DVR

TiVo offers a temporary price break on its service fees

Just in time for the holidays, TiVo's making some temporary changes to its service fee structure. For new TiVo buyers from now through February 2, 2008, service choices are as follows:

1 year monthly service: now $12.95/month (originally $16.95)

1 year prepay service: $129 (originally $179)

2 year prepay service: $249 (originally $279)

3 year prepay service: $299 (unchanged)

To reiterate: those pricing discounts apply only to new TiVo customers (including those who've purchased in the past 30 days); existing customers won't see any changes to their bill. However, TiVo does have an offer … Read more

The pen that swallowed a Bluetooth DVR

The pen has always been an inventor's paradise, used for everything from scanners and flash drives to aromatherapy and fishing. (We've even seen an inkless version that can write forever.) But one thing we never imagined was a DVR.

This Bluetooth DVR pen from Pacific Defence houses a wireless video recorder and microphone, as well as a motion sensor that will turn it on automatically when movement is detected, according to Gadget Venue. The 320x240 resolution isn't exactly feature-film quality, unless you're going for the grainy indie look, but it's better than the "Digital Spy Camera Pen,&… Read more

LG adds Freeview PVR to LCD

It's hard to criticize Korean companies these days. There was a time when LG and Samsung were famous only for their low-end products, but these days, nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed, it seems to be the Korean companies who are innovating and adding new features, and in LG's case, it's only gone and stuffed a Freeview PVR into its new TV, the LG 32LT75.

LG, which has done this before with previous models in the U.S. market, isn't the first company to put a PVR in a TV--Humax first did this a … Read more

TiVo supercharges high-def DVRs with latest software upgrade

TiVo is finally delivering some long-promised features to its two high-def models. In the coming weeks, the company will roll out software updates to the TiVo Series3 and TiVo HD that will add support for expandable storage, Multi-Room Viewing, TiVo To Go, and progressive downloading of Amazon Unbox and TiVoCast videos. Full details on each, after the jump: … Read more

More software upgrades on the way for HD TiVos

It looks as if TiVo is finally beginning to roll out some long-promised software upgrades to its high-def DVRs, the TiVo HD and TiVo Series3. Hot on the heels of last week's 9.1 software upgrade (which enabled support for Rhapsody's subscription music service), some users are already getting an upgrade to version 9.2. In addition to improving the Amazon Unbox viewing experience, the latest upgrade is said to add support for connecting external eSATA hard drives, thus expanding the number of recordable hours of TV--a feature promised when those DVRs were first released. TiVo's remaining … Read more

TiVo offers HD for lifetime service holdouts

There may be some sweet justice in the air for longtime TiVo holdouts. If you purchased the company's old lifetime service for a one-time fee years ago--and have refused to upgrade your box for fear of the dreaded monthly payments--you may want to take note of this new deal.

TiVo is now offering an HD recorder for $300 and will let you transfer your lifetime service for $199--that's just $20 more than a single year of prepaid annual service under the standard plan offered to new customers. We're still trying to sort out the details, but the … Read more

Nine months later, Rhapsody finally hits TiVo

Add Rhapsody to TiVo's bag of broadband media tricks. Real Networks' music subscription service is available as of today to users of TiVo's standalone Series2 and Series3 DVRs. The integration makes good on an announcement by the two companies back at January's Consumer Electronics Show. Rhapsody joins a host of other broadband offerings on TiVo's DVRs, including Amazon Unbox videos, Live 365 streaming radio, podcast downloads, Yahoo photos/traffic/weather, and customized TiVoCast video downloads. (Note: CNET is a content provider for TiVoCast.)

Existing Rhapsody subscribers should have no trouble getting access to their music collection, … Read more

Dongle promises to turn laptop into DVR

OK, we admit to being somewhat harsh at times on USB keys and sticks, especially when they appear to be getting too big for their gold-plated britches. But our beef mostly has been with their necessity, or lack thereof.

None of that would apply to AMD's latest invention if it does just half the things the company says it can do. The "ATI TV Wonder 600" USB dongle promises to turn your laptop into a DVR, even for high-definition stuff, and you can do even more with AMD's new PC card for desktops. As CrunchGear notes, … Read more

Hate your cable box? Maybe you need Moxi

Digeo dropped by the CNET offices this morning to give us a demo of their upcoming HD DVR, Moxi. We first saw Moxi many a CES ago and were definitely impressed, but since then only certain areas have had access to the hardware through their cable company. Now Digeo is looking to bring Moxi directly to consumers, in two flavors: the Moxi Multi-Room HD DMR and the Moxi Home Cinema Edition HD DMR.

The Moxi Multi-Room HD DMR is for cable subscribers that want to ditch their current cable boxes and use the Moxi with a CableCard. So what does … Read more