Tivo Archive

  • TiVo Responds To Court’s Decision To Revisit Patent Case As Stock Plummets

    TiVo Responds To Court’s Decision To Revisit Patent Case As Stock Plummets

    TiVo is having a very rough morning. A federal appeals court stated today that it will revisit a digital-video recorder patent dispute between TiVo and both Dish Network and EchoStar. TiVo has sued the companies back in 2004 over its patented DVR technology back when the two were still a single company. They won the suit, but the court has now decided to reconsider its verdict, which is a bit of a cold shower for the company. Today's decision pushed TiVo shares down as much as 36 percent.

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  • Study: TiVo, other DVRs don’t negatively affect TV advertising

    Study: TiVo, other DVRs don’t negatively affect TV advertising

    Reasonably interesting study coming out of Duke University that says that digital video recorders (TiVo and the like) do not negatively affect television advertising at all. That flies in the face of conventional wisdom, wisdom that says TiVo and its ilk have destroyed the TV business forever. Well, that's just not the case.

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  • Let’s welcome Palm to the land of the living dead

    Let’s welcome Palm to the land of the living dead

    I’ve been bearish on Palm as a standalone platform since they launched last May and today the sadness-tinged chickens have come home to roost: Palm is now part of HP and, like the iPaq before it, the Pre and Pixi will slowly be subsumed into the company’s line-up. In fact, I couldn’t be happier for Palm. [...]

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  • Stargate Universe episode 113 Faith Trailer [update]

    Stargate Universe episode 113 Faith Trailer [update]

    Tonight’s Stargate Universe episode – Faith – seems like it might be a classic Stargate episode. The team finds a random Earth-like planet that’s seemingly normal. But there has to be something wrong with it. Either it’s all a dream some sort of simulation controlled by an aliening being. Either way, a redshirt crew [...]

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  • WeaKnees now selling a 2TB and 4TB TiVo Premiere

    WeaKnees now selling a 2TB and 4TB TiVo Premiere

    Just in case the 1TB drive in the TiVo Premiere isn't big enough for you, WeaKnees is now selling two upgraded models with a bit more storage capacity. The TiVo authorized reseller has a 2TB and 4TB Premiere available for $849 and $149, respectively. That's a lot of recording storage, boys and girls, and currently the only way to get a larger drive in the Premiere.

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  • The Logitech Harmony 300 doesn’t have a screen but it’s still a Harmony remote

    The Logitech Harmony 300 doesn’t have a screen but it’s still a Harmony remote

    The Logitech Harmony 300 might be the last Harmony remote released for a while. It seems the Logitech has refreshed nearly the entire line with the 300 being the latest. It doesn't offer anything new per se, but rather a simple universal remote with the Harmony magic sans LCD screen. This configuration might be kosher for some setups, but be careful if you have anything more than a cable box, TV, and DVD player.

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  • Stargate Universe Season 1.5 Blu-ray is announced

    Stargate Universe Season 1.5 Blu-ray is announced

    The second half of SGU's first season starts this Friday. We already know it should be a good one thanks to the MGM teaser showing off that ugly baddie. But some crazy fans might hold off until June 13 when the Blu-ray is released sans all the commericals and probably with high-quality picture and sound. But that's not me.

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  • First look: InFocus SP8602 home theater projector

    First look: InFocus SP8602 home theater projector

    The InFocus SP8602 is a big, bad home theater projector. It’s hanging from my ceiling, hooked up to a Harmon Kardon Blu-ray player and a TiVo HD. Needless to say, life is good at the Burns homestead. Click through for my initial impressions of this $5,000 1080p projector. Pros Great color saturation Good – but not great – [...]

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  • TiVo will be offered by Virgin Media in UK later this year

    TiVo will be offered by Virgin Media in UK later this year

    One of the three points I laid out as TiVo's keys to survival was to partner with more content providers. And just like that, Virigin Media announced it will be offering TiVo set-top boxes to its 3.8 million subscribers sometime this year. This move, along with the Conax partnership, makes TiVo a major player in the European DVR market. See, I told you the company didn't deserve the deathwatch label.

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  • That TiVo Series 3 on Woot isn’t a bad deal

    That TiVo Series 3 on Woot isn’t a bad deal

    The TiVo Premiere will be here real soon so it isn't much of a surprise to see a Series 3 on Woot. You might want to consider it, too. The Series 3 might be old, but it's still a great DVR. It even has a few advantages over the TiVoHD line and upcoming Series4.

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  • HP MediaSmart Windows Home Servers gets a TiVo companion app

    HP MediaSmart Windows Home Servers gets a TiVo companion app

    HP keeps the fun rolling with its MediaSmart Windows Home Servers. It's called the HP MediaSmart Expander for TiVo, but don't let the name fool you, it doesn't directly increase your TiVo's storage. The app, however, still has some nice features and might be a worthy replacement for the TiVo Desktop program.

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  • What TiVo needs to do to make the Wall Street boys happy (and survive)

    What TiVo needs to do to make the Wall Street boys happy (and survive)

    TiVo can't catch a break. The company just rolled out its next-gen platform and then finally ended a long court battle with Dish Network, causing its stock to surge to new heights. This all happened within the last two weeks. But then last night the company announced its sad Q4 2009 financials. You already know the problem. TiVo is having a real tough time signing up new customers and retaining current ones as content providers keep pushing their low-price DVR options. The company only managed to net 46k new subscriptions in the last months of 2009, bringing the total headcount to roughly 2.6 million. That's down from the 4.36 million subs TiVo had in January 2006. TiVo ended up losing $10.2 million during the fourth quarter even though revenue improved 16% to $68.5 million. It's sort of sad, actually. DVRs have lost their magic the last 10 years as cable companies offer cheap alternatives with smaller feature sets and none of the trademark TiVo charm. But TiVo can't die yet. I'm not ready to live in a TiVo-less world. The company must work on these three items in order to survive the next decade.

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  • TiVo is headed overseas to millions of potential customers

    TiVo is headed overseas to millions of potential customers

    TiVo has long been limited to just a few countries, but that's set to change thanks to a new agreement between the DVR company and Conax, a Norwegian content security supplier. The deal has the potential to reach over 100 million potential TiVo customers, spanning 80 countries. This could be big.

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  • TiVo’s CEO goes on Fox Business to talk about the new Premiere

    TiVo’s CEO goes on Fox Business to talk about the new Premiere

    Watch the latest business video at video.foxbusiness.com In case you missed it, TiVo launched new products last night, the TiVo Premiere. The big news isn’t the hardware, it’s the software that’s dramatically different than the previous versions and the CEO went on to Fox Business to explain it to the talking heads. Oh and he said [...]

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  • How TiVo missed the mark with the new Premiere

    How TiVo missed the mark with the new Premiere

    Excuse me while I let off a little steam. I was a tad hasty in my proclamation yesterday that the TiVo Premiere changes everything. It doesn’t. In fact, it doesn’t change anything. It’s a big pile of disappointment and missed opportunity. TiVo doesn’t release hardware that often so when it does, it better be good. Tivos have a ridiculously [...]

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