According to the Sydney Morning Herald:

THE Seven Media Group will launch its TiVo digital video recorder in July after a strategic overhaul that includes a surprise move to scrap a planned monthly subscription fee for the broadband-enabled service. TiVo’s launch plan comes as Seven’s wireless broadband group, Unwired, confirmed it was finalising deals with up to six retailers around the country to sell TiVo boxes. “The main thing is to get TiVo launched for the Olympics.”

I suppose it’s more economical for me to continue paying $6.95/month, than moving to Australia…

Earlier than I had anticipated, the first Netflix set-top box has hit the market. Many of us complain of “box fatigue”, but we’ll probably make an exception for the compact Roku Netflix Player listed an attractive $100 with unlimited video streaming (for Unlimited Plan subscribers). Though, Roku obviously overlooked physical design to get this unit out quick and at a reasonable price point. Having said that, they didn’t skimp on network connectivity by kindly integrating wireless along with the typical wired Ethernet option. The fanless media streamer currently maxes out at 480p, but the HDMI-equipped unit is capable of higher definition once Netflix provides HD content. (Higher tier plan?) The UI is limited to browsing your pre-existing Watch Now Queue - meaning, you won’t be searching or adding movies on the fly.

Now the interesting thing about Roku is the founder and CEO… About a year ago Anthony Wood (also a founder of ReplayTV) left Roku to head up Netflix’s Internet TV Group. In January, he returned to Roku and here we are. I assume this is the smaller Netlifx partner which I got wrong (suggesting a D-Link or Netgear). Perhaps, I would have voted differently had I kept tabs on Wood.

Early Reviews:

• Gizmodo
• CrunchGear
• Crave
• PC Magazine
• Wired

Digeo’s long discussed next-generation (OCAP, CableCARD) Moxi cable box is on display at The Cable Show. Both Digeo and Charter Communications are Paul Allen ventures, so it’s no surprise that Charter will be the first cable-co offering this DVR… with deployment possibly beginning in the third quarter:

Digeo, Inc., today announced that Charter Communications, Inc. will begin deploying the new Moxi Cable HD DVR 3012. The announcement marks the first order and deployment of Digeo’s second generation offering which incorporates a dual HD-tuner digital video recorder (DVR). The Moxi 3012 also includes the Emmy(R) award-winning Moxi Menu user interface, along with the following advanced features:

• Full DVR functionality
• CableCARD(R) multi-stream 2-way support
• Remote web scheduling capable
• External storage options up to 1TB
• Extensive data mining through the Moxi portal for real-time customer usage insights

(Picture courtesy of Ben Drawbaugh, EngadgetHD)

As promised, Cisco and Motorola SDV tuning adapters are on display at The Cable Show. Mari shot the photo below and EngadgetHD posted several pics of the Motorola SDV tuning resolver in action with a TiVoHD. I’m pleased TiVo customers will shortly (?) see a solution (even if it’s a kludge, bound to cause more confusion) to the retail CableCARD SDV issue, but it’s yet to be seen which other CableCARD products (TVs, Media Center PCs) will receive the firmware updates needed to utilize these boxes.

TiVo’s SDV status update press release hasn’t yet hit the wires, but here’s an excerpt:

NEW ORLEANS, LA - May 19, 2008 – The National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) and TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO), today announced that after a series of successful informal interoperability tests TiVo and several manufacturers of switched digital external tuning adapters have submitted products for formal testing at CableLabs. The tuning adapter will enable TiVo Series3™, TiVo HD DVRs, and certain other one-way digital cable ready consumer electronic devices that utilize CableCARDs™ to access digital cable channels delivered using switched digital technology.

Motorola and Cisco have both developed external tuning adapters and are seeking qualification by CableLabs® before being delivered to cable operators for deployment. The tuning adapters are expected to be offered in the coming months by cable operators including Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, and Cablevision in areas where switched digital technology is being deployed. The cable operators and TiVo plan to work cooperatively to alert TiVo subscribers about the availability or need of the new external adapter and to ensure that installation of the adapter and CableCARDs will be easy and seamless for the consumer.

TiVo has modified its software for its TiVo Series3 and TiVo HD DVRs to communicate with the external Tuning Adapter. TiVo announced that the modified software has been submitted to CableLabs for verification testing. Upon verification, the software upgrade will be made available to TiVo subscribers via a regularly scheduled update.

Update: TiVo has published an SDV FAQ.

Here’s the round-up of my Dish Team Summit Nashville trip tweets (with pics) over the last few days (minor edits for accuracy) in chronological order:

• Forgot to print Southwest boarding pass last night, now stuck in mid-B group. Should be good enough for an aisle, but open seating is weak. (5/14)
• Downloading Deadliest Catch via TiVoToGo for flight. Hope it finishes transferring before I need to leave. (5/14)
• Firing up Deadliest Catch (TTG) and off to Nashville. (5/14)
• Building booth @ Dish Team Summit, Nashville http://snipurl.com/28yn6 (5/15)
• Popcorn Hour media tank @ the breakfast table. http://snipurl.com/28z8p (5/15)
• Hootie, Blowfish, and crappy iPhone camera @ Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. http://snipurl.com/292qp (5/15)
• Gaylord Opryland Resort Internet is horrible. Both hardwired and WiFi feel like dialup. Sprint EVDO card struggling too. JoikuSpot next? (5/16)
• TR40 renamed DTVpal and shrank 50% - http://twitpic.com/14i3 (5/16)
• Not only do I write, I can even speak - http://twitpic.com/14kd (5/16)
• D-link’s MoCA networking and media gear - http://twitpic.com/14o2 (5/16)
• Western Digital now offering USB Dish My DVR Expander (in addition to TiVo eSATA drives) - http://twitpic.com/14qj (5/16)
• Dish Network STB TV2 output getting UHF->IR converter. (Slingbox!) - http://twitpic.com/15xc (5/17)
• SatelliteGuys.us host Charlie Ergen Q&A - http://twitpic.com/16jn (5/17)
• Too tired for The @CableShow, so most definitely leaving Nashville for home tomorrow. Expect pics & news on EngadgetHD and from @msilbey (5/17)
• Weak. Nashville Airport Security sponsored by Zappos.com - http://twitpic.com/175k (5/18)
• Wiis in stock at airport. ONLY as a $500 bundle. I’m calling Miyamoto to complain. - http://twitpic.com/176d (5/18)

TiVo’s been testing the return Lifetime Service on a promotional basis, and I’ve just received word that it’s back for good. (Until they shift course again…) Current DVR subscriptions run $12.95/month or $129/year, so it’d take about 2.5-3 years before benefiting from the $399 Lifetime Service fee. And since Lifetime Service is box-specific, you may want to save your pennies for whatever new (tru2way) TiVo standalone model is introduced during that timeframe. The going rate for secondary (and more) TiVo units is $9.95/month, $99/year, or $299/lifetime.

I polled my fellow ZNF contributors for their current top three television shows. Not only are the networks and content diverse, but so are the methods used to acquire programming (in addition to the requisite DVR timeshifting). For example: I caught the first season of Dexter on DVD and most of Burn Notice via Hulu and iTunes, while Davis is catching up on Amazing Stories (from the 80s!) via Netflix Watch Now.

Mari

• The Riches (FX)
• Burn Notice (USA)
• Lost (ABC)

Davis

• Survivor (CBS)
• Reaper (CW)
• Amazing Stories (NBC)

Brent

• Lost (ABC)
• Reaper (CW)
• The Office (NBC)

Dale

• House (Fox)
• Lost (ABC)
• Battlestar Galactica (SciFi)

Dave

• Burn Notice (USA)
• Dexter (Showtime)
• The Riches (FX)

So, what are your top three shows and how’re you watching?

Mac TV software ‘The Tube’ has been updated to include an interesting new feature:

The new 2.7 release now supports “placeshifting.” Using iChat, you can drag a The Tube icon onto an active video chat to stream video on your TubeStick to friends using iChat Theater. Attendees can also record video clips of the show being shared.

It just so happens that I have an older (NTSC) Miglia TVMicroExpress USB stick review unit here… which includes a license for The Tube. While I’ve verified the iChat television sharing feature does exist (above), I haven’t actually tested this new way of socializing around television content. (Busy prepping for a work trip this afternoon… I’ll recruit Tofel to fire up iChat when I’m back home next week.) TubeToGo (below) is another notable new feature (introduced in March, v2.5), facilitating web archiving (and streaming) of television content. Something I’ll also need to check out more thoroughly when I return.