Free Republic

November 29, 2005 - Apple's Mac mini will be reborn as the digital hub centerpiece it was originally conceived to be, Think Secret sources have disclosed. The new Mac mini project, code-named Kaleidoscope, will feature an Intel processor and include both Front Row 2.0 and TiVo-like DVR functionality. While the specific model and speed of the Intel processor in the new Mac mini is unknown, sources are confident the system will be ready for roll-out at Macworld Expo San Francisco, in line with other reports Think Secret has received that Intel-based Macs will be ready some six months sooner than...

The patent is for a personal video recorder that recognizes viewer preferences through an RFID chip embedded in clothing, jewelry, or somewhere in "the user's body."TiVo Inc. has filed a patent application to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office earlier this month that suggests company inventors believe radio frequency identification (RFID) technology will become inserted into clothing, jewelry, key chains, and even under the skin in the body. Whether TiVo actually decides to build in the feature, the patent is for a personal video recorder (PVR) that recognizes viewer preferences through an RFID chip embedded in clothing, jewelry or "inserted...

TiVo, the maker of digital video recorders, plans to announce a new feature on Monday that will let TiVo owners watch recorded television shows on Apple's video iPods and on Sony's handheld PSP game machine. The announcement builds on TiVo's release in February of an update to its video recorders that allows its users to transfer programs to personal computers and DVD's, as well as to portable video players that support Microsoft's mobile video format. When the company releases new software in the first quarter of next year, it will extend that capability to the video iPod, released last month,...

WASHINGTON, June 8 (UPI) -- TiVo's newest gadget could become the next big thing in portable entertainment -- or so the company's shareholders are hoping -- but some industry analysts remain skeptical about how successful the endeavor will be. TiVo said it will join forces with Microsoft and Intel to permit its TiVoToGo -- a portable television service -- to run on Microsoft computer software and use Intel microchips. That means users with Microsoft's Media Centers and several other portable entertainment systems will be able to download television programs onto their computers to watch on the go. "TiVo is enabling...

Much to the chagrin of many of its users, TiVo has begun testing out a new form of advertising on its subscription digital video recorder service. The ads were designed to appear on the screen while a user is fast-forwarding through commercials, but some TiVo customers say ads are popping up during TV shows.

TiVo began testing interactive advertising tools during the weekend as it looks to appease companies wary of users' ability to skip over ads. The company confirmed late Monday that it released the first in a series of advertising features to a random and limited number of subscribers to the digital-video recorder service. The first test feature--a tag--pops up on the screen when a viewer is fast-forwarding through an advertisement. If viewers press the thumbs-up or select button during the half second the tag is displayed, they will be redirected to a menu that leads to more information about the advertised...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Tivo Inc. surged Wednesday because of Internet speculation that Apple Computer Inc. may be planning a bid to buy the company that popularized digital-video recording of television shows. Tivo's shares closed up 68 cents, or 18 percent, to $4.38 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Apple's shares closed up $2.90, or 3.4 percent, to $88.19 on the Nasdaq. Spokesmen for Tivo and Apple declined to comment, saying the companies don't respond to rumors. Unsourced speculation about a possible acquisition has appeared on a number of Internet message boards and Web blogs in the past....

"GRAND FORKS, N.D., Feb. 16 - From a chenille-slipcovered sofa in the basement of their friend Dave's mom's house at the edge of a snow-covered field, Brad and Other Brad, sock-footed pioneers in the latest technology revolution, are recording "Why Fish," their weekly show. Clutching a microphone and leaning over a laptop on the coffee table, they praise the beauty of the Red River, now frozen on the edge of town, and plug an upcoming interview with a top-ranked professional walleye fisherman. Then they sign off. "I'm Brad" says Brad, in real life, Brad Durick, a 29-year-old television advertising salesman....

John Kerry met with France's President Jacques Chirac last Friday, part of the senator's fact-finding mission to Europe and the Middle East. Details of their talk weren't revealed, but there is little doubt both men felt a sense of disappointment that Mr. Kerry hadn't won November's election. As a French official loved to point out to me last year, the French government was looking forward to a president with French relatives addressing the French Parliament in French.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- TiVo has been synonymous with digital video recording since it pioneered the industry five years ago, controlling an estimated one-third of the market in 2004. That lofty perch is now beginning to crumble. Competition in the growing and lucrative industry is intensifying as cable providers, satellite operators and consumer electronics companies push ahead with models of their own, giving consumers more choices while threatening to significantly blunt TiVo Inc.'s edge. "They're facing a very, very difficult year this year. It'll be increasingly difficult for them to sign up new subscribers," said Josh Bernoff, an analyst...

LAS VEGAS -- TiVo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are joining forces for the first time in a deal that will let people transfer recorded television from their TiVo boxes for viewing on portable devices running Microsoft software. The arrangement, an extension of a new TiVo service, plays into Microsoft's natural interests by using the personal computer as a hub for routing recorded video to Windows-based mobile phones, Pocket PCs and new hand-held multimedia machines for which the Redmond company makes software. The surprise partnership between the rivals in the digital-television recording market was one of the main announcements during Bill...

I'm trying to figure out how to network my Series 2 (non-Direct TV) Tivo but am having trouble finding where to start. I think I'm gonna end up putting it on my wireless network but once it's on the network what should I do? I know that some Freepers capture video with Tivo and then transfer the files to their computers. I'm not a complete tech moron (I know XHTML/CSS and am proficient in PHP) but I haven't messed around with Tivo yet. I'd like to be able to back up some of the show I watch on my computer...

In the year 2014, The New York Times has gone offline. The Fourth Estate's fortunes have waned. What happened to the news? And what is EPIC? http://www.letitblog.com/epic/

When it debuted in 1999, TiVo revolutionized the TV experience by wresting control of screen time from advertisers, allowing viewers to record shows and skip commercials. TiVo's slogan said it all: "TV your way." Behind the scenes, though, TiVo was courting advertisers, selling inroads to a universe most customers saw as commercial-free. The result is a groundbreaking new business strategy, developed with more than 30 of the nation's largest advertisers, that in key ways circumvents the very technology that made TiVo famous.

It's acceptable for consumers to use software that edits out nudity or bad language from a DVD movie -- but they had better leave the commercials and promotional announcements in, according to legislation adopted by the House of Representatives this week. The main thrust of House Resolution 4077, also known as the Piracy Deterrence and Education Act of 2004, is to make it illegal to smuggle a camcorder into a movie theater, surreptitiously record a film and then circulate the homemade production on the Internet. But when it came time to vote, lawmakers did a little editing of their own...

Story last modified February 5, 2004, 3:21 PM PST Janet Jackson's Super Bowl flash dance was shocking in more ways than one: Some TiVo users say the event brought home the realization that their beloved digital video recorders are watching them, too. On Monday, TiVo said the exposure of Jackson's breast during her halftime performance was the most-watched moment to date on its device, which, when combined with the TiVo subscription service, lets viewers pause and "rewind" live television broadcasts, among other features. TiVo said users had watched the skin-baring incident nearly three times more than any other moment during...

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- People who gleefully treated themselves or others to a shiny new ReplayTV digital video recorder this Christmas may not be as happy anymore. DVRs are the latest alternative to VCRs, and an untold number of customers recently took advantage of ReplayTV's dramatic price drop to $149 for its lowest-end 40-hour model, thinking the deal included three years of service, which is needed for the devices to work. Now, some are furious, after their service was disconnected and they were told they must pay additional fees to reactivate it. "It's almost like buying a car and having...

As the broadcast networks rev up to debut dozens of comedies, dramas and not-so-real reality shows, the new fall television season already is a smash hit, financially. Advertisers placed $9.3 billion in advance orders for commercial time, blowing away last year's $8.1 billion mark. This year total TV ad sales, excluding cable, could crack the $60 billion barrier for the first time. Yet many of the biggest buyers look at the heights the ad market has reached and see a precipice. In a few years over half of the nation's 108 million homes will have digital recording technology that will...

Quick question. I'm getting TiVo, now I have a HDTV which is hooked up to Time Warner digital cable, can the 2 of them work together? The sales person was telling me that TiVo won't record digital programing over some kind of copyright issue, but he didn't know how it works involving Time Warner digital cable, and I can't reach anyone in customer service at the cable company (Its AOL Time Warner, what do you expect?). Does any freeper out there have HDTV, use Time Warner digital cable, and have TiVo? Do they work together with no problems?I appreciate any...

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- The war-related comments by Oscar winners Michael Moore and Adrien Brody were the most replayed part Sunday's Academy Awards broadcast, according to TiVo, the personal video recorder technology company. Most paused The single most paused or freeze-framed event of the live show was the stage entrance of presenter Julia Roberts. Most rewound In a post-event report on the behavior of its more than 600,000 subscribers, TiVo reported that the speeches by Mr. Moore, best documentary winner, and Mr. Brody, best actor winner, were the most rewound and replayed segments of the program. Mr. Moore, who won...