Did the S3 Hold Back the Tivo / Comcast Rollout?

[hiddentrout]

As a Comcast sub who was very excited (way back in March 05) when Tivo and Comcast announced the deal to provide Tivo software to Comcast (presumably the Motorola 6412?) boxes, it seems now that Tivo couldn't possibly have planned to roll this out until the S3 was in the market for a few months.

While the Comcast boxes with Tivo software (almost certainly) won't have OTA, it seems they'd have a similiar feature set to the S3 (at the core the main feature set of the S3 is simply having a dual-tuner HD cable DVR with Tivo software) and even if the Tivo-enabled boxes command a 100% premium over the current DVR boxes, that's still only $20/month or 40ish months to break even over purchasing an S3.

(Yes, yes, I *do* think the S3 is overpriced, but I agree with Pogue, the S3 probably is "the Lexus of video recorders...Here’s to anyone who can afford to drive one home.")

Anyone else think the Tivo / Comcast deal simply *had* to be on hold, or it would absolutely gut a significant portion of the potential S3 market (Comcast subs)..?

Here's to hoping that, with the S3 released, we're that much closer to leased HD Tivo box.

Cheers.

[cwoody222]

No conspiracy theory.

The S3 went on sale when it was ready.

The Comcast TiVo will do the same.

[Stu_Bee]

The S3 went on sale when it was ready.

It actually sounds to me like the S3 was ready for some time before it was put on sale. Tivo gave up waiting for Cablelabs certification of all it's features, disabled them, then released it.

Is comcast having similar delays? whoknows.

[HiDefGator]

>>> It actually sounds to me like the S3 was ready for some time before it was put on sale.

If it's been ready for a long time why isn't the eSATA port working yet?

[classicX]

It actually sounds to me like the S3 was ready for some time before it was put on sale. Tivo gave up waiting for Cablelabs certification of all it's features, disabled them, then released it.

I have no idea where you got that from. Can you elaborate?

As far as the Comcast Tivo goes, I think it will be release when Comcast is ready, not when Tivo is done with it. I'm curious as to where the Comcast Tivo will be getting it's guide information from. I remember a post a while back from a former-Tivo support engineer who said that his supervisor pointed out certain accounts, saying that they were Comcast customers testing the software.

I can't see how or why it would get it's guide information from Tivo though.

[bidger]

Well, if the deal was announced in February of 2005 and the Comcast-TiVo launches in February 2007, it jibes with another account I've heard of companies dealing with Comcast.

I saw a rep for Slingbox on HDNet's "Industry Insiders" awhile back and he told how a Comcast rep was disappointed that Slingbox was going to go retail rather than sign an exclusive deal with Comcast.

"But, you would have bled us dry financially by holding up the release for 18 months", the Slingbox rep replied.

The Comcast rep thought for a second and said, "More like 24 months".

So, the two years that Comcast has left TiVo hanging confirms that.

[greg_burns]

I have no idea where you got that from. Can you elaborate?

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4402752&&#post4402752

Definately sounds like Cablelabs is why eSata is disabled. Did it cause a delay? Not clear.

[hiddentrout]

No conspiracy theory.

The S3 went on sale when it was ready.

The Comcast TiVo will do the same.
I would stop well short of using the word "conspiracy." I suspect it's a simple business decision.

Can you imagine how difficult a sell the S3 would be (beyond early adopters) if it was competing against a similiarly-featured (albeit with less capacity I'd suspect) version of itself - and the cableco version was $10 - $20 per month (instead of $800) and came with what is, essentially, a lifetime warranty..?

From a marketing perspective, it would have been disastrous to have the Comcast version out in advance, or even an announced date, in advance of the S3 having some time to establish itself...

I'm just another guy who loves Tivo, and have been jonesin' for the Comcast version.

[classicX]

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4402752&&#post4402752

Definately sounds like Cablelabs is why eSata is disabled. Did it cause a delay? Not clear.

:up: thx for the info - when I first read that post I couldn't remember whether it was about MRV or TTG or eSATA or what.

[megazone]

My impression, from what I've heard, is that Comcast is the primary driver on their schedule. They've slated it for field trials this fall and rollout in early 2007. That probably just fits with their business plans.

[HDTiVo]

TiVo blamed Comcast delay on a development issue with a third party. (Middleware I think)

[R. Kalia]

TiVo blamed Comcast delay on a development issue with a third party. (Middleware I think)
or the hardware manufacturer

[hiddentrout]

...They've slated it for field trials this fall and rollout in early 2007. That probably just fits with their business plans....which just happens to dovetail nicely with giving the S3 some time to ring up some sales as well.

Thanks for the info mega.

[bkilian]

Even if I had the option to go standalone or integrated, I would go for the standalone. If you take a look at how crippled the DirecTivos are (I know, I just switched from one) compared to the standalones, I feel Tivo is far more likely to be able to push all their features into their own box.