cable

After repeated attempts to get CableCard up and running with Time Warner in Brooklyn failed to produce a signal, we decided to shift our CableCard operations to CNET's northern outpost in Concord, NH. We sent back Velocity Micro its CineMagix Grand Theater for some fine-tuning, and it then turned around and sent the system up here.

New Hampshire is Comcast territory. I called Comcast and scheduled an installation last week. The technician had done a handful of installations on CableCard-equipped TVs and DVRs, but this was the first time he had seen a CableCard-equipped PC. After complimenting me on … Read more

While a cheaper Series 3 TiVo has certainly kicked around the rumor mill for some time now--and was essentially confirmed by CEO Tom Rogers earlier this year--the rumors have a new air of legitimacy, thanks to the posters at TiVo Community. While "Super Moderators" such as Mike Lang have been coyly hinting that the rumors are true since last Friday, yesterday posts containing images and detailed specs of the new Series 3 "Lite" showed up, along with links to the product page at Buy.com. This all adds up to pretty solid confirmation that we should … Read more

Digeo dropped by the CNET offices this morning to give us a demo of their upcoming HD DVR, Moxi. We first saw Moxi many a CES ago and were definitely impressed, but since then only certain areas have had access to the hardware through their cable company. Now Digeo is looking to bring Moxi directly to consumers, in two flavors: the Moxi Multi-Room HD DMR and the Moxi Home Cinema Edition HD DMR.

The Moxi Multi-Room HD DMR is for cable subscribers that want to ditch their current cable boxes and use the Moxi with a CableCard. So what does … Read more

"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," apparently still has legs as a business strategy.

Intel has been trying for years to get PCs with its chips inside living rooms, trying to offset the slowing growth of the PC market by creating a new way to use PCs. That hasn't worked, as Media Center PCs and their Viiv successors have sold fairly well but few consumers are actually using them in place of their digital cable or satellite boxes at the center of their entertainment systems.

So Intel announced Monday that it will incorporate the OpenCable … Read more

Just last week, a federal appeals court called into question an earlier finding that pop icons Cher and Nicole Ritchie broke indecency rules by uttering the "F-Word" and "S-Word" on broadcast TV awards shows a few years ago. On Thursday, politicians on Capitol Hill responded: with a proposal for new regulations aimed at promoting a more "family-friendly" selection of cable and satellite TV content.

With enthusiastic endorsements from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin and parent advocacy groups, Reps. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) and Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) on Thursday staged a press conference to unveil … Read more

Longtime Crave readers, many of whom have been coming back since the late '50s, know that some of us have a few issues regarding exposed wires. But try as we might, we haven't found a suitable facade to hide our unsightly cables. Most of them are about as discreet as a pot full of wires.

The "Tapbox" from Japan's Ideaco, however, is a notable exception. The 4-inch cubes hide the ugliest tangles under the ultimate symmetrical shape, according to Tokyomango, and have even included a retro toggle switch on top for effect.

Yet as much as … Read more

Walt Disney's ABC and ESPN are expected to announce Tuesday a deal with cable operator Cox Communications to offer shows on demand, but there's a catch. Cox will have to disable its fast-forward feature that lets viewers skip ads, The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site Tuesday.

The deal is expected to be announced Tuesday at the National Cable Television Association's annual convention in Las Vegas. The arrangement will only apply to shows in the video-on-demand library and will not affect viewers using a digital video recorder, the newspaper said.

Comcast said Monday it will pay $570 million in cash to acquire stakes in two regional sports networks owned by Cablevision. The deal will give Comcast 100 percent ownership of Fox Sports Net New England and 60 percent of Fox Sports Net Bay Area. News Corp. owns the other 40 percent of the regional sports network near San Francisco.

Craig Moffet, a senior analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., said the deal makes sense for the cable operator since it's already the incumbent cable provider in both the San Francisco and Boston markets. The deal will give Comcast … Read more

On paper, CableCard sounded pretty great. Instead of a cable box, your local provider would give you a small smartcard--the exact same design as a PCMCIA card--that would fit into the back of your TV (or DVR). In theory, you were getting the benefit of "the good old days" of analog cable with a digital makeover--just plug the wire into the back of the TV, and you'd get access to all of your digital and HD channels. In reality, CableCard has been plagued with problems. The existing technology is one-way, so you don't have access to … Read more