New software turns PC into TiVo TV recorder

[Tilpots]

from CNN/Money

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - TiVo Inc. and Nero AG of Germany were set to announce Monday that they will be launching a package that turns a Windows PC into a TV recorder, just like a TiVo set-top box.

Apple...What's the hold up for DVR? Everybody's doing it...

 

[JonHimself]

from CNN/Money




Apple...What's the hold up for DVR? Everybody's doing it...

Why buy the cow when the milk is free? ... or something like that.

 

[mkrishnan]

Apple...What's the hold up for DVR? Everybody's doing it...

I'd probably consider such a device if Apple had DVR capabilities, although there is the open question of how the thing would decode HD cable to begin with -- there isn't really a standard in place for that today, is there? There's CableCard, but isn't that essentially defunct? And there's somewhat less point in DVR capacity in my Apple TV if it's just plugging into my other DVR from the cable company anyways....

I will say also though that good software is crucial in DVRing... The software from ReplayTV (which I previously had before I got HD) and TiVo is so much better than a lot of what's out there from ... *cough* that awful Motorola that Comcast provides me with. I mean the Motorola can do On Demand and has a bigger hard drive and does HD, so it earns its keep, but just getting it to start recording a new series is a royal PITA. I missed the first episode of House because some stupid setting wasn't right. But anyways, if TiVo is making software that runs on a PC, I'd take it seriously, but honestly, most of the software that exists today to turn computers into DVRs sucks.

 

[Tilpots]

I'd probably consider such a device if Apple had DVR capabilities, although there is the open question of how the thing would decode HD cable to begin with -- there isn't really a standard in place for that today, is there? There's CableCard, but isn't that essentially defunct? And there's somewhat less point in DVR capacity in my Apple TV if it's just plugging into my other DVR from the cable company anyways....

From CNET's article

So, what are the potential drawbacks? If Liquid TV is like other TiVo products, content providers or broadcasters could use program "flags" to make it impossible for certain shows to be transferred to DVD or portable (or recorded at all). But the bigger problem could be the HD issue for anyone not using an over-the-air antenna source. If you want to record a program from your cable or satellite box--for something not over-the-air like HBO, Showtime, Comedy Central, USA, ESPN--most PCs only allow standard-definition video capture (composite or S-Video). To get HD quality, there are only two possibilities: capturing the HD video output stream from the external cable/satellite box, or getting a PC with internal CableCard support. Unfortunately, peripherals and PCs with hardware support for either solution remain rare.

I think the main goal of an Apple DVR would be that you could cancel cable, freeing up cash to spend money at the iTunes store to watch anything that's not free OTA and to rent/buy movies. I know there's still a big question mark about live TV; like sports, news and weather, but services like ESPN 360 and CNN's live stream could fill in nicely.

I will say also though that good software is crucial in DVRing... The software from ReplayTV (which I previously had before I got HD) and TiVo is so much better than a lot of what's out there from ... *cough* that awful Motorola that Comcast provides me with. I mean the Motorola can do On Demand and has a bigger hard drive and does HD, so it earns its keep, but just getting it to start recording a new series is a royal PITA. I missed the first episode of House because some stupid setting wasn't right. But anyways, if TiVo is making software that runs on a PC, I'd take it seriously, but honestly, most of the software that exists today to turn computers into DVRs sucks.

TiVo is the software behind this release. As for Apple, I would think they would handle it in house, creating the hardware and software to work seamlessly. My Scientific Atlanta HD box from Time Warner cable is awful. It's hard to navigate, crashes all the time, and sometimes randomly doesn't record shows.

I want to ditch cable, but I want an Apple device before I make the move. The current TV just doesn't cut it for me, with DVR being the main thing holding me back. 1080p and a physical media drive would make it a no-brainer, and if it could surf the web, I'd be an idiot to pay Time Warner another red cent for cable.

 

[CyberBob859]

I don't understand its pricing

This is an interesting concept, but the pricing is suspect to me.

You have to pay $200 (if you don't have the TV tuner hardware to begin with and $100 if you do.) But since there is no cablecard support, you're only dealing with analog cable.

You're still paying for the TiVo service. And all of this before you consider the cost of a PC. (Great if you have one already, but does it have the system requirements and hard drive capacity to run this smoothly, or do you have more upgrades even further?)

If you're going to do all of this for analog recordings, why not just get a Dual Tuner TiVo and use TiVo to Go or Toast on a Mac to transfer recordings if you want to burn to disk or transfer to an iPod?

If they ever do this for a Mac, I would want to see a highly integrated product with iTunes and/or Apple TV to make it worthwhile to spend the extra money.

 

[jaw04005]

It might not be such a bad deal until you get to the part of about paying a yearly fee to TiVo, when most other DVR software requires no such fee.

I guess a one-time payment and likely built-in advertising is not enough for the uber-awesome TiVo software.