PurePVR

Awhile back Slingbox was finally launched in Canada and now a few months later it is getting its launch in Europe. Reuters UK reports that the Slingbox will cost 180 pounds (~ $338 USD). They also go on to report that apparently U.S. based mobile carrier Sprint Nextel might be creating some sort of partnership with Sling Media.

If a deal between a mobile carrier and Sling goes down, it could be quite an interesting concept. Now instead of being stuck with whatever ‘multimedia’ your carrier offers, you might be able to stream your own personalized content to your phone. Of course with streaming video comes streaming data prices. Unless some sort of bulk plan can be made available at a cheap price, wide spread adoption of a new technology like this might fail.

Technorati Tags: PVR, DVR, Slingbox

PVR UK has a quick post about a recent article by ForexTV. In the article, ForexTV suggests that by scheduling popular shows to air at the same time, the demand for time shifting & dual tuning PVRs / DVRs will rise. Off of the top of my head, this seems like a great way for businesses to expand PVR / DVR operations & productions.

There probably isn’t much help from the major networks over this though. They have always been scheduling their blockbuster shows to go head to in head in an effort to become kings of prime time. It would just seem that they are creating a great opportunity for an emerging technology to take its place.

Technorati Tags: PVR, DVR, Time+Shifting

Earlier this week I-O Data & Miglia both released PVR / DVR functional hardware aimed primarily at Mac Minis. Both devices act more like an adapter or add on versus a dongle or plug-in.

A post over at DVD-Recordable indicates that the I-O Data device will retail for about $246 USD while the TVMax (pictured here) device will retail for about $249 USD. When you look at the cost of a base Mac Mini and one of these add-ons, it because a fair price. But you have to keep in mind what you would pay for a PVR / DVR from your local cable company and you have to remember that you will still have a fully functional computer, something that cable company PVRs / DVRs don’t offer.

Technorati Tags: PVR, DVR, Apple, Mac

Dish Network is one of the largest satellite dish providers in the United States, and they just launched their newest PVR / DVR, the ViP 622. Since I don’t live in the U.S., I probably won’t be seeing one of these anytime soon, but for those of you who are in the U.S., you can read some of the initial reviews at Gear Live & I4U News.

For those of you who don’t want to read through the reviews, the ViP 622 looks to be a very promising receiver.

Technorati Tags: PVR, DVR, Dish+Network, 622

TiVo quite recently rolled out a new feature dubbed Guru Guides. The purpose is to allow viewers to see hand picked suggestions of television programming in hopes that it will pique their interest. Who is doing this hand picking? Some of those involved include editors from large magazine publications like Sports Illustrated & Star.

The deal seems to have been struck in hopes that some of these magazines will get more exposure to the general TV population. In return, faithful readers of these magazines may start looking towards TiVo for new content posted by some of their favorite publications.

The official TiVo Guru Guide page can be found here.

Technorati Tags: PVR, DVR, TiVo, Guru+Guides

In the next stage of the whole ‘PVRs / DVRs are bad for TV advertisers’ debate, Coke has announced that they will jump into the game and launch their own PVR / DVR targeted ads. Much like the GE ads, these ads will contain information that can only be seen at slow speeds. The net effect is the same as others who have tried this approach: to get users to watch the commercials.

Although this new style of advertising is relatively new, I know I can’t wait to see some numbers to see how effective they are. I’ve personally always felt that whether I choose to watch a commercial is my choice, but that could be a whole other post.

Found via PVR Wire.

Technorati Tags: PVR, DVR, Coke, advertising, commercials

In a move to gain more users, ReplayTV will be releasing a PC version of its PVR / DVR application. Right now you can sign up by going here. The deadline for applying to be a beta tester is May 31st.

I’m not sure how much of a market there will be for yet another PVR / DVR / HTPC solution. Right now there are a few pay solutions (most notably SageTV & BeyondTV), but more importantly there are quite a few free solutions (MythTV for Linux & GB-PVR for Windows, to name a few). Will a venture into the PC market by ReplayTV pay off? It might if they can offer something that nobody else can, most likely some sort of interaction between the software and ReplayTV units. If not, then it may just be a rash decision to try and get piece of the PC software market.

More info can be found at Build Your Own PVR.

Technorati Tags: PVR, DVR, HTPC, ReplayTV, MythTV, BeyondTV, GB-PVR

Amex Digital has released specs on its MPC-505 HTPC device, which it claims is the first HTPC to support the next generation Blu-ray DVD format. Some highlights of the unit include the 3Ghz processor, 2 gigs of RAM and 1 TB of storage (that’s a lot of recorded TV!).

The unit also runs Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 as its operating system which means that users will be able to add customizations the look and feel of it by using plugins.

As of right now a price and launch date still have to be disclosed, but even without that, this HTPC sure looks like a great device for the PVR / DVR enthusiast.

Found via Digital Lifestyle.

Technorati Tags: PVR, DVR, HTPC, MCE, blu-ray

Do advertising companies really suffer that much from skipped ads due to PVR / DVR use? It all depends who you listen to. According to Neilson Media Research, about 1 million people used a TiVo or DVR to watch the April 18th episode of American Idol at least an hour after the original air time. Of that, a reported 800 000 skipped the ads (%80).

At first that number might seem staggering, but consider how many viewers watched that episode: 28.5 million. Out of that 28.5 million less than 5% used a PVR / DVR to watch that. The article linked above goes on to say that some advertisers are starting to talk about only paying for ‘live’ viewing. Will that really work?

I personally think these numbers aren’t what they are cracked up to be (whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing, I don’t know). For one, how can they track all of the do it yourselfer’s out there who have built their own PVR / DVR / HTPC? If it is a cable company DVR or a TiVo, then this stuff can be tracked, which probably accounts for these numbers. Secondly, how is this different than people who record shows on a VCR? Sure technology wise VCRs are quite old, but I am willing to bet there are a still a lot more VCRs out there than PVRs / DVRs / HTPCs.

Personally I believe that advertisers will have to start following other’s leads and get creative with advertising.

Found via Zatz Not Funny…

Technorati Tags: PVR, DVR, HTPC, TiVo, VCR

Time Warner has announced plans to roll out a new PVR / DVR service this summer dubbed “Start Over”. Best of all, it will apparently be free to all digital cable subscribers.

The service appears to be quite simple in nature. Time Warner will host digital copies of shows for a number of channels on their own servers. From there the end user can use time shifting techniques during the show. Right now the trial taking place in South Carolina has 62 stations that are through this new feature set.

This service is not designed to replace full PVR / DVR functionality – that will apparently cost an extra $5 a month according to this article. $5 a month for a DVR seems pretty cheap and since I am not in the U.S. I cannot confirm that this price is accurate. It would be nice if this started giving TiVo a run for the money - competition is always great for consumers.

Technorati Tags: PVR, DVR, Time+Warner, TiVo