dvr

The makers of the Boxee Box set-top box appear close to releasing its successor in the coming months, and it could offer support for over-the-air live television, as well as DVR support and the usual cast and crew of Web apps.

Sadly, those looking for the next great aesthetic breakthrough from the company might find the leaked device a bit uninspiring. Photos supplied from The Verge indicate that the Boxee TV might shed its predecessor's cube-like design for a more conventional rectangular prism look with a matte black finish. … Read more

Simple.TV started as a darling of CES 2012, but recently it's been faced with the more pedestrian realities of launching a new product, such as raising money via Kickstarter and meeting its release dates.… Read more

Verizon has agreed to pay DVR specialist TiVo at least $250.4 million to settle all litigation between the companies.

Separately, Verizon also reached an agreement with privately held ActiveVideo for at least $260 million, resolving its suit related to on-demand video

"We are pleased to have reached settlements with both TiVo and ActiveVideo in these two matters," a Verizon spokesman said today. He declined to comment further.

According to a regulatory filing, Verizon will give TiVo an upfront cash payment of $100 million by September 28, followed by 25 recurring quarterly payments totaling $150.4 million. The … Read more

True story: The cable guy was over just last week, troubleshooting a signal-strength problem with our service. When he saw my CableCard-equipped media center PC, he said, "I've been wanting to do that with my computer, because Windows' channel guide is so much better than ours."

True dat. Windows Media Center offers a mighty sweet 10-foot interface, and when you pair your PC with a CableCard tuner, you've got everything you need for DVR awesomeness.

There are three such tuners on the market, and today's deal is for the most versatile of them. While supplies … Read more

Following yesterday's revelation that Apple was in talks to develop a new TV set-top box, more details are emerging about features the device will have.

One of the key features Apple plans to introduce with the device is a cloud-based DVR function that will let users view any TV show at any time, sources tell The Wall Street Journal. The feature would let viewers start a program minutes after it began, similar to a Time-Warner Cable feature called Start Over.

Apple is also reportedly interested in providing access to all episodes from the current season of a show, instead … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Ray Bradbury may soon be honored online with "451" error code for Internet censorship.

- Time Warner Cable grabs patent to prevent DVRs from skipping commercials.

- Twitter to grant Web sites extra characters with "expansive tweets."

- Select audiences at Disney-Pixar's "Brave" will be treated to Dolby's new Atmos sound system.… Read more

Tired of your cable company's crummy DVR box? The gold-standard replacement has long been, and probably always will be, TiVo.

A typical refurbished TiVo runs $79.99, but while supplies last, Ben's Outlet has the refurbished TiVo Premiere HD DVR for $49.99 shipped. That's one of the lowest prices I've seen for the hardware.

Ah, but the service -- that's where they get you. TiVo charges $14.99 per month (down from the previous $19.99 per month, at least) and requires a one-year commitment. Alternately, you can pay for $499.99 for lifetime … Read more

It's another day, and a new patent infringement suit sprouts up in the technology world.

Now that Oracle v. Google has wrapped up all save for an appeal, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California will be kept busy not just by Apple v. Samsung and Yahoo v. Facebook, but now also Cisco Systems v. TiVo.

Cisco has slapped the living-room entertainment company with a lawsuit over patent infringement regarding digital video recorder box technology.

Similar to another case that recently went on at the federal courthouse in San Francisco, this lawsuit, filed in San … Read more