Today is a company holiday for TiVo. Seven years ago today, in 1999, TiVo shipped their first Series1 units. Since then the last Friday of each March is “Blue Moon” at TiVo.

So Happy Anniversary to TiVo! It has been a great seven years, and I look forward to what the future will bring.

Blue Moon…
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Japanese electronics maker Toshiba on Friday started rolling out its high-definition DVD players in Japan, becoming the first company to offer next-generation optical disc players worldwide.

PRNewswire…
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TiVo’s shares are poised to move significantly once a Texas jury decides whether satellite television provider EchoStar Communications infringed on TiVo’s patents for digital video recorders, analysts said Tuesday.

Panasonic said Tuesday that it will start selling a Blu-ray high-definition disc player in September for under $1,500 and expects up to 5 million of these new DVD players to be sold industry wide in their first year.

Inspired by a thread on TiVoCommunity.com…
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ZatzNotFunny posted earlier today about new TiVo models being listed on Amazon.com the TiVo Series2 80 Hour Digital Video Recorder (TCD649080) and TiVo Series2 180 Hour Digital Video Recorder (TCD649180). MSRP is $249 and $349, respectively, though the only stores are selling at a discount. Here’s what the Amazon product description has to say:

* Does not support recording from two digital cable or satellite channels at once
* Record shows from two basic cable channels, or one basic cable and one digital cable channel, at once.
* Up to 80 hours recording capacity
* Includes Ethernet and USB ports, so connecting to your home network is a snap

The world’s first, best, and easiest-to-use digital video recorder just got better. Now, record two shows at once

So the big feature changes are built-in Ethernet and dual analog cable tuners. It sounds like an asymmetric design, dual internal tuners, but one external input - so it can support a cable or satellite box like the current Series2. Since most digital cable systems are actually a mix - analog up to 100, digital over 100, that would actually work decently for digital cable users. There is no mention of antenna. That could simply be just something not mentioned in the description, or it could mean no antenna support. Since the FCC is mandating that all systems sold with an NTSC tuner must also have an ATSC tuner by March, 2007, I’ve suggested in the past that TiVo could simply drop NTSC from the ‘lower end’ boxes, leaving the Series3 for that market with NTSC/ATSC.

These units are also listed at Buy.com (80) and 180, Merchant America, Chumbo.com, and beeGool.com.

There hasn’t been an official announcement yet, not that I’ve seen, but the timing is appropriate. The last Friday of each March is a TiVo company holiday. Back in 1999 the original TiVo had a March shipping deadline, and everyone had to put in long hours to make it, and they did - it shipped March 31, 1999. As a reward then CEO Mike Ramsay make the last Friday of March a TiVo holiday, Blue Moon. You may have noticed this Friday is March 31st. So launching a new product on the 7th anniversary of the original TiVo launch is probably not a coincidence.

Thanks to Dave Zatz for spotting this!

Amazon has a listing for the TiVo WiFi adapter. They’re selling it for $47.49, and are taking pre-orders saying it will be “In Stock Soon”.

I would’ve posted this earlier last week, but it was a really busy week. TiVoPony posted an update on Tuesday:

We know that there have been retail advertisements which refer to product lifetime, and there have been requests here for a longer opportunity to purchase lifetime before it’s discontinued. As a result, we have decided to offer product lifetime as a subscription option through 4/15/06, even for those that have purchased since 3/15 (you do have to call to activate lifetime service though, and lifetime is not applicable for systems purchased via a bundle plan).

Our customer service team is being updated today, so please wait until later today or tomorrow and call back once the message has been delivered to all the agents.

Cheers,
Pony

In other news, if you scour your local Best Buy you may find lifetime gift cards still on the racks. People are still finding them, despite instructions to Best Buy to pull them weeks ago. They’re good for two years, and will be honored for the Series3. And they’re showing up on eBay and selling for well over retail ($399, even $499 for a $299 card). So if you have time to check, you might make a buck.

Sony’s U.S. unit plans to push marketing spending to record levels this year to fuel sales of high-definition electronics such as televisions, camcorders and DVD players, a senior executive told Reuters.