There’s no date given in the video or the description, but at the end they mention Gene Shallot is going to review “the new movie Guinevere”, which released on September 26, 1999. So it sounds like this is from late September, maybe early October, 1999.

After the announced shutdown of the ReplayTV programming guide service, we have had many positive, enthusiastic comments about the ReplayTV DVR products and services. In light of this response, ReplayTV and its parent company Digital Networks North America, Inc. have decided to continue the electronic programming guide service pursuant to the terms of your service activation agreement. We thank you very much for all of your support and enthusiasm over the many years these products have been sold.

As we have said previously, the analog programming that the ReplayTV units are capable of recording is in fact likely to be converted to digital signals in the very near future at which point the ReplayTV units will no longer be able to record such programming. We encourage our users to consider digital video recorders that have this digital recording capability as well as additional technological advances which are not a part of the ReplayTV units (all of which were end of lifed by 2006). For monthly subscribers of the ReplayTV service, we are exploring options by which you may continue paying for and receiving such service going forward. We apologize in advance should there be any minor disruptions in the ReplayTV service while we implement the continuation of the programming guide. Thank you. ReplayTV

I noticed something interesting in their wording:For monthly subscribers of the ReplayTV service, we are exploring options by which you may continue paying for and receiving such service going forward. They specifically call out ‘monthly subscribers’ – but what about those with lifetime subs? I suspect they’re looking at doing something like transitioning ReplayTV boxes to Schedules Direct, the official data service for MythTV. As the community produced WiRNS software already uses Schedules Direct as a programming data source. Schedules Direct costs $20/year, so lifetime subscribers would have to pay the additional fee. And that’s only for 4k/5k units, as earlier units are dial-up only and there would need to be a dial-up infrastructure maintained. That could pay for itself via a monthly fee, but perhaps not for lifetime as there would be no revenue to cover the ongoing costs.

It’ll be interesting to see how this develops.

As some of you may have heard, DNNA/D&M Holdings is finally shutting down the data service for ReplayTV units. Most of the remains of ReplayTV were sold to DirecTV back in 2007, but the customers and data service remained with DNNA. DirecTV only acquired the intellectual property. Even then RTV was basically dead, the last major update was in October 2003, with minor bug fixes until late 2004. DNNA announced they were pulling out of the DVR market in December 2005, and the last of the existing stock of RTV HW was sold off by early 2006. So, while those still using their ReplayTV units may not think so, they actually kept the service running for quite a while after the product line was, for all intents and purposes, dead.

But that’s just the framing…

With the data service is being turned off on July 31st, TiVo has decided to woo the remaining ReplayTV users with a special promotion on the TiVo Premiere, running through 8/15 – or while supplies last. (They’ve probably earmarked a set number of units for the promotion, so don’t wait too long.) And the good news is it is really open to anyone, not just ReplayTV users, so if you’ve been thinking about joining the TiVo cult family, this is a good time. There are two deals – both save $100.

The first is a TiVo Premiere for $0, with a two-year commitment to the $19.99 monthly service – which is the current going rate. Personally I’m not too keen on this deal, but if you’d rather have no money down and ongoing payments, now is the time. (OK, technically you’re only saving $99.99, the normal price of the Premiere.)

The second deal is the one I recommend – a TiVo Premiere with Product Lifetime service for $499.98. This is a savings of an even $100 off the normal rate – $99.99 for the Premiere, and $499.99 for Product Lifetime service. I think this is the better deal as you’ll break even with the $19.99/month deal in 25 months, and after that you’re effectively saving as you have nothing more to pay while the monthly subscriber continues paying.

Even better, Product Lifetime is attached to the unit, so you have equity – it is buying vs. renting. If you decide to upgrade to something else you can resell the unit on eBay, Craigslist, etc., and recoup some of what you invested. Whereas used units with no lifetime service tend to be worth nothing on the open market after a couple of years, since there is always a new model for just not much down.

I’ve owned six TiVos in total since 2002, and I currently own two. I’ve had Product Lifetime on all six, and I resold the other four as I’ve upgraded. I always recommend going with Product Lifetime whenever possible. Most people keep their TiVo longer than two years (TiVo amortizes the product lifetime revenue over five years, as an indication), so it is a better deal for most everyone.

Now, these deals are good for new TiVo subscribers, but if you’re an existing subscriber there’s no reason to jump on these deals. Remember that existing subscribers are eligible for multi-service discount (MSD) pricing of $14.99/month, or $399.99 lifetime. So the lifetime deal works out to be the same price ($0 + $499.98 = $99.99 + $399.99), and the monthly deal isn’t any better as, over the two year window, you’ll end up paying $20 more than you do buying the box up front and paying $14.99/month. So it is only a deal if you really don’t want to, or can’t, afford the $99.99 box.

But if you’re new to TiVo and you’ve been thinking of taking the plunge, I say take the lifetime deal while you can.

Zatz Not Funny got to this before I could, and there is some good discussion in the comments.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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…

Beyond TV and SageTV are proven products with an established track record, and a developer community producing add-ons, hacks, etc. ReplayPC is a new product with no market presence, no track record (this is really all new code), and a higher price. PC-based DVR software is a niche, one increasingly dominated by the 800-pound gorilla that is Microsoft, as well as a handful of established players. It will be a nearly impossible market when all PCs are media centers out of the box, with Vista, so this seems late in the game to try to carve out a niche in the niche. Especially when you’re the high-priced option.

On the plus side they have made ReplayPC an improvement over ReplayTV – by which I generally mean they seem to have made it more TiVo-like. They now have a feature called “Surprise Me” which sounds like TiVo Suggestions. Except there doesn’t seem to be a way to rate shows, so I’m not sure how it learns. “Find More” sounds like TiVo’s “Similar Programs” list on the extended info screen for any given show, except with the useful addition that the list links to those shows. (C’mon TiVo, why not add that to your list?) “Useful Searches” sounds, in part, like TiVo Wish Lists –“Try searching by genre, movie title, by actors, or even directors!” (Though, I admit, the built in ability to search for “Primetime Shows”, “Series Premieres”, or “Series Finales” sounds interesting.) “Overlap manager” sounds an awful lot like TiVo’s “Overlap protection”. The new “Show Search” function works exactly like TiVo’s ‘Browse By Title’. “Episode By Show” looks just like turning on groups in TiVo’s Now Playing.

One thing that jumps out. “No Priorities To Manage” Uh-oh.“There’s never complicated priorities to manipulate for shows that conflict. ReplayTV PC Edition is set and forget ““Using a DVR should be easy and setting priorities is too complicated. ReplayTV’s proven recording technology makes sure you get the shows you want.” Setting priorities is too complicated? Sorting a list where you like 1 more than 2 is too complicated? What kind of Samsonite do they expect to be using this? This was always an issue with ReplayTV. And while it is nice to see they have updated their scheduling with Show-Based Recordings (aka TiVo Season Passes), I see a problem.“Sometimes shows are rescheduled or have a special episode on a different day. Show-Based Recording with Schedule Guard checks all Show Names to be recorded with the ReplayTV EPG Service and the recording time is automatically adjusted if the show shifts or there is a special episode.” OK, so the schedule changes and now there is a conflict that didn’t’ exist before. Which show is recorded? There are no priorities, so how can I tell it ahead of time which one to pick? If I can do that, then I’m setting priorities, QED. If I can’t do that, then this is unpredictable and that’s bad.

The software records in the Microsoft DVR-MS format, the same as Media Center, not a standard format like MPEG-2 or -4. So most of your video tools won’t work with the recordings. The system requirements page lists supported formats – which is a sad list. Video is WMV, AVI, MPEG-1, and MPEG-2. No MPEG-4/H.264, no DivX, etc. Audio formats (for music) are WMA, MP2, MP3, and WAV – no AAC, no FLAC, etc. Photo support is only JPEG, PNG, and Bitmap – not even GIF. Only two compatible capture cards are listed:Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150 (model 1045) or Hauppauge WinTV-PVR USB2 (model 941) Doesn’t look like there is any multi-tuner support, or support for any HDTV tuners. No indication of web-based scheduling, which TiVo, and even old ReplayTV, has. Compared to other PC-based DVR software, this is weak. It also will not interoperate with old ReplayTV boxes – sorry existing owners. (And is it just me, or is their “Who is it for?” page just chock full of stereotypes?)

So this costs more, and does less, than other packages. It has a few features that look decent, but other packages have most, if not all, of them, and others this lacks. I can’t see this being a real player in the DVR market. They say it will be out in September, but they just solicited for beta testers and a new post on AVSForums says testers haven’t been notified yet. So that’s less than three months to test and release. Good luck. I really don’t see how this product will have any success without major changes – and a lower price.

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

These appear to be ReplayTV’s three patents. I tried a few other searches for SonicBlue (and pending), Digital Networks North America, etc, but don’t see much applicable to DVRs.

They’ve done it again – RTV just rolled out a $6.95 monthly price for additional units on the same account, matching TiVo’s pricing.

http://www.digitalnetworksna.com/dvr/multiunit.asp

That’s pretty much all that has changed with RTV in a long time. No new features or HW from them in ages – well, no new HW since the 5000 first hit in 2003.

Email: laureneden@msn.com

Seeking participants for some Focus Groups to talk about this technology. If you live near/around Northern NJ and are willing to give your opinions please send me an e-mail. Participants will receive $100.00 after the hour is completed, assuming you fit all the requirements.

tivocentral_y, tivodash_y, tivosuggestuk_y, replayusers_y, dvr_y, dvr2_y

I encourage everyone to do the same for any Yahoo groups you’re part of. It is extremely easy. You can get a listing of your groups here, once you’re signed in. Any group that has public archives will have an RSS link on the home page – Get newest messages in RSS. The links are in the form of http://rss.groups.yahoo.com/group/name-of-group/rss. You just plug the URL into the form at the bottom of this page: http://www.livejournal.com/syn/ You do have to have a paid LJ account to create new syndicated feeds.

What possessed DNNA to change the pricing on the RTV in the week before Xmas? The only explanation I can think of is that sales were miserable and they dropped the pricing in a desperate attempt to move more stock. Now, I think the decision to switch back to the split fee structure is the correct one – I never understood why they switched back to the higher ‘all-in-one’ pricing when it didn’t work the first time. But the timing couldn’t have been worse!

No matter what mistakes retailers made, DNNA created the confusion by making the change during the busiest shopping week of the year. (Contrary to popular belief Black Friday isn’t the biggest shopping day of the year. The weekend days just before Xmas are bigger.) It was asking for trouble – retailers are going crazy, it isn’t a time to try to get them to change pricing and put stupid red or green stickers on the boxes. Plus, stickers or not, the boxes state a 3-year activation is included, as do the docs inside the box. And people have reported that RTV’s customer service people were still telling callers activation was included, even after 12/23.

In the end this isn’t the consumers fault. DNNA and/or the retailer is to blame. Jerking the consumer around, especially when the units were given as gifts and the receiver probably doesn’t have a receipt to prove purchase price, etc, is just bad business. DNNA should admit they made a hideously bad decision and suck up the loss, honoring the 3-year activation for any units sold. And if they can’t manage to be that big, at least just give it to people who contest being asked to pay for what they already beleived they paid for. DNNA had a chance to earn consumer support, instead they’ve decided to poison themselves. What the hell are they thinking?