[Discuss-gnuradio] TiVo Upgrade Shares PC Content

[Seth Johnson]

(Forwarded from Pho list.  Very unfortunately, this news article directly
echoes the "only in the home" position of those endorsing the FCC's proposal
to require content control to be built into digital TVs.  Article text
pasted below.  -- Seth)

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: pho: TiVo upgrade shares PC content
Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2003 10:24:36 -0700 (PDT)
From: address@hidden
To: address@hidden

This NEWS.COM (http://www.news.com/) story has been sent to you from
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Message from sender:
Hmmm...is this one going to escape lawsuits?
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TiVo upgrade shares PC content
By John G. Spooner Staff Writer, CNET News.com
April 8, 2003, 7:12 AM PT
http://news.com.com/2100-1041-995932.html?tag=sas_email

The company releases a software upgrade that will allow its TiVo Series2
digital video recorders to tap music files, digital photos and other content
stored on a home PC.

----

> http://news.com.com/2100-1041-995932.html?tag=sas_email


> http://news.com.com/2100-1041-995932.html?tag=sas_email


TiVo upgrade shares PC content 

By John G. Spooner 
April 8, 2003, 7:12 AM PT

TiVo wants to be the hub for spreading digital content throughout the home. 

The San Jose, Calif., company on Tuesday made available a new software
upgrade that will allow its TiVo Series2 digital video recorders to tap
content stored on a home PC. 

As previously reported, the Home Media Option software will let the TiVo
boxes access and distribute content such as music files or digital photos
stored on the hard drives of Apple Computer's Macs or on Windows PCs,
streaming them to a television set or stereo via wired or wireless home
networks. 

The $99 upgrade, available from TiVo's Web site, will also accommodate
online scheduling, allowing Series2 owners to set their machines to record
programs via the site, the company said. 

The Home Media Option highlights manufacturers' growing interest in the
market for sharing content among devices in the home. Products such as the
Microsoft Media Center PC, sold by companies such as Hewlett-Packard,
position the PC at the center of the home network. 

Media Center PC software--a special version of Microsoft's Windows XP
operating system--adds a second interface for accessing content such as
music, photos and DVDs. Media PC owners can also watch TV and record
programs to the PC's hard drive using digital video-recording features
similar to TiVo's. 

Meanwhile, Intel and Microsoft have also begun efforts to jump-start the
development of a host of new devices that connect to home networks and share
multimedia files with PCs. Ultimately, some of these new devices will be
able to show television pictures, the companies have said. 

But TiVo's Home Media Option bucks that strategy, positioning the TiVo box
as the gatekeeper for digital content present on the home network. In this
case, the PC becomes more of a data repository for files. TiVo's new
software streams data, eliminating the need to reserve storage space on the
device itself, which is otherwise dedicated to storing TV programs. 

"Our approach recognizes that the PC or Mac may be the best place to store,
organize, manage and protect your digital media, but the living room is the
best place to enjoy it," Brodie Keast, senior vice president and general
manager of TiVo Service, said in a statement. 

The standard fee for the Home Media Option is $99. TiVo customers can also
add the new software to a second or third Series2 box, allowing them to
display content in different rooms on different TV screens. TiVo charges an
additional $49 fee to use the software on each extra box.