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Get TiVo without a TiVo box

The moment many have long awaited has arrived: Comcast cable customers can get TiVo on the cable company's own DVR set-top boxes.

TiVo is now available as a software download, which means no new piece of hardware for current customers and no waiting around for hours on a technician.

It's the first time TiVo's been available on non-TiVo hardware. Motorola says its DCT6412 set-top box is one such model. Technical trials began in December 2006, and market trials will begin this spring, the companies said. What they're not saying is how much the service will cost. … Read more

Motorola's place-shifting set-top: Follow Me TV

Motorola's Follow Me TV feature for its DVR set-top boxes lets users choose which TV to watch a recorded TV show on.

Instead of keeping content stored on only that TV, Follow Me TV lets users bring TV with them from room to room. Any recorded show is aggregated and made available on any TV on the network. In addition to TV programs, music and photos can also follow to any TV, and the content can also be sent to portable devices.

Or, as Motorola CEO Ed Zander demonstrated for the audience here at CES 2007, you can pause … Read more

A wireless home for family harmony

My mother would hate the way I just shove the tangle of wires behind my TV. It's the analog equivalent of sweeping dust under the rug.

The people at Tzero Technologies haven't met my mom (so far as I know), but they apparently understand her concerns. So they just moved a step closer to making good on their promise of wireless high-definition home entertainment.

The ultra wideband (UWB) chipset maker announced today that Siemens will be the first to incorporate Tzero's chips in its Ultra Wideband Multimedia Home Router. Tzero says the router, which will distribute Ethernet … Read more

50 million set-tops = 400 Mt. Everests

Motorola announced to the world that it had shipped its kajillionth set-top box. OK, that's an exaggeration--it's actually 50 million. But any excuse for a party, right?

To commemorate the self-congratulatory occasion, the company treated us all to a fascinating history of the set-top box. I'll paraphrase: Way back in 1996 (the modern equivalent of the Iron Age), Motorola capitalized on this newfangled thing called "digital cable." With its advent, companies could do things like send "program guides" and "shows on-demand." (Cue the French horns.) In its prescience, Motorola put out &… Read more