The Gadgetress ~ TV, mobile and Internet: Covering technology's monthly bill

Archive for the 'DVR' Tag

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »

Cox finally coming out with multi-room DVR

October 23rd, 2009, 3:11 am by

Cox CableUpdate, 1:11 p.m.: Added a few more details about Cox’s upcoming service.

Cox Communications has confirmed that the elusive multi-room DVR is on target for an end-of-the-year launch. That’s right, in two months, Cox cable TV subscribers should have the option of a DVR that can be accessed from other rooms in your house.

“At this time we can’t talk about specifics yet, but our plans are still on target,” said Lana Ong, the local Cox spokeswoman who told me about the DVR’s 2009 launch.

I first heard about this device from Cox in March 2007 during a visit to its Rancho Santa Margarita headquarters. At the time, Cox officials were just exploring new cable TV technologies. See my earlier story, “New TV tricks from your cable company.”

EXTRA: Got a question for Time Warner Cable? Get it answered. Click HERE

Now, 2.5 years later, Cox could be the first Orange County cable company to offer the multi-room DVR. (Sorry, Time Warner customers — no updates are available on when we will get ours although the company had said it plans to have one this year.) Nationwide, Cox did announce earlier this year that it will offer a multi-room DVR, but no updates have been offered. The news today is specifically for customers in Orange County. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • | 22 Comments »

Cox fix for TiVo users delayed

September 25th, 2009, 12:02 pm by

TiVo logoThe local Cox Communication delayed plans this week to be the first company wide to roll out the first Motorola- TiVo adapters. Cox was busy unveiling new software for its video-on-demand service. Cox now hopes to offer the TiVo device in Orange County before the end of the year.

That leaves some TiVo users without access to on-demand movies and shows, plus any channel that has been turned into an on-demand channel.

Because of a change in technology, TiVo users who rely on CableCARDs are unable to request on-demand shows without this adapter. This change doesn’t affect TiVo users who have a set-top box from the cable provider.

Cable companies are moving to the new switched digital video technology in order to use the pipe to a customer’s home more efficiently. By reducing the number of nominal channels streamed 24/7, a cable company can add new high-definition channels to the stream. The other channels are still there, but only broadcast when requested by the subscriber. To watch those, a TiVo user with a CableCARD will need this new adapter.

“We’ve maxed out on bandwidth,” said Lana Ong, spokeswoman for the Rancho Santa Margarita cable provider.

Earlier stories on TiVo and switched digital technology:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • • | 16 Comments »

4 screens of football, photo sharing, more heads to U-verse TV

September 14th, 2009, 12:53 pm by

AT&T U-verseToday, AT&T unleashed new features for its U-verse TV customers who live in various parts of Orange County and the nation. These include some I mentioned last week as part of a story on Microsoft Mediaroom, which is the software used by AT&T U-verse in its set-top boxes.

New U-verse TV features announced today are:

  • Multiview: The ability to watch four channels at the same time using U-verse TV Multiview. AT&T allows 4 simultaneous channels, although Microsoft’s feature allows six. There are specific multiviews available: Sports, (Channel 601) Kids  (Channel 301) and News (Channel 201).  Subscribers to ESPN GamePlan package can get a special ESPN GamePlan Multiview, channel 4400, at no extra charge. You can also record programs while in multiview.

AT&T U-verse gets ability to view up to 4 channels at the same time.

  • Media Share: View photos and listen to music stored on home PCs on the big-screen TV. Any U-verse-connected TV can now access  those files.
  • AT&T offers U-verse TV channel showcasing Hollywood entertainment awards, also available as an iPhone app.And then there’s Channel 95, geared to iPhone users. If you want to check out who’s been nominated for an Emmy, Teen Choice or other award, there’s an app for that. All the entertainment award news you want, apparently.

The new features are available to all Orange County U-verse customers at no extra charge. To see the new features in action, watch the official AT&T video posted on YouTube.

Recent U-verse news:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • | 2 Comments »

Broadcom plus Microsoft means better AT&T U-verse TV

September 11th, 2009, 12:00 pm by

Microsoft Mediaroom

Correction, added Oct. 8, 2009: Since this was an interview conducted over e-mail, some quotes were attributed incorrectly. Corrected story is below.
———————————————–

News that Irvine chipmaker Broadcom Corp. unleashed a new chip – the Broadcom 7405 – may make your eyes glaze. But if you’re totally into TV, Broadcom’s contribution could help you get more out of your paid TV service.

The new chip powers second-generation Microsoft Mediaroom set-top boxes. In Orange County, AT&T U-verse is the only company offering Microsoft’s software to power its set-top boxes.

If AT&T integrates the chip into the second  generation boxes, subscribers can look forward to “substantial increase in performance,” according to Broadcom (this statement was previously attributed to Microsoft).

“The Broadcom 7405 is the first second generation (system on a chip, or SoCs) being deployed…,” said Steve Koepp, Microsoft’s senior manager, business development of TV, video and music business, in an e-mail. “As mentioned in the releases, this is important as it is enabling choice … which drives competition.”

Here’s a more technical take on Microsoft and Broadcom’s chip from EETimes Europe: “Broadcom touts MS Mediaroom certification at IBC”

The new chip also improves integration of Internet services so we may see Facebook, Twitter and other Internet applications show up on Mediaroom-friendly boxes.

I’m not a U-verse TV customer because it’s not available in my city and I’m unfamiliar with the specific features on the system. Existing U-verse customers can help verify what is already available. According to Microsoft, these are some features offered with the current Microsoft Mediaroom technology:

  • Microsoft Mediaroom offers six-screen TV viewing.Anytime Recording: Rewind or restart a show currently airing that you didn’t record. Also, you can scroll backwards in the Guide to watch a previously aired show through the video on demand library.
  • Anywhere Recording: Extends DVR capabilities to all TVs in the house so every show recorded can be accessed by connected TVs. (U-verse currently offers this multi-room DVR.)
  • Remote recording: Set your DVR to record from any PC or mobile phone (currently offered by U-verse).
  • Multiview: Watch up to six different channels at one time (see image on right).
  • Media Sharing: Built-in ability to access photos, music from computers or other devices on the home network.

More TV news:


Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local TV services

Posted in: Internet • Video & TV • • • • • • • • • • • | 3 Comments »

Dish must pay TiVo $200 million for infringing on DVR technology

September 4th, 2009, 6:49 pm by

TiVo logoThe ongoing legal dispute between TiVo and Dish Network took a turn in TiVo’s favor, according to late Friday afternoon statements from both companies.

TiVo, which sued EchoStar Communications Corp. and Dish for infringing on its digital-recording patents, has been on the winning end all summer. After Dish appealed the last order by a Texas judge to dismantle all infringing digital video recorders, the Texas court ruled today that Dish must pay TiVo $200 million for the continued violation. (See earlier story: “Dish infringes on TiVo’s patents, ordered to dismantle DVR features.”)

“We are pleased by the Court’s ruling to impose contempt sanctions of approximately $200 million against EchoStar for its continued violation of a Court-ordered permanent injunction, and to award TiVo its attorney fees and costs incurred during the contempt proceedings. This brings total damages and sanctions in this case to approximately $400 million through July 1, 2009, plus attorney fees, and is exclusive of potential further damages and sanctions,” TiVo said in a statement. “We are confident that this ruling brings us closer to final resolution.”

Dish, meanwhile, also praised the order somewhat by saying it was pleased the judge rejected TiVo’s request to levy a $1 billion judgment. In its statement, Dish said:

“We are pleased that the district court rejected Tivo’s request to award a billion dollars in sanctions and that it found that any violation of the injunction was not willful. While we disagree that any amount of sanctions was warranted, the decision confirms our belief that we designed around Tivo’s patent in good faith. We believe that we ultimately will prevail on appeal.”

So, it looks like the case will continue through appeals.

Related: Dish Told to Pay TiVo About $200 Million Over Patent(Bloomberg)

Earlier on TiVos and DVRs:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • | 3 Comments »

Are U-verse and FiOS DVRs in trouble?

August 27th, 2009, 10:47 am by

TiVoAs it previously hinted, TiVo has filed suit against two more companies not licensed to use its TV-recording patents

TiVo said Wednesday it filed legal complaints against AT&T and Verizon in a Texas court. The complaint seeks damages for any current and past infringement on three TiVo patents related to recording and pausing live TV. The patents are similar to the ones TiVo has somewhat successfully accused Dish Network/EchoStar of violating.

Verizon and AT&T both offer DVRs through their TV services FiOS and U-verse. When I spoke to a TiVo in June, a spokesman said that TiVo has agreements with Comcast, Cox and DirecTV. It’s also reportedly in talks with Time Warner Cable. Agreements range from rebranding  TiVo’s actual software for their own customers to just a license agreement. TiVo wanted to have a similar  relationship with all TV companies that have DVRs.

Most recently in June, Dish was ordered by a Texas court to dismantle its DVRs because it infringed on the TiVo patents. Dish has appealed.

The three TiVo patents in the AT&T and Verizon case are U.S. Patent Nos. 6,233,389 B1 (“Multimedia Time Warping System”), 7,529,465 B2 (“System for Time Shifting Multimedia Content Streams”), and 7,493,015 B1 (“Automatic Playback Overshoot Correction System”). Essentially, they cover the technology to record and pause live TV digitally.

Bloomberg reported that the companies had tried to reach an agreement but failed. Said Thomas Rogers, TiVo’s chief executive officer, during a earnings conference call on Wednesday, “Attempts were made to reach a commercial arrangement. They were not reached. We believe we are being caused irreparable harm and that harm increases every day this doesn’t cease.”

Whether or not Verizon and AT&T will have to yank their DVRs, it’s bound to take years for anything to get resolved unless the companies reach an agreement out of court. TiVo’s fight with Dish/Echostar started in 2004, according to Bloomberg.

Previous stories on TiVo:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • | 3 Comments »

Coming soon to Time Warner: Rewind shows you forgot to record

July 23rd, 2009, 3:35 pm by

If you’re a Time Warner Cable customer and you spot this on your TV:

Time Warner Cable upgrades TV software to prepare for new features.

… you can start getting excited. This blue screen of annoyance is a sign of new features to come.

Time Warner Cable's Start Over service. Image from NYTimesBesides the debatable improvement in the program guide, the new Mystro Navigator software, which replaces Passport software in Time Warner’s Scientific Atlanta boxes, paves the way for the “Look Back,” “Start Over” and switched digital video, all features that Time Warner mentioned to us last year.

These features will let viewers watch a TV show they didn’t record for a day or two after its initial broadcast, or restart a show if you tune in after it already began. Time Warner, essentially, is upgrading its on-demand service and creating a networked DVR, allowing for some shows to be stored at the company’s offices rather than the home DVR box itself. Though there are unwanted consequences for some users (see earlier story, “More HD channels coming to cable TV, TiVo users impacted“), this also means customers will get a massive on-demand library of current TV shows they can view at the touch of their remote.

“It’s going to create a system for bandwidth to open up for more HD channels and it’s going to prepare us for the services we’re going to be introducing, Start Over and Look Back,” said Darryl Ryan, a Time Warner Cable spokesman.

Exactly when? Ryan doesn’t know or he won’t say. He’ll only say, “It’s still in development and should be coming very very soon.” But when we first learned that the features were coming, Time Warner gave us a mid-2009 launch date (strum fingers repeatedly).

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • | 13 Comments »

More HD channels coming to cable TV, TiVo users impacted

July 3rd, 2009, 7:58 am by

Switched video technology could make TiVos useless they get an adapter.

Sooner than later, Orange County cable TV customers may notice a lot more high-definition channels.

This is not an easy task, by the way. Cable providers have struggled to offer more HD channels because their aging systems are near capacity.  Now,  thanks to new technology called switched digital video, they have figured out how to get more room: Stop broadcasting every single channel 24/7.

By turning some of the least popular channels into on-demand channels, cable companies can use that newly opened space to squeeze in more HD channels. Channels that do go switched digital are still accessible. But there may be a slight delay after turning to that channel, as the cable box sends the request back to the main station. The delay should be just a split second and unnoticeable to viewers, the cable companies say.

But one reader from Yorba Linda, who uses a CableCARD and TiVo to watch cable TV, alerted me that some switching might be going on in his neighborhood. He woke up one day to find very few channels showing up on his TV — Food TV yes, but not the HD version; no Bravo and absolutely no HBO. A  Time Warner customer service representative mentioned to him the cable provider was switching to this new technology.

I checked with both local cable companies — Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications — and both plan to implement this technology. But Time Warner has not yet. Cox, however, is testing it out in Orange County. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • | 12 Comments »

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »
SEO Powered by Platinum SEO from Techblissonline