Support NeoGAF

[tedtropy]

Via the imdb.com newswire...

In a staggering blow to TiVo, DirecTV, which had been the digital recorder manufacturer's biggest customer, said on Thursday that it would begin offering its own video recorders to customers later this year, the New York Times reported today (Friday). Currently two thirds of TiVo's devices are installed in DirecTV households. "We will still support our TiVo service, but our core marketing and sales efforts will be with our new DVR," Bob Marsocci, a DirecTV spokesman, told the Times. The new DirecTV recorder will be manufactured by British-based NDS, which is owned by News Corp, which, in turn, owns a 34-percent controlling stake in DirecTV. The new recorder will also download movies from the DirecTV satellite and store them on its hard drive, thereby making them available to subscribers on demand. Customers will pay for them only if they watch them.

 

[Deg]

Newscorp need to introduce HD here in the UK faster.

 

[Stuggernaut]

Well they better do it right...and it better have :

- More storage than the Tivo boxes have.
- Same or better recording options (Season pass for example).
- Same or NO monthly fee for the service.

I paid $50 for my tivo after rebates and I pay $4.95 a month for the service. No complaints and no regrets.

DirectTV will have to get me to switch on price, or features.

I'm sure there will be some nice incentives for existing customers to switch though.

 

[mrklaw]

Well they better do it right...and it better have :

- More storage than the Tivo boxes have.
- Same or better recording options (Season pass for example).
- Same or NO monthly fee for the service.

I paid $50 for my tivo after rebates and I pay $4.95 a month for the service. No complaints and no regrets.

DirectTV will have to get me to switch on price, or features.

I'm sure there will be some nice incentives for existing customers to switch though.

It won't have. Going on Sky+, which is News corps HDD box for Sky TV over here, it has basic 'series link' functionality which relies on individual stations setting up the metadata correctly, and it doesn't carry across seasons (i.e. you can record all of some seasons, but you'll need to set it up again when the next season rolls around)

Some good stuff though, like twin tuners, and being able to record PPV and only paying if you watch it.

But I've never seen anything with an interface as good as Tivos. Its annoying that they almost got it perfect first time, and all the other mega corporations can't even get close to the same experience.

 

[Stuggernaut]

Well if the service and features are not even close, then why would anyone switch if they will still support Tivo?

They have to beat Tivo in some way otherwise why bother trying?

- Bigger box
- Better price
- Better features

If not one or all of those, then hopefully cable prices come down

 

[DarienA]

There seems to be a bit of confusion in this thread... so lets go to a news article:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1748954,00.asp

DirecTV rolled out its own home-grown DVR strategy, with products due to debut in mid-2005. The DirecTV DVR will initially support SD video only, and will save up to 100 hours of TV. The DVR is also part of a new interactive DirecTV push that will offer video on demand, and other services. The DIRECTV DVR will compete head on with TiVo-based DirecTV branded DVRs. The company will continue to offer both "for the foreseeable future", claimed a rep at the company's booth.

DirecTV's unit will add features not found in its current TiVo offering, including:

* A 90 minute live-TV buffer, compared to 30 in the TiVo unit.
* Viewmarks, which let users place bookmarks inside a show, and then jump directly to them later for viewing favorite scenes.
* On-screen caller ID
* Support for DirecTV's interactive channels, like Mix, Sunday Ticket and Active.
* A new guide that allows users to keep watching the current channel while surfing through other services.

Although the software isn't done, company reps insisted it would offer everything TiVo now does and more. The company was not ready to discuss pricing, except to say that it would not cost more than the equivalent TiVo box.

Even though the company's first DVR will not record HD programming, the back of the unit had component outputs, along with two traditional composite connectons.

But an HD DVR is in DirecTV's future. The company also rolled out a networked home strategy that puts an HD DVR at the center of an Ethernet video distribution system.

The Home Media Center will feature a 320 gigabyte hard drive, four DirecTV tuners and two ATSC tuners for over the air HDTV. It will be an MPEG4 box only – the company is transitioning from MPEG2 over the next year. MPEG delivers four times more HD video per gigabyte, which means 100 hours or more of HD programming can be saved for later viewing.

New remote units, essentially video decoders in a box, will connect up to the main unit via Ethernet. Wireless is a possibility, according to an engineer I spoke with, but for now it's a wired solution only. The remote units will play SD video only, streamed from the main box. In essence the box will support one HD set, and multiple SD sets around the house.

Pricing and other details have not been set. And although the company is considering building HD remote receivers as well, those will not be available at launch.

Overall, DirecTV is following the lead of Dish Network and the cable companies, by building and selling its own DVRs. And although TiVo products will continue to be offered for the foreseeable future, the move to MPEG4—due to be completed in 2007—could signal a TiVo-less future for the popular satellite hardware company.

 

[Stuggernaut]

^^^

Now that's what I'm talking about!

Sounds great. Lets hope the price is good.

I'd get it for that 90min buffer alone

 

[Miguel]

^^^

Now that's what I'm talking about!

Sounds great. Lets hope the price is good.

I'd get it for that 90min buffer alone

Tivo only has 30 minutes? That's a crock of crap.

I had Dish network a few weeks and the DVR on it had a 2 hour buffer. I fell asleep during a movie once and woke up right before the end and went all the way to the beginning.

 

[Mashing]

Umm, TiVo has a 90 minute buffer... nice of them to lie out of their ass like that.

Edit: Actually I think it may be 2 hours

 

[Late Stage Marxist]

 

[GDJustin]

Umm, TiVo has a 90 minute buffer... nice of them to lie out of their ass like that.

Edit: Actually I think it may be 2 hours

Tivo's buffer is 30 minutes.

 

[DarienA]

Umm, TiVo has a 90 minute buffer... nice of them to lie out of their ass like that.

Edit: Actually I think it may be 2 hours

Tivo's live TV Buffer is 30 min, I know because I ran in to it yesterday while watching a movie with the missus. Kept wondering why the movie wouldn't stay paused, then looked at the time... ah 30 min.

 

[mrklaw]

Tivos live buffer is 30 minutes unless you use backdoor codes to give you as much as you like.

But that DirecTV one does look nice

 

[DarienA]

Tivos live buffer is 30 minutes unless you use backdoor codes to give you as much as you like.

But that DirecTV one does look nice

You aren't tooking codes via the remote are you? I thought the only way to change the buffer was to hack the Tv running a script, etc....

 

[Wario64]

Tivos live buffer is 30 minutes unless you use backdoor codes to give you as much as you like.

But that DirecTV one does look nice

wait, say what?

 

[Stuggernaut]

Yes the buffer is 30 minutes. I know because I have one

Granted maybe a high end box has a different buffer, but I doubt it

I would like to know of these "Back door codes" though...

 

[demi]

DirectTV is also giving Trio the axe...



...and SPACED was gonna play on it the 29th and 30th!


Hate.

 

[mrklaw]

sorry, might be a hack only thing...

check out dealdatabase.com for Tivo hacks and backdoors.

 

[tedtropy]

DirectTV is also giving Trio the axe...



...and SPACED was gonna play on it the 29th and 30th!


Hate.

Yeah, I was pissed about that one myself. They have some pretty interesting documentaries on now and then. In fact, I was watching a program on the channel the very day before it was canned. Turned my receiver on the following morning, lo and behold my TV pops up with a screen telling me Trio's been shitcanned. Thanks DirecTV, at least we get to keep riveting content like G4TechTvIsTheRoxorLeetLOL.