Overnight I upgraded the site to the latest version of WordPress, 2.5.1, as well as updating a slew of the plug-ins. (If you run a WordPress site, you owe it to yourself to check out Admin Drop Down Menus. I can’t recommend it enough.) If you notice any issues, please let me know. Thanks.
PS. Don’t forget the Style Selector in the upper-right for those of you who dislike the green-on-black color scheme.
EngadgetHD is down at The Cable Show and Ben Drawbaugh (the lucky SOB) got a little hands-on time with the Motorola MTR700 Tuning Adapter for SDV. It seems that CableLabs has decided to start calling such devices ‘Tuning Adapters’ instead of the previous ‘Tuning Resolver’. (I prefer Tuning Resolver, such is life.) The MTR700 was named before the change, which makes me wonder if they’ll rename it the MTA700 before release.
As we’ve known for a while, the Motorola TA looks just like their DCT700 cable box. It is a very simple device with only five connections – coax in, coax out, USB, a diagnostics port, and power. In the demo it is connected in series with the TiVo HD cable into the MTR700, then out of the TA into the TiVo, and the USB connection to the TiVo. Ben reports that it works perfectly, tuning SDV channels transparently with no apparent delay compared to linear channels. He also says it should be available to cable MSOs in July, as I previously predicted, but no firm details on consumer availability or pricing yet.
All in all it sounds like good news. Maybe Ben can see if Cisco has their STA1520 on display as well.
Earlier this week, The Onion posted a parody documentary video on YouTube about the “Blockbuster Video Living Museum,” as if brick-and-mortar video stores were a thing of the distant past, a quaint relic to be remembered. Video rental shops aren’t quite dead yet, but Netflix and Amazon Unbox are each having a go, in their own respective ways, of making such retail outlets obsolete.
One new edge for Netflix, which prides itself on giving customers plenty of information about their movie-watching habits, comes from a third-party developer. FeedFlix is a clever new service that takes the readily available information Netflix provides in personalized RSS feeds (your feeds will appear if you’re logged into your Netflix account) and displays that info in more digestible format.
How fast do you watch and return your videos? Are you one of those Netflix dream customers that pays month after month, hardly ever watching and returning a disc? FeedFlix will tell you how long you’ve had each disc out, what you’ve recently returned, and what’s coming up soon in your queue. None of this is info you couldn’t figure out yourself with Netflix’s tools, but FeedFlix provides a convenient summary.
Beyond the personalized report, FeedFlix offers a public link that allows you to show others what’s in your queue and what Netflix recommends for you. These links reveal nothing about your identity, unless you post the links in a way that identifies you.
As more and more people join FeedFlix, the service has been able to generate fun aggregated info such as average rental length and shipments by weekday. (Not surprisingly, about a third of all shipments go out on Tuesday — replacing videos mailed back Monday after the weekend. Thursday’s the day Netflix ships the fewest videos out.)
Whether you use FeedFlix to see if you’re making the most of your Netflix subscription, or just as a fun diversion, it’s worth trying out.
Comcast has posted another update to AVS Forum about their ongoing issues with, and updates to, the TiVo software for their cable DVRs.
Hello everyone. I want to provide an update on the Comcast DVR with TiVo Service.
In the past, some users have noticed long delays (up to several minutes) when scheduling recordings (including setting up and modifying Season Passes). We made a change recently to correct this issue, and you should now see improved performance when scheduling recordings.
The software update for the Comcast/TiVo DVR that rolled out to part of the region at the beginning of April is on hold for the moment, but we are working to get it out as soon as possible. As a reminder, this release contains fixes for a perpetual reboot loop (with the front-panel display showing 8888), the Dolby Digital output on DCH set-top boxes, improves the Guide HD filter behavior, and other bug fixes.
I’m also happy to tell you that there will be another release targeted for the next few months that will provide noticeable performance improvements, particularly to scheduling and Guide. I can provide an update later on as we determine the exact timing for this release.
Thanks again for your feedback and your patience as Comcast and TiVo work to improve your user experience.
They don’t say why they’ve put the current update on hold and haven’t continued deployment. I’d have to presume something went pear shaped with the initial roll-out. I hope they resume deployment soon and get the fixes out to the rest of the user base.
TiVo made a filing with the court yesterday in their case with EchoStar, and it has been posted over at InvestorVillage. Here’s the first part of their filing:
Dear Judge Folsom:
Pursuant to the Court’s April 23, 2008 Order (Docket No. 822), plaintiff TiVo submits two topics of discussion for the status conference on May 30, 2008: (1) Enforcement of the Court’s Permanent Injunction, and (2) Determination of the damages TiVo sustained during the stay of the injunction. The issues relating to each topic are set forth in Section B of this letter.
To provide prompt resolution of these issues, TiVo requests:
• A hearing at the earliest possible date to determine whether EchoStar should be held in contempt for its failure to disable the DVR functionality in the Infringing Products and for its placement of new infringing DVRs (and new EchoStar products that are only colorably different); and
• Permission to serve limited discovery to obtain additional information before determining the damages TiVo sustained during the stay of the injunction, and, if necessary, bringing a motion for an order to show cause why EchoStar is not in contempt for the continuing use of the Infringing Products, changed only by downloading modified, but still infringing, software (and new EchoStar products that are only colorably different).
TiVo is also prepared to address any questions that the Court may have about the pending Bill of Costs that TiVo submitted on September 22, 2006, which is awaiting resolution. TiVo’s requested costs total $333,600.03.
The Honorable David Folsom
There is a lot more in the complete filing, so check it out if you’re interested. TiVo does not agree with EchoStar that the latter’s software update has eliminated the infringement:
On May 12, 2008, EchoStar made its modified source code available for review by TiVo. EchoStar also waived privilege and produced to TiVo three opinions of counsel relating to EchoStar’s modified software. After review of the software that EchoStar provided and the opinion letters, TiVo does not believe that the modifications avoid infringement.
So the saga continues, despite recent analyst speculation that Dish Network is close to settling with TiVo.
Thanks to reader Jack for the heads up on the post.
EDIT: Here’s a link to the full filing with exhibits, as a PDF. Created and posted by ‘Mainer’ from the InvestorVillage boards.
Disclaimer: I’m currently employed by Sling Media, which is owned by EchoStar.
