http://www.pvrwire.com PVR Wire http://www.pvrwire.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.pvrwire.com en-us Copyright 2008 Blogsmith, LLC. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/27/video-tour-of-appletv-interface/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/27/video-tour-of-appletv-interface/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/27/video-tour-of-appletv-interface/#commentsFiled under: News, Apple, Home Networking, Streaming

A few days ago I posted a video of the Apple TV in action and you could see the menu on the TV set, and it did look pretty good and easy to use.

Now here is another video giving you a full tour of the AppleTV interface and once again I'm impressed and didn't expect anything less from Apple.

But I just can't understand why Apple hasn't allowed you to cut out the PC entirely on this one. Getting a new video or music involves going to the PC first and then downloading the video off the net through iTunes.

Why not just let you access iTunes directly through your TV and download the videos you want from there, and then synch everything you download back onto your PC for permanent storage.

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]]>apple tvAppleTvvideoChris Tew2007-01-27T14:22:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/26/mac-hd-dvr-on-usb-miglia-tvmini-hd/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/26/mac-hd-dvr-on-usb-miglia-tvmini-hd/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/26/mac-hd-dvr-on-usb-miglia-tvmini-hd/#commentsFiled under: HDTV, News, Apple

The Miglia TVMini HD+ is the successor to the Miglia TVMini HD offering 10-bit video and stereo sound and the ability to tune into unencrypted digital cable, analog cable and over-the-air signals. As the name suggest it also supports HDTV.

The Miglia TVMini is of course designed for the Mac and connects via a USB 2.0 port. It will be shipped with the EyeTV 2 PVR software and remote control so you can expect full PVR features.

It is available to preorder now for $218.

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]]>hdmacmigliatv tunerTvTunerChris Tew2007-01-26T16:33:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/25/the-apple-tv-in-action-its-everything-apple/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/25/the-apple-tv-in-action-its-everything-apple/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/25/the-apple-tv-in-action-its-everything-apple/#commentsFiled under: News, Apple, Home Networking, Streaming

I was a bit disappointed with the Apple TV to say the least but I have to say it was nice to see RocketBoom being shown on a full screen TV set via the Apple TV, although the Apple TV is of course one of the many products that can do this.

The video below shows the Apple TV in action and it looks and smells all Apple-ey. It's small, looks good next to your TV set, and has a friendly user interface that my girlfriend could even figure out.

It was of course expected that Apple would deliver a user friendly, fashionable device, but its just a shame the Apple TV is all about getting you to buy from the iTunes store, while also lacking many much needed features that can be found elsewhere.

I don't think Apple will be threatening TiVo and the Cable companies just yet.

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]]>appleapple tvAppleTvvideoChris Tew2007-01-25T12:01:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/23/no-room-in-the-living-room-for-the-apple-tv/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/23/no-room-in-the-living-room-for-the-apple-tv/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/23/no-room-in-the-living-room-for-the-apple-tv/#commentsFiled under: General, News, Apple, Home Networking

Not so long ago I expressed my views that the Apple TV was an extremely disappointing device which brought us nothing that we couldn't really do already using non-Apple alternatives and did not innovate in any way.

At the point of writing the article I felt pretty confident that the Apple TV is not going to have major penetration into the living room with only true Apple enthusiasts taking it on board.

The San Francisco Chronicle also supports this argument by raising the point that people's living rooms are already over-packed with consumer electronics and adding another one just isn't appealing not to mention the number of established companies that Apple is competing with here.

Its my personal belief that an Apple TV type product will only really hit mainstream when it becomes integrated into a PVR, or with a games console, like has already been done with the successful Xbox 360.

[Via TVPredictions]

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]]>appleapple tvAppleTvhypeliving roomLivingRoomChris Tew2007-01-23T14:43:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/22/irec-another-way-to-turn-your-ipod-into-a-pvr/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/22/irec-another-way-to-turn-your-ipod-into-a-pvr/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/22/irec-another-way-to-turn-your-ipod-into-a-pvr/#commentsFiled under: General, Apple, Mobile

Quite awhile back we brought you information on a product called the iRecord. It was a device that brought functional, albeit a bit limited, recording functions to your iPod, in effect making your iPod a somewhat portable PVR.

Well now a company from Korea called iCube is showing off their newest toy: the iRec. The idea behind the iRec pretty much the same as the iRecord (as one can guess with the similarities in names).

The iCube can record video straight onto your iPod at up to 640 x 480 through either a composite or S-Video connection. From there you can synch it up with your iTunes collection the next time you plug it into your PC.

The device also has a timer button on it, but apparently that is only used to schedule the end of a recording. Although it is far from a replacement for a full fledged PVR, if you are looking for something like this you now have at least two options.

The iRec retails for approximately $180 while the iRecord goes for about $200.

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]]>ipodirecordpvrMatt Crape2007-01-22T10:32:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/19/who-needs-a-computer-to-view-user-generated-video/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/19/who-needs-a-computer-to-view-user-generated-video/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/19/who-needs-a-computer-to-view-user-generated-video/#commentsFiled under: News, Apple, Microsoft, Home Networking, Streaming

Mark Cuban poses an interesting question: Why are companies like Apple and Microsoft working so hard to give you a way to move video from your PC to your TV screen? Why not just make the video available on your existing set top box or PVR?

Basically, he argues that cable or satellite services could transfer video feeds directly to your PVR and you could peruse video clips from content producers like CBS or from frat boys running around like idiots. No computer needed. Your PVR is already designed to let you easily sift through a large amount of video content to find what you're looking for, all from the comfort of your couch.

The problem is, you'll never be able to store the same quantity of video content on your PVR hard drive that you can access by visiting sites like YouTube. Nor, I suspect, would you want to. The beauty of internet video is that it's there waiting for you if you want it, and it's not taking up space that you'd rather use for other things, like say, choosing your own television programs to record.

While I agree with Cuban that you could easily access internet video with a PVR, I think the way to do that is to connect more PVRs to the internet. Throw a web browser on there. You can already access online video using PC-based personal video recorders like Windows Media Center (with Yougle), or SageTV (which can access Google Video). Why not add the same functionality to set top boxes, which are basically stripped down computers these days anyway.

Or you could always buy an Apple TV or Xbox 360 to stick next to your TiVo so that you can record shows to watch on one box, and flip a switch to use another box that will let you watch programs recorded on your third box, the PC in the other room. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

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]]>google videoGoogleVideomark cubanMarkCubansagetvyoutubeBrad Linder2007-01-19T18:36:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/15/recording-cable-hd-tv-on-a-mac/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/15/recording-cable-hd-tv-on-a-mac/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/15/recording-cable-hd-tv-on-a-mac/#commentsFiled under: Hacks, HDTV, Apple

Had you been holding out hope that Apple would include PVR functions in the AppleTV? Well it turns out, you don't need no stinking AppleTV to transfer (some) HD content straight from your cable box to your Mac.

The whole setup is a bit clunky, as you have to hook up your cable box to your Mac using a firewire cord, assuming your cable box has a firewire port. And then once you capture the content on your Mac, it turns out that many programs will be unviewable, due to encryption.

That said, if you've got some free time on your hands and want to see how many of your cable channels are unencrypted, have at it. Motivated has a complete set of instructions, or if you want to be lazy, you can check out iRecord, which does most of the work for you.

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]]>high definitionHighDefinitionirecordmacBrad Linder2007-01-15T15:15:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/15/how-to-put-a-tivo-dvd-theme-using-tivotogo-for-mac/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/15/how-to-put-a-tivo-dvd-theme-using-tivotogo-for-mac/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/15/how-to-put-a-tivo-dvd-theme-using-tivotogo-for-mac/#commentsFiled under: Software, DVD, Apple, TiVo

So first TiVo goes and outsources TiVoToGo for Mac to Roxio, and then Roxio leaves out one of the promised features, a TiVo theme on DVDs you burn from TiVoToGo recordings.

Well, it turns out that since TiVoToGo is built into Toast Titanium 8, and since Roxio figures that a fairly small number of Toast users will really be using the TiVo functions, they left the TiVo theme out of the official release. That seems a bit silly. Why bother building TiVoToGo functions into your product and then leave out a theme that only takes up a few megabytes?

Anyway, Dave Zatz posts a link to download the TiVo theme. All you have to do is download the file, unzip it, save tivo.psd to the Toast DVD Menu Styles folder, and you're done. Zatz also points out that since the file is a psd file, you could probably use Photoshop to edit the theme to your liking

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]]>dvd themesDvdThemesmacroxiotivotogotoast titanium 8ToastTitanium8Brad Linder2007-01-15T13:43:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/14/apple-tv-a-load-of-hype-for-nothing/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/14/apple-tv-a-load-of-hype-for-nothing/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/14/apple-tv-a-load-of-hype-for-nothing/#commentsFiled under: General, HDTV, News, Apple, Reviews, Home Networking, Downloads, Streaming, IPTV

There was a lot of hype that the codenamed Apple iTV (now named the Apple TV) would revolutionize the TV industry and make Apple a mainstream competitor in living room entertainment.

What came out of Macworld was not the impressive revolutionary device that was expected. Rather all that came out was an inferior media extender that allowed you to watch iTunes videos on your TV.

If all Apple set out to do was let you watch iTunes video on your TV then it has succeeded in doing that, but that's neither revolutionary nor impressive, but it will keep the hardcore Apple fans happy.

The Specs and features:

• HDMI, USB, Ethernet
• 40 GB Hard Disk
• 802.11 b, g, n wireless networking (AirPort)
• Works with Apple Remote
• 720p HD (H.264 Playback)
• No video/audio cable included
• Supported video codecs
  o H.264
  + Baseline profile LC (640x480x30 p)
  + Baseline profile (320x240x30 p)
  + Main profile (1280x720x24 p)
  o MPEG-4 simple profile (640x480x30 p)
  o does not support DivX, XviD or WMV.
• Supported audio codecs: AAC (16-320 kbps), MP3 (16-320 kbps VBR), Apple Lossless, AIFF and WAV
• Supported image formats: JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF and PNG
• Auto-sync content from your PC
• Stream content (wirelessly) from up to 5 computers
• Take's 10 most recent unwatched movies and automatically stream in the background to Apple TV and be stored on the hard drive.
• Theatrical trailers streaming from Apple.com
• Costs $299 - will be released in February

Other media extenders are much better

Take a look at the NetGear EVA700 to see what a decent media extender can do. Many existing Apple TV alternatives already out-compete the Apple TV in functionality.

That's not even mentioning the new media extenders in the pipeline including the NetGear EVA800, the Xbox 360 IPTV and the MediaGate media extenders.

What's the deal with the hard drive?

It appears that Apple will sync your iTunes playlists with the Apple TV hard drive much like it does with your iPod. I guess the reason for streaming from the Apple TV rather than directly from a PC/Mac is because it means you can still watch the videos if your TV/Mac is off. This is one feature which I think Apple has got right.

PVR Functionality

Many people beleived that because the Apple TV had a hard drive it would also have PVR functionality. It was even suggested that Apple would be partnering or acquiring TiVo.

I've said before that Apple would never partner with or aquire TiVo, nor would it include PVR functionality in the iTV, although with such a high demand for PVR functionality on the Apple TV I did begin to wonder. But despite a huge demand for PVR functionality on the Apple TV, Apple hasn't delivered it.

But Apple's mission has never been to give the consumer what they want unless it encourages them to buy from the iTunes store. That is unless Apple really had to implement something to keep customers happy, such as MP3 support on the iPod.

However, with EyeTV you can get some form of PVR functionality in the respect you can watch TV recordings from your Mac on your TV, but that's about as far as it goes.

What can I do with the Apple TV?

• Do all of my videos have to be played from iTunes on my PC Mac?

Yes, the Apple TV syncs up with your iTunes playlist much like with your iPod.

• Am I restricted to the video formats that I can watch?

Yes, the Apple TV is very restricted only supporting .264 and MPEG-4. It does not support Xvid, DivX or WMV. In my opinion this is extremely restrictive meaning you'll need to do a lot of converting of video to watch everything through your Apple TV device.

The Xbox 360 is also is restricted to WMV but you can use something like TVersity to convert video on the fly. Maybe some similar third party app will be made for the Apple TV.

• Am I restricted to watching stuff downloaded from iTunes, or can I watch any videos I've downloaded?

Really the Apple TV is designed for letting you watch video that you have downloaded from the iTunes store. You can add other plain Quicktime movies into your iTunes library though but this is still very limited.

You can use a third party program such as Movie2iTunes to add other video to your iTunes library, depending on the file format some of these videos could be played through the Apple TV.

• Can I rip DVDs (which I own) and watch them on it?

Yes you can provided you convert them to a format compatible with the Apple TV.

How easy is it to watch TV:

• According to the Apple TV website:
  1. Download movies, TV shows and more from iTunes.
  2. Sync wirelessly from your Mac or PC.
  3. Watch everything on your widescreen TV.
  

• Lets compare this to a TiVo
  1. Turn on TV and play recorded programs straight away
  

• Let's compare this to the Xbox 360 with the Xbox live video marketplace
  1. Download movie from Xbox Live marketplace
  2. Play on your TV
  

You can see from this that the Apple TV is the most complicated way to watch TV. Couldn't Apple have removed the need for a Mac or PC entirely and allowed the Apple TV to interact with iTunes directly? All this synching from PC/Mac to Apple TV is just an extra complication that will confuse the less techie mainstream consumer.

What other people say:

"For $100 more you could pick up an Xbox 360 with TV and Movie downloads direct to the console, no PC required. Oh yeah, you can do a bunch of other stuff too. The second issue I have is that Apple continues to lock us into their ecosystem - A model that has worked well for them with audio, but may not be as successful with video in the era of YouTube and DivX: The iTV has limited multimedia format support compared to products such as Netgear's new Digital Entertainer HD."
Dave Zatz

"This thing sucks, and I'm not just saying that because I'm a Media Center user. It just doesn't do much of anything that can't already be done with other products that have been out for years! Why cache on the HDD? Is your network not fast enough with 802.11n to get that done? No PVR functionality. Tops out at 720p.

Other than Mac support, I don't think this offers anything new. Sure, it's really the first device to play video purchased from iTunes, but that's about it."
Chris Lanier

To Sum Up

The Apple TV is not a great product, but if you desperately want to hook up the iTunes movie store and your Mac with your TV then the Apple TV is the way to go. But if you want a more universal solution then the Xbox 360 or one of the many Apple TV alternatives will serve you better.

But there is one reason why the Apple TV will at least be partially successful. Apple really knows how to market a product.

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]]>appleapple itvapple tvAppleItvAppleTvmedia extendersMediaExtendersxbox 360Xbox360Chris Tew2007-01-14T16:02:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/13/eyetv-will-work-with-apple-tv/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/13/eyetv-will-work-with-apple-tv/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/13/eyetv-will-work-with-apple-tv/#commentsFiled under: Apple, Home Networking

Still bummed that Steve Jobs didn't deign to throw a TV tuner and PVR software into the Apple TV? Well, Elgato wants you to know that you can still use their EyeTV products to make your Mac into a PVR.

According to Elgato's FAQ, EyeTV can export recordings in Apple TV-friendly formats like H.264 or MPEG-4, which it already does if you export shows to iTuens for transfer to an iPod. Now, the list of recordings in iTunes will be available to Apple TV. It looks like EyeTV's MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 recordings are not Apple TV-compatible, meaning you'll always need to do some file conversion before watching your videos, although the process can be automated.

EyeTV exports programs at 640 x 480 and 320 x 240 resolutions, but Elgato says it's looking into enabling 720p recordings, since the Apple TV will support HD.

So for the price of an Apple TV and an EyeTV tuner, you've got yourself a Mac-based PVR, as long as you don't need to watch TV live. Granted, you'd still have that PVR without the Apple TV, but now you can easily display your recordings on your television set in the living room, no matter where in the house your computer is.

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]]>apple tvAppleTvelgatoeyetvBrad Linder2007-01-13T11:00:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/13/how-to-use-a-tivo-like-a-slingbox-sort-of/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/13/how-to-use-a-tivo-like-a-slingbox-sort-of/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/13/how-to-use-a-tivo-like-a-slingbox-sort-of/#commentsFiled under: Hacks, Apple, TiVo, DIY, Home Networking, Streaming

Okay, I don't have a lot of experience performing TiVo hacks, so don't expect step by step instructions here, but kennybain over at the TiVo Community Forum poses an interesting question: do you really need a Slingbox to watch TiVo recordings remotely?

The answer is, kind of. Kennybain applied the "Zipper" hack to his TiVo and installed TiVoTool on his PowerBook. This allowed him to download and stream shows from his TiVo. And then he went and opened up some ports on his router allowing him to access his recordings from sites outside of his home network. He was even able to watch live TV, although it wasn't a particularly smooth stream.

There's a few problems:

1. It's not secure.
2. You can't change channels on live TV.
3. It's really not secure.

But this does raise the question... if all it takes is a couple of software hacks to allow users to remotely access and stream their TiVo recordings, isn't this something TiVo could implement if it wanted to? Sure, TiVo recently started selling Slingboxes at the TiVo store, but wouldn't it create a richer, fuller user experience to just build placeshifting into the TiVo box? As TiVo continues to add broadband features, unlike my colleague Chris Tew, I wouldn't be surprised if the company's working on something like this already. But given the rate of progress at TiVo, I wouldn't expect to see it anytime soon.

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]]>placeshiftingslingboxtivotoolzipperBrad Linder2007-01-13T09:30:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/12/a-cheaper-version-of-tivotogo-for-mac-could-be-in-the-pipeline/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/12/a-cheaper-version-of-tivotogo-for-mac-could-be-in-the-pipeline/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/12/a-cheaper-version-of-tivotogo-for-mac-could-be-in-the-pipeline/#commentsFiled under: News, Software, TiVo Series 2, Apple, TiVo, Mobile, Home Networking

A Mac version of TiVoToGo was finally announced a few days ago but unfortunately it did not come cheap. Mac users would have to fork out for the full Roxio's Toast Titanium 8 package which costs $100.

The Roxio Toast Titanium package offers full DVD/CD burning capabilities plus a little bit more but many MAC users will probably have software that does this already making $100 extremely expensive for just TiVoToGo considering regular Pc users can get it for $25.

Fortunately Roxio has said at this weeks CES that there is a possibility of a standalone Roxio TiVoToGo for Mac which would of course be sold for a lot cheaper.

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]]>macroxiotivotogoChris Tew2007-01-12T08:29:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/10/miglia-announces-updated-hdtv-tuner-for-mac/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/10/miglia-announces-updated-hdtv-tuner-for-mac/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/10/miglia-announces-updated-hdtv-tuner-for-mac/#commentsFiled under: News, Apple

While Steve Jobs was busy launching an Apple TV device that only lets you watch videos on your TV at up to 720p, Miglia went and issued an update to its TVMini line with the TVMini HD+.

The TVMini HD+ is a USB box that lets you tune into ATSC, QAM, and analog cable broadcasts with a Mac.

It comes with the usual PVR functions, including pausing, rewinding, and fast forwarding live TV. It comes with EyeTV 2 software and remote control. No word on pricing yet, or even what it has that the original TVMini HD doesn't. But it should be available in February if you're itching to find out.

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]]>macmigliaminitvminitv hdMinitvHdBrad Linder2007-01-10T15:37:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/10/steve-jobs-announces-the-iphone/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/10/steve-jobs-announces-the-iphone/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/10/steve-jobs-announces-the-iphone/#commentsFiled under: News, Apple, Mobile

If you haven't already heard about the iPhone, then you're not the gadget-obsessed geek I thought you were. But here's my take.

First off, this lays to rest all the rumors that Apple was working on a table PC (it was, kind of), a PDA (ditto), a touch-screen iPod (again with the ditto), and a phone (see above). From a video standpoint, this thing is miles ahead of the iPod with video. We're talking a 3.5-inch 480 x 320 screen in a case that's just 11.6 millimeters thick. The touch screen could (but we won't say "will" until we try it) be easier to navigate than the iPod's traditional click wheel.

The only real downside here is that it comes in much smaller capacities than the iPod, with 4GB or 8GB of storage, and unlike many other phones and portable media players out there, there's no expandable storage. But this is Apple, they don't do thinks the way everyone else does. On the one hand, that's great because it means their products work exactly the way they're supposed to. There's no way to cram incompatible parts in there and cause a mess. But it also means there's no real expandability.

And so while I won't say this is the iPhone's downfall, I think the biggest disappointment is that while this thing will actually run Mac OS X, allowing you to run Widgets, Google Maps, Safari, and iTunes, you can't just throw your own programs on it willy nilly. It doesn't support your favorite video codec? Tough.

What else doesn't it do? No G3, no downloading iTunes purchases over the air or WiFi and syncing to your computer, no removable battery, and no support for Exchange or Office. Again, not deal breakers for most people, but all reasons why I'll be sticking with my Dell Axim X50v and Nokia cell phone combo for now.

The 4GB iPhone will st you back $499 with a two year contract from Cingular. The 8GB variety will cost $599, and both will be available in June.

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]]>iPhonemacphonesteve jobsSteveJobstouch screenTouchScreenBrad Linder2007-01-10T08:28:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/09/itv-no-more-meet-apple-tv/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/09/itv-no-more-meet-apple-tv/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/09/itv-no-more-meet-apple-tv/#commentsFiled under: News, Apple

With all of the recent events going on at CES, one might think that it would be all too easy to overlook the current Macworld event that is going on. Never one to let someone else steal the limelight, Steve Jobs kicked off Macworld with a huge announcement: the Apple TV (formerly known as the iTV).

Here's what we know about it:
o. It supports 802.11b/g/n
o. Inputs are a USB slot and an built-in Ethernet card
o. Outputs are HDMI (720p), Component Video out, analog audio out and digital audio out
o. It comes with a remote that looks a lot like the first generation iPod shuffle
o. 40GB internal hard drive
o. Up to 5 computers can stream to it (Mac or PC)
o. Videos can be viewed from the device as well as downloaded from the internet

Although in my mind the Apple TV really could use a TV tuner in it, I am willing to bet that these things will still sell like hot cakes. I can't wait to see the first reviews on these.

Retail price for the Apple TV is set at $299 USD ($349 CDN), and orders can be placed through the Apple Store.

For more info, check out Engdaget and TUAW.

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]]>appleapple tvAppleTvitvpvrMatt Crape2007-01-09T17:05:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/08/tivotogo-for-mac-officially-launched-by-roxio/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/08/tivotogo-for-mac-officially-launched-by-roxio/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/08/tivotogo-for-mac-officially-launched-by-roxio/#commentsFiled under: Apple, TiVo

Mac users finally have access to TiVoToGo functionality, just two years after Windows users. But you'll have to pay $100 for the privilege and buy the software from Roxio.

Apparently TiVo pretty quickly figured out how to move recordings onto a Mac, but creating a program that would let you play those videos on an iPod or burn them to a DVD was a bit much. So TiVo secretly partnered with Roxio, makers of Toast CD burning software for Mac.

TiVoToGo for Mac is not a standalone program, but is actually built into Toast Titanium 8, which will let you transfer recordings and burn them to DVD. Toast will also drop files in your iTunes folder for saving to an iPod.

But with a price tag of $100, I'm guessing some folks out there are just going to stick with the unofficial TiVoDecode Manager for now. It may not be as pretty or as functional, but you can't argue with free.

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]]>macroxiotivotogotoasttoast titanium 8ToastTitanium8Brad Linder2007-01-08T08:21:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/07/ces-roundup-day-1/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/07/ces-roundup-day-1/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/07/ces-roundup-day-1/#commentsFiled under: HDTV, News, DVD, Apple, Mobile, Home Networking, Streaming

Zoran is working on a new OEM portable media player designed to work with CinemaNow and other movie download services. I believe this is the first PMP designed to work with CinemaNow. While the company's been around longer than Apple's been selling videos through iTunes, it'll be tough for anyone to compete with Apple when it comes to selling videos that you can download and sync to a portable player.

MSI Media Live is showcasing a new Media Center PC featuring AMD64 dual-core processors, a 12-in-1 card reader, and support for AMD LIVE!, HDMI, and NVIDIA PureVideo, among other buzzwords.

While the Addlogix PC2TV EchoView FM may not have a catchy name like Apple's iTV, Apple's said they'll probably change the name anyway. So if Steve Jobs announces they'll be calling the new device "Apple's audio visual component for transferring video downloaded from iTunes through your home network to a television set," then Addlogix may actually have a chance in the marketing game.

Anyway, the PC2TV has a DVI output, and supports streaming of up to 720p video at 30 frames per second over an 802.11g network. It'll hit shelves in February for about $200.


Oh yeah, and Netgear showed off own iTV competitor, the EVA800 during a keynote this morning. It's a networked Digital Entertainer HD device that streams 1080p content from a PC. You can stream video stored on your hard drive or online content including YouTube videos.

If you've got multiple boxes, you can hit pause on a recording in one room, walk into another room and pick up where you left off.

Cyberlink is showing off its latest version of PowerDVD, which includes a plugin for Vista Media Center.

Unlike most video formats, you don't simply install a new CODEC. Instead Cyberlink integrates directly into Media Center so that when you choose to play a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD movie, the Media Center application closes and Cyberlink PowerDVD opens.

It'd be nice to be able to watch your hi-def movies in the same user interface as the rest of your multimedia content. But at this point it's just nice to see an easy way to watch next generation optical discs on a Media Center machine.

LG's got a new combo Blu-Ray/HD-DVD drive that you can plug into a PC or a television set. The GGW-H10N will set you back about $1200, but for that price you get to not just watch hi-def videos, but you can also burn Blu-Ray discs (although not HD-DVD).

Lest you think Matsunichi has only got digital picture frames on display at CES, check out this iPS 70 docking station for the iPod. It lets you watch video from your iPod on a nice 7-inch display. It's got a 16:9 aspect ratio, built in speakers, including a subwoofer, and a headphone jack. You can either watch at home, or carry it with you, where you'll get four hours of battery life.

Philips also has their DCP portable media player on display. The PMP handles a variety of video formats, including DivX and MP4. You can watch content from the included flash card recorder, or from an iPod with the included iPod dock. You only get 2.5 hours of battery life on a 7-inch or 8.5-inch screen.

And on the mobile TV front, GigaOM is reporting that Verizon Wireless and Qualcomm will be announcing the launch of MediaFLO mobile TV this week. This follows news that Modeo and Samsung are each working on their own TV distribution systems for mobile phone customers.

Sprint, MobiTV, Intel, Samsung, and Motorola also plan to demonstrate mobile TV over WiMax, and Cingular will demonstrate a service letting customers share a live video stream with other users during a voice phone call.

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]]>addlogixblu-raycescinemanowcyberlinkhd-dvdipodlgmsizoranBrad Linder2007-01-07T15:00:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/07/tivo-exec-weighs-in-on-overdue-mac-client/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/07/tivo-exec-weighs-in-on-overdue-mac-client/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/07/tivo-exec-weighs-in-on-overdue-mac-client/#commentsFiled under: Apple, TiVo, Home Networking

TiVo Director of Services Stephen Mack doesn't work on the team developing TiVoToGo for Mac. The project has gotten some negative press lately for missing a promised launch date by half a year.

What's Mack's analysis? TiVo needs to do a better job of promising what they can deliver. Sure, it'd be great if the company was able to follow through on its promise and deliver a Mac client in mid-2006. But wouldn't it have been almost as good if TiVo would have just set a more realistic release date?

Well, maybe. The thing is, while folks are waiting (im)patiently for TiVoToGo for Mac, hackers have basically gone and developed their own version.

I'm totally with Mack when he says the TiVoCast unit has done a good job of keeping their mouths shut until they have something worth announcing. Nobody's entirely sure what to expect out of that unit, and when major new announcements come out, they're often pleasant surprises. But even if TiVo had never promised users a Mac client, it would have been an obvious feature request. And so even if the company hadn't set and missed a release date, I think it would still be fair to call this a long overdue feature.

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]]>macstephen mackStephenMacktivotogozeigenBrad Linder2007-01-07T12:00:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/07/slingcatcher-coming-in-mid-2007/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/07/slingcatcher-coming-in-mid-2007/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/07/slingcatcher-coming-in-mid-2007/#commentsFiled under: News, Apple, Home Networking, Streaming, IPTV

Series3 TiVo in the living room for recording hi-def television programs, check. Slingbox for streaming those programs over the internet and viewing on a PC, Mac, or Windows mobile device, check. Way to stream your video to another TV? Until now, only if you've got that TV hooked up to a computer.

But Dave Zatz has uncovered a new device from Sling Media, the SlingCatcher. This will be the first box from Sling that lets you receive broadcasts, rather than record them. That means if you've got a Slingbox hooked up to your home entertainment center in the living room, you can pick up a remote control in the bedroom or your grandma's house, point it at the SlingCatcher, and tune in to programming from your home system.

In some ways, this is like having a whole-house PVR. In some ways, it's even better. Only got one cable box/satellite receiver from your television service provider? Now you can access the same channels in any room in the house that has a SlingCatcher.

There's also a plan to launch a client for your PC that will stream media from your computer to the TV, making the SlingCatcher the latest in a long line of potential Apple iTV competitors.

The new box is expect to hit shelves later this year for about $200.

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]]>dave zatzDaveZatzsling mediaslingcatcherSlingMediaslingplayerBrad Linder2007-01-07T10:56:00+00:00http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/06/pvr-tivo-functionality-the-most-important-feature-of-the-apple-i/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/06/pvr-tivo-functionality-the-most-important-feature-of-the-apple-i/http://www.pvrwire.com/2007/01/06/pvr-tivo-functionality-the-most-important-feature-of-the-apple-i/#commentsFiled under: General, News, Apple, Home Networking

What exactly the iTV will do and what features it will have are still a bit sketchy. We've heard rumors of a hard drive, talks with TiVo and even a partnership with Netflix but solid specs from Apple remain thin on the ground.

But when it comes down to what us consumers want out of the Apple iTV it appears that PVR/TiVo functionality is right at the top of the list. From a quick poll carried out on ZDNet it appears that 64% of people list PVR/TiVo functionality as the most important iTV feature (see results below).

This definitely indicates a substantial demand for PVR functionality in the iTV which I'm sure Apple must be aware of which makes PVR functionality in the Apple iTV a lot more likely.

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]]>apple itvAppleItvpvrChris Tew2007-01-06T08:28:00+00:00