directivo

New TiVo-powered DirecTV DVR coming in 2009

DirecTV will release a new TiVo-powered high-def DVR in the second half of 2009, the company has announced. Unlike the last "DirecTiVo" model that was released in 2004, the new model will be able to receive DirecTV's entire lineup of digital and high-def channels.

DirecTV's original TiVo-powered DVRs were among the first satellite receivers with digital video recorders built in (rather than tethered external units). The HR10-250, in fact, was the first high-def DVR available anywhere. Unfortunately, two things happened that put that model on the fast track to obsolescence. DirecTV began utilizing MPEG-4 broadcasts for most of its HD channels--a format that wasn't compatible with the TiVo units. And secondly, the company introduced its own line of non-TiVo DVRs. … Read more