to those in its (slowly) expanding FiOS network, Verizon is out to give subscribers a kinda sorta new way to watch television, and, of course, to cash in on the time-shifting craze while the window of opportunity is still open. The presumed selling point of its Home Media DVR is its ability to function as a “multiroom streaming media solution” that enables “up to three simultaneous viewings” of recorded material (whether or not this tidbit is worth $19.95 per month is debatable). Of course, the media can only be streamed to other “Verizon-approved” receivers — whatever they may be — and it’s not yet clear if your Verizon cellphone will be one of those treasured devices. While we can imagine the list of restrictions on this streaming gig are quite lengthy, the company has stated that it will support “DVR-to-PC connectivity,” thus enabling DVR viewing on a networked PC, though there’s no mention of supporting wirelessly connected computers a la Slingbox. Apparently the DVR system will utilize a run-of-the-mill Motorola QIP6416 (dual HD-tuners and a 160GB hard drive) as the “hub” and a Motorola QIP2500 (basic STB that can receive content from the hub), both of which will communicate via MoCA (Multimedia over Coax Alliance) technology. While this rigamarole creates more questions than it answers, we’re glad to see progress towards a centralized content viewing / streaming solution, but getting cable companies and the almighty content providers to warm up to the idea of slinging material around on a home network (and beyond?) probably won’t be easy.

[Via Ars Technica]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Home Entertainment

In what could be seen as something of an ironic move, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has just awarded TiVo — the same company that’s made life more difficult for networks, cable companies, and industry-supporting advertisers — a 2006 Emmy award for “outstanding achievement in enhanced television programming.” Services like TiVo KidZone and TiVoCast helped the DVR king beat out such offerings as AOL’s Music on Demand, CNN Enhanced, and DirecTV’s Interactive Sports, with the official statuette being awarded on August 19th at the Creative Arts Awards Ceremony being held in L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium. Congratulations, TiVo, you’ve certainly had a big week: first you launched your Audience Research and Measurement division, then you formed a sweet marketing agreement with BellSouth, and now you’ve been honored for all your hard work with a shiny Emmy — but don’t go resting on your laurels quite yet, as it looks like there may still be dark clouds just over the horizon.

[Via Zatz Not Funny]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Remember how TiVo recently sent that letter to the FCC and cable operators telling them to be prepared for the Series 3 rollout, partly because of reports that some providers were refusing to hook up beta testers with the necessary CableCARDS? Well now it looks like the company's concerns may be completely legitimate, as a complaint on the website ConsumerFury contends that Time Warner Cable's Raleigh division responded to a recent customer inquiry on the matter by stating that "Time Warner Cable of Raleigh does not provide support for or allow TiVo devices on our cable network...CableCARDS will only be installed on cable-ready, CableCARD-slot-available television sets." Pretty harsh, especially considering the fact that Time Warner's policy may not even be legal: federal regulations concerning CableCARDS seem to indicate that providers must support them for any unidirectional TV, set-top-box, or recording device connected to a digital cable system. We certainly understand that cable companies see TiVo as a direct competitor to their own DVR offerings, but we're not sure that alienating customers with such a hard-line stance is the best move; after all, isn't a customer who brings his/her own DVR to the table better than no customer at all?

[Via TiVoBlog]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Media PCs

In a market becoming saturated with one HTPC offering after another, VidaBox is launching what seems like just another HTPC line-up for those too busy to build their own. Four strangely familiar looking models are headed your way: the ROOMMATE, SLIM, LUX, and MAX, which aside from performing all the usual functions — recording live TV, storing music and photos, and sporting a snazzy case — feature “unparalleled storage offerings.” The LUX and MAX models offer up to 3.75TB of storage and includes their “VidaSafe” technology (which appears to be RAID, folks) to keep the machine running and your files recoverable, even if one of the hard drives fails while operating. As with most pre-built HTPCs, they don’t come cheap, and with prices ranging from $1,499 to near-infinity, the VidaBox line-up can satisfy your wildest home theater desires if your credit card can stand the punishment.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Talk about having your cake and eating it too: after having sent the advertising industry into a tizzy by enabling consumers to skip over its commercials, TiVo is now offering to sell those very same ad agencies and their clients hard data on the actual effects of DVR usage. The company’s new Audience Research and Measurement division will initially utilize a random sampling of 22,000 subscribers to provide corporate customers with information about specific ads — such as how many people viewed them during certain airings — though the numbers will not be tied to specific demographic details. It will also use the collected data to tease out trends that may help advertisers combat the growing “problem” of commercial skipping; for instance, the type of program hosting an ad and its position in the commercial block may explain why it was viewed more often during one broadcast than another. This new offering may see TiVo heading towards a marketplace showdown with ratings giant Nielsen Media Research, whose own ad-tracking initiative is scheduled to launch this fall — although it will not actually collect data on individual commercials. Once again, we’ve really got to hand it to TiVo — the company that once looked poised for bankruptcy in the face of increasing DVR commodification has once again managed to stay in the game by leveraging the power of its considerable subscriber base to further diversify its revenue stream.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Home Entertainment

It's not really clear why the old CableCARD hasn't taken off as expected -- consumers blame their cable providers, who blame the card manufacturers, who blame device makers -- but nonetheless, the technology is far from dead, and now it looks like those long-awaited multi-stream CARDS could be available before the end of the year. CableLabs recently announced that Motorola's "M-Card" has joined Scientific Atlanta's offering in finally earning the organization's coveted "qualified" status, paving the way for such great functionality as picture-in-picture on compatible TVs and multi-channel recording for properly-equipped DVRs. Although the M-Card does improve upon current-gen CableCARDs by delivering access to more than one channel at a time, it is still classified as a version 1.0 device, and therefore won't allow the bi-directional communication necessary for on-demand or pay-per-view goodness. Still, this development is good news for consumers, as it should lead to increased demand for the cards, which will hopefully serve as a kick in the pants for the weak link in the CableCARD chain, whoever it is.

[Via HDBeat]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

So it looks like TiVo is finally getting ready to roll out the long-awaited Series 3 DVR Digital Media Recorder, and just in the nick of time, it would seem; from what we can tell, consumers are chomping at the bit to start capturing the growing variety of high definition broadcasts available to them, making HTPCs a more attractive alternative as the days, weeks, and months pass with no HD TiVo. Zatz Not Funny is reporting that the DVR giant recently sent letters to both the FCC and major cable operators stating that Series 3 boxes are already being beta tested around the country and will be available "soon," though no actual release date is given. According to the letters, the CableLabs-certified device will sport two separate UDCP CableCARD slots, and TiVo is concerned about reports that certain cable installers have been refusing to provide beta testers with the necessary support -- no big surprise, as the industry has never shown much love for CableCARDs in the first place. Now, of course, we all want to know how TiVo defines the word "soon" -- previous speculation has centered around a September or early October release -- but we've been covering this beat long enough to know that hazarding a guess is pretty much useless, and that we won't find out any more info until the company is good and ready to reveal its launch plans. [Warning: PDF link]

[Via Zatz Not Funny]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Home Entertainment

We know that as a network executive, ABC’s President of Advertising Sales Mike Shaw has a vested interest in the survival of the traditional 30-second commercial, but his recent assertion that consumers don’t really care about the ad-skipping functionality of their DVRs strikes us as being way off the mark. Following ABC’s latest rate-setting powwow with advertisers, or upfront, Shaw opined that he wasn’t sure “the driving reason to get a DVR in the first place is just to skip commercials,” and that the appeal of such devices “really is just a matter of convenience — so you don’t miss your favorite show.” He even went so far as to say that he “would love it if the MSO’s…would disable the fast-forward [button]” on their next generation of set-top boxes, suggesting that “people can understand in order to have convenience and on-demand, that you can’t skip commercials.” Once again, we follow the logic here — commercials do help keep programs we enjoy on the air — but instead of embittering folks by forcing them to sit through ads, maybe Shaw should encourage his advertising partners to follow KFC’s lead and create spots that people actually want to watch. Remember, Mike, that’ll you’ll catch more flies with delicious honey than the sour vinegar you’re currently trying to force down our throats.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Storage

If the joys of prime time serial dramas such as 24, Lost and Desperate Housewives are proving a bit taxing on that garden variety DVR or WMCE of yours, it might be time to bump your storage with a bit of NAS action. Luckily, Interact-TV has an incredibly pricey solution to your woes, which doesn’t just bump your storage, but includes a whole DVR/DVD/CD managing system to bear on your media problems. The newly launched TellyRAID, bundled with the TellyVizion, allows you to rip and store DVDs, CDs, Photos TV shows and surf the web for even more content to stuff into the 2TB TellyRAID. The TellyVizion can also burn CD playlists, and can be scheduled remotely via the Telly website. The RAID runs quietly, and can work with other computers or compatible media devices to serve  up media over Gigabit Ethernet or USB 2.0. It supports up to four SATA drives, and can work with a USB network adapter for WiFi connectivity. All of this doesn’t come cheap, you can get the pair for $2,860, but it should hold onto a season or two of those prime time good times.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Media PCs, Networking

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Media PCs

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Home Entertainment

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Peripherals

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Media PCs

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments