Does the Tivo HD have additional hardware?

No.

 

I think we should say "we dont know" if either has the ability to go 2-way...

there's a thread around from a long time ago when the S3 came out from someone that noticed there's a chip on the S3 that could be flashed to become a docsis modem. If I understand correctly the Tivo HD also seems to have this exact same chip.

It could be that tivo is using it for something else entirely but it is rather interesting that both units have that chip.

BIG FAT DISCLAIMER- the chip alone even if flashed to become a modem would bot be enough- apparently there needs to be a few other traces and 10 cent components on the motehr board to get the modem signals BACK on the coax and out to the cableco. And no one seemed to be able to tell if those were or were NOT on the board.

I'll see if I can't find the original thread with a search...

 

here's the intial discussion about the fpga in the S3 that I could find:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4429645&&#post4429645

if i recall one of the blogs says the same (or a similar) fpga exists on the Tivo HD motehrboard?

 

An FPGA is not an RF transmitter. It might be able to control one, but there's no transmitter to control. The best hope to upstream communication is for there to be enough TiVos that the cableco's allow them to communicate with the headend via the internet. Otherwise you need new hardware.

 

Since the S3 (and S2 and TiVoHD) all have USB, an external box is not out of the question. A special TiVo-branded docsis modem to communicate directly with the headend is certainly a possibility.

Getting the cable companies (and cable labs) to support it is an entirely different beast.

 

honestly all the going back and forth just confuses me on this.

But how do you KNOW there is NOT an RF transmitter in either box? (I think they were called PHY's in the old threads.) The original threads from last fall seem to say they would be tiny components (maybe just a simple one lead resistor type thing) and might even be integrated in the component that converts the incoming signals into something that the tivo can handle. And might be on the order of cents/unit.

 

This is probably what it'll end up being. You'll get a USB box that has coax in and screws onto the back of the S3/TiVoHD's cable input jack. It'll contain the transmitter for upstream communication. Or something like that.