After I posted about Buy.com selling the SlingCatcher for $234.95 it was pointed out to me that Amazon has it for even less. Get it direct from Amazon for $229.41, eligible for free shipping, or get it from third party reseller Electronica Direct for $215.50 with $8.95 shipping. Both good deals considering the $299.99 MSRP.
Disclaimer: I work for Sling Media.
TiVo’s Stephen Mack sent me the following statement about the issues some of you have reported experiencing with Netflix streaming.
Folks, thanks for your patience and we apologize for the launch issues that some of you have experienced.
Volume has been much higher than anticipated. We’ve been working around the clock to resolve these issues. As part of the solution, we are quickly moving to add more capacity to the system.
Our entire team will be monitoring closely tonight, and over the last few days we have put in place measures that should improve performance and stability. However, we know that tonight some of you will continue to see failures (although the problems should be less frequent).
If you do see problems, we ask that you try again later. We do expect that starting tomorrow, we will be able to fix performance and you will no longer see these issues with any regularity.
In a separate issue, some of you have reported issues with particular videos, such as lip sync issues with a show such as 30 Rock season 1 episode 1. We believe these issues are related to the video assets and we are working closely with Netflix to correct any bad videos as quickly as possible. Netflix does have a list of videos with known issues that have been reported, and they are working as fast as they can to correct all of them. In the meantime, they request you contact them to report any problems you see with a particular video. (If a video always skips or breaks up at a certain point, no matter what time of day, that’s most likely a bad video issue that only Netflix can address.)
We know you’re excited to use the Netflix application — we are excited as well and we apologize for these problems. I’ll keep you updated here on the forums with our progress in correcting the issues. Thanks again for your patience.
Best regards,
Stephen
I’m sure TiVo and Netflix will get these issues ironed out soon. It isn’t unusual to have some teething issues with the launch of a new feature. But this is such a high profile feature that I’m sure fixing the issues will have a very high priority.
Just over a year ago Windstream announced a partnership with TiVo to offer the DVR to their rural broadband customers. But it seems that the partnership hasn’t been a very successful one, at least according to a new article in Telephony Online.
Though TiVo seemed like a good fit with the carrier’s broadband and Dish Networks video bundle, Windstream’s sales reps have been unsure about “when to pitch it,” Brent Whittington, Windstream’s chief financial officer, said at a UBS investor conference Tuesday. “The upfront price requirements and the ongoing monthly obligation have been an impediment to that product really being successful for us. People are very price-sensitive. You’re looking to potentially get a customer to buy broadband and pay the monthly recurring fee on that on top of TiVo’s monthly recurring fee, plus the equipment, generally with the modem.”
TiVo sets customers back just over $100 for the set-top box and $15 to $20 per month for the service, Whittington said. “It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s an impediment for many consumers, trust me.”
It sounds like TiVo’s pricing structure has been an problem for Windstream in pitching TiVo to their customers. And the statement about not being sure when to pitch it sounds like there is some lack of product education for the sales reps.
Buy.com currently has Roxio Toast Titanium for only $46.99, that’s more than 50% off the $99.95 MSRP. Roxio Toast Titanium is the only media burning application for Mac OS officially sanctioned for use with TiVo.
Buy.com is currently selling the SlingCatcher for $234.95 if you pay via PayPal. The full price is $249.95, pay via PayPal by 12/10 and save the extra $15. That’s a good discount off the full $299.99 MSRP.
Disclaimer: I work for Sling Media.
