Never enough time…

• Pirate content with PC HDMI capture card in October. (HDBeat)
• Video walk-thru of Media Center features on Vista. (RetroSight)
• DirecTV’s new HD DVR recalled? (PVRWire)
• Video sharing coming to Akimbo via Blip.tv. (Yahoo)

Looks like most HD DirecTiVo customers are finally being serviced this week. Ben over at HDBeat received the update last night and grabbed the info shown above via TivoWebPlus. However, receiving the software isn’t the same as activating the software…

Primary (supported) features:

• Find what you want faster. Navigate through your ON-SCREEN GUIDE more quickly than before. Plus, you’ll be able to SEARCH faster for your favorites.
• Have more control. You can sort your NOW PLAYING LIST alphabetically or by date recorded.
• Get more organized. Our new FOLDERS feature lets you group similar programs in folders for easy reference and retrieval.

DirecTV provides feature details here.

Never enough time…

• Sony expands LocationFree lineup. (CNET)
• Popular Mechanics leaks TiVo Series3 price? (Engadget)
• Sling Media execs interviewed. (Geek)
• Satellite TV on your PC? (PVRWire)
• Slim Devices (Squeezebox) profiled. (GigaOM)

I get tons of blog-related email, but this one really stands out for its length, passion, lack of spell check, and frequent use of the word chump.

Dave,

Hey chump……I think you need to try a 622 hddvr which cost me exactly $0. Chump….did you even realize that the 622 has a 300gb hard drive, records three programs simultaneously (two satellite. one ota) has four search speeds including 300x (visibly scan a one hour hd recorded event in 12 SECONDS!), has the fatest program seach possible, has four independent favorites lists, the hands down best remote tactile configuration and easily the best feeling buttons on any remote, even tivo morons can learn to use this remote WITHOUT looking at it within 15 minutes and did I mention one of the remotes is UHF allowing you to ‘listen’ to any recorded program from 60′ away and NOT direct line of sight.

Hey chump…I could never understand how a technophile with any respect could deal with the infantile tivo interface and that disgusting sound every f*cking time….while the transistions are beautiful as they slide back and forth…..it’s SLOW compared to the 622. The 622 has instantaneous transitions and I mean instantaneous. The command speed is astoundingly fast. You can create a event ‘to record’ in under 10 seconds and I don’t mean clicking the OPG I mean going into the DVR timer page and creating a ‘unique’ event to record. Maybe you did not realize that ‘name based’ recording is not the ‘private domain’ of Tivo. The search methods and speed is mind boggling. There is a ’search history’ which allows you to see EVERY program you previously searched and search again. Did I already say that the search function was blazing fast, how fast you ask….I just searched “modern marvels” from the History Channel it took exactly 2.97 seconds to search the guide and come up with 32 hits!!!!

Cable Cards my ass!! For what? Where the hell is the HD content…its all with Dish chump. Untill cable and Direct radically increase their HD content Dish subscribers just smile and chuckle.

How about PocketDish chump Were you aware that in conjunction with Archos Dish sells the AV500e portable pmp/dvr to Dish subcribers for $299/30gb, where the retail price is $399-450. TivoTtoGo my ass… did you know that I can DIRECTLY download any recorded programs (not HD) inluding Sirrus channels on to my AV500e by USB2 from the 622 front panel (one hour recording/5 minutes). Who the hells needs to convert files and download from pc to PMP. That the Av500e is the HIGEST RATED pmp available for video quality and is a full function DVR.

The 622 is by no means perfect. You do have to occasionally reboot…once or twice a week, and there is an unresolved problem with the pause and single frame advance which could drive sports fans nuts untill they release a software upgrade.

The tone of this email is a result of reading countless forum posts on various sites disseminating the view that all other DVR’s are inferior to Tivo and concluding the ultimate superiority lies with Tivo which is simply laughable. I have spent serious time with EVERY DVR available from Cable and Satellite in the US and nothing comes close to the performance of the 622.

I suggest you read the CNET review on the 622. It echos exactly what I stated in this email. The result from CNET…8.5 rating. While you’re at CNET search the highest rated products in any category and you immediately realize that VERY FEW products in any category are rated as high.

Hey chump…If you want to view the most sophisticated and best designed OPG head for the 622. There are four options available one being the incredible 7 channel 3 hour guide WITH preview window. Viewing previous Tivo, Motorola, and Sa8300 guides is like going back in time to the ’stone age’.

Hey chump..did I mention that the 622 thirty second advance feature allows you to press as fast as possible without waiting for the first 30 advance meaning you can press five times in ONE SECOND and advance 2 1/2 minutes instantaneously!!

I have friend who recently visited from Ohio who is eagerly waiting for the new Direct mpeg4 hddvr. He’s read every available word on the subject simmering in anger as one delay after another arises. He loves his current Tivo/Direct 250gb hddvr and never considered looking anywhere else…..untill…you guessed it! He was simply blown away by the speed of the interface transtions, search options, OPG grid, UHF remote…..untill he called home to Ohio the next day and switched to Dish for the 622 and the PocketDish Av500e. I belive it was $299 as a first time Dish subscriber for the 622 and $299 for the PocketDish Av500e.

I think its reasonable to call the ‘Tivo enthusiasts’ ignorant and arrogant, not for embracing the original Tivo with its fluid command transistions and ’season pass’ features but for ‘living in the past syndrome’ and the constant drone of accolades undeserved in 2006.

ML

TiVo sues EchoStar. EchoStar retaliates by suing TiVo. Fast forward a year or so… EchoStar’s suit is stayed, pending analysis by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

ALVISO, Calif., Aug 28, 2006 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ — TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO), the creator of and the leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVR), today offered the following statement on the court stay of EchoStar Technology Corporation’s lawsuit against TiVo and Humax USA. On July 14, 2006, United States Magistrate Judge Caroline M. Craven for the United States District Court, Eastern District of Texas, issued a stay order, which is now final.

“We are pleased with the Court’s order to stay EchoStar Technology Corporation’s patent infringement litigation pending the outcome of the USPTO reexamination proceedings of certain EchoStar patents. The reexamination requests TiVo submitted to the USPTO detail how a large number of prior art references that the USPTO did not previously consider raise substantial new questions regarding the validity of the claims EchoStar asserted and why those claims are invalid. TiVo will continue to defend its technology vigorously and will not be intimidated by claims such as those EchoStar asserted against TiVo — claims EchoStar asserted in response to TiVo’s successful suit against EchoStar. As the jury found on April 13, 2006 in TiVo’s suit against EchoStar, EchoStar willfully infringed TiVo’s pioneering time warping patent. TiVo will continue to vigorously pursue its rights in that case.”

The order grants a stay in the proceedings in EchoStar Technology Corporation’s lawsuit against TiVo and Humax USA, Inc. regarding the alleged infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 5,774,186 (”Interruption Tolerant Video Program Viewing”), 6,208,804 B1 (”Multimedia Direct Access Storage Device and Formatting Method”), and 6,529,685 B2 (”Multimedia Direct Access Storage Device and Formatting Method”) pending the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) completion of proceedings with respect to TiVo’s request for reexamination of those patents.

First they’re ordered to disable DVR service (currently on hold) and now they’ve been ordered to kill transmission of network TV.

Washington Post says: Hundreds of thousands of Dish Network subscribers could lose access to shows on traditional television networks as early as today after a Supreme Court justice’s decision yesterday that brings an end to lawsuits that have been tied up in court for more than eight years. The decision stemmed from lawsuits filed by News Corp.’s Fox Network and stations affiliated with the four major networks, all claiming that EchoStar has been illegally offering distant-network signals to customers who are capable of receiving television signals from nearby cities.

Never enough time… in Florida!

• TiVo attempts to poach Dish customers. (TiVo)
• EchoStar and DirecTV partner, then drop out of FCC auction. (AP)
• Nearly glowing review of new Archos 604 PMP (CNET)
• Sexy little $150 Mac ATSC tuner available for pre-order. (HDBeat)

EchoStar was granted a temporary stay in federal appeals court today. Meaning (you guessed it) more press release posturing! Assuming cooler heads prevail, this should buy both parties some time to work out a licensing deal.

EchoStar says: We are pleased that this morning, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. temporarily blocked an injunction issued by a Texas Court, while it considers a longer-term stay of that injunction. As a result of the stay EchoStar can continue to sell, and provide to consumers, all of its digital video recorder models. We continue to believe the Texas decision was wrong, and should be reversed on appeal. We also continue to work on modifications to our new DVRs, and to our DVRs in the field, intended to avoid future alleged infringement.

TiVo says: We are very pleased by recent developments involving the issuance of a permanent injunction in our patent case against EchoStar by the United States District Court, Eastern District of Texas. The court of appeals temporarily stayed the district court injunction until it reviews the papers submitted by the parties and decides whether a stay should or should not be in effect for the duration of the appeals process. The court stated that the temporary stay is not based on a consideration of the merits of EchoStar’s request, and is entered to preserve the status quo while the court considers the parties’ papers.