etown.com
Just wait till the real CE houses start making these...
REPLAY, TIVO AND NOW WEBTV
MAKE THREE
PVR war heating up
by David J. Elrich
NEW YORK, NY, May 5, 1999 -- The PVR Wars are heating
up -- and most consumers don't even know what PVR (Personal
Video Recorder) is yet.
First the definition: Some industry experts contend that these units
are the 21st-century incarnation of the VCR, while others regard
them as little more than high-priced hard drives. What is
undeniable is that PVRs can digitally record as much as 30 hours
of TV programming and intelligently surf the 200-channel universe
to seek out a viewer's favorite programs. They are far more
expensive than today's VCRs, but their cool factor is undeniable.
In recent developments: Replay TV threw a party last week
celebrating the fact that it has begun shipping its PVR. In the
meantime, TiVo -- designer of a competing PVR -- just got large
investments from satellite provider DirecTV and CE giant Philips.
We'll get back to Replay in a bit, first let's take a look at the
TiVo/DirecTV/Philips announcement.
Earlier, we reported JVC and EchoStar will soon sell combination
satellite receiver/WebTV boxes for $499. WebTV adds a much
richer electronic program guide to the basic DISH Network
system, which looks similar to the DirecTV on-screen guide. It
also contains an 8.6GB hard drive that allows you to record 30
minutes of video.
However, when TiVo is incorporated into a satellite receiver (and
it will be by Philips in early 2000), it will put DirecTV and its
hardware partners one step ahead of EchoStar. As noted above,
TiVo offers as much as 30 hours of digital recording and an
intelligent surfing agent.
What the public thinks
There's no denying that PVRs have received tons of publicity, but
how are consumers actually responding to the Philips/TiVo box,
which is barely a month old? Joe Harris, TiVo product manager
told etown.com that "we don't give out numbers, but we're very
thrilled by the demand. We're above our expectations." Asked
whether customers are opting for the low price with monthly fees
or the lifetime service package, Harris said: "We're finding it's
good to offer choices, but the lifetime fee is probably the more
dominant." This makes sense for anyone who remembers the
ill-fated attempt by StarSight to charge $5 a month for an
on-screen program guide. StarSight has since been absorbed by
Gemstar, who offers the Guide Plus+ listings for free.
Etown.com spoke to two early TiVo users, Melinda
Christopherson and Ed Wodzienski. Christopherson, a San Jose
homemaker and mother of four boys, has used it for almost three
months as a beta tester. "It's been fun. We gave it back on
Monday for some software updates and by the time we got it
back [on] Thursday, we realized that we really missed it. We had
some programs all ready to record, but we missed them. We
opted to get a Season Pass and it records a show every time it airs
without us doing anything. It's a lot easier to use than my old VCR,
and I was using VCR Plus+, where you entered numbers from the
newspaper."
Ms. Christopherson also likes stopping live TV. "I started
watching ER one night and after a while my husband came into the
room. I paused it and we watched it from the beginning together,
fast-forwarding through the commercials to catch up to real time.
We have four boys and when the noise level goes up in [the]
house, you can go back and listen to dialog you missed." The
TiVo suggestion list is another plus. "My husband and I pressed
the thumbs up and thumbs down buttons and TiVo chose shows
that it thought we'd like to see." She says the suggestions were
quite appropriate.
Ed Wodzienski, a Santa Clara computer consultant, prefaced his
remarks by stating he has no connection to TiVo whatsoever. That
noted, the three-month beta tester says: "It's immensely hard to
imagine my life without it. The technology is so cool, I keep
[asking] where was my life before this?" In fact, he likens TiVo to
"crack, it's so addictive." A big fan of Friends, by using Season
Pass, his receiver records every episode of the show at any time
or on any channel. He uses a Sony DirecTV Satellite System, so
he has lots of channels to prowl. "It's great, you don't have to
worry about running out of tape since the hard drive records
shows in unused space. But if you specifically want 20/20, it
knows that it's important to you and will make room for it."
Wodzienski adds that TiVo is not for everyone: "It is first
generation, but ... technically-savvy gadget freaks like me will
embrace it wholeheartedly. A 95-year-old grandmother will be
resistant to the technology."
The Replay story
The object of heavy industry hype for the last several months, the
ReplayTV box delivers 10 hours of storage for $699, 14 hours for
$899 and 28 hours for $1499. As a ReplayTV customer, you
receive a free lifetime subscription to the basic Replay Network
Service (TiVo offers monthly or bundled charges). The Replay
Network Service also allows you to create personalized,
on-demand "Replay Channels." These channels can focus on your
favorite shows, actors or themes, allowing you to watch what you
want, when you want. You can also pause, rewind and
fast-forward through shows as they are being broadcast (if the
phone rings, just hit pause, take the call and resume watching the
rest of the program anytime you like).
TiVo's take on the PVR
TiVo introduced its set-top box, which is sold as the Philips
Personal TV receiver, at the end of March. The product is
currently available only in limited quantities via a toll-free number
or on the Net, but a full-scale rollout is planned for this summer.
The units cost $499 for a 14-hour model and $998 for a 30-hour
model. The TiVo service costs $9.95 a month or $99 a year. If
you'd like, you can buy a 14-hour edition with lifetime service for
$698 or $1198 for the 30-hour unit.
Like Replay, TiVo offers features such as pause, rewind,
fast-forward and slow motion. TiVo allows you to "teach" the
receiver what you like and don't like by hitting a "thumbs up" or
"thumbs down" key on the remote. The unit's artificial intelligence
learns your preferences and then automatically lists or records
shows it thinks you'll like. You also get a "TiVolution Video
Magazine" giving you the day's hot picks as well as news
headlines.
More European cable changing hands.......
multichannel.com
Microsoft to Buy Into
Telewest
New York -- Microsoft Corp. said Thursday
that it will buy MediaOne Group Inc.'s 29.9
percent stake in Telewest Communications
plc, Britain's largest cable operator, adding to its
growing presence in European cable.
Microsoft said it will acquire the stake through a
tax-free exchange of Microsoft shares. The
company didn't provide additional details.
In January, Microsoft paid $500 million for 5
percent of NTL Inc., Britain's No. 3 cable
operator, and $333 million for 7.85 percent of
United Pan-Europe Communications N.V.
(UPC), the continent's biggest private cable
operator.
In April, it paid $38.6 million for 2.5 percent of
TV Cabo, the cable and satellite unit of Portugal
Telecom S.A.
Microsoft's investment in Telewest could
accelerate talks between Telewest and Cable &
Wireless Communications plc, the U.K.'s No. 2
MSO, which analysts speculated may involve a
merger of cable assets.
"More consolidation is going to take place in
U.K. cable," SG Cowen Securities Corp. head
of European telecommunications research James
McCafferty said. He speculated that a first round
could involve Telewest and CWC, while NTL
could join the fray later on.
Thursday's announcement is part of an
agreement under which Microsoft will invest $5
billion in AT&T Corp., while AT&T will
increase its use of Microsoft's Windows CE
operating system in its set-top boxes.
With Windows CE buying so much into set tops would be nice to have the complete CUBE solution run it, wouldn't it? |
