Early DirecTV receivers had serial ports which allowed TiVo, ReplayTV, and other DVRs to control them without using IR blasters. Serial provides a more reliable control connection as there is no chance of interference or having the IR emitters moved while cleaning, etc. And it offers a bidirectional communication channel so the DVR can confirm the change. But later model DirecTV receivers dropped the serial port, forcing users of third party DVRs to use IR blasters.

I just became aware of another solution. Paterson Technologies offers a serial to USB adapter which allows users of TiVo, ReplayTV, ShowStopper, BeyondTV, SageTV, MythTV, and Windows Media Center to control the DirecTV model D11, D12, H20, H21, H32, HR20, and HR21 receivers. It is more than just a simple serial to USB cable, there is some intelligence built in such as the ability to map channels so you can have your DVR, say, tuning channel ‘4′ and the satellite receiver actually being tuned to channel 4-1 for OTA ATSC. You can configure it by connecting the adapter to a PC.

It isn’t a cheap option at $42, but for those using 3rd party DVRs with newer DirecTV receivers it may be worth it for the reliability of serial over IR, and the channel mapping abilities. You can check it out for yourself.

D&M Holdings, former owner of ReplayTV, is looking for a buyer. D&M Holdings is the parent company of Denon, Marantz, Snell, McIntosh, Boston Acoustics, Escient, and other high-end AV brands. The two leading contenders to purchase D&M are Kenwood parent Bain Capital and Best Buy, with the a price of roughly $700 million. Best Buy has strong reasons to pursue the purchase:

As Best Buy is D&M’s biggest customer, it makes good financial sense for the consumer electronics retailer. The implications for the types of equipment that will be offered in their Magnolia shops would increase in number as well as quality. McIntosh has a near fanatical following, though being able to roll down to your local Best Buy to check out the latest tube amps is probably going to be met with mixed emotions.

If they’ve been planning this for a while, and most likely they have, it could be a contributing factor in their unloading of ReplayTV to DirecTV in December. ReplayTV was the odd-man-out in this grouping of companies, and probably would’ve been a sticking point in the deal.

Picked up via EngadgetHD.

Things like this keep life interesting. I was surprised today to read in Zatz Not Funny that DirecTV has purchased ReplayTV from D&M Holdings, their most recent owner. Well, it is more like the remains of ReplayTV, since they really haven’t existed as much of an entity for a while now. From the Reuters article:

Japan’s D&M Holdings Inc said on Thursday it had sold its ReplayTV business, which develops software for digital video recorders, to DirecTV of the United States for an undisclosed sum.

If you’ve followed the long, sad saga of ReplayTV, this makes their fourth owner. First, they were founded in 1997 as a standalone entity, about the same time as TiVo. They released their first DVR to market shortly after TiVo did, in 1999. Failing to compete successfully, ReplayTV in 2001 was was acquired by SonicBlue. SonicBlue re-invigorated the brand and continued to market RTV DVRs as TiVo’s primary competition. However, SonicBlue themselves went bankrupt in 2003, and D&M Holdings picked up the Rio and ReplayTV brands at SonicBlue’s bankruptcy sale for just $36 million.

D&M made Rio and ReplayTV part of Digital Networks North America (DNNA). However, DNNA didn’t seem to know what to do with ReplayTV, and they quickly canceled future development of both hardware and software. One final major update, 5.1, was released under DNNA, but promised software updates such as MP3 playback, USB WiFi adapter support, and interoperability between the 4000 and 5000 series units were killed. It was reported that DNNA had dissolved RTV’s engineering group, moving some engineers to other brands, such as Escient, while most of the engineers simply moved on to other companies. ReplayTV’s last hardware update came with the 5000 series units released under SonicBlue in 2003 (before the bankruptcy), the 5500 series units were the same hardware. And the last major software update, 5.1, was released in October, 2003. There were minor bug fix releases until late 2004, but that’s all. In December, 2005 DNNA announced it was pulling out of the DVR market, and focused on simply selling off the existing stock of units, which they accomplished by early 2006.

D&M Holdings sold off Rio in 2005 to Sigmatel, and all they’ve done with ReplayTV is to slap the brand name on some new PC DVR software and rebranded hardware. The ReplayTV PC Software completely failed to find a place in the crowded PC DVR market, so it isn’t a surprise that D&M would decide to cut their losses. Or, as they spun it:

The company said the sale of ReplayTV would allow it to focus resources on its other businesses, which include high-end audio brands Denon, Marantz and McIntosh.

Basically, going back to the brands they had before they started their ill-fated diversification that included acquiring Rio and ReplayTV.

While the DirecTV acquisition is for an ‘undisclosed sum’, seeing as D&M acquired Rio and RTV both for $36 million, when both brands held a lot more value than they do today, I’d have to guess DTV picked up RTV for a song.

Dave Zatz got his hands on what appears to be a letter from D&M CEO Eric Evans to the company’s employees, and he posted this excerpt:

Today D&M announced that we have sold ReplayTV® to DIRECTV, a US-based satellite television provider. D&M will continue to provide service to the current subscribers for the foreseeable future but will not solicit additional customers. All remaining assets, with the exception of the office space and some furniture, will be assumed by DIRECTV.

So it sounds like the DTV has not acquired the existing ReplayTV subscriber base, which I’d presume includes standalone and PC users, but rather D&M has retained those subscribers and will continue to service them (providing guide data, etc). And that they will no solicit new subscribers. To me this implies two things:
1. The ReplayTV PC software is defunct effective immediately. D&M will not be continuing to sell it - no new subscribers - and I don’t see it fitting with DirecTV’s product line. Also, if DirecTV intended to continue offering the software to new subscribers, it would’ve made more sense for them to acquire the existing customers to provide an installed base to grow from. The fact that DTV wasn’t interested in the subscribers combined with D&M not acquiring new subscribers implies, to me, that the product is dead.
2. DirecTV was really only interested in the intellectual property - especially the patents. They don’t really care about the products or the service. The products are all defunct now, and the service they left with D&M.

So what does this mean about the rumors of TiVo and DirecTV reuniting once Liberty Media finishes acquiring DTV from News Corp? Possibly nothing. ReplayTV hasn’t produced new DVR hardware or software since 2003, and all of the old RTV engineers are reportedly no longer with the company. Even if DTV acquired the PC software development group, developing for the PC and developing for specialized hardware aren’t the same thing. I don’t see DTV forming an ‘in-house’ DVR group based on the RTV software, let alone the hardware. The hardware is completely obsolete - the design is over 5 years old now. It isn’t even useful as a starting point, so just ignore that. The software is over four years old now, which is pretty stale in such a rapidly changing market. It would have to be brought up to date to start, ported to new hardware, and then be modernized with all of the features required to be competitive today, as well as to handle DTV’s systems. That’s a lot of work.

And it would be unusual for DTV - they’ve always outsourced that kind of work. Even the DirecTV branded set top boxes are produced by other vendors. TiVo has experience writing an OS for DirecTV, and they’ve maintained that capability in their code base even since the split. They’re already working on a new update for DirecTV’s existing TiVo-based units for 2008. The relationship is in place, the software is in place, and it wouldn’t be hard to produce a new STB based on the TiVo HD for DTV - just as they’re localizing it for Australia and DVB-T.

So why acquire RTV? Patents. As one of the early developers of DVR technology, ReplayTV, like TiVo, has some fundamental patents. Years ago ReplayTV and TiVo even sued each other, and settled out of court with a cross-licensing agreement. That agreement could well have transferred to DTV with the purchase, which would help insulate DirecTV from lawsuits like the one that TiVo has against DISH Network. It would also give DirecTV a better bargaining position in any negotiations with TiVo for future partnership agreements. And it would give DirecTV some capability to go after the competition and their own DVRs for patent infringement.

If my speculation that they picked up RTV for a song is correct, it was likely a very cost effective move on their part. (It kind of makes me wonder why TiVo didn’t snap up RTV for themselves, to consolidate their portfolio.)

I don’t expect to see a rebirth of ReplayTV out of this. I plan to ask some questions of DTV at CES next month, but I suspect that this purchase was all about the intellectual property and not at all about the software itself. I guess we’ll see if I’m right in time.

Well, it looks like the leak and my speculation from the other day were both accurate. ReplayTV officially announced the ReplayTV Personal HD bundle with a press release yesterday. As speculated, it is a USB 2.0 NTSC/ATSC tuner bundled with a basic HD antenna, a remote control (in PCCard form factor for easy storage in a laptop), and the ReplayTV PC-based software. It has a $99.95 MSRP, which includes one year of guide data - after that it is $19.95/year. It is supposed to ship in November. It does appear to be the Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-950 repackaged, as suspected.

Overall, I’m not impressed. There is nothing new or unique here, you can get the same hardware from Hauppauge, or re-branded from Elgato as well. This is Windows-only and only handles NTSC/ATSC from antenna, or analog cable. They’ve just bundled the existing ReplayTV PC-software with the existing Hauppage dongle and a generic remote. Not that exciting.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably say it again, the ‘ReplayPC’ software is a lame duck and there are several better options. This is not the ReplayTV of old.

Kinda, sorta… OK, not really. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

An anonymous tipster emailed Gizmodo a shot of the upcoming ReplayTV Personal HD - an HDTV tuner in the form of a USB dongle. This is likely designed to work with the ReplayTV-branded PC software, which has been an also-ran in the market since it launched in mid-2006, despite an effort to boost sales with a price cut in March of this year. There are simply better options - cheaper and/or more capable.

PVR Wire @ TV Squad points out that this product looks an awful lot like a white Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-950. The WinTV-HVR-950 can tune OTA ATSC or NTSC or analog cable - but no digital cable. That isn’t surprising as the only cards currently supported by the ReplayTV PC software are the Hauppauge WinTV PVR 150 and WinTV PVR USB2. The little remote, which looks like it could be PCCard (PCMCIA) format for storing in a laptop, looks like a new addition to the product.

This is just a sad recycling of a once-proud brand name, like AOL using ‘Netscape’ on various idiotic products.

You have to give ReplayTV some credit, they keep trying even when it seems futile. ReplayTV launched almost simultaneously with TiVo back in 1999 and for a couple of years there was real competition. But ReplayTV never quite matched TiVo’s success, and as TiVo’s reputation took off, and their success built, ReplayTV faltered. TiVo’s deal with DirecTV gave them a major boost that ReplayTV could never match - ReplayTV’s licensing deals with Panasonic (the Panasonic ShowStopper was a ReplayTV re-badged) and the like just couldn’t match TiVo’s growth. Success breeds success, and, while ReplayTV had a larger retail presence early on, TiVo overtook them and eventually ReplayTV lost retail partners as TiVo continued to gain them.

ReplayTV went bankrupt, and SonicBlue bought them. Under SonicBlue they introduced SendShow, Internet show sharing. This brought lawsuits against SB, which greatly crippled ReplayTV’s growth by diverting funds to legal costs. This contributed to SonicBlue’s bankruptcy, and D&M Holdings, parent company of Denon and Marantz, acquired ReplayTV and Rio from the wreckage, making them part of DNNA (Digital Networks North America). However, DNNA wasn’t really interested in keeping ReplayTV running. Instead, they canceled all future hardware and software development, planning to use the ReplayTV features in higher end gear from Escient. A product was announced a few years ago - and never shipped. Meanwhile, DNNA just kept selling off the existing stocks of hardware and they eventually sold out in very early 2006. And ReplayTV was no more.

Except, later in 2006, DNNA announced that ReplayTV was returning as Windows-based DVR software. It was delayed, but finally shipped late in the year - for $100. Competing with established players such as Beyond TV, SageTV, and GB-PVR - all of which cost less and do more than ReplayTV’s PC software. (GB-PVR is free.) And there are others - including free Linux DVR software like MythTV and Freevo. Not to mention the 800-pound gorilla that is Windows XP Media Center Edition, and now Windows Vista which includes media center features. If someone is going to buy Windows DVR software, why would they buy more expensive software with more limitations? And the ReplayTV software costs $20/year after the first year, while the other software has no ongoing costs. I’ve said that they’d never be able to carve out a niche this way.

So, why did I just ramble through all that? Well, mainly because I felt like it, and to mention that apparently they feel the same way. ReplayTV just dropped the price to $50 and updated the software to address some of the issues.

I still predict it will bomb - it still has major limitations, it is a new player in a saturated market (and the other solutions have established developer communities with tons of add-ons, etc), and even though it is now one of the lower priced options up-front, the ongoing costs add up. If you’re looking for Windows-based DVR software, and want more than MCE/Vista, I’d really look at Beyond TV or SageTV.

I picked this up from PVR Wire @ TV Squad.

You know, that’s a mouthful. From now on I’m calling it ReplayPC.

So ReplayPC was unveiled today and the website has been updated and a press release, well, released. Right off the bat it seems pricey. $99.95 for the software - you supply your own tuner card. One year of guide data is included, then $19.95/year for additional years. If you want to access it from other PCs, then it is $49.95 for ReplayTV PC Edition Companion. Considering an increasing number of PCs are being shipped with Windows XP Media Center Edition as standard, and all Windows Vista PCs will have media center features, that seems like a lot to be asking people to pay for the additional features. And there is competition from products like Yahoo! Go for TV, which is free, or SnapStream Beyond TV which is $69.99 (and currently includes a free Firefly remote), and Beyond TV Link, for additional PCs, is $29.99 ($79.99 for a three pack). SageTV is $79.95, or $29.95 for the companion software. There is even a hardware extender to easily watch the recordings on your TV without a PC there. And no guide fees for these.

Cut for length…
Read the rest of this entry »

I picked this up from TVHarmony. ReplayTV is currently recruiting candidates for the upcoming ReplayTV PC Edition Beta Test. To be considered as a possible candidate, complete the online application by May 31, 2006. (I know it says May 31, but news of this just broke so I’m not sure that’s been up for long.)

If anyone tests this, I’d love to hear what it is like.