downloading of TiVo software canceled?

[Curtis]

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6499350.html

"Rogers, speaking at the Future of TV conference here in lower Manhattan, said that in discussions with Comcast and other cable operators, the original concept was that TiVo software would be embedded into cable operators’ existing set-tops in order to simplify provisioning and ideally eliminate the need for a truck roll.

“The idea was… if you could somehow take a generic [set-top] box and download the TiVo software over the wire, if you could order it from your cable company like HBO… it would be an incredible product,” Rogers said.

However, according to Rogers, the development was “much easier said than done.”

“It was an enormous piece of rocket science to work with hardware, chips we don’t control,” he said.

Comcast’s TiVo project, originally announced in March 2005, has been beset by delays. In May, Comcast expected to begin commercial rollouts in August. Before that, the companies expected the DVRs to be available in a majority of Comcast markets before the end of 2006.

Rogers said Comcast has now begun rolling out the TiVo-enabled Motorola boxes in the New England region and that Cox Communications, which has a similar deal with TiVo, will follow soon after. “That’s about 50% of the cable industry between the two of them,” he said."

[jmoak]

You quoted the line, "Rogers said Comcast has now begun rolling out the TiVo-enabled Motorola boxes in the New England region".

How does that equate to "downloading of TiVo software canceled?"???
:confused:

[Curtis]

You quoted the line, "Rogers said Comcast has now begun rolling out the TiVo-enabled Motorola boxes in the New England region".

How does that equate to "downloading of TiVo software canceled?"???
:confused:

"the original concept was that TiVo software would be embedded into cable operators’ existing set-tops"

... as opposed to the current concept?

[bicker]

So that's pretty much confirming the OPPOSITE of what you asserted in the OP.

I think you need to read what you quoted in the OP a little closer.

[HiDefGator]

It does say "...rolling out the boxes has begun..." not downloads have begun. Has anyone gotten it without a new box?

[Curtis]

So that's pretty much confirming the OPPOSITE of what you asserted in the OP.

Nothing was asserted in the OP.

[jmoak]

AhHa! Now I see said the blind man!;)

I could just tell you that the plan is still to load it onto motorola DCT34xx/64xx stb's, but the only way I can prove it is when the first "in the field" box is loaded.

Will they just download the first one's? I don't know. They may want to swap boxes just to make sure for the first go round, but the idea is still to do it without a swap or a truck roll.


:D

[jmoak]

Has anyone gotten it without a new box?Has anyone gotten it at all?
:confused:

[bicker]

I think the confusion stems from the distinction between embedding and downloading. They're clearly not the same thing in the context of Rogers' statement.

[cypherstream]

Well the Tivo software has to get in the box somehow. What's the difference if its downloaded to the box in the warehouse or downloaded to the box in your home.

One of the bugs was the download wiped out your recordings. They supposedly fixed this and announced that all your recordings stay intact. If they stay intact, that would indicate it is the same box..

[HiDefGator]

Well the Tivo software has to get in the box somehow. What's the difference if its downloaded to the box in the warehouse or downloaded to the box in your home.

HUGE DIFFERENCE!

If they can download it then they can give customers a free trial month to get them hooked. How many people will sign up if they have to drive to the cable office to swap out their box? Every truck roll to your house costs serious money. At $2.95 a month for the Tivo software how many months would it take for the cable company to just break even on each new sub.

Frankly at this point I don't know if they can download it or not. So this whole discussion could be moot. We didn't hear what he actually said, we just got to read the summary. At the end of the month on the quarterly call maybe he will clarify what he said.

Being able to do an upgrade and save the customers settings and shows is not really proof that they can reliably download it to every existing box flavor.

[markbox]

I'd be more than willing to try the TiVo software as a download
to my Moto box but there is NO WAY I would risk loosing
my recordings in the process. Luckily, since the Moto box
I have only stores a max of 20 hours of high-def programming
it wouldn't take too long to watch everything before taking
the plunge and risking the TiVo download.

[cypherstream]

jon a cable guy over at AVSForums had this to say:

For the most part a tech visit shouldn't be necessary but will be needed in some cases. Even if the DVR is working fine now it may not work correctly after the Tivo software is installed being it uses the docsis modem in the box that requires a little better signal then the current transmit/receive method. Actually the software will not even finish installing if the signal is not in specs, supposedly the box will just hang in a limbo state until the modem connects which will make customers very happy! How many people do you think their first experience with Tivo will be 'what the f@#*, why did I change from the 'working' iGuide to this!', mostly because they went & picked up a DVR in the past year, just plugged it in some barely working cable outlet with marginal signal & now be pissed that Comcast changed something & now it doesn't work anymore.
Although most of the visit would be a major waste of time just waiting the 30-45 minutes for software upgrade. That being said we'll just have to wait & see, hopefully 'very soon'.