PurePVR

There is an incredibly interesting post over at U-verse Users which details the extremely simple steps involved to make an inactive set top box into an active PVR / DVR. First a quick bit of background: AT&T use to enable the PVR / DVR functionality of U-verse boxes. Shortly after this though they started disabling the PVR / DVR component except for 1 box in each household (e.g. if you had 3 in your house, 2 would be crippled and 1 would be a full PVR / DVR).

Fast forward to today. It turns out that all that needs to be done in order to get the functionality back is to open up the case and connect the hard drive that is in there. That’s right: they left the hard drives in there and they just unplug them. Incredible … The full story at U-verse Users has more details.

Found via PVRBlog.

Technorati Tags: PVR, DVR, AT&T, U-verse

Yesterday Verizon announced the release of their new Home Media DVR which has a claim to fame by allowing you to watch recorded content on multiple TVs. Today, Dave Zatz weighs in with his opinion in a post titled “The Significance of Verizon’s “New” DVR“. It probably should have been title The Insignificance of Verizon’s New DVR.

It’s a decently thought out post in which Dave basically states the obvious (in a good way): a lot of the new features for the Verizon PVR / DVR have been available on TiVo for awhile. He also has an interesting thought on the pricing scheme. I highly recommend giving it a read.

Technorati Tags: PVR, DVR, TiVo, Verizon, FIOS, Home+Media, Media+Manager

Verizon has issued a press release today which has details about its new Home Media DVR. This PVR / DVR device looks like it could be a nice addition to any home. One of its greatest features it the fact that it will allow you to view recordings on multiple TVs at the same time without the need for ‘extra equipment’ (aside from a receiver for each TV).

Another interesting feature is the Media Manager software that is included. Media Manager allows you connect to your PC and display photos or play music over your TV (or theater system, depending on you hookup).

A CNN write up can be found here and a copy of Verizon’s press release can be found on PR News Net.

Technorati Tags: PVR, DVR, Verizon, FIOS, Home+Media, Media+Manager

As with the last post, I am still wading through tons of news and in an effort to catch up I’m just posting some of the highlights that I have found

MPEG decoder is basis for personal video recorder – Electronics Talk
Hauppauge’s TV Anywhere promises free mobile TV – Tech Digest
Hauppage TV Anywhere: Poor Man’s Slingbox - Gizmodo
WinTV lets you watch TV from you PC on your mobile device - Pocket Lint
The living room PC: it’s not a myth, it’s a mess – Ars Technica

Technorati Tags: PVR, DVR

In case you have not noticed, the site has been a little slow over the past few days. The main reason for that is because I have moved for the second (and final) time in 2 and a half months. So here is a quick round up of some older but still relevant news.

Why my cable DVR stinks – MP3.com
Home automation controller runs Windows XPe – WindowsForDevices.com
Custom-Friendly Media Center PC – HomeTheaterMag.com
Macs finally get the picture with TVMini HD Tuner - Tech News World
ITV calls for ad-skip speed limit on Freeview PVR - Brand Republic

Technorati Tags: PVR, DVR

How about having 5 having 5 good reasons? The staff over at Digital Home Canada has put together their list of 5 reasons why you should buy a PVR. Although none of the reasons are earth shattering, they are all pretty good reasons none the less.

I know that when I originally built my first PVR / DVR I had to explain the whole concept to a few people. Most of them just said ‘so it’s like a VCR’. After hearing this numerous times and trying to explain the differences, I finally decided to start showing people how a PVR / DVR was different. Once I started using it, most people ‘got it’ right away. Now I can’t imagine life without a PVR.

Technorati Tags: PVR, DVR

As a follow up to the CNet article I posted about yesterday, Marguerite wrote her own follow up with regards to the problems she was having with Time Warner. After getting a third box, it turned out that the issue wasn’t so much the DVR as much as it was the signal strength coming in over her cable line.

For anyone who uses a lot of bandwidth through their cable provider (think Internet service + HDTV) you may want to check out this story, its good food for thought.

Technorati Tags: PVR, DVR

EyeTV is one of the handful of PVR / DVR solutions currently available for Apple Macintosh. Recently they released an update (version 2.3) which now incorporates a full screen option when using Apple’s Front Row program. This is a big update for the program, so hopefully it will help its user base grow. At the moment there aren’t a whole lot of solutions available for the do it yourself Mac PVR / DVR user, but EyeTV is definitely one to check out.

Found via HTPCNews.

Technorati Tags: PVR, DVR, Apple, Mac, EyeTV

The German PC magazine PC Welt has a fair length article up that contains one reporter’s experience with testing out various PVR / DVR solutions available. In all, 8 different services were tested (including place shifting services Orb & Slingbox) and a rating was given based on the overall experience.

It probably won’t surprise most of you that TiVo came out on top (twice actually). What I did find surprising is the low rating that Dell’s XPS Gen 5 Windows Media Center Edition system received. It seemed that the reviewer had a tough time getting the system to play nicely with his TV setup which contributed to the bad score.

Although it isn’t anything in depth, it’s a great overview of some of the options available for those who are looking for a new PVR / DVR.

Technorati Tags: PVR, DVR, TiVo, Slingbox, Orb, MCE. Media+Center+Edition

TVPredicitons.com is carrying a piece that has quotes form DirecTV that indicate that they will launch their HD DVR next month in LA, with other cities following later in the year. This comes just after a story from Forbes indicated that the DVR would be delayed yet again.

The fact that it is only being launched in LA raises a lot of speculation. As Phillip Swann (from TVPredictions.com) points out, this could all just be a way to launch the product while it is still in a test phase. So far this HD DVR has been one major mess for DirecTV. Although they already have a HD DVR (thanks MegaZone), it does not currently record in MPEG-4. Instead of waiting for TiVo’s solution, DirecTV has decided that they could do better on their own and create a DVR solution that will be compatible with new channels that they will be adding soon.

We’ll have to wait and see if DirecTV actually does launch it, and if so, will it be ready for prime time?

Technorati Tags: PVR, DVR, DirecTV, TiVo, HDTV