TiVo to return to the UK - Page 5

cyril · 10-25-2009, 04:45 PM

Well hardware costs seem to have come down somewhat -I've seen a blu-ray player in Asda for 75quid.

So maybe it's time for a four to six tuner + blu-ray with TiVo software for say £350+£200 lifetime sub?

There should be a gap in the market somewhere in-between the expensive Panasonic HD Freesat bluray DVRs (£550+) and the Humax HD Freesat DVR (£250)

iankb · 10-28-2009, 05:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyril

So maybe it's time for a four to six tuner + blu-ray with TiVo software for say £350+£200 lifetime sub?

The problem with a six-tuner TiVo would be the amount of diskspace required. Nowadays, people expect to be able to record HD, and they aren't willing to accept the lower-quality of TiVo-style compression.

My Windows 7 Media Center can take 20GB of diskspace to record a film in HD, and it can only be offlined to expensive Blu-Ray disks.

I have 2.5TB of diskspace and, with two FreeView and one FreeSat tuner, it fills up quite quickly.

cyril · 10-28-2009, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iankb

The problem with a six-tuner TiVo would be the amount of diskspace required. Nowadays, people expect to be able to record HD, and they aren't willing to accept the lower-quality of TiVo-style compression.

My Windows 7 Media Center can take 20GB of diskspace to record a film in HD, and it can only be offlined to expensive Blu-Ray disks.

I have 2.5TB of diskspace and, with two FreeView and one FreeSat tuner, it fills up quite quickly.

Well the TiVo would have a USB external port enabled, so a 1.5TB external drive should suffice for most users.

I think I have about 10TB now spread across 6 SkyHD, 3 FoxsatHD,1 FortecHD, 4 Windows Media centres, 7 TiVos. About half of them are not in use for various reasons.

EvilBoB · 10-30-2009, 10:08 AM

Just been reading this thread and it's got me excited - especially the mention of Humax being involved. I have a Humax Foxsat HDR and there is an big s/w update coming soon. If it were Tivo I would be so stoked!

Probably not though

Glen · 10-30-2009, 06:40 PM

If TiVo were to return to the UK, they would make a big deal out of it to get as much coverage as possible. I really loved my TiVo! Infact its still sitting on my tv stand unplugged. The lure of HD was far far too much for me after yonks of resisting and the final acceptance that they won't be back.

Automan · 11-01-2009, 04:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glen

If TiVo were to return to the UK, they would make a big deal out of it to get as much coverage as possible. I really loved my TiVo! Infact its still sitting on my tv stand unplugged. The lure of HD was far far too much for me after yonks of resisting and the final acceptance that they won't be back.

Accurate program recording start and stop control for a new Tivo would be a must for me and I suspect a strong selling point.

Automan.

DeadKenny · 11-01-2009, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EvilBoB

Just been reading this thread and it's got me excited

Sadly this is a bumped thread from 2006. Nothing to see here. Move along.

There's really no chance of TiVo's return now in my opinion. Even if they tried, they'd have a massive mountain to climb and would have to invest a vast amount in advertising just to build up awareness (and remember they couldn't be bothered before). The market is saturated with Freeview PVRs and that's really the only place they could gain a foothold. There's really no business sense in trying for just a niche product.

cleudo · 11-02-2009, 05:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeadKenny

Sadly this is a bumped thread from 2006. Nothing to see here. Move along.

There's really no chance of TiVo's return now in my opinion. Even if they tried, they'd have a massive mountain to climb and would have to invest a vast amount in advertising just to build up awareness (and remember they couldn't be bothered before). The market is saturated with Freeview PVRs and that's really the only place they could gain a foothold. There's really no business sense in trying for just a niche product.

This story is from the end of August, but case ongoing - I wonder if the likes of Sky, Humax etc etc might be getting a tad concerned...

http://newteevee.com/2009/08/26/tivo...-infringement/

mikerr · 11-02-2009, 05:53 AM

Neither freesat or freeview fit in with TiVo's subscription model, and while us TiVo Zealots may happily pay £400 for a new tivo... the public wouldn't pay more than £100/£200.

A TiVo software update to V+ would be the most viable option here,
it would be a good fir for VirginMedia, to differentiate their product from sky+
and could be sent to all existing units as an over the wire update.

The V+ box hardware is actually a Scienfic Atlanta 8300DVB, which already runs TiVo software in the US...

Why VirginMedia decided to write their own inferior software is beyond me - politics ?
or is a TiVo licence so expensive...?

countjocular · 11-02-2009, 07:11 AM

I'd gladly pay to have TiVo software running on my Sky+ box. A dual-boot option would mean people could carry on using the crappy Sky+ interface if they wanted, and the likes of us could use all the functionality of Tivo with the benefits of twin-tuners and improved picture quality.
Schedule info is 'live' in the satellite feed, though the dial-up option could always be used. Networking could always be achieved through the serial port.

Someone once said here that there's more Sky+ users in the UK than TiVo users in America. TiVo Inc. could expand their client base massively and relatively easily. BSkyB could benefit from new customers who've always avoided the Sky interface like the plague.
Downsides are Sky never admitting there's a better interface out there, and of course reliability issues across the many types of Sky boxes.

Dreams, eh?

Cheers,
Phil

iankb · 11-02-2009, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Automan

Accurate program recording start and stop control for a new Tivo would be a must for me and I suspect a strong selling point.

Automan.

That alone doesn't solve the problem, since a delayed programme on one channel may then overlap a scheduled recording on another channel. And it wouldn't be easy to predict the problem, and set your recording preferences.

To me, the only solution is a large number of tuners. With those, you can set a sizeable padding if you can't get real-time broadcast triggers.

DeadKenny · 11-02-2009, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikerr

A TiVo software update to V+ would be the most viable option here,
it would be a good fir for VirginMedia, to differentiate their product from sky+
and could be sent to all existing units as an over the wire update.

The V+ box hardware is actually a Scienfic Atlanta 8300DVB, which already runs TiVo software in the US...

Why VirginMedia decided to write their own inferior software is beyond me - politics ?
or is a TiVo licence so expensive...?

Virgin, formerly NTL, formerly CableTel (all the same company just rebranded themselves with the name of the companies they took over), have always done the most arse about face things. There's little logic in why they do what they do, but they do like reinventing the wheel and doing it badly.

There's no way they'll change software for TiVo software. It's extra cost for something no one but a few of us here wants. Sure it may be better but virtually no one is aware of TiVo beyond the odd reference in The Simpsons that they shrug at, and they have no real need of it so long as the existing box records programmes off the telly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by countjocular

I'd gladly pay to have TiVo software running on my Sky+ box. A dual-boot option would mean people could carry on using the crappy Sky+ interface if they wanted, and the likes of us could use all the functionality of Tivo with the benefits of twin-tuners and improved picture quality.
Schedule info is 'live' in the satellite feed, though the dial-up option could always be used. Networking could always be achieved through the serial port.

Someone once said here that there's more Sky+ users in the UK than TiVo users in America. TiVo Inc. could expand their client base massively and relatively easily. BSkyB could benefit from new customers who've always avoided the Sky interface like the plague.
Downsides are Sky never admitting there's a better interface out there, and of course reliability issues across the many types of Sky boxes.

Dreams, eh?

Dreams indeed. Sky owns the platform and they will never allow a legitimate third party system on it. TiVo won't come to the UK without a legitimate platform.

We can forget Sky. Virgin is unlikely. Freesat/Freeview, maybe but the market is saturated with PVRs anyway.

TiVo is perhaps a bit dated now anyway as Internet TV is going to be the way forward.

cwaring · 11-02-2009, 02:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeadKenny

TiVo is perhaps a bit dated now anyway as Internet TV is going to be the way forward.

You haven't seen the Series4 then?

DeadKenny · 11-03-2009, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cwaring

You haven't seen the Series4 then?

Seems little need for a TiVo though when there are lots of net TV boxes on the market now in various forms, all a lot cheaper than a TiVo I'd guess.

I'm really not sure what my route forward is. I was going to go Sky+ HD, but the bugs with and the £10 a month it put me off. Then I thought I can live with the free stuff and for HD the majority of stuff of interest is on BBC. Thought of Freesat HD but then again I can just get a box or build one that will do iPlayer. I've got the broadband speed for the HD stuff. SD iPlayer I can already do just hooking up my netbook to the telly. Oh, and there's www.tvcatchup.com I found recently which covers a lot of the free channels.

Don't know, but if a new TiVo was going to be £300 and then a subscription on top!!!

blindlemon · 11-04-2009, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikerr

The V+ box hardware is actually a Scienfic Atlanta 8300DVB, which already runs TiVo software in the US...

Why VirginMedia decided to write their own inferior software is beyond me - politics ?
or is a TiVo licence so expensive...?

Yep - for a while I hoped this would happen too, but maybe you're right and a TiVo license is prohibitively expensive.... who knows