Comcast to test DVRs that use cable lines

[Mark Holtz]

From Yahoo/USA Today:

Comcast to test DVRs that use cable lines

Comcast will shake up the digital video recorder business today by unveiling a system to go on field trial in Philadelphia midyear that records TV shows and uses cable lines to distribute them through the home.

What makes the Comcast system different from DVRs such as those from TiVo and ReplayTV is its ability to piggyback on the cable system to create a home network. That eliminates the need for extra connections or equipment.

The announcement could have far-reaching implications. It appears to be a setback for TiVo and ReplayTV, which have been trying to license their DVR scheduling services to cable operators.

Ucentric's system ''is full featured,'' Collette says. ''It's essentially the same'' as TiVo and ReplayTV.

Full Article Here (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=677&ncid=677&e=3&u=/usatoday/20030512/bs_usatoday/5148374)

[Ryan]

The article also says the system can retrieve music or photos from a PC.

I'll be interested to see how 'hollywood' reacts to this system. 'Hollywood' was very unhappy with networking the recordings,especially with Replay for allowing recordings to be sent to other households.

But I imagine people will find a way to rip the files off this Samsung/Comcast system anyway.

The Tivo and Replay techs really ought to consider a way stream their recordings via cable lines. It's a great selling point for cable systems. Plug in the set top boxes, hook up the cable lines--instant home media network. No wireless add-ons, no ethernet wiring, hooks up to your PC, delivers high-speed internet, HDTV, VOD, etc.

I hate to say it, but if they do the technology and features right (always a BIG ?? with the cable industry), and they don't charge a fee any greater than the monthly Tivo fees (they should really try to get down to or below the DirecTV level of $5 per household, unlimited number of set-top boxes), I would be hard pressed to not rank this as a premier-level service.

[gcutler]

Originally posted by Ryan
The Tivo and Replay techs really ought to consider a way stream their recordings via cable lines. It's a great selling point for cable systems. Plug in the set top boxes, hook up the cable lines--instant home media network. No wireless add-ons, no ethernet wiring, hooks up to your PC, delivers high-speed internet, HDTV, VOD, etc.

I hate to say it, but if they do the technology and features right (always a BIG ?? with the cable industry), and they don't charge a fee any greater than the monthly Tivo fees (they should really try to get down to or below the DirecTV level of $5 per household, unlimited number of set-top boxes), I would be hard pressed to not rank this as a premier-level service.

I wonder how Hackable these machines are. I'd assume these machines will be just hanging off the cable, and if they can act as a server for you to your household, it can probably be accessed/hacked by someone else outside of your household.

[Ryan]

It depends on how the recordings are moved around the system. Would they use TCP/IP to move the recordings? They'll probably use that to pull media off your PC, but maybe they'll use something else for pulling recordings from one unit to another?

I do like the idea of a 'media server' or in this case a 'TV server' where all the scheduling, conflict resolution, and recording take place on one piece of equipment and other units throughout the household can access that unit to schedule and for playback.

It seems to me that each one of those 'headend' units should have two input/tuner capability, and you should be able to scale to as many as maybe three, four or five of those units.

[Neil Derryberry]

In-home docsis? that's kinda cool if you ask me...