A week after some users of Vista Media Centers were prevented from recording two NBC Universal shows, the network acknowledged Monday that it inadvertently blocked some people from recording the shows.
The owners of Windows Vista Media Centers were prevented from recording American Gladiators and Medium last Monday. At the message board The Green Button, Vista users gathered to complain about receiving a prompt that informed them that the broadcaster had "prohibited recording of this program."
"We made an inadvertent mistake," an NBC spokeswoman said in an interview with CNET News.com. "We're not aware of any other complaints, and we believe we have addressed the problem."
For a week, fans of digital video recorders wondered if Hollywood was trying to force DVR (digital video recorder) owners to watch commercials. Historically, TV and cable networks have resented DVRs for enabling viewers to jump past ads. The Federal Communications Commission proposed rules that would require electronics manufacturers to set up their technologies to block recording at the request of TV networks.
The courts ruled that the FCC was out of bounds, but there is nothing to stop Microsoft or other electronics makers from choosing to adhere to flags.
The NBC spokeswoman said the network had no intention of blocking the show but declined to specify how the error was made. Flags that have been issued accidentally aren't uncommon, some industry insiders say. While acknowledging that it "fully adheres to flags used by broadcasters," Microsoft said that it was working with content owners to reduce the number of false flags.
"The success of the entire distribution chain is dependent on all involved maintaining the necessary checks and quality control so that coding is correctly applied," a Microsoft spokeswoman wrote in an e-mail to News.com.
Meanwhile, the larger issue for some is that Microsoft and possibly other hardware and software makers will honor broadcast flags.
"Customers need to know who Microsoft is listening to and how that affects their equipment," said Danny O'Brien, a staffer at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an advocacy group for Internet users.
The EFF says it's important for consumers to know whether their DVRs can be controlled by entertainment companies.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has begun investigating why Microsoft Vista Media Centers were blocked from recording two NBC Universal shows Monday night.
The group, which advocates for Internet users, said indications are that NBC sent a "broadcast flag" that triggered the block. But Danny O'Brien, EFF's international outreach coordinator, said the block couldn't have occurred unless hardware and software makers honored the network's request to prevent users from recording the shows. It appears Microsoft may have obeyed NBC Universal's broadcast flag.
NBC Universal and Microsoft said they need time to look into the matter.
The incident began when several dozen users of Vista Media Centers from across the country gathered online at a message board, The Green Button, to complain about being prevented from recording NBC shows American Gladiator and Medium. As they tried to record, a prompt informed them that the copyright holder prohibited recording.
Initially, the problem seemed to affect only users of Vista Media Centers who were recording from digital cable. Since then, there has been a report that a user of a Toshiba-made digital video recorder suffered the problem. In addition, O'Brien said Thursday that he has also interviewed someone who was blocked and was recording over-the-air digital.
O'Brien said he spoke to a Vista user who said he was trying to record Raleigh, N.C.'s HDTV channel WNCN-DT1 when the prompt appeared.
"(He) was attempting to record the program using Silicon Dust's HDHomeRun external tuner," O'Brien said in an e-mail. "(This) decodes the digital TV signal, and sends it over Ethernet to many digital TV receivers, such as MythTV or Windows Media Center. As Silicon Dust says on its Web site, their decoder merely passes on the data stream, and does not interpret the broadcast flag field itself."
O'Brien is concerned that Microsoft could have obeyed the broadcast flag, "despite the successful work of thousands of users to defend Microsoft's right to innovate and our right to fair use."
What he's referring to, of course, was the FCC's attempt to make software and hardware makers obey broadcast flags. The courts overturned the requirement, and now software and hardware makers are free to honor the flag or not.
O'Brien said the EFF is looking into the matter because it believes consumers should know before buying a DVR or recording system like Microsoft's Media Center whether they will help block shows.
Despite the fact that competing DVRs from cable and satellite companies have made great headway in the past few years, we're still fans of TiVo's intuitive interface and constantly improving feature set. However, the knock against TiVo is that it's expensive--you have to buy the box and pay a $13 monthly fee, while a DVR from your cable company usually costs less than $10 a month with no up-front cost.
As of late, TiVo has been offering a lifetime subscription plan as a promotion that was slated to end in February, but the eagle-eyed TiVo fans over at Gizmo Lovers noticed that the offer has been extended to July 2, and Dave Zatz writes that he's received word that the lifetime subscription deal is here to stay. The lifetime subscription plan costs $400, plus the cost of the TiVo box itself.
The real question is whether the lifetime plan is a good deal. The key thing to remember is that TiVo's lifetime subscription plans are for the lifetime of the box, so if your TiVo dies or you want to upgrade to a new model, your lifetime subscription is tied to the device. (In some cases, TiVo has allowed customers to transfer their lifetime subscriptions for an additional fee.)
Acting as a new subscriber, we were able to get a TiVo HD plus a lifetime subscription for $700, and a TiVo HD plus a three-year subscription for $600 from the TiVo Web site. So unless you plan on using your TiVo HD box for more than three years you're probably better off skipping the lifetime subscription plan.
With switched digital video on the horizon and the possibility that TiVo will release a newer, SDV-compatible (without the dongle) DVR in the future, chances are you might feel some upgrade-itis around the three-year mark and won't want to feel obligated to stick to your old TiVo box. Still, the lifetime plan seems to be popular with TiVo fans and it's only giving buyers another option, so it's good news for TiVo lovers who want to lock into their service.
Streaming Web video is just one of several upgrades coming to the Archos line of video products.
(Credit: Archos)The GPS accessory for the 605 WiFi was just the first of several product upgrades announced by Archos today. Also on deck are streaming Web video and audio and upgraded media support for the 605 WiFi and 705 WiFi; Slingbox-style placeshifting functionality for the Archos TV+ DVR; and a content deal with Paramount Digital Entertainment. Details are as follows:
... Read more
Gefen's HD video recorder still has HDMI inputs, but the recordings will now be encrypted.
(Credit: Gefen)Gefen is adding hard-drive encryption to its High-Definition Personal Video Recorder to ensure that it won't become an easy avenue for video piracy. Doing so will bring the product into line with other commercially available set-top recorders and DVRs, all of which encrypt video recordings to ensure they won't be played back outside of the device.
The addition of encryption follows a dialogue with CNET that was initiated after the Gefen HD PVR was highlighted on Zatznotfunny. Blogger Dave Zatz noted that the Gefen was a unique product: not only did it have HDMI inputs--a usually unseen rarity--its recordings were completely unencrypted. That meant that enterprising techies such as Zatz (and fellow enthusiast "AVeNVy") who were willing to crack open the Gefen and yank out the hard drive were able to view high-def recordings from their cable box as standard (albeit undoubtedly massive) H.264 video files when they connected the drive to a PC. Such unencrypted/non-DRM video files are the holy grail of video pirates, who could take those files and put them on file-sharing networks. Imagine, for instance, a whole month of high-def HBO movies as Pirate Bay torrents, and it's easy to see why Hollywood studios tend to demand tough encryption standards from hardware manufacturers.
When contacted for comment last week, Gefen specified that the device was "preserving HDCP [High-Definition Copy Protection] on output." But a subsequent communication from the company's representative has since clarified the issue:
Gefen did not anticipate that users would void warranty to crack the unit and use the internal drive in this fashion. The company is currently in the process of encrypting every internal drive of every HD PVR so this situation will be corrected.
The product is brand new, so it's unclear how many of the pre-encryption models are already in the wild. But if you see one of them on eBay going for more than the $1,000 list price, you'll know why.
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HP)
I'm no fan of Windows Vista, but I absolutely love Windows Media Center (which comes baked into most versions of the operating system). It turns your PC into a full-fledged DVR, one that supports multiple TV tuners, requires no TiVo-like subscription fees, and pairs very nicely with HDTVs.
Hewlett-Packard has a pretty killer deal on the Pavilion Slimline s3300t, a compact but feature-packed media center with a surprise inside: a Blu-ray/HD DVD combo drive. That's right: for $749.99, less than the price of a hybrid high-def DVD player, you can get an entire media center PC.
I'll let you peruse the full specs for yourself, but suffice it to say, this is a really well-equipped system: dual-core processor, 500GB hard drive, 256MB graphics card with HDMI out. I recommend spending an extra $80 on the optional TV tuner, which supports both over-the-air HD and analog cable/satellite connections.
To get this deal, you need to follow the configuration options outlined at Deals2Buy. Don't worry if the totals seems off; everything comes out right at the end. The discount coupon that lops $300 off the price expires February 16. I have to say, I'm giving serious consideration to replacing my old media center with this powerhouse.
(Credit:
eCost)
OK, so maybe now is not the best time to add a TV tuner to your PC. Thanks to those striking writers, there's not much left worth watching, time-shifting, or recording. Still, the day will come when Battlestar Galactica, Lost, and 30 Rock come back to us, so it's best to be ready.
I was pretty stoked about that Viore HDTV tuner from a couple weeks ago, but I found an even better deal: the KWorld PlusTV HD Hybrid Stick 330. This USB tuner can pull in analog signals from the precious cable-TV cable or digital over-the-air HD broadcasts from the included antenna (though you're almost always better off with a set of rabbit ears or an outdoor antenna). Let me tell you, once you've tasted the sweet, sweet nectar of free high-def television, it's hard to stomach that cable bill.
The PlusTV doesn't come with a remote, but it does include an additional input for capturing video from analog sources (like VCRs). Plus, it's compatible with Windows Media Center. The tuner will set you back $69 plus shipping, but there's a $40 mail-in rebate. PCs make awesome DVRs; now's your chance to experience it on the (super) cheap.
Sure, you could pay iTunes two bucks for every episode of The Office you download to your PC. Or you could add a TV tuner and record unlimited shows--in high def!--free of charge. eCost has the Viore Portable HDTV Tuner for just $55, a steal at twice the price.
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Viore)
Just plug this USB tuner into your desktop or notebook, then connect an analog cable feed or the included ATSC antenna. The latter lets you pull down HD channels right outta thin air (provided you live in a metropolitan area).
To record shows for later viewing, you'll need Windows XP Media Center 2005, Windows Vista Premium, or Windows Vista Ultimate: Microsoft's Media Center (which is baked into those three operating systems) offers killer DVR capabilities. All you have to do is supply a tuner like this one. It even comes with a remote.
TiVo obsession
(Credit: CNET Networks)Over on sister site CNET Shopper, John Falcone posted a great find for first-time TiVo'ers or for the already TiVo-obsessed who have to go to other people's houses to get their fix.
Yes, this just in: Now through February 2, you can choose:
1-year monthly service: now $12.95/month (originally $16.95)
1-year prepaid service: $129 (originally $179)
2-year prepaid service: $249 (originally $279)
What: TiVo service contracts
How much: Discounted by up to $50 per year for first-time subscribers
Where: TiVo (via CNET Shopper)
When: Through February 2, 2008
Click here for product review.
New TiVo customers will be getting discounted service fees
(Credit: TiVo)Just in time for the holidays, TiVo's making some temporary changes to its service fee structure. For new TiVo buyers from now through February 2, 2008, service choices are as follows:
- 1 year monthly service: now $12.95/month (originally $16.95)
- 1 year prepay service: $129 (originally $179)
- 2 year prepay service: $249 (originally $279)
- 3 year prepay service: $299 (unchanged)
To reiterate: those pricing discounts apply only to new TiVo customers (including those who've purchased in the past 30 days); existing customers won't see any changes to their bill. However, TiVo does have an offer for current customers: the return of the lifetime service fee. Existing customers (who already own at least one TiVo DVR) who buy an additional TiVo on the same account can opt for a one-shot product lifetime service fee for that new DVR for $399. That's $100 more than the equivalent plan that was offered by the company until last year.
Additionally, TiVo is making what it calls a "permanent change" to its multiservice discount (the service price paid for up to five additional TiVos on the same account). Subscribers can choose between a $9.95 monthly charge or a $99 yearly prepay (per DVR).
