You may be aware that TiVo sued Echostar over infringing patents relating to the technology behind its PVRs. TiVo won and the court ruled that TiVo would get $88 million in damages and also Echostar would have to stop selling and using infringing PVRs.
Bit it wasn't over and Echostar appealed and was awarded some breathing space for the time being and then later requested more time to get certain documents together. The case has now got progressively more complex but I've tried to make sense of it the best I can.
The U.S. District Court Judge Duffey is now getting very frustrated with Echostar for not getting these documents in on time. It's rare for a court to give a company an extended time for appeal and Echostar is really dragging its heals in the mud and as a result is rubbing the courts up the wrong way.
Judge Duffey has now ordered that Echostar must now get the documents together by February 15th.
If all this legal mumbo jumbo is leaving your head hurting let me just conclude that the outlook still looks good for TiVo and Echostar is in for a tough ride.
Engadget has discovered that the TiVo Series 3 has had the PROM chip hacked. If you're like me your probably thinking "what the hell is a PROM chip?"
Well PROM stands for Programmable Read Only Memory and the PROM chip is placed on the motherboard inside your TiVo and contains some pre-loaded basic intelligence. It is this intelligence that contains security to prevent your TiVo from being modified with third party software and hacks.
This PROM hack can be done in the following not-so-simple steps:
De-solder the PROM chip from the TiVo motherboard
If you haven't fried the chip continue...
Extract the code from the Chip
Edit the Hex
Burn a new PROM
Re-solder the new chip back to the motherboard
Hope you haven't fried the chip
As you can see this is not exactly the easiest hack to do and it is only the first step. The next stage is developing individual hacks to alter the functionality of the TiVo, such as enabling TiVo2Go.
If you're technically minded enough and want to learn more then head over to the DealDatabase forums for more info.
Now this is cool! Control electronic devices in your house from the comfort of your couch using a TiVo remote control. That means you can now annoy other family members by turning off their lights from the comfort of your couch!
Once you have Homeseer installed there seems to be no limit on what devices can be controlled. If its got a button, a setting, a switch or anything like that then its likely that you could control it from your TiVo.
TiVo is now launching a service called StopWatch which offers data on the programming and viewing habits of TiVo customers, including that all important time shifted data. The time shifted data is what advertisers and TV networks are really concerned with at the moment.
TiVo has won one over on its leading ratings competitor Nielsen by offering second-by-second viewing data which Nielsen has refused to offer so far.
The advertising company Starcom is the first subscriber to TiVo's valuable data.
TiVo has provided itself with a loaded gun of cash just in case the company needs it. It has negotiated a $50 million line of credit with the CitiGroup Bank which will remain in effect for three years, until TiVo violates the agreement or chooses to end it.
This is happening not because TiVo is desperate for money, but more because they may feel a little uneasy about profitability in the near future so are giving themselves a failsafe just in case.
This has happened at the same time that TiVo has elected Jeffrey Hinson to the board of directors to help out with finances.
Davis Freeberg has had a look at all of this in more detail.
Jeffrey Hinson has been elected to join the TiVo Board of Directors and will serve on the Audit Committee, in other words he will be looking at the finances of TiVo.
Hinson has a strong background in managing the finance of big companies and has previously served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Univision Communications from March 2004 to June 2005.
I'm getting the impression that TiVo is a little worried about its financial position since it is not yet making a profit. Over the past 6 months TiVo has seen a gradual and consistent drop in its share price.
It is likely that the addition of Jeffrey Hinson may cause some sort of shakeup in terms of how the company aims to produce a profit, possibly resulting in changes in price plans, amount of advertising and licensing deals.
While many TV companies are attacking new technology and seeing it as a threat, CBS seems to be one company that is beginning to stand out as making the most out of new technology for promotion.
CBS recently received press coverage for signing a deal with YouTube to allow some of its content to be legally shown on YouTube. CBS was subsequently happy with the increased promotion for its shows.
Now CBS has cut a deal with TiVo to actually encourage TiVo users to record its shows. That's pretty extreme considering most TV networks cringe at the idea of having their programs recorded and the adverts skipped.
From February 6th TiVo will embed interactive tags for two weeks to encourage TiVo users to record CBS' entire new Monday-night lineup. In addition to this TiVo users can view sneak previews of new CBS comedy Rules of Engagement and crime drama Criminal Minds.
For many people a TiVo box has pride of place in the living room, but I don't think it crossed many peoples minds to stick a TiVo in the bathroom.
RotoRooter is giving you the chance to turn your toilet into a luxury lazy man throne making it more of an entertainment center than the average household's living room.
Included in the Entertainment Toilet Center setup is an Xbox 360, flat screen TV, laptop, a baseline resistive pedal exerciser, beer fridge with beer tap, iPod dock with toilet roll holder, DVD Player, a Series 2 TiVo, and a comfortable toilet seat.
With all that in there you thought they would have included a Series 3 TiVo and not a Series 2!
A user in the TiVo Community forum stated that upon contacting Time Warner the company said that you cannot use a TiVo with Time Warner Cable.
You might remember back when the Series 3 was launched how difficult cable companies were trying to make it so that for users to use a TiVo Series 3 with their service. In fact Time Warner first of all refused outright to use the Series 3 TiVo with their service before later changing its mind.
If your Cable Company says they don't support TiVo then you might like to remind them that it is an FCC regulation to provide CableCards for TiVo.
If anyone else has been having these problems with Cable companies please let us know.
Announced at the TiVo Community forum was a neat piece of Windows software called TiVo.net that allows you to use your TiVo as a media extender so you can play a variety of video formats from your PC.
A list of video formats and codecs that TiVo.net supports can be found here. The software works by converting the video on the fly to MPEG2 TiVo compatable video that can then whizz across your home network to your TV screen, via your TiVo.
TiVo.net is an open source project so others can get involved. It's early days for the software and if you experience any bugs it would be worth pointing them out to the developer.
Ever wonder how your 13 inch TV and Series3 HD TiVo home setup measures up against other TiVo users'? The folks at the TiVo Community Forum have posted a number of photos of their TiVo units in action and at rest.
Popular TiVo playmates seem to be large screen TVs and Xbox 360s. While some users seem to find beauty in a simple setup that hides the wires and most of the AV components, others seem to revel in showing off as many AV boxes as possible. My personal favorite is a shot on page four of the 16,000 wires used to plug in what appears to be a Series3 TiVo, several DirecTiVos, some serious audio hardware, and what might very well be a possibly a warp drive.
Lexus yesterday announced it has signed an upfront-advertising commitment with TiVo and will see the car manufacturer extend its use of TiVo's interactive and targeted advertising solutions.
This will see Lexus advertisements featured in the Gold Star Sponsorship on TiVo Central, program placement, Product Watch and the continuation of the interactive Lexus car configuration Tool.
The fact that Lexus has decided to continue this advertising relationship outlines that Lexus must be overall pleased with the results of this new advertising campaign that breaks away from traditional TV advertising, making use of the interactive features of TiVo and PVRs.
It's likely that more companies will follow suit bringing more adverts to PVRs and TiVo.
Apparently a couple of researchers at the University of Nebraska are doing a study on electronic delivery of personalized recommendations. They're looking for anyone who uses recommendations from Amazon.com, Netflix, TiVo, or iTunes when searching for new media.
For participating in the survey you can either collect a $5 check, or have it made out to a charity of your choice. It's not clear exactly what the study will be used for, but the researchers do point out that they have no affiliation with any commercial interest.
The Yankee Group released one of their latest studies today titled "Technology on Fast Forward: 2006 to 2011 US DVR Forecast" (doesn't that just roll off the tongue?), which predicts that by 2010 PVRs as a product category will be dead, which will in effect lead to the death of TiVo.
Now first off, by dead they mean that you won't be going out and buying PVRs, instead they will be so common place with cable companies that there will be no need to buy a specific brand/kind.
That's a pretty bold claim to make, and most of the basis of it comes down to the belief that PVRs will be so commoditized that TiVo just won't be able to compete anymore.
Interestingly enough the Yankee Group stresses that you cannot take away our beloved 30-second skip button. Instead advertisers will have to make us want to watch commercials by using techniques such as:
• time relevant advertising • location relevant advertising • ad telescoping • product placement • interactive advertisements
So what do you think? Will PVRs become so cheap and common place that TiVo just won't be able to survive?
Normally I refuse to say when a product is priced at $29.99. I feel it's disingenuous on the part of those setting the prices, and I just round up and tell you that you can pick it up for $30. I wish gas station owners and others would follow suit.
That said, it's technically true that OneCall's selling the TiVo Series3 for under $600. Just barely under $600, but still that's $200 off the list price. Of course, if resellers can keep affording to knock $100 or $200 off the price, I wonder why TiVo couldn't have just introduced the Series3 at $700, but I guess they need to recoup the development costs.
It looks like OneCall's sale ends on the 23rd. Keep in mind, if you pick up a new Series3 unit by the end of the month, and if you happen to have a lifetime service plan for an older TiVo, you can transfer that lifetime service tot he new box for $199.
You may be aware that TiVo sued Echostar over infringing patents relating to the technology behind its PVRs. TiVo won and the court ruled that TiVo would get $88 million in damages and also Echostar would have to stop selling and using infringing PVRs.
We already knew that TiVo was getting into the ratings business when it 
