TiVo confirms SDV dongle for 2Q 2008

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No word on that yet. I'm betting it'll be $2.50-$3.00 per month around here.

 

If it is like cable cards, it will be different in every location. Some will be reasonable, maybe even free for the first one, some will be expensive, maybe as much as the DVR fee. In some locations there will be an extra digital outlet charge (wanna bet?). Published pricing will be loosely followed but only in a way allowed by the data entry program that may, or may not, recognize "dongle".

I don't think we can expect the FCC to suggest pricing.

Al

 

They are going to charge for it. And you can bet that the pricing is going to be higher than using the Cable Co. Box/DVR.

BrightHouse in Florida just launched new 5 new HD channels and of course they are not available without a box.

 

I'm glad to see the spec requires support for at least 2 tuners in the UDCP. It would be really great if one resolver could handle multiple coordinated DVRs.

 

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And did I understand correctly in a post above that the dongle will be used in place of the cable card?

 

No, it will not; the CableCARD is still needed for authorization, and it sounds like the card-negotiated key can in fact be used for communication with the head-end via the tuning resolver device (by my reading of the tuning resolver spec put out by CableLabs, anyway). It sounds like its channel mappings will be used *in place of* those provided through/to the CableCARDs, but the cards will still be necessary.

 

Great. So we pay for the service, pay for the cable card, AND pay for the resolver. Time for a little OTA testing.

 

I'd suggest you simply wait for real info.

The only comment anyone in-the-know has ever made about the cost of the dongle is that TiVo stated they anticipate cable providers will provide it at no additional charge.

All the sky-is-falling guesses have come from naysayers around here.

 

I thought Tivo claimed that they expected it to be free.

Although I think they're deluding themselves.

 

Given the date on these specifications, is there any chance this device will be available in 2008? I would think that if the specifications are just coming out now, it'll be at least a year before devices are built, tested, UL Labs approved, documented, shipped to cable providers, tested some more, and finally distributed to users.

 

They said they were shooting for second quarter of this year.

 

That is what the base note references. That note was posted in late November 2007. If 2nd Quarter of 2008 includes April, May, and June, that note was released about 7 months before the anticipated release. Two months have passed, or almost 30% of their timeline. Has any updated information been released since late November to indicate whether they were still on track?

I'm anxiously awaiting the device, or knowing that the device -will- be available, since that will ease my shift away from DirecTV since they appear to have given up on TiVo.

Thanks,

John

 

I happened to call my cable company for an unrelated matter and while on the phone I asked if they were adding any new channels this year and if so if they would be SDV. The answer I got was that they were going to be converting a lot of existing channels to SDV this year. I was told this won't happen for at least 6 months.

I then asked if the person knew anything about the tuning resolver and she said she never heard of such a thing. Not the most encouraging sign.

On a somewhat related note, she mentioned that SDV is in use in Cherry Hill, NJ which I knew because it is one of Comcast's test beds for SDV. I mentioned that Cherry Hill used SA boxes while my area uses Motorola and she said that Comcast is dropping support for SA in the near future and switching totally to Motorola. You can take this any way you want, but since Comcast chose Motorola for their SDV provider it might be true.

 

TWC in Cincinnati just reversed course on SDV and now provides all linear HD to UDCP devices. Interesting how soon after the dongle announcement this came around.

 

I don't think it was even 5 months ago I called a Comcast CSR who kept thinking I was saying "cable cord" and hadn't a clue what a "CableCARD" was. So I wouldn't go taking that as any kind of sign.

 

That means nothing. The 1st tier telephone support at the cable companies are often clueless about anything that isn't on their computer screens. They usually just follow a script. When I first got my Series 3 and ordered the Cable Cards they still wanted to know what make of TV I had (because to them Cable Cards went into TV's). I had to explain to them what a Tivo S3 was and that it took cable cards. So one of those phone support dimwits not knowing anything about a device intended for a small percentage of customers that isn't even due until Q2 of the year isn't surprising at all.

In any case, the cable card guru at my cable co was already aware of the "Tuning Resolver" when I told him about it last year. He also told me he has no idea when they are going SDV.

 

I found I was unable to tune a number of "new" TWC channels (Austin), so I called TWC support. I learned a number of interesting things:

1. TWC has a callback mechanism so you can just put in your number, and they tell you when you'll get a call back from support
2. When callback comes, it's still from a Tier 1 person who puts you on hold to connect you to Tier 2
3. Tier 2 answered and said the new channels I'm not getting are "swtiched." And since I know my HD Tivo does not support SDV, I'm screwed.

Any updated word on when/if those nifty adapters will come out? Announcement said Q2, and we're slowly approaching Q2...

 

The estimate was that they'd be shipping by the end of calendar Q2, so they'll only be late if we get to July and they're still not available anywhere.

 

Even a month after that, since TiVo's fiscal year begins in February.

 

Hopefully there is a Tivo beta program going on as we speak that is testing the hardware + updated Tivo software. Note that while certainly it is necessary for areas with SDV deployed to be represented, the solution can and should still be tested by people not affected by SDV as well.
I suspect, however, that end of Q2 was when Motorola projected having hardware available, but that still means a few months of beta testing by Tivo once the hardware is available and Tivo can get some units to distribute to testers. Then of course is the issue of when these may actually become available to and officially supported by your local headend (and no doubt having to wait for a truck roll for it to happen).