Mac Slingbox Beta Gets Underway

I guess this means the Mac SlingPlayer is real! When does Hava‘s Mac Beta begin? ;) Sling VP Jeremy Toeman says: I am letting y’all know that the email just went out to the first wave testers. We will have at least 4 ‘waves’ of testers, and each wave gets almost exponentially larger.

Is Your TiVo Gay?

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 comedian Mark Day has an alternate theory: Your TiVo is gay!  

TiVo, Macrovision, And The Stealth Broadcast Flag

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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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Interesting News Dave Hasn’t Covered

Never enough time… Time Warner Cable kisses and makes up, will offer CableCARDs. (TiVoBlog) Sirius video around the corner? (Orbitcast) Ten HDTV myths. (PC World) Radio Shack announces what we already know, currently selling TiVo. (Yahoo) Digital Deck Media Connector reviewed. (PC Mag)

TiVo Series3 Release Date Poll Results

After 60 hours of voting… about 50% (myself included) believe we’ll see the S3 arriving in September or October, while over 15% have no faith in TiVo delivering this year as promised. ZNF Poll When will the S3 TiVo be released? August (17) 9% September (46) 24% October (49) 26% November (34) 18% December (10) … Read more

Interesting News Dave Hasn’t Covered

Never enough time… LG scraps plans for dual Blu-ray/HD-DVD player. (CE Pro) An incomplete overview of online television guides. (TechCrunch) AOL expands online video offerings, will offer Viacom content. (eWeek) Walmart may have HD-DVD player for $350, though mine doesn’t. (HDBeat)

TiVo Adds ‘Heavy’ Video Downloads

Heavy video downloads have joined CNET and Rocketboom on TiVo. Those with broadband-connected Series 2 units can subscribe to a weekly 5 minute humor segment. As with Rocketboom, I’m not particularly interested (I want movie downloads, and I’m willing to pay) — but if this is up your alley, subscribe via Showcases. Speaking of Showcases… … Read more