Archive for the ‘Television’ Category

Some of you may be wondering if TiVo Suggestions (where the TiVo records, using free space, shows it things you might like), are bought and paid for. The main reason for this is that when there is a movie in theaters, you may get a bunch of related content from a TV show tied to [...]

Looks like my war with CableCARD might be over. CableLabs has gone official in saying that CableCARD no longer has to DRM all recordings made on a PC… even those that have not been copy-protected by the provider.
As I’ve covered in-depth on my blog, again and again, it made absolutely zero sense that TiVo HD [...]

This one really has me ticked. Microsoft has released a Media Center “TV Pack” (similar to a Power Pack or Service Pack). The update/upgrade enables Clear QAM support for Windows Media Center inside of Vista SP1.
This is important because? Well, it means that you can now watch HD programming over cable, without the need for [...]

TiVo is gearing up to push out software version 9.4, and TiVo gave me a sneak peak at the update.
This update does the usual bug-fix-and-such, but there are three main new features. One, you can now use any folder as a play folder (where recordings play back-to-back without stopping). Two, closed captioning gets a few [...]

The latest ads from Nintendo are a perfect example of a bad TV advertisement.
In case you haven’t seen them, they feature pop star women using Nintendo DS with assorted games (Brian Age, Nintendogs, Mario, etc). That’s fine, but the format of the ad is worse than bad… it’s alienating.

Yes, this is pretty much every second [...]

Remember how I was talking about all those teasers about how DVD could add HD back into itself. Well, today, introducing DVD Download DL.
Engadget totally butchered what it was. In fact, they made a blog post which completely didn’t talk about the announcement… just re-hashed the “super upconversion” news which is old.
What is DVD Download DL? [...]

These ads have been on for quite awhile… I actually haven’t blogged on them simply thinking they would go away. Instead, they’ve been “refreshed” with the same cruddy content… but with new people pitching the same, well, crud.
I have nothing against DeVry, or online universities. I actually think that schools which chose to avoid online [...]

Engadget claims Toshiba has no shame, I say Engadget has no brain.
Toshiba today touched on plans to move forward with adding HD into the standard DVD spec, something which I blogged about in-depth previously. Good for them, the more competition, the lower the retail price… the better for consumers.

Today, an odd update appeared for Windows Media Center owners with CableCARDs. Specifically, the ATI Digital Cable Tuner Update which is now available.
Two odd things with this update. One, it claims to be a new update, yet claims to not contain anything new. After updating, users report still being at firmware 1.17. Two, after running [...]

I decided for once to attend a Microsoft Expert Zone Chat. These chats are buried in the old Windows XP area of Microsoft’s site (for some strange reason). They offer a rare chance for Microsoft leadership (engineers, product managers, etc) to chat right with customers. I wanted to get the straight answer on CableCARD’s DRM [...]