Gizmo Lovers Blog | TiVo, Slingbox, Android, Blu-ray Disc, and whatever other tech I feel like blogging about…

Xbox 360 HD DVD Drive MSRP Dropped To $129.99

Posted on Friday, February 8, 2008 by MegaZone

I’ve seen this in so many places I can’t even remember where I spotted it first yesterday. It seems Toshiba isn’t the only brand-name trying the deep-discount approach to move HD DVD products. Microsoft just slashed the MSRP on their Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on drive from $179.99 to $129.99. And it comes with the HD DVD of King Kong, and the (now pretty much standard) mail-in offer for five free movies. Amazon has it for $119.99.

Posted in Blu-ray/HD DVD, Gaming | Tagged Amazon, hardware, HD DVD, Microsoft, Toshiba, Xbox 360 | Leave a comment

Trouble With Comcast TiVo?

Posted on Friday, February 8, 2008 by MegaZone

Reader John Barger contacted me earlier this week to tell me about his troubles with the Comcast TiVo software. His experience has been bad enough that he’s asking Comcast to replace his DVRs with units running the default software, and not the TiVo interface. In John’s words “It sucks, but it works.”

He’s an existing TiVo owner, with two Series2 units with product lifetime. So he’s not new to the TiVo interface. He had the TiVo software installed on 1/16/08. Roughly a week later the box ‘lost’ the TiVo software and reverted back to the default menus. Comcast send technicians back out to reload the box. But then it died again – on Super Bowl Sunday! That time it “completely locked up”. John pulled the power and it stuck on the “Welcome” screen. Further reboots produce the same hang. So he’s given up and is going back to the default software. Comcast told him “lots of people’ are having problems with the software.

And he’s not the only one. It looks like Doug Aamoth over at CrunchGear has had a similarly poor experience. While he recommended the software on his initial review, he’s now rescinded that recommendation. It sounds like Doug’s problems are a combination of box trouble and poor customer support by Comcast, including technicians blowing off appointments. (I feel his pain, I’ve had Charter do the same to me multiple times in the past.) As Doug concludes his post:

My options, as I see them are twofold. One, I can continuously reschedule technicians to come out here, hoping to get an appointment in the morning or to get a tech that gives a damn about working until 5:00.
Or two, I can bring both DVRs into a Comcast store and exchange them for working boxes at the expense of having TiVo (an interface that bricked my first box and doesnâ€™t work even close to correctly on my second box) removed from my account.
I think Iâ€™m gonna go with option number two.

Ouch.

We know that Comcast and TiVo have promised rapid updates to the software to solve a number of known issues. Hopefully they can get those out there fast, and they do resolve some of these issues. As for the customer service problems – I won’t hold my breath. I know Comcast and TiVo are breaking new ground with this OCAP software, and there are bound to be some teething issues as they blaze a new trail, but they’ll need to corral the major issues quickly before it tarnishes their image. (I can mix metaphors with the best of ‘em!) I know TiVo is determined to make this work, so I still have hope.

Do you have the Comcast TiVo software? If so, what has been your experience? Leave a comment or contact me and let me know, good, bad, or indifferent.

Posted in OCAP, TiVo | Tagged Comcast, CrunchGear, OCAP, Series2, software, TiVo, Tru2Way | 4 Comments

CableLabs Ready To Test Tuning Resolver, TiVo Owners Await SDV Support

Posted on Friday, February 8, 2008 by MegaZone

Switched Digital Video (SDV) has been the bane of CableCARD users, notably owners of the TiVo Series3 and TiVo HD. SDV channels cannot be tuned by UDCP (unidirectional digital cable products) CableCARD devices, such as TiVo, as SDV requires bidirectional communication with the head end.

Enter the Tuning Resolver. As previously reported, the Tuning Resolver is a bidirectional communications terminal which is designed to connect to a UDCP via USB, to enable SDV support. Of course, the UDCP most people refer to when discussing the Tuning Resolver is TiVo. Release is expected in 2Q08, and it is eagerly anticipated by many users.

Now Multichannel News is reporting that CableLabs has received the first version of a PC-based testing tool which will allow them to test the Tuning Resolver’s functionality. The tool was developed by Solekai Systems in Boulder, CO and is known as the Tuning Resolver Interface Simulator (TRIS).

â€œWe at CableLabs are encouraged by the flexibility this tool offers to allow us to validate the interfaces between UDCP [unidirectional digital cable products] and tuning resolver devices, and ultimately provide UDCP devices with the ability to access switched digital video services in the field,â€ CableLabs vice president of advanced media platforms So Vang said, in a prepared statement.

This brings the Tuning Resolver one step closer to release. Development was only agreed upon last August, so getting the box to market in 2Q08 is really a fast-track development cycle for the cable industry. Charter isn’t using SDV in my area (yet?), but I know there are a lot of TiVo users out there for whom the Tuning Resolver can’t arrive fast enough.

Posted in TiVo | Tagged CableCARD, CableLabs, Multichannel News, SDV, Series3, Solekai Systems, TiVo, TiVo HD, Tuning Adapter, UDCP | 2 Comments

Lots Of Good News For Blu-ray

Posted on Friday, February 8, 2008 by MegaZone

Three more European companies have decided to join the Blu-ray camp. Spanish distributor Filmax is going Blu-ray exclusive, announcing titles such as Resident Evil, Flyboys, and Million Dollar Baby. (PlanetaHD via Blu.ray.com) Additionally, two of the largest film companies in Sweden, SF and Scanbox, have also gone exclusively Blu-ray, scrapping all HD DVD release plans. (DVD Forum via Blu-ray.com)

Here in the US, independent distributor Echo Bridge has announced their initial slate of high-def releases – and they’re also exclusively Blu-ray. They’re planning to bargain price their releases at $14.95, with six titles due April 1, 2008. The titles are the theatrical releases The Last Sentinel and Artie Lange’s Beer League, TV mini-series 10.5: Apocalypse, Category 7: The End of the World, and The Curse of King Tut’s Tomb, and telefilm Blackbeard.

But the biggest news comes from Warner. Warner is celebrating their 85th Anniversary with a large slate of releases in 2008 and 2009 and, of course, after May they’re all Blu-ray exclusive – no more HD DVD. (Well, and DVD of course. ) They’ll be (re-)releasing Special Edition DVD versions of many of their classic films, and Warner intends to release Blu-ray versions day and date with the new DVD versions. The Digital Bits covered the story extensively and Blu-ray.com compiled this nice list of known Blu-ray releases (with some tweaks from me based on The Digital Bits’ coverage):

08Q1

Bonnie and Clyde: Ultimate Collector’s Edition (also on HD DVD)

08Q2

Dirty Harry: Ultimate Collector’s Edition Box Set (Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, The Enforcer, Sudden Impact, Dead Pool, and Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows)
Twister (also on HD DVD)

08Q3

An American in Paris
Batman Anthology
Batman Begins: Ultimate Collector’s Edition
Gigi
How the West was Won
The Dark Night

08Q4

A Christmas Story: Ultimate Collector’s Edition
Otis: Uncut

2008

The Adventures of Robin Hood
Casablanca
Clash of the Titans
Excalibur
Forbidden Planet
Heat
Grand Prix
The Matrix Trilogy
Mutiny on the Bounty
V for Vendetta

2009

Ben-Hur
Gone With the Wind
North by Northwest
The Wizard of Oz
Woodstock

And note that this list is not complete, it is just the titles Warner has announced at this time. There will be more titles announced going forward. Additionally, with the movie to Blu-ray and its increased capacity, Warner will be released all of their high-def titles with lossless audio. High-Def Digest also has coverage of the story.

I bet that their 85th Anniversary played a role in Warner’s decision to go Blu-ray exclusively. Not that it had to be BD, but that continuing to support two formats when they new they’d be doing a huge push with a lot of new and catalog titles to celebrate the anniversary would be very expensive. While some of the work could be shared, there is still a lot of unique authoring costs for each format. But now that they are Blu, their big push is going to be very tough for HD DVD to match. The HD DVD camp’s current release slate is anemic at best. And this is just Warner, all the other BD studios have a number of big releases coming.