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I just got my hands on this unique piece of video that shows how an alien space ship crashed in Nevada and gave us technology we now call Tivo. Check it out and see what you think. Are we not alone?

TIVO IS ALIENS!!!

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Tivo announced yesterday that it was offering a new service that allows users to share pictures and home videos with Tivo customers.

This is a great way of sharing video or creating your own TV show, in effect. Tivo said that users can set up their own channel on TV and allow people to subscribe to their Season Pass to catch all media that is being shared. Essentially, this is like a personal YouTube (allowing you to host and share media) that you watch on your TV.

Tivo says this eliminates the need for digital frames, which allow people to send digital pictures to frames, like say at your parent’s house. So rather than mailing pictures or home movies via DVD, via snail mail, you can send it via Tivo. It also eliminates the need to use YouTube, or other hosting sites since now videos can be sent directly to TV screens rather than computer screens.

Customers must go to One True Media to create and edit the video or picture album, create a personal Tivo channel then invite Tivo subscribers to watch their media. Media appear as just another channel, just like shows recorded on TV.

“One True Media has given people an exciting and fun way to make mpressive video montages; now we’re offering an ultra simple way for their friends and family to watch them on a big screen — just like they would watch ‘24′ or ‘American Idol,’” said Mark Moore, CEO, One True Media. “We’re thrilled that this relationship allows our users to benefit even more from this compelling new way to share life’s greatest moments.”

One True Media is providing a free trial allowing users to send up to five creations at no cost through April 30, 2007. Otherwise, a subscription to One True Media runs from $3.99/month to $39.99/year.

Overall, I think this is a great service. I wish the photo sharing aspect was more like Flickr or other online photo sites, since Flickr is the coolest one around. I’d hate to start using another service, like One True Media for hosting my pics, when I already use others.

What’s interesting is that the press release calls the videos home movies. But what’s to stop people from uploading recorded TV shows instead and send them to friends that may have missed the latest American Idol show, for example? Or movies that you download through BitTorrent. Of course people can also use it to send private adult movies also, which they’d rather not post on YouTube privately. The unintended uses of this service is when it really gets interesting.

I like the pricing, in that you don’t pay per media clip but rather as a subscription. I haven’t seen it in action yet, but I plan to start using this immediately. Anyone want to start sharing video with me, just contact me at jose@alvear.com.

[Via Press Release]

[tags] One True Media, Tivo, DVR, YouTube, digital video recorder, photo sharing [/tags]

Last week, a federal judge ruled against Cablevision’s  attempt to launch a network digital video recorder, giving a victory to Hollywood. (Read the decision in its entirety here (PDF).)
Network DVRs–sometimes called nDVRs–lets users store TV shows on a cable company’s network rather than on a set-top-box. For some screwey reason, the judge ruled that those recordings would be unauthorized reproductions. Oh really? How do you figure? It’s amazing that the case even went to court!

What’s the difference where the recording is made? Whether it’s at my home or a network from my cable provider.

The studios argued in the Cablevision lawsuit that because the company was doing the recording, not individual customers, their copyrights were being violated.

Cablevision contended that its network technology was comparable to individuals recording shows in their homes because it was planning to dedicate separate storage space for each subscriber. In other words, if 10,000 subscribers decided to record the show “Lost,” 10,000 separate copies would be made in the network, Cablevision said.

The fact that Cablevision was willing to save separate copies of TV shows for every customer shows that they were willing to play fair. They could have said that they were storing all shows together, to save storage space.

A network DVR would save cable companies money since they wouldn’t have to distribute set-top DVRs to customers. It’s a forward-thinking approach, which would have left set-top box makers like Scientific Atlanta and Motorola worried about their revenue streams.

It would be a win for consumers as well. Why buy a stand-alone DVR when you can buy hard drive space on a TV provider’s network? An HD Tivo DVR costs $800, plus monthly fees of about $20 per month. Instead, customers can avoid paying $800 and have one less box under their TV sets.

So what happens if I want to host my own media remotely? Like in a network attached server, where I keep files for streaming or products like Sling or Orb that allow you to view TV shows from anywhere with an Internet connection.

Cablevision said it is thinking about appealing, which I hope they do. This judge’s decision is stuck in the 90s.

Last week, I discussed why network DVRs are the future. Despite some of their negatives, I hope they can survive.

Mike Garcen at MissingRemote writes that he’s been getting lots of e-mails from ReplayTV about their new DVR software offering a “whopping 20% discount”. I’ve been getting them too, but I remember signing up to be on their list. And I haven’t asked to be removed–yet.

Yes, they are getting annoying, but since I follow the industry I figure it’s a small price to pay. And 20% is pretty cheesy.

I was a loyal ReplayTV customer for many years. From about 2000 to 2006, I owned the Panasonic ShowStopper DVR with about 30 hours of recording time. I later upgraded it with a bigger hard drive, which really helped me keep using the Replay for a few more users.

I would always scoff at Tivo users, with their pretty menus and cute sounds. My Replay was lots better, I would say. And in many ways, I still think the menu and user interface design are better than Tivo’s. (Check out my post where I offer suggestion to improve Tivo’s UI.) But I’ve been using Tivo for almost a year now and am used to Tivo’s interface. Some things still annoy me, but not like they used to.

I think it was a mistake for ReplayTV to get out of the hardware business, and switch to PC software only rather than a stand-alone DVR box. And I hope they can survive in the software DVR market, especially with established software like BeyondTV.

Just ran across this fascinating Tivo commercial that’s being hosted at MySpace by one of the actors in the clip.

Thanks to Davis Freeberg for finding this clip!

TIVO COMMERCIAL

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A short post on Consumerist tells a story of someone that bought a used DirecTivo HR 10-250 box from eBay and now DirecTV claims that it is an unreturned box and wants $600 for it. Although the story on Consumerist was confusing, many commenters believed that the box was stolen.

It seems that the original post from a blogger called Tobin clears up some of the mystery. After DirecTV shut down Tobin’s service, he managed to convey his story clearly and got the charge reversed. Even though DirecTV hasn’t sold the HR 10-250 for over a year, they assumed that the DVR was bought from DirecTV and charged him for it.
Lesson here? I don’t know if there is one. Except to be persistent, tell your story and you may prevail.

Another lesson? Be careful about buying DirecTivo’s from eBay, but at least it’s nice to know that you can still use them.

Bonus to Tobin: Nice theme!

The Wall Street Journal posted an article on Friday about DVRs and new features–like programming shows via cell phones and movie downloads from the Internet.

Although the article is mostly a re-hash of current DVR features and some recent news, one interesting tidbit is that Cablevision is looking to do away with a set-top DVR and give subscribers storage space within its network for recording shows.

This would cut costs and make DVRs more invisible and accessible to users. But the WSJ says that Hollywood doesn’t like network DVRs because they violate their copyrights.

How can this be? Does where and how you store content affect the legality? Or is it just another battle between Hollywood content providers and cable/satellite companies?

I don’t know if I would like the networked DVR. I enjoy having complete control of my content on a set-top-box that I own and have in my house. Having my cable company in control seems like they might dictate what I can and cannot do with shows that I record.

And how about using my DVR as a media hub? I like being able to watch Internet content on my TV with Tivo, or watching photos from my networked PCs on my TV. Would I lose this ability with a networked DVR?

Still, I can think of a few good things about a networked DVR:

1. Unlimited Storage Space. Hopefully, my cable company wouldn’t limit how much storage I have. One way to make money from this is to offer consumers tiers of storage space, so those who save lots of TV shows can pay more per month, for example.
2. One Less Box Under the TV. If I didn’t have my set-top DVR, I’d have less clutter and more space for something else. Like a new Xbox 360 or Wii, for example.
3. Not Having to Upgrade to New DVR. Tivo Series 1 users wouldn’t have to upgrade to a Series 2 or 3. They can just upgrade to the next tier. The same thing should be possible when you upgrade to HD and don’t want to spend $800 on a Tivo Series 3.
4. Backups of DVR Content. I’d hate to lose shows that I’ve been saving for weeks or months. Having them stored off site would be great in case my DVR suddenly conks out and loses all my shows.
5. Not Buying Multiple DVRs for Every Room. This can save consumers lots of money if they don’t have to buy a separate DVR for every room. Renting an extra set-top box, for example, is much better than buying another HD DVR.

Even with a networked DVR, I’d still like to download shows to my home computer, and save them on DVDs. Perhaps the cable company will be forced by Hollywood to charge a fee for users that do this. If the fee was affordable enough, like a few dollars per show, I wouldn’t mind.

So what do you think? Are network DVRs the future? What are the plusses and minuses? Will Tivo remain viable if cable and satellite companies turn to network DVRs instead?

Bloggers are spreading rumors that Apple may be acquiring Miglia, makers of TV Max+ and other products that allow customers to view TV on Macs. This would give the soon to be released Apple TV product recording ability.

The rumor spread because last week, Elgato pulled its license for its EyeTV product from Miglia. And Apple removed all Miglia products from the Apple Store.

Miglia allows Macs to record TV in MPEG-4 formats, including H.264 and DivX formats. It also has RCA, coaxial, and S-video inputs for video capture. Combine these products with the USB port on Apple TV and viola! Instant DVR capability. Unless you forget about Apple TV’s paltry 40 GB storage space which would barely be able to hold a week’s work of American Idol shows in HD.

Bloggers are also speculating that Apple can use Miglia to enable recording through iTunes, as well as Apple TV.

Nevertheless rumors are rumors. And people are saying that Miglia is chatting with Apple in a “friendly way”.

Since Apple never pre-announces products or news, (unless you count this) guess we’ll have to wait and see.

[tags] Apple, Apple TV, DVR, PVR, Miglia, EyeTV, Elgato, digital video recorder [/tags]

About.com’s DVR section has a good list of the top 10 DVRs. Although I’ve owned a ReplayTV and a Tivo, there are some interesting devices on the list (like number 9 and 3) that combine a DVR and DVD recorder into one device. That’d be great for saving shows and movies onto DVDs and making more room on the DVR.  I currently have a separate DVD recorder (which isn’t working well) that I use.

Here’s the list, but go to the website for more details about each one.

1. TiVo Series2 Dual Tuner Digital Video Recorder ( DVR )
2. Hughes HR10-250 DIRECTV HD DVR w/ TiVo
3. Toshiba RS-TX60 DVR/DVD Recorder with built-in TiVo
4. Humax DRT800
5. Sony High-Definition Digital Video Recorder DHG-HDD500
6. Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300HD Digital Video Recorder
7. Dish Network ViP622 DVR
8. Motorola DCT6412 Digital Video Recorder for Cable Subscribers
9. Pioneer Elite DVR-57H DVD Recorder w/Tivo
10. ReplayTV 5500 Series Digital Video Recorder ( DVR )

[tags] DVR, Tivo, Humax, PVR, digital video recorder, ReplayTV [/tags]

The folks over at DVR Playground have an article comparing MythTV with Tivo Series 3 HD DVR. Can an open source product like MythTV compare well with Tivo, a professional product?

The author compares remote controls, the user interface, software and the ability to record in HD.

So what’s the verdict?

Basically a consumer has to get the product that works best in their environment so if you use CableCARDs to pull down your HD content, MythTV is not an option as your main DVR. With that said if you are concerned about the monthly and up-front costs of the Series 3 and watch OTA HD content, MythTV provides a wonderful and themeable menu system with additional features that you will never find on a TiVo.