TiVo is beginning to test hosted Home Media Engine (HME) applications as described in this recent email correspondence (via Digg, 8bit_Hero). FYI, I did not receive the email and I am not part of the Beta group. MORE »

The National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA) has provided a CableCARD status report to the Federal Communications Comission. For the most part the association documents the adoption rate, consumer costs, rate of incidents, and other metrics of current CableCARDs amongst the top cable providers. However, the more interesting news is the status of CableCARD 2.0 on track for 2006 deployment. The current CableCARD technology provides the ability to decrypt and display digital cable without the need of a cable box, whereas the CableCARD 2.0 spec allows for bidirectional communication including interactive program guide, Pay Per View, and Video On Demand. MORE »

The Slingbox crew just released version 1.05 (beta) of Sling Player, the PC desktop client for controlling and watching your video feed. MORE »

You know it’s inevitable… all content across all media will be locked down. ReplayTV is next up as their parent company is licensing encryption technology from Certicom. As Tivo To Go files are encrypted, so too shall ReplayTV’s. The race is on – will the DRM arrive before ReplayTV is sold off like Rio? I’m holding out hope the SlingBox folks will buy up and integrate ReplayTV. Without DRM. MORE »

PC Magazine’s John C. Dvorak blames societal problems on large hard drives and TiVo. Afterall it couldn’t have anything to do with ranting and raving columnists, right? MORE »

Earlier this year Micke Langberg launched Rent my DVR, an online marketplace to buy and sell television programming. By scanning a web listing of television shows, one chooses what they’d like to receive. If a request is filled, the show can be downloaded for about 25 cents through a custom “P2P” application. Conversely, a person can scan open television show requests and agree to provide them. The provider receives payment of also about 25 cents upon delivery of a show. Langberg, based in Sweden, is vague on the technical details such as networking protocols used and the source of guide data. MORE »

PC Magazine reviewed 5 DVR software packages (issue dated 10/04/05) as alternatives to Microsoft’s Windows Media Center Edition (MCE). All were deemed good values and worthy competitors of TiVo… assuming you have an extra computer with decent specs. Meedio Pro earned an Editors’ Choice award and was followed closely by Snapstream’s BeyondTV bundle. Bill Howard preferred Meedio’s level of customization and sound effects over the competitors, while he appreciated SnapStream’s inclusion of the Firefly remote. MORE »

First Macrovision DRM, now this… TiVo has gone the route of most cell phone providers with their updated service agreement. They’ll sell you hardware at a loss, but guarantee themselves service revenue to recoup those expenses. If you cancel service within a year of activating your unit, you’ll be penalized $150. No caveat for multi-TiVo homes has been posted or explained, though TiVo did use the word may in the new policy. MORE »