Next Gen TiVo's to support CableCard

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Next Gen TiVo's to support CableCard

Dave Zatz continues to notice that TiVo's job openings seem to be revealing where the company is headed next. This latest one hints at the CableCard supporting HD Tivo is being developed/produced.

Senior Network Porting Kit Engineer - CBD038
TiVo is seeking a senior software engineer to join the Network Porting Kit team. This team is responsible for providing abstractions and programming interfaces for multiple broadcast networks including satellite, cable, and over-the-air sources. Your code will manage mission-critical data at the heart of the TiVo service: channel and line-up information, program guide data, network-specific tuning, on-screen display of messages, and more. Furthermore, you will gain experience in open standards such as CableCard and proprietary service provider systems.

They announced a CableCard dual-tuner HD TiVo at CES this past January, and personally I can't wait to buy one, so this newest job posting is a good sign of things to come.

by Matt Haughey August 18, 2005 in TiVo

Comments

NICE! I love TiVo.

Posted by: Linda at Aug 18, 2005 4:56:00 PM

I keep hoping for this to be the case (and by extension maybe PC tuner cards with CableCARD slots, but i'm pretty much in dream land there), but if they're hiring for this now, what could possibly be the timeline for implementation?

Dealing with DVR's and HD content has been insantely fustrating ordeal of QAM 256, firewire shennanigans, and OTA UHF rabbit ears and none of it gives me DVR'd DiscoveryHD unless I opt for the cable company's SA HD DVR =(

*sigh* Anyways consider that another vote for a CableCard capable tivo (even if it was unidirectional!)

rampy

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Posted by: joe mama at Aug 18, 2005 5:04:21 PM

They didn't just announce it at CES2005 - they had a *working unit* in the booth. There was the one rotating under glass, but at the other side of the room was one connected to cable and a TV, using CableCard. So they have had a, basic, working implementation for a while.

It sounds like they're expanding their team as development moves along.

Posted by: MegaZone at Aug 18, 2005 6:44:51 PM

Yeah, that's right Megazone, I did see their working prototype in action.

Given that Comcast is pretty much the only place to get a ton of HD content right now, and pretty much everyone I know that has the HD DVR hates it, I bet TiVo sells quite a number of standalone units once they finally release it in the spring.

Posted by: Matt Haughey at Aug 18, 2005 9:21:22 PM

I will be much more impressed when the cable companies support this standard. Right now, the adoption by TiVo is pretty meaningless without it.

Posted by: matt at Aug 19, 2005 5:56:38 AM

It's important to note that the ad isn't looking for CableCARD experience -- they're saying that the candidate will learn about that tech as part of the job.

I'm always leery of reading too much into job postings -- looking for someone with particular experience doesn't imply that you don't already have someone with that experience. You might have a dozen of 'em, but still need more.

Posted by: Dennis at Aug 19, 2005 6:59:57 AM

Hiring someone to implement a product that they announced 8 months ago? Ironic, don't you think?

Posted by: Michael Pate at Aug 19, 2005 9:41:01 AM

Not everyone hates the Comcast HD-DVR :-)

I have two, and after some initial glitches, they have been working fine. TiVo missed the boat on HD recording.

And I'll be able to get a TiVo interface on my Motorola in 2006, now that TiVo has a deal in place with Comcast.

Posted by: Red at Aug 20, 2005 3:11:26 PM

Another opportunity to chime in and remind folks that some of us are quite happy with our Comcast Motorola PVRs (the ones driven by iGuide at least). There are certainly some aspects of Tivo's software that I miss but not nearly enough to keep me on the edge of my seat for a Tivo product release.

Tivo really missed the boat on this given how late in the game it is and they still aren't anywhere near a deliverable.

Posted by: Mike at Aug 22, 2005 1:56:32 PM

Funny, after reading the "TiVo wishlist tip" entry right below this one on the main page, I realize just how much Tivo functionality is out there that I've gotten used to not having.

It'd be nice to get it back if the price was right.

Posted by: Mike at Aug 22, 2005 2:01:30 PM

I have Comcast's HD DVR. I will agree that is works fine but it is in no way user friendly. It's automatic features do not work well at all. If you work with it manually it is fine.

Please let this come out soon from Tivo.

Posted by: Ian at Sep 12, 2005 9:11:55 AM

I've had standard TIVO for some time and recently got an HD TV and Time Warner's Scientific Atlanta HD DVRs. This thing is a real pain in the ars. I would just love to pitch it for a HD TIVO with the cablecard. The first one TW gave me had terrible heat problems because the hard drive sat directly over the power supply. After only a few hours of operation, the hard drive would shut down and I had to disconnect power AND cable to reset it. Now I have a new model that doesn't die nearly as often, but it still resets out of the blue at least once a week. But even besides all the hardware problems, the user interface of TIVO is far superior to what these guys came up with.

If TIVO ever does get their HD Cable card unit released, they should easily take away market share from Time Warner customers. Especially from folks like me who don't care about interactive services.

Posted by: Paul at Oct 14, 2005 11:24:08 AM

Yes, I would buy two units the day they are released..... but TIVO has really screwed this up by not having one released already... they would make sooooo much money, because their interface/software is so superior... but they will lose out if they allow customers who have not used the TIVO interface to adopt TW or Cablevision's DVR.

Those that never used TIVO, will think they are happy with the DVRs offered by cable cos.

TIVO: whomever is in charge should be dumped before they drive TIVO out of business. LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMERS. GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT... "IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME"

Posted by: Innhitman at Oct 16, 2005 10:00:47 AM

I never had a Tivo and I am just getting a new HDTV set.

I would buy Tivo in a second if it had cableCARD support and HDTV capabilties. Until then, not convinced. I think the RCN DVR will do until then...

Posted by: aidlan at Oct 20, 2005 7:14:33 PM

Any update on a release date of the HD Tivo CableCARD?

Posted by: Scott at Nov 21, 2005 1:13:58 PM