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Here’s the return of the DVR Bulletin clip of the week.

A classic clip from Nick Cannon’s Short Circuitz show on MTV.

Western Digital unveiled external hard drives that can be hooked up to Tivo’s Series 3 DVRs and Tivo HD. Its “My DVR Expander” was launched in June 2007 for the Scientific Atlanta 8300 series of HD DVRs for $200 and they are now available for Tivos. The product was Tivo verified and is even on sale on Tivo’s web site.

The 500GB model provides 300 additional hours of SD content or up to 60 hours of HD.

I have a Tivo Series 2, so this isn’t available for me. That’s ok, since this is really for hard-core users that want more space for their HD content. Although 60 hours of HD content still doesn’t seem like enough space for a TV junkie like me.

[Via Gizmodo, TivoLovers]

[tags] Western Digital, Tivo, HD DVR, DVR, HD [/tags]

According to TV ratings company Nielsen, the number of homes with DVRs more than doubled from last year. The survey also found that the number of households with digital video recorders is now 20.5%, according to Nielsen’s National People Meter sample of U.S. households.

In May 2007, the number was at 17.2%, so it’s come a long way in just a few months. When Nielsen first started measuring DVR usage in January 2006, DVR penetration was about 8% of households.

In August 2007, research company The Leichtman Group estimated that DVR usage was at 20%.  Shortly after that research news was published, IBM released its own commissioned study that found DVR usage was at–wait for it–24%.

So Nielsen says 20.5%, Leichtman says 20%, IBM says 24%. It’s all pretty close to me. It’s great to have multiple studies and companies come up with numbers that are similar. I like Nielsen’s since it measures actual usage from a panel of actual TV viewers.

Anyway, looks like DVR usage is definitely picking up, but I wonder if it will slow down since there are more options today. For example, I can still watch the latest episodes of Heroes even if my DVR doesn’t record an episode because of conflicts. I can watch it live on TV, with my DVR, via NBC.com, downloading it illegally on BitTorrent, or through NetFlix’s Watch Instantly service. Plus season one of Heroes is still available on iTunes. And Season two should be up on Hulu, whenever that launches.

So as we get more choices for watching TV, people may find that they don’t need DVRs as much as they used to.  As much as I enjoy my DVR, I’m definitely watching TV using these alternate methods.

SanDisk announced a USB product that bridges the distance between a PC and TVs allowing viewers to transfer files from the computer to the device and into a cradle connected to the TV.

The TakeTV Video Player, is meant to make it easy to transfer TV shows and movies from PC to TVs but adds yet another equipment residing next to the TV. I guess until TV sets come with USB ports, we’ll need to have a device like this. The device is available in 4GB ($99) and 8GB ($149) versions.

I’m not convinced that this is the best way to get content to your TV, but it might prove to be quick and a good low-cost way. The alternative is to a) run a wire from your PC to TV b) burn a DVD and play it on your TV or c) use a media center extender like NetGear or even Apple TV.

With the SanDisk method, you can get decent content (without going through BitTorrent) and a somewhat easy way to bridge the famous “ten-foot” gap between the PC and TV.

The bad news? You can’t take protected content, like stuff from iTunes or Amazon Unbox.

SanDisk also unveiled Fanfare, a new online video service where users can download TV shows and movies.  Content partners include CBS, Showtime Networks, Smithsonian Networks, The Weather Channel and Jaman.com. Fanfare content will also be downloadable to mobile phones, handheld computers and TVs.

[Via Forbes,  SF Chronicle and others]

[tags] SanDisk, FanFare, TakeTV, PC-to-TV [/tags]

PC World’s Stephen Manes talks about one annoyance: his Comcast DVR that updated its own software one day.

“One day the device worked one way–a way I’d come to know and understand, even when it didn’t work entirely right. The next day, caramba! It had a whole new user interface that was significantly worse than the one I had grown accustomed to. The device? The DVR I lease from Comcast. I’m just glad the company doesn’t make cars.”

Apparently where he lives (Seattle, Washington) his DVR used Microsoft’s middleware with its “usual collection of bugs”. The replacement, called GuideWorks, has its own quirks. For example:

“Here’s how utterly lame the box is: As delivered, it won’t let you change channels by using the number keys to tune single- and double-digit channels directly, without pressing one or two zeros first–you know, the way you can on practically every other TV remote in the world. That default is so stupid that Comcast included a last-minute folder largely devoted to explaining how to fix it. All you have to do is go several menu levels deep, find an entry called ‘Channel Entry Behavior’, and change it to ‘Auto-Tune’. Hey, Comcast, here’s a better idea: Push software to the box that changes the default to the one people expect!”

Um, yes that’s totally lame. I wonder how many other people have experienced this with the new Comcast GuideWorks software? If you have anything to share, please add your comment here.

MultiChannel News says that about 16% of U.S. households that use the Internet watch TV shows online, according to a report by The Conference Board and TNS. The primary reason: “personal convenience”.

Surprisingly, over a third of those surveyed said that they watch TV shows over the Internet to avoid commercials. Watching TV online means going to the website, possibly downloading a player, then sitting in front of a computer. And after all that, many networks do show commercials on the Internet although fewer than on TV.

That’s a lot to go through just to skip commercials. Haven’t these people heard of DVRs?

Other reasons why they watch online include “portability and a preference for computer viewing.” Preference for computer viewing? I find that an odd finding. The accepted notion is that people prefer to watch TV shows on their TV sets: lean back viewing. Whereas computers are lean forward. Does this finding mean that consumer attitudes are changing?

The main reason I watch TV shows online is catch up with shows that I’ve missed. I find it easier to find re-runs on the Internet rather than wait for it to broadcast again. I guess reruns are becoming less relevant now that viewers can instantly go to ABC.com, for example, and watch the first few shows of Season 2 of “Ugly Betty”.

Of course this has implications for advertisers.

“Over the next few years, the growing popularity of viewing TV episodes/shows online is going to have a huge impact on the way brands and advertisers communicate with viewers,” TNS executive vice president of technology, telecommunications and media Shari Morwood said in a statement. “If advertisers can effectively leverage the online video platform, we should see much more interactivity and emotional connections between brands and he online TV viewing audience.”

[tags] DVR, ABC, Ugly Betty, research, network, Hollywood, TV [/tags]

So you want to watch HD programming but you don’t want to pay over $1,000 to buy an expensive HD TV set? Well, there’s another option: your laptop.

Pinnacle has a USB device that comes with an HD tuner and DVR software so that you can catch over-the-air HD programming on your computer. Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick ($99) comes with a full remote control, the ability to watch SD and HD programming, an A/V adapter for analog video capture and support for Windows Media Center. The cheaper non-Pro Stick version ($79) doesn’t come with the A/V adapter or remote control.

Now, ReplayTV has a similar device going on sale in November 2007 for $99. Last month, ReplayTV said it was releasing its “Personal HD” solution, a USB device with a multi-tuner and ReplayTV software.

I have a soft spot for ReplayTV since it was the first DVR I ever used. And I owned for for over 5 years. But about a year ago, I decided to upgrade to a Tivo because a) I wanted newer technology and more importantly b) I wanted to use my home network rather than have a home telephone line to get my DVR updates. My Panasonic ReplayTV ShowStopper didn’t support Ethernet and I no longer had a home phone.

Anyway, now ReplayTV is making hardware again (a USB device) even though it announced a few years ago it was no longer making hardware and making DVR software only.

ReplayTV is touting the ability to encode video into portable devices, like iPods, as well as the ability to stream shows over the Apple TV. But the Pinnacle Pro Stick encodes to iPods too.

ReplayTV’s solution comes with “one year of ReplayTV Electronic Program Guide service” which turns into $19.95 per year. Pinnacle also charges recurring fees after one free year of the electronic program guide, but it doesn’t list the price on their website.

The one bright spot for ReplayTV is the multiple-tuner support, but that will only work if additional tuners are installed. But out of the box, it doesn’t come with an additional tuner. ReplayTV says it works with tuners from companies like Hauppauge, ATI, and Pinnacle, however.

Overall, this an interesting trend. Portable HD DVRs on your laptop. It’s not quite a replacement of your TV and set-top DVR. But it can eliminate the need to buy a Slingbox if you’re just looking for a laptop solution.

The real competition will come with the DVR software. I’d give the edge to ReplayTV, since they’ve been doing this a lot longer than Pinnacle–but I haven’t actually played with either of these products. It’s just a gut instinct. An easy-to-use interface, good searching ability and managing your recorded shows can really make a difference to some users. Just look at how users love their Tivos primarily for its user interface.

But how big is this market? It seems very niche. Will end users really flock to these USB HD sticks? The price is good but the real downside is not getting all the cable HD channels if you’re just using the over-the-air HD signals. But adding a cable connector to your laptop really ties it down. There’s nothing as huge and bulky as a coaxial cable hanging from your laptop.

[Via ReplayTV press release]

[tags] ReplayTV, Tivo, USB HD [/tags]

Over at CNet’s The Social blog, writer Caroline McCarthy was on the scene at a party thrown by Tivo and RealNetworks to announce their partnership to introduce Rhapsody on Tivo DVRs. The party, held in Manhattan’s trend Arena nightclub featured:

• A person dressed up in a Tivo logo costume.
• Drinks called “HD Crystal Clear Cosmo” and “Rhaps-a-Tinis”
• TiVo president and CEO Tom Rogers
• RealNetworks Chairman and CEO Rob Glaser
• Gizmodo’s Richard Blakeley
• The Silicon Alley Insider’s Peter Kafka
• “Camera-toting” CrunchGear blogger Nicholas Deleon “who thought the Rhaps-a-tinis were gross.”
• A live performance by Fountains of Wayne
• All hosted by The Bachelor host Chris Harrison.

Pretty crazy, huh? You’ve got to check out the picture on The Social, too.[tags] TiVo, RealNetworks, Rhapsody, music, DVR [/tags]

Robert Scoble says that the NewTeeVee conference is “lacking substance” since they ignore some popular Internet video like Rocketboom, BitTorrent or applications like Facebook video.

Om Malik’s GigaOm network and new site, NewTeeVee, put together a conference on next-gen TV.

But Scoble wrote up a great list of 40 reasons why he thinks the conference isn’t worth the $500 fee. For example, he mentions that there’s nothing on the “Best practices of old on new.”

The best example of oldTV coming to newTV is what ABC.com is doing. Ever watch Lost over there? I have and it’s the best stuff out there. They are using technology from Move Networks. That stuff blows away Joost. To me THAT is “new TV.”

I wonder if Om Malik and the NewTeeVee people will listen to this criticism and make any changes to their panels and speakers.