TiVo has recently announced that they will now allow users to subscribe to custom video RSS feeds using their Series3 TiVo HD and HD XL boxes. This means that you will be able to punch in the URL of a video RSS feed and view the content with a connected TV.

If you don’t know what a video RSS feed is, it is essentially just an RSS feed but instead of displaying written content it displays video. Simple, right?

Head here for more information regarding video RSS feeds on TiVo boxes.

Moxi will soon issue a software update for their Moxi HD DVR that will allow for up to 6TB of storage making it almost impossible to run out of space while trying to store your media.

But that’s not all the announcement detailed as they have also debuted the $399 Moxi Media media extender. This device will sync up with your Moxi HD and stream content from it to another TV (or wherever you desire)/

The software update for the Moxi HD is set to drop sometime later today while the Moxi Mate is available now to existing Moxi HD customers for the low introductory price of $199. For everyone else, you’re going to have to wait a bit longer and pay the higher $399 price.

TiVo has upped the ante in its trial against EchoStar. After already receiving two favorable decisions which brought then $280 million from EchoStar, TiVo is asking now for a billion dollars. It looks like EchoStar did not disable about 200,000 DVRs as an earlier permanent injunction ordered and TiVo is not happy with that. EchoStar says it hasn’t started disabling those DVR as an appeal against that injunction is under way. Will TiVo get a billion dollars from EchoStar? We doubt it, but it will surely walk away with a nice settlement. Any bets on the final settlement number?

via zatznotfunny

Sanyo is all set to release the latest Repoch IVR-S100M iVDR based DVR in September, 2009 in Japan. This Digital Video Recorder features a tuner for digital viewing and recording and the capability to watch recordings on analog TVs. It supports iVDR up to 320GB to provide the benefit of HDD technology and its transfer speeds are up to 1.5 Gbit/s over SATA.

The Repoch IVR-S100M comes with the ability to records in MPEG2/TS format in both SD and HD resolution. However, the DVR do not support MPEG-4 AVC/H.264. In addition, it offers two antenna posts, component video and audio and HDMI output with support for up to 1080i resolution.

The Sanyo Repoch IVR-S100M iVDR DVR will be available at a price of 61,950 Yen along with a 160GB iVDR hard drive.

Sanyo Repoch

The Sanyo Repoch is a DVR device that has slot-in hard drives, which actually comply with the Information Versatile Disk or iVR standard. This device features a tuner for digital recording and viewing as well as the capacity to watch recordings on analog TVs which is great news for those who can’t or won’t make the upgrade to a digital TV just yet.

Some of the other noteworthy features include many connections like Ethernet, an HDMI output, two antenna posts and component video and audio. The price tag is anticipated to be around $668 for its September 1 release in Japan.

Get out those old home movies and VHS tapes and be ready to transfer them to DVDs. Apparently that job has become limited to people who have the right equipment but now, Sony may erase all that and provide one device to carry out those needs.

Sony today unveiled the DVDirect DVD recorder which can transfer HD and standard definition home videos and digital photos to DVD discs without PC intervention. The new VRD-MC6 model has a 2.7-inch color LCD screen for previewing video or up to six digital photos at a time, and its overall size is almost 60 percent smaller than its predecessor.

The VRD-MC6 can transfer AVCHD quality videos to DVD discs in their native 1080i HD resolution when connected directly to a Sony hard drive or Memory Stick media-based Handycam camcorder. AVCHD quality DVDs can be played back on compatible Blu-ray Disc devices, including players and computer drives, as well as PlayStation 3 (PS3) computer entertainment systems.

The DVDirect VRD-MC6 will retail for around $229 at Sony Style stores and other major retailers around the country and will be available by September.

(Source) Press

Seagate Showcase DVR Expander

As more and more Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) offer the option of recording in high-definition, the standard storage in most models simply can’t keep up with the volume. Now there is easy add-on storage for your DVR with the Seagate Showcase DVR Expander.

Easily add storage capacity to your DVR library and save up to 200 more hours of your favorite high-definition TV shows and movies or 1000 hours of standard definition TV. Simply plug the Showcase storage expander directly into your DVR and your total recording capacity will expand. The whisper quiet and cool operation is available in 500GB and 1TB capacities. Select either the USB or eSATA interface model to integrate with your DVR.

Hitachi antes up the new dawn of HD flat panels with the XCode 3290 which comes with a built-in hard disk drive for personal video recording. The new feature allows Hitachi HD Flat Panel TV owners a 8x HD recorder, the longest HD record time for a TV today.

The XCode 3290 is included in fifteen new models available in the Japanese market: P50-XP03, P46-XP03, P42-XP03, P42-HP03, L42-XP03, L37-XP03, L32-WP03, UT47-XP800(B/W), UT42-XP800(B/W), UT37-XP800(B/W), and UT32-XP800(B/W).

Features:

• Full Linux Operating System (OS) with associated applications
• PVR Stack with Recording, Time Shifting and Full Trick modes
• Faster than Real-time HD MPEG2 to HD AVC Transcoding
• Faster than Real-time HD AVC to HD AVC Transcoding
• AVC & MPEG2 HD Decoding and Display
• MPEG2 Encoding
• Marlin IPTV with Conditional Access (CA)/Digital Rights Management (DRM)
• SAFIA Content Protection (CP)
• DTCP/IP protection and DLNA support
• Transcryption for conversion between CA’s, DRM’s and CP’s
• Full BCAS/ISDB-T support

(Source) Press

Cablevision Systems Corp, is now planning to deploy one of its controversial Remote Storage-DVR this summer. This is a news confirmed by none other than by Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Inc., analyst, Craig Moffett.

Cablevision expects the new RS-DVR to be a big capex saver. With this new product, Cablevision aim to solve the problem of in-home wiring, as RS-DVR can be implemented as whole-home DVR without requiring Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA).

The new RS-DVR will function like a regular DVR that is available in the market. However, unlike other DVRs, it would not prevent viewers from fast-forwarding through the advertising.

Moxi HD DVR

The Moxi HD DVR is the ideal HD TV companion. With a broadband connection and digital cable subscription , you can enjoy programing from your cable provider, the Internet, or your PC. The Moxi HD DVR is unlike other DVR’s, you’ll pay no monthly subscription fees.

The Moxi Menu makes it simple to find what you’re looking for and fun to find new things. The 500 GB hard drive allows you to record up to 75 hours of HD or 300 hours of SD programming. Along with a great DVR, you’ll also get a news browser, music jukebox, photo display and game arcade. Retails for $799

CyberTech International now becomes compliant with the Communication Manager 5.1 solutions from Avaya, providing a better business option as far as recording voice, radio and data. The CyberTech Pro recording system helps businesses drive efficiencies in the capture, storage, retrieval and playback of voice, radio and data communications. The application now is compliance-tested by Avaya for compatibility with Communication Manager 5.1 (DMCC).

“With the compliance certification from Avaya, CyberTech continues to demonstrate that we lead the industry in versatile, flexible and high-quality solutions that exceed expectations for rolling out advanced technologies efficiently, and ahead of the curve,” said Rob de Brouwer, product manager, connectivity, for CyberTech. “This integration affords the world’s most competitive enterprises the agility to profit from open, standards-based platforms to easily incorporate new technology, and to cost effectively uncover new paths to greater profitability.”

CyberTech International is a member of the Avaya DevConnect program, an initiative to develop, market and sell innovative third-party products that interoperate with Avaya technology and extend the value of a company’s investment in its network.

(Source) Press

New storage devices larger storage. Imation has been a constant brand in the world of optical storage and similar to what most companies are doing, they have released larger and affordable storage solutions.

Imation Corp. today announced it is shipping its highly anticipated M-Class and S-Class Solid State Drives (SSDs) in the Americas, boasting lightning-fast performance in an energy efficient, affordable solution. Also available are Imation’s M-Class and S-Class SSDs with Upgrade Kits, offering progressive users a complete, easy way to upgrade an existing Hard Disk Drive (HDD) computer system to one that is SSD-based, without buying a new computer. The Upgrade Kit provides PC users an affordable solution from a trusted brand for improving performance and extending the life of their PCs, a much-needed boost in today’s economic environment.

Imation’s high-quality, second-generation SSD products combine powerful technology with an elegant design that helps users upgrade from traditional computing performance. Both the Imation M-Class and S-Class SSD products deliver fast boot times, enable applications to load in a fraction of the traditional time, and harness the power to run graphics and design programs the way they were intended. Along with the unique Imation Upgrade Kit, users can take advantage of the latest SSD technology without replacing system hardware and while preserving their current applications and data.

Imation’s M-Class and S-Class SSD drives are now available in 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch configurations through authorized Imation distributors, wholesalers, resellers and e-tailers in the Americas. Imation SSD drives are available in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB capacities for a starting MSRP of US $189.99 for M-Class and US $659.99 for S-Class. Imation SSD Upgrade Kits including a 64GB or 128GB SSD drive are available for a starting MSRP of US $299.99 for M-Class and US $1,299.99 for S-Class.

(Source) Press

Western Digital recently unveiled the new eSATA edition of My DVR Expander. Now you can save more with deleting the previously recorded shows. The device offers recording up to 60hrs of HD video or 300hrs of Standard TV video and comes in two variants of 1TB or 500GB. The My DVR Expander has been tested and verified for TiVo service. The WD My DVR Expander eSATA is available now for a price of $199.99(1TB) and $129.99(500GB) respectively. 

Adobe is trying to push its Flash to TVs and DVRs and the company is going to be more aggressive about it. Using its Open Screen Initiative Adobe will expand Flash support to various kinds of hardware. Deals with Comcast, Broadcom, Netflix and Intel have been or will be made in order for the implementation of Flash to go as smooth and as fast as possible.

We’re expecting more HDTVs and DVRs to be Flash-friendly in the second half of the years. Will Adobe succeed in this endeavor? And why shouldn’t it since we already are familiar with Flash in our lives as most of the computers we use have it installed. The picture above shows you just a glimpse of what a Flash-enabled TV looks like.

via NYT

Digeo,Inc.announced new features to the Moxi High Definition Digital Video Recorder (HD DVR). The Moxi HD DVR has added new services which are available directly from the on-screen menu including Internet video from Hulu, YouTube, Netflix and more streaming directly to the TV through MediaMall Technologies’ PlayOn media server software in addition to the streaming digital music service from Rhapsody.

The Moxi HD DVR now includes eControls which is a home automation feature that permits users to customize the home theater experience by adjusting lighting and other Z-Wave supported products. The Flickr online photo service and MoxiNet Internet browser were also enhanced, and Moxi is now certified to support the DLNA standard for improved home networking. All of these new services will be available automatically to customers with a Moxi HD DVR thru a software upgrade at no additional cost from Digeo.

Panasonic Corporation, Japan recently released its new DMR-XE1 AVREC DVR. The compact device boasts a small footprint of 430mm x 59mm x 242mm. The Digital Video Recorder is equipped with a 160GB HDD to record up to 80 hours of HD video. With its built-in DVD Writer you can burn 2hours of hd videos on a DVD in minutes.

The device gives convenience of operation with a single remote control for recording and browsing channels, when used as a Digital TV tuner.  In AVREC mode it records video in AVC/H.264 at 12.9Mbps.  The Panasonic Corporation plans to release 25,000 models each month starting 25th April at an open price.  

Via: Panasonic

If you’ve ever wanted to check what’s on TV while on the run and just so happen to subscribe to DirecTV and have an iPhone (or iPod touch), you’re in luck! DirecTV has recently announced that their appropriately branded App has hit Apple’s App Store, fo’ free.

This piece of software has quite a bit of functionality, you’ll be able to search all sorts of information on shows up to 14 days in advance, but here’s the cool part. You can program your home DirecTV DVR from your iPhone to record full episodes or full series.

Imagine, a show is on while you’re at work, just tap record on your iPhone and watch it when you get home, genius.

Read (DirecTV)

EchoStar proudly unveils its new SlingLoaded HD DVR. The newly launched T2200S is the world’s first SlingLoaded, tru2way-based and multi0tuner set-top box that has been especially designed for the cable TV industry. Featuring Sling Media’s placeshifting technology, this new product lets you watch any content from TV, DVR or VOD.

The new T2200S is capable of supporting MPEG-2, H.264 and VC1. It features 1GHz tuners that can support expanded network bandwidth. It comes featuring an attractive, backlit front panel and a capacitive touch. Not just these, this DVR also incorporates a clock display.

You can connect T2200S with the home network via Ethernet, WiFi or Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA). It can support Macrovision and DCS analog copy protection. The new EchoStar T2200S SlingLoaded HD DVR is expected to be available in the market by June 2009 at a price that has not yet been disclosed.

Video processing just got easier as two of the leading components in video processing joined hands to combine the unprecedented performance of the Stretch VRC6000 Series with the rich feature set and reliability of the Skyvision NBV6 software. Skyvision’s DVR software is sold in over 40 countries across the world, and claims a 40 percent market-share position in mainland China.

Skyvision’s NBV6 software utilizes the true H.264 D1 hardware compression of the VRC6000 Series cards to deliver high quality video compression with a minimum of storage consumption. The feature-rich graphical user interface of the DVR application provides easy access to both recorded video and live video feeds. In addition, alarms generated from the VRC6000 cards’ embedded analytics can be used to optimize recording modes to capture the best possible record of the observed scene.

Skyvision NBV6 software is available immediately from Skyvision. Stretch VRC6000 Series DVR add-in cards are available from Stretch.

(Source) Press

Recently, Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc., a leading supplier of innovative computer products and broadcast solutions, announced that its Fujitsu IP-9500 MPEG-4 AVC Encoder now features DVB-S (Digital Video Broadcasting Satellite) and DVB-S2 (Digital Video Broadcasting Satellite Second Generation functionalities to transmit HD signals over satellite links.

With the integration of DVB-S/S2 capabilities in Fujitsu IP-9500 MPEG-4 AVC Encoder, the need to have separate modulators has vanished, as both these capabilities now enable broadcasters to maintain superior HD picture quality produced by this encoder. Both these modulation capabilities in IP 9500 reduce the overall cost of transmitted HD signals via satellite.

For those of you who are interested to see Fujitsu IP-9500 MPEG-4 AVC Encoder with DVB-S and DVB-S2 capabilities, Fujitsu will demonstrate these features during 2009 NAB Show in Booth SU10921 between April 20-23 at the Las Vegas Conventions Center.