The new TIVO HD box!

[zelig2]

I saw this was shown at CES this week.

http://img277.imageshack.us/img277/6426/tivoseries32dw.th.jpg (http://img277.imageshack.us/my.php?image=tivoseries32dw.jpg)

I think I finally found my solution to the Sinclair/TWC dispute. I'm soooo getting one of these when they come out. Finally I'll have a "real" PVR that I can actually use along with having 2 ATSC tuners & 2 CableCard slots (version 2.0 no less). This is a dream come true. I doubt I'd ever bother with setting up a Windows MCE if I got this thing. Niiiice. :)

[buckeye3d]

What is this exactly?

[zelig2]

It's a PVR with lots of options. It's got all the TIVO functionality but the option for recording OTA signals along with stuff from cable. I've got the Scientific Atlanta PVR from time warner right now. It works fairly well but I'd love to have something to give me ABC/FOX without paying any money to Sinclair. Of course, I can only imagine what the price on this toy might be.

[TvPat]

I would think that DirecTV is concerned about this too. The new Tivo-less DirecTV DVR is not exactly getting rave reviews, and their HD DVR seems to be behind schedule. This box with the CableCard is the first real competition to the DirecTV HD Tivo.

Equipment such as this, that picks up both ATSC OTA and QAM cable signals, also certainly diminishes Sinclair's bargaining position.

[Scott]

I know that I want to hang on to my HD-TiVo from DirecTV as long as possible--but with the impending MPEG4 conversion, and the fact that DirecTV's new HD-DVR is behind schedule--AND it's missing TiVo software--will seriously make me consider leaving DirecTV and moving the cable route. I do love my NFL Sunday Ticket, but I'm sure it will be over $400 next year will probably mean I won't pick it up anyhow.

[zelig2]

Oooh, maybe we can petition TWC to have this new box as an option for leasing just like their current HD PVR. I can only imagine what the price is going to be like for this thing with two Cable Cards installed. $1000? $1500?

[nakedeye]

I think that comcast has an exclusive agreement with tivo for leasing thier boxes from now on

[digitalfreak]

From what I gathered, this box won't be available until late this year.

[zelig2]

Check out the video from the boys at gearlive when they went to CES. They got about 12 minutes of a rundown of the new series 3 Tivo HD box. Still looks pretty sweet to me. They did mention a few times it won't be availible till second half of 2006.

http://www.gearlive.com/index.php/news/article/ces-2006-video-tivo-series-3-video-interview-first-look-0108051437/

[Scott]

TiVo: HD and CableCards Together in One Machine Series3
dual-tuner HD PVR's price not yet determined

By Charlie White

From: DTV Professional (http://www.dtvprofessional.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=36675)

At the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show, TiVo demonstrated a prototype of its
new Series3 HD Digital Media Recorder. While in Las
Vegas for the show, we spoke with Bruce Lee, product manager of TiVo,
and also with Jim Denny, TiVo’s vice president of product marketing,
about the company’s new high-definition personalvideo
recorder. This much-anticipated product, which TiVo has been touting as “almost
ready” for the past two years, will feature compatibility with numerous
cable systems and dual CableCard tuners when it’s released later this
year. However, company officials weren’t yet willing to disclose an exact
ship date or price.

The most important new feature of TiVo’s HD digital media recorder is
its four tuners, two of which work with digital cabletelevision signals
and the other two with over-the-air broadcasts. Currently, the only HD TiVo
available is one that works with the DirectTV satellite service. It is the
two CableCards, those standardized PC-Card-sized tuners inserted into a unit
such as the TiVo, that will enable this new HD TiVo to work with digital cable
systems, allowing users to receive encrypted digital cable programming without
the need for a cable box. Cable companies are required to provide a CableCard
for a nominal fee to customers who ask for it, so users will need to acquire
two of these cards and then plug them into the back of this new TiVo HD unit.
These two CableCards will enable users to watch one live program
while recording another, or record two programs while watching a third already-recorded
program. In addition to these two CableCard tuners, there will also be two
broadcast tuners to receive over-the-air HD signals.

http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/6325/tivos3hdproduct0vx.jpg

The new HD TiVo sports a new look.

Inside the new TiVo is a 250GB internalhard
drive, which is good for about 300 hours of standard definition or 30
hours of high-definition recording. If that’s not enough, TiVo was
showing a demo of an expandable storage unit (pictured below), a small black
box that can store additional programs using a high-speed protocol known
as external SATA, or eSATA.

http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/566/tivoexternalesata9hw.jpg

Here's one of the the external eSATA drives that can be added to the new HD TiVo.

The capacity of that external storage was yet to be determined, but TiVo product
manager Bruce T. Lee said there will be a variety of sizes and brands of drives
that will work with the new TiVo product. But Lee said not all manufacturers’ drives
will be compatible. He added, “It won’t necessarily be the case
that any off-the-shelf eSATA drive will work. We may do a qualification program
to certify that certain specs have to be met. But in theory, consumers would
have a choice of different sizes if they want them.

http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/1707/tivoback2il.jpg

This new Series3 box has a new eSATA data port on the back to which this external
eSATA drive is connected (see graphic above -- the eSATA port, atright,
is labeled "expansion disk"). The box also features a built-in Ethernet
port, in addition to two USB 2.0 ports, enabling the unit to be connected to
either a wired or wireless network. It also has HDMI and component-out capabilities.
Additionally, the output formats are selectable from either native mode which
outputs the content in the same format in which it was received, or a selectable
mode where content can be scaled to a resolution of the user's choice.

It appears there is a certain degree of future-proofing designed
into this new HD TiVo unit as well. The first indication of this forward-thinking
design is the hardware’s ability to decode advanced codecs such as Windows Media
9 (WM9), with TiVo’s Lee saying the company plans to include advanced
codecs AVC and VC-1 at an unspecified future date. Beyond that, Lee said, “The
basic platform could be adopted for all kinds of different delivery mechanisms.
You just change the front end and basically have a satellite box, or an IP
TV box or whatever else you want. But right now, this particular box is intended
for cable viewers, essentially using CableCard as well as ATSC.

http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/8931/tivowirelessg5vy.jpg

TiVo will offer this wireless-G adapter for $49.

Sitting next to this new HD TiVo was a smartly designed TiVo-branded wireless-G
adapter ($49, see graphic above) that will work with the new high-definition
unit as well as currently-available models. TiVo now supports a number of third-party
adapters of this type, but Lee said there are certain brands where some versions
are supported and some aren’t. Lee said, “It can be a bit of a
headache to find the right one. With this one from TiVo, you can just buy it
and know it’s going to work.” Lee mentioned that one of the advantages
of this adapter it is the dedicated chipset inside which is able to offload
some of the processing from the CPU within the TiVo box.

http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/2082/tivoremote8ma.jpg

The new TiVo remote is updated with a richer, more upscale look.

As part of the redesign of this HD unit, the remote control (see graphic above)
has been slightly altered as well. Seasoned users will be happy to know that
its keypad is basically the same as previous TiVo remotes. They’ll also
probably like its overall look, which has been updated with an upscale black
surface and the addition of ridges on the bottom, making it easier to feel
which way TiVo’s symmetrical signature bone-shaped remote is pointed.


This HD TiVo with CableCard support has been a long time in development,
and we asked TiVo’s vice president of product marketing James Denney
why it took so long. “Before, there was always a debate about how we
were going to get HD signals, HD content into it, so CableCard allows that,” Denney
answered. But he denied that implementing CableCard compatibility, a relatively
new concept, was one of the stumbling blocks that delayed the development of
this unit for longer than two years. Denney explained, “I don’t
think [CableCard compatibility] held it up as much as debating and discussing
and deciding what the best way to get the signal in was. A year ago, before
CableCard existed, the only way to get a signal into it was over the air. And
there is a small segment of the market that still uses over-the-air consistently,
as their sole source. So CableCard actually allows us to have a little bit
more ubiquitous access to
cable HD and digital cable, as well as over-the-air. It has two ATSC tuners,
and two cable tuners.

Beyond the release of the HD TiVo, we wanted to know why TiVo, with its superior
user interface and enthusiastic user base, wasn’t more ubiquitous. Would
TiVo expand beyond its installed base of over four million subscribers? Replied
Denney, “Growth has been fine. I think it’s just a matter of time
to continue that distribution and get consumers educated. I think the concept
of a PVR is becoming more and more mainstream, so I think that rising tide
will actually lift all boats.

So what’s ahead for the TiVo Series3 HD Digital Media Recorder? Why
is it taking six more months or longer to bring it to market, when we saw a
working unit there at the Consumer Electronics Show? TiVo attributes thecurrent
delay tothe evaluation process ofCableLabs, which is a nonprofit
research and development consortium that tests products to make sure they’re
compatible with cable systems. Denney said the HD TiVo unit was in the process
of being approved as we spoke. “There are rules around CableCard in digital
cable and digital cable programming, and so we’ll work within those rules
as part of the CableLabs process, Denney said.

This new high-definition TiVo product represents a significant improvement
to the company’s previous offerings. There’s even more attention
to usability and there is evidence of improved industrial design of the box,
with LEDs up front indicating which programs are being recorded or played back.
With the subtle enhancements in the remote, the addition of external storage,
the new wireless USB accessory and the dual tuner nature of this new machine,
if TiVo can deliver this product in a timely manner it appears the company
may have another potential hit on its hands.

[Scott]

Wireless network, external hard drive add-on, cable card, etc., etc.... With DirecTV's impending business model (http://www.hdcolumbus.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=206) change and inferior product releases, this is really, really, really pushing me over the edge.

[zelig2]

If they only had it ready in time for the Super Bowl it could sell like hotcakes. It still makes me drool for it though. I'll scrap my plans for building a mythTV/HTPC box if I can get one of these.

The only thing that might convince me not to get one is if I can get a windows MCE computer (or Vista) that does cable card 2.0 and stream it to the xbox360.