Archives For CableCARD

AllVid Alliance Formed; TiVo & Google On Board

Brent Evans —  February 17, 2011 — 2 Comments

The AllVid battle lines between the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) are being drawn. AllVid is a possible replacement for and enhancement of CableCARD technology being discussed by the FCC and now a group of companies from the electronics industry that have formed the “AllVid Tech Company Alliance.”

The Alliance was created to provide a unified voice for consumer electronic companies to lobby the FCC and NCTA to create a more open cable “AllVid” home video gateway solution to supersede the existing and limited CableCARD regime. AllVid Alliance founding members including Google, Sony Electronics, TiVo, Best Buy, Mitsubishi Digital Electronics, Nagravision and SageTV.

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In Broadband, CableCARD, HTPC, TiVo
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A Few FiOS TV DVR Notes (versus TiVo)

Dave Zatz —  January 22, 2011 — 40 Comments

fios-gear1

As regulars know, we recently left the cable hegemony behind in favor of Verizon’s FiOS TV…. to overcome switched digital video (SDV) tuning adapter flakiness and a CCI Byte content lockdown that essentially neutered our TiVo ecosystem. And, on the technological front, we couldn’t be happier. (But I may follow up with a less glowing billing and support post, as many of you cautioned.)

We’re a three TV/DVR household, although currently only possess two televisions — one powered by a TiVo Premiere and the other powered by the Verizon FiOS DVR shown above. So the question is, what DVR will power TV #3 when the time comes?

Now that Cox Communication’s CCI Byte “guilty until proven innocent” restriction is behind me, TiVo once again provides multi-room viewing. Although my mothballed TiVo HD and Series 3 may not have the bandwidth to move content wirelessly in real time between DVRs, the way I could Premiere to Premiere. On the FiOS TV front, most of us are still running Interactive Media Guide (IMG) 1.8… which doesn’t utilize a 16:9 UI and multi-room viewing is limited to a DVR hub feeding set-tops. However, testing is underway for version 1.9 and deployment should begin in the near future. And I’m quite interested… Continue Reading…

In CableCARD, DVR, TiVo
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Ceton Reveals Tiny External CableCARD Tuner

Dave Zatz —  January 11, 2011 — 8 Comments

ceton-usb1

Looks like the HDHomeRun Prime may see a little competition later this year via Ceton’s newly revealed USB CableCARD tuner. The InfiniTV 4 USB is surely the most handsome and compact external CableCARD device to date. And given my penchant for small form factor PCs, this is a more practical solution than Ceton’s PCI CableCARD tuner (which is actually pretty hard to actually acquire from what I’ve heard). Unfortunately, Ben Drawbaugh wasn’t able to lock down a ship date or price from the Ceton folks.

Related, while the big CES splash anticipated from Microsoft didn’t happen, Windows Media Center embedded (with CableCARD!) was indeed spotted on the show floor. MC and CC will live to fight another day. Although I doubt many will pony up the estimated $500 – $700, versus rolling their own solution or taking the easy way out by renting a cable box.

In CableCARD, HTPC
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Catching Up With Silicon Dust

Dave Zatz —  January 7, 2011 — 20 Comments

HDHomeRun-Prime2

My last stop of the day was a visit to Silicon Dust. They’re the folks behind the HDHomeRun networked dual tuner, which has had quite a run… without a refresh. And that’s about to be corrected by the HDHomeRun Dual which will beginning shipping later this month for $130. The Dual essentially provides the same functionality as the original unit, in dual tuning and streaming ATSC content over ethernet, but re-engineered into a tighter package. Additionally, El Gato will be bundling a Dual with their EyeTV software at some point in the requisite Mac white.

Potentially more interesting is the HDHomeRun Prime, a networked CableCARD device to feed three HD streams of digital cable to Microsoft Media Center. Unfortunately for those tracking this device, I bring no new information. Silicon Dust is gearing up production while awaiting final CableLabs certification. So we could still be a few months away. However, given the lack of MC extenders, and the number of inexpensive small form factor PCs that I could place at each TV, it’d be the right solution for me (over Ceton) should I decide to roll my own whole home DVR.

In CableCARD, Gadgets, HTPC
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Only 5,000 CableCARDs Deployed In Last 90 Days?

Dave Zatz —  December 26, 2010 — 26 Comments

Multichannel News has done the math and concludes that the ten largest cable providers have expanded their CableCARD footprint by a mere 5,000 decoders during the last three months. While I haven’t verified their calculations, I too perused the NCTA’s most recent CableCARD-related filing with the FCC:

The five MSOs who are required to report today – Cablevision, Charter Communications, Comcast Corporation, Cox Communications, and Time Warner Cable – have deployed over 502,000 CableCARDs for use in retail CableCARD enabled devices. When the CableCARDs deployed by the next five largest incumbent cable operators are included, there have been over 536,000 CableCARDs deployed for use in retail devices by the ten largest incumbent cable operators.

Any way you slice it, there’s been a very small number of retail devices tapping digital cable over the years. And even assuming TiVo subscribers are responsible for the majority of those new 5,000 CableCARDs, I’d say their direct-to-consumer business is in serious jeopardy. Of course, it’s common knowledge that TiVo’s been bleeding subscribers and they know their situation better than anyone… Which is why they’re hunkering down with a large stockpile of cash while awaiting possibly more favorable conditions, defending their intellectual property (with hopes of additional cash), and succesfully diversifying by marketing their platform to the MSOs, who pretty much control the gameboard.

In CableCARD, TiVo
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