Never enough time…

• TiVo CEO Tom Rogers speaks. (NYTimes)
• DVD Copy Control Association to lighten DVD restrictions. (Engadget)
• MobiTV powers XM on Alltel Wireless. (Orbitcast)
• PMP roundup. (PCMag)
• Viacom to buy Atom Films. (TechCrunch)

As you can see in the chart below, over 80% of us feel the S3 will come in between $200 and $800. That’s a huge range, so I’ll just hope the lower end wins out. The comedians who voted for under $200 may want to review some recent info out of TiVo…

Megazone transcribes: One extreme is the very high end of the market. I had up there on the slide a Series3 HD product which we’re rolling out later this year. That is a dual tuner, actually it has more that two tuners, high definition, broadband connected, it works with all of the Internet video formats, it is a very compelling high end product. But, like a lot of high definition products, it will not be inexpensive. And for us it is an opportunity to really give consumers the best of the best. But that, for example, is not a product we will subsidize at anywhere near the level we have some of our other products.

ZNF Poll

How much will the S3 TiVo cost? $0 - $199 (ha!) (4) 2% $200 - $399 (35) 20% $400 - $599 (70) 40% $600 - $799 (37) 21% $800 - $999 (20) 12% $1000 or more (7) 4% Total Votes: 173

TiVo has released a minor update to the current iteration of the desktop software. If you’ve experienced any of the symptoms described below, download the new copy here.

TiVo says: What is the difference between Desktop Version 2.3 and Version 2.3a? Should I upgrade? Will I need to re-enter my “Plus” key?

There are no new features in version 2.3a. This minor update fixes a bug that intermittently caused the application to fail or crash. If you’ve experienced these types of issues while using Version 2.3, we recommend you upgrade to Version 2.3a.

If you’ve purchased the Desktop 2.3 Plus license key, you will not need to re-enter the key after upgrading to 2.3a.

If the BBB can rate these guys, why not me? I’m a stickler for good service — I won’t patronize companies providing inferior service. When I had a billing problem with Sprint about 5 years ago and the phone rep called me a liar, I switched to VoiceStream (Jamie Lee Curtis had nothing to do with it). Conversely, I’m willing to pay for good service: Apple’s not cheap, but they generally take care of you.

The most important aspect of customer service is being treated with respect. If you hear me out and professionally attempt to resolve my issue you’re doing a good job. Obviously, the next set of criteria is being able to actually resolve the issue efficiently. Online forums, support docs, and web apps make me happy too — I’d rather research the problem myself or manage my account if you give me the tools.

With that in mind, here are my ratings of several companies I’ve dealt with over the last year. Feel free to contribute your own ratings in the comments.

The obvious follow-up to last week’s S3 release date poll is a pricing survey. How much do you think the S3 TiVo will cost?

There’s been plenty of speculation that your TiVo might think you’re gay (for example, the Wall Street Journal documented it in 2002), but Mark Day has an alternate theory: Your TiVo is gay!

Why wait for Congress to do your dirty work when the content owners can recruit Macrovision to backdoor broadcast flag-like functionality without government bureaucracy and public scrutiny? While these restrictions aren’t new (or unique to TiVo), there still appears to be challenges in properly classifying content on TiVo units. I can envision current releases on HBO being flagged, but doubt this nearly 40-year old film was intended to be tagged. In fact, I believe Macrovision is only permitted to mark PPV and DVD content with copy/viewing limitations. TiVo, if you want to follow-up with this likely transmission glitch: John Campos, who provided these photos, was recording the Fox Movie Channel via Comcast in Seattle.

Macrovision copy protection rules include:

• Copy Never - This content is not allowed to be recorded by a TiVo DVR.
• 7 Day Unlimited - These programs can be recorded and viewed as many times as you like within 7 days of their original recording date
• 7 Day / 24 Hours - These programs can be stored for up to 7 days but once you begin watching the show, you must complete viewing within 24 hours.

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