Doubts about HD TiVo

« DishPlayer DVR 921 | Main | TiVo Buys Super Secret Strangeberry »

Doubts about HD TiVo

GearBits has a good breakdown of why there are doubts about the standalone HD TiVo seeing the light of day.

It echos a lot of things said here by many commenters -- that the nature of cable HD is too difficult to create decoders and recorders for, and the number of people using over-the-air HD is very small, marketingwise. This is all based on guessing how the market is going but given that TiVo has pushed back plans for the non-DirecTV unit to some future date, if you've got HD content coming in from cable or the air, it might be worth checking out the competition for DVRs. [via gizmodo]

by Matt Haughey January 26, 2004 in Op-Ed

Comments

That's a shame. I have HDTV through Comcast, whose selection in San Francsico is pretty good now (NBC, ABC, CBS, Sho, HBO, INHD, and ESPN). I put off looking into DirecTV because I wasn't sure of the logistics involved in hooking it up in my apartment building, as well as not being sure of the reception quality of over-the-air HD broadcasts in my location, but it looks like I may have to get on it now. Having to bypass Tivo to watch HD is painful.

Posted by: frank kolodziej at Jan 26, 2004 9:58:19 AM

They mention it then ignore it - OpenCable - digital cable ready systems. The FCC has mandated the rollout in 2004, and systems are already in the field. With digital cable ready you make *one* piece of hardware with *one* tuner - just like 'cable ready' devices for analog cable. The end user gets an access card from the cable company - much like a decoder card for satellite.

This isn't something off in the distant future - it is *this year*. Partnering is *not* necessary, that's the whole point! I just don't understand their conclusions - the comments left there all pretty much jumped on this point too. I don't think we'll see anything before late 2004, personally, but then the HD market is still growing anyway.

I talked personally with several TiVo reps at CES, and they are keenly aware of the digital cable market and eager to make a play there.

Posted by: MegaZone at Jan 26, 2004 12:49:04 PM

I guess I'll believe an open cable standard will get adopted when I see it actually happen. Don't get me wrong, I sincerely hope it does as it could open the door to dozens of other companies making PVR devices, but since so much of the cable industry's profit is tied to their proprietary deals, I can't see them bending over backwards to support an open standard.

Posted by: Matt Haughey at Jan 26, 2004 1:06:12 PM

It's not a matter of a standard being adopted. If what MegaZone said is true, it's an FCC mandate. Cable providers won't have any choice in the matter.

And my digital cable box already has a slot for a smart card (and I've had that box for at least 2 years). I don't think this is very far off.

Posted by: Scott Johnson at Jan 27, 2004 9:39:53 AM

The HD/Standalone was being displayed at TiVo's booth at CES. This was the same prototype that was displayed in 2003. According to the TiVo person with whom we spoke, TiVo is looking for a manufacturing partner to make and sell the box. Given the competition from cable providers, this may be a tougher sell than the HD DirecTV/TiVo, which obviously has a much larger possible audience.

Posted by: WeaKnees - TiVo at Jan 29, 2004 8:48:03 PM

The DirectTV HD-Tivo is useless for one reason: DirectTV only has 6 HD channels and no concrete plans to add more. Other providers such as VOOM (with 37 HD channels) would be a better diffusion channel for a stand-alone Tivo.

Posted by: Joe HT at May 25, 2004 1:17:48 PM

The HD TIVO unit has to over the air HD tuners to record your local HD programming. By entering in your zip code it determines what local HD channels you have and adjusts your guide accordingly. So you can record HD over the air and whatever HD programming you get from DirecTV (their HD package, NFL Package).

Posted by: FFfreak at Jun 4, 2004 1:32:20 PM

There are some great photos of INSIDE an HD TiVo here:

http://www.robert.to/hdtivo/

Posted by: Inside HT Tivo at Aug 6, 2004 7:38:03 AM