TiVo Series 3 And TiVo HD Get Upgrade

Well my HD Tivo friends, it's finally official!!!

A ton of new services for the TiVo Series 3 and TiVo HD customers are now available, and it's stuff that I think you're going to like. Services like the Multi-room Viewing which allows you to transfer shows from one Tivo to another, TiVoToGo that will allow you to transfer programs to your computer. Progressive downloads will also be available, so you can watch TiVoCast content while still downloading. And the best part of all is the eSATA, which will give you up to 600 hours external storage space with a compatible external drive.

Thanks to Gizmodo for this info.

Comcast Tivo In The Wild.

Well you lucky New England bastards!!!

First your football team is kicking all forms of ass, and now you get the first roll out of Comcast Tivo's. Yes New England is the first city to get the highly anticipated Comcast Tivo software roll out to the crappy ass DVR's that most people have had to use. It even comes with the famous peanut Tivo remote that I fell in love with. Of course this will be a premium service that Comcast provides, which means that you'll pay dearly for it. But with the choice of that sucky ass Motorola UI and the beautiful Tivo UI, you won't have a problem coming up with the extra cash.

No word on pricing or when this will be available to the rest of us.

[EngadgetHD]

Comcast TiVo Rollout Is Delayed

The engagement between Comcast and TiVo has been a slow developing relationship that hasn't shown much fruit. And now word comes from TiVo's CEO Tom Rogers that the rollout for TiVo UI on Comcast's crappy ass Motorola DVR is behind schedule.

Really?!

We could not have guessed that one since it's been almost 2 years when they announced that they would be rolling out the UI on top of their current DVR. Which essentially gives you a TiVo without having to buy a TiVo. The UI was scheduled to be out in September, but right now it is being tested by Comcast employees. Rogers says "We're waiting for word any time now that the first non-Comcast employee will begin to get the service,".

Well lets hope so!!!

[Reuters]

Sony's PS3 PlayTV Releases For Europe

Sony has announced that the personal video recorder (PVR) add-on system for the PS3 that was promised earlier, will hit the shores of Europe starting in 2008. The dual HDTV DVB-T tuner setup and the PVR will allow you to record shows on your PS3, and store them in both HD and SD formats. You can also watch them via Remote Play on your PSP, giving you a reason for owning one.

No date for the U.S. but it shouldn't be too far behind.

[SCEE - Image via Joystiq via Gizmodo]

DirecTV's New DVR's Can Ruin Plasma TV's?

If you have one of the newest DVR receivers from DirecTV, the H20 and HR20 models, and a plasma TV, you might want to take one of them back.

According to Gary over at HD Guru, the DVR creates standard def 4:3 channel with vertical black bars, which is a nice look but if you leave it on too long on a plasma TV the bars will start to glow bright (burn in). LCD and DLP sets do not have to worry about this, but it's strange that DirecTV would drop the ball on something like this considering how much interest they've shown toward the HD industry.

Most DVRs have the gray bars and gray letterboxing because gray is the color of average screen wear, why DirecTV didn't follow suit with this is beyond me.

Read more here. [HD Guru via Gizmodo]

PS3 And Tivo Team Up

Earlier this week Sony announced that the PS3 would have the ability to double as a DVR, which is cool, I guess. So in a effort to make good on that promise, Sony and Tivo have signed a deal that would use Tivo software in the PS3. This kinda pisses me off because I've been waiting for Tivo to team up with my cable service, and get this crappy HD-DVR software off the Scientific Atlantic that's haunting my living room.

And I think that the PS3's 60GB and 80GB isn't enough for HD content. I'm thinking that's like 5 shows recorded in HD. And I have to go with Gizmodo's take on the whole thing, "Sony's definitely known for putting everything but great games into the PS3 so far, so why not a DVR?".

Oh well, hit the jump for more. [GameDaily via Gizmodo]

Tivo Series 3 Lite: $299

The one thing that I absolutely love about Tivo is the UI. The HD-DVR that the cable company stuck me with just plain out sucks! If you ever used Tivo you know how easy, user friendly, and just out right smarter than anything out there. But the only problem is that Tivo's Series 3 HD-DVR came out at an insane $799, which priced it's self right out of the market, especially when you could rent a HD-DVR for $10 a month from the cable company (no matter how bad it sucks).

So Tivo decided to lower the price to $499, which was a step in the right direction but still up there. The CEO of Tivo Tom Rogers agreed, and now Tivo's new Series 3 Lite has come out at a more reasonable $299. The TS3L has a 160GB HDD compared to the 250GB from the TS3, and it doesn't have the OLED display or THX certification, and they left out the nifty remote controller.

Sounds fair for the price. No word on the availability, but it should be soon.

Hit the jump for more of the deetz. [ARS Technica via Crunchgear]

$500 HD Tivo: love is in the air!!!

Want to save $360.00 on a new HD Tivo series 3? Well as part of their 'Welcome back' program, Tivo is discounting their top of the line DVR to $500.00. Plus they are throwing in a wireless adapter, all with NO REBATES!!!!!!

I hate rebates.

You have to sign up for one of their service plans, but you were going to do that anyway. If you've only had that 'busted up' cable DVR in your life and have never experienced how much better Tivo is, I highly recommend it.

And if you have a HDTV, that Series 3 will make you think about not going to work.

Product page after the jump.