TiVoCast Adds ExerciseTV

Posted on Friday, February 8, 2008 by MegaZone

Stephen Mack, Director of TiVoCast Operations, lets us know that ExerciseTV is the latest TiVoCast channel. As they say on their about page:

ExerciseTV is a free, video-on-demand network dedicated to the hottest workouts, fitness trends and sports training from top instructors and trainers. With ExerciseTV users can workout on their schedule to hundreds of fat burning workouts like cardio, abs, yoga, dance and more!

Like The New York Times and PodShowTV, ExerciseTV will have multiple channels. In this case, four:

  • Six Pack Abs: Get amazing abs with ExerciseTV’s 6-Pack Abs workout series! Do the workouts in the comfort of your own home, only with ExerciseTV!
  • Weight Loss: Want to lose weight and keep it off for good? Now you can with ExerciseTV’s Weight Loss workouts. Start working off the pounds now!
  • Flexibility & Flow: Increase your flexibility and agility with Flexibility & Flow workouts from ExerciseTV. Start now!
  • Ripped & Toned: Sculpt and define your way to an amazing body with Ripped & Toned workouts from ExerciseTV. Now’s the time to look your best!

New content appears every Tuesday and Thursday. And you should know the drill by now, you can subscribe online or on your TiVo at TiVo Central -> Find Programs -> Download TV & Movies -> ExerciseTV

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More Details On The Hauppauge HD PVR Announced At CES

Posted on Friday, February 8, 2008 by MegaZone

During CES Happauge announced a new HD PVR USB device which will give PC’s the ability to capture HD component video in real-time, encoding it as H.264 or AVCHD. The MSRP will be $249 and it will ship by the end of 1Q08.

Now Rakesh has posted a number of details in the SnapStream Blog. He writes that it will encode 1080p component video as H.264 at a bit rates from 1Mbps up to 25Mbps, and it includes Hauppauge’s standard IR blaster library to control set top boxes. The design is based around an all-in-one chip from Ambarella and the design is almost finalized, they’re just working on the final case design. Similar chips from Ambarella are used in HD camcorders. The chip in the HD PVR also has an H.264 decoder, and the HD PVR will have a video out, but it will probably not be enabled when the box ships. As with all HD content, you’ll need a reasonably powerful PC to play the recordings.

A tip of the hat to Brent Evans at Zatz Not Funny for catching this.

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HD DVD Claws Back A Little Market Share

Posted on Friday, February 8, 2008 by MegaZone

It could be the weak Blu-ray releases last week, or it could be the result of Toshiba’s deep price cuts on their players, or, most likely, a combination of both, but HD DVD managed to claw back a bit of market share from Blu-ray last week in movie sales. Instead of last week’s 82:18 split in favor of Blu-ray, this week we have 74:26. That puts Blu-ray at 76% Year-to-Date, and 65% since inception of the two formats. HD DVD also managed to get a couple of titles in the Top 10 High-Def Sellers list. They’ve both been out for a while, Transformers and The Bourne Supremacy, so that’s most likely due to new owners catching up, or perhaps promotions.

We’ll see how they fare once Warner stops releasing HD DVDs at the end of May, not to mention their big 85th Anniversary push on DVD and Blu-ray.

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Amazon And Barnes & Noble HD DVD Sales

Posted on Friday, February 8, 2008 by MegaZone

Both Amazon and Barnes & Noble are currently running extensive sales on HD DVD titles. Amazon is offering 50% off on 147 titles. (some at 57% actually) Barnes & Noble is offering 50% off on 97 Universal titles.

Via EngadgetHD for B&N and High-Def Digest for Amazon.

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Ten Days Left To Buy A TiVo HD And Get Three Months Free Service, Lifetime Offers Still Going

Posted on Friday, February 8, 2008 by MegaZone

3 months FREE TiVo Service, 30-day Money Back Guarantee, Shop Now

TiVo’s promotion wherein you purchase a TiVo HD and receive three months of service free expires on February 17, 2008. You buy the TiVo HD for $299.99, commit to one year of TiVo service @ $12.95/month, and the first three months of that year are free.

And this reminds me, the ability for any existing TiVo owner to pick up product lifetime on any new TiVo activation for $399 expires on February 13, 2008. So if you’re thinking of getting the soon to be gone TiVo Series3 with lifetime, this is probably your last chance.

Though you’ll still be able to get the TiVo HD with product lifetime bundle for $698.99 through April 1, 2008, along with the TiVo HD, WiFi Adapter, and $100 Service Gift Card bundle for $399.99.

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