E. Stephen Mack let us know Quilters TV is the latest channel to join the TiVoCast lineup. Yes, it is a channel all about quilting. Not my thing, but I’m sure someone will be enthralled by it. You can subscribe online or on your TiVo in TiVo Central -> Find Programs -> Download TV & Movies. Happy quilting!

DVRUpgrade and Neuros are co-sponsoring two bounties for hackers. The goal is to get the Neuros OSD to inter-operate with TiVo so that the Neuros would record the same content as the TiVo, so you’d have ready-to-run copies for mobile devices without TiVoToGo and transcoding to contend with.

There are two bounties - the first is $1000 for interoperability with the Series2, Series2DT, Series3, or TiVo HD standalone units. The second is $2500 for interoperability with the Series1 standalone or any DirecTiVo unit. The intro to the bounties:

People love the TiVo DVR for its robust program guide and related features, and people love the OSD for the portability of its recordings. So, we’ve come up with a bounty for a project that combines the best of both devices. Namely for the OSD to piggyback on the TiVo’s recording schedule and make portable MPEG-4 recordings of those shows that you choose. It’s essentially like having TiVo simultaneously record onto a portable device at the same time that its recording to it’s hard drive. With no file transfer or conversion, you could have all your favorite shows automatically on your laptop, iPod, iPhone, Blackberry or whatever portable device you prefer. Ultimately, this functionality would be perfect for commuters, road-warriors or anyone that spends their days on the go.

See the thread in the DVRupgrade TiVo forums.

This time around Amazon Unbox is having a sale on hit movie rentals for $1.99 and up. Ocean’s 13 and Even Almighty for $1.99, Deck The Halls for $2.49, and The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring, Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery, and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me for $2.99.

Following up on the recent Tuning Resolver solution for SDV announcement, Mari Silbey at Connected Home 2 G0 used her connections inside Motorola to dig up more details. And they are certainly interesting details - some highlights:

• Motorola starting working on a device with CableLabs in July.
• Two weeks ago they had a working prototype at an interoperability session with TiVo - a working device in just four months. (And the implication that TiVo has work prototype firmware already too.)
• Motorola has committed to general availability of the Tuning Resolver in 2Q2008, just six months from now.
• Motorola’s current design looks like their DCT700 cable box.

And, perhaps most intriguing of all, Mari writes:

Last, last note – the tuning resolver does not currently support VOD services, but I’m told it’s not an unreasonable assumption to believe that it might in the future.

I said before that once a bidirectional communications device exists for SDV the barrier to developing protocols for other services, such as VOD and PPV, is much lower. And there is incentive for the cable MSOs, since they make revenue from the sales of VOD and PPV - the more people who have access to the content, the better it is for them.

Robert, thank you for the donation of TiVo Rewards points.

Despite categorically stating in September that they would not be carrying the Venturer SHD7000, it is now listed on their site for $199.98. Via EngadgetHD.

Amazon has listed the Samsung BD-UP5000 1080p Blu-ray Disc / HD DVD combo player for pre-order. The pre-order price is $799.99, $200 off the $999.99 MSRP. It is slated for release on January 15, 2008. Hat tip to Gizmodo.