March 27th, 2007
By Alice Hill
RealTechNews
TiVo is shaking things up again this week with a new free feature that lets you share photos and videos with other TiVo users. You need a Series 2 or Series 3 TiVo box connected to the Internet to view the shared media (creating the slideshows can be done from any PC), and it took me a few seconds to set up a free account and upload some pics of my new dog Fred. The service has some decent tools for creating slideshows and photo albums.
Final verdict: Nice, but nothing you can’t do online. If your family is TiVoed up and all over the place, this is a nice way to broadcast your own content on their TV sets. Why did this take so long? Source: OneTrueMedia.com
Set Up an Account Here
March 15th, 2007
By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
It’s not secret that Tivo (and other PVRs) and the fast-forward (or 30-second skip) have impacted advertising revenues on television. Recent studies have shown that people may not be skipping as many commercials as originally thought. Advertisers have been looking for ways around this, and TrimSpa claims to have figured a way around it.
KFC used an embedded message in one of its recent campaigns. Consumers had to watch the ad in slow motion to get a coupon for a free sandwich.
TrimSpa wouldn’t release too many details of its new campaign but suggested images used in the television ads would remain on the screen no matter what a consumer tried to do with the remote. Source: ABC News
We Say: So, I have my own Tivo, of course. I use the 30-second-skip, of course. But I still occasionally watch ads … those ads that catch my eye as I skip through them. If you really want me to watch an ad, make it clever and cool, instead of forcing me to watch it, OK?
As far as TrimSpa’s idea, I have no idea how they could get this to work, but I’m guessing I’ll find out … however, I can’t really see something being unhackable. The question is: how can we get that hack onto our Tivos? 
February 19th, 2007
By Chief Gizmateer
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews
Leave it up to the crafty members at SlingCommunity to sniff out new hardware from Sling Media before any kind of announcement! Yesterday Brandon C. found a listing on Amazon for a brand new model SlingLink Powerline Ethernet Bridge, called the SlingLink Turbo, boasting some new features and updated specs.
According to Amazon, the anticipated shipping date is February 27th, 2007. However, Sling Media has not yet made any official announcement regarding availability.
The new SlingLink doesn’t look like a full replacement to the original SlingLink… more of a “PRO” verision. The original offered 14 mbps (max) transfer rates, but was intended to connect to one device at a time. The Turbo’s built in 4 port switch at 85 mbps (max) transfer speed hints that this is a solution geared for not only running a Slingbox in a remote location, but any other home entertainment gear that may be there as well, like a game console or DVR.
Source: Sling Community
February 7th, 2007
By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
Amazon.com and Tivo are partnering on a new service … called “Amazon Unbox on Tivo”, which will be rolled out to an unspecified number of trial customers starting today. The difference between this and typical download services is the removal of a PC as a middleman … and those of us who love our Tivos can see this might be a natural move.
The full service is expected to debut later this year, available for the 1.5 million TiVo digital video recorders with broadband Internet capability. Officials refused to give a target date for the service’s launch.
Thousands of movies from several major studios and TV shows from CBS and Fox will be available, said Bill Carr, Amazon.com’s vice president of digital media. Both companies expect agreements with more studios and networks in the future. Source: Yahoo! News
We Say: The original Amazon.com Unbox service has been much maligned since its release. Hopefully this will be more successful, though I don’t see anything here for those of us with DirecTivos. 
January 28th, 2007
By Chief Gadgeteer, Gizmos for Geeks
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews.
Dave Zatz over at Zatz Not Funny is holding a charity raffle to help out the James Kim Memorial Fund. For every $10 you send in to Dave you will receive an entry in a raffle for a TiVo Toaster.
To learn more on how to contribute, check out this entry on Zatz Not Funny.
January 9th, 2007
By Chief Gizmateer
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews
Granted we did not see anyone in black turtleneck’s announcing slick new phones, but we swung by the Akimbo Systems suite in the Hilton to check on the latest from the Video on Demand (VOD) content aggregator. Their two major announcements at CES included providing their VOD content to AT&T Homezone subscribers and being part of the USBTV initiative.
The coolest gadget we saw was the USBTV which was announced yesterday at the Sandisk press conference by Kate Purmal, Senior VP and GM. USBTV is a new industry-wide initiative that should enable consumers to move digital content from their PCs to their televisions to view content on a big-screen and USBTV uses Akimbo for some VOD content.
The Geeks were impressed by the USBTV gadget and the content available through Akimbo Systems’ VOD content in general and further justifies the prediction that Internet video delivery and in-demand video services will be the wave of the future to purchase video content. Do you agree?
Source: Gizmos for Geeks
December 13th, 2006
By: Chief Gizmateer, Gizmos for Geeks
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews
You know how they say “any press is good press“? Cheap TV Spots has decided to test that theory with a press release “answering speculation about acquiring TiVo” which has angered bloggers and excited investors.
Cheap TV Spots actually put out a press release which:
responded to blogspeculation regarding a possible buy of TiVo. “Cheap TV Spots has no immediate plans to acquire TiVo,” said company president, Ann Clark. “TiVois actually a better M&A target for Yahoo, Google or ASK.com. We are not ruling out partnering with TiVo or another DVR provider.”
While on April Fools Day this may have been considered humorous, two Wall Street news companies unfortunately picked up the story (Briefing.com and FlyOnTheWall) causing TiVo’s shares to climb 15 cents to $5.49 with double the normal trading volume on Monday.
Considering two months ago “Cheap TV Spots” sent out a press release stating that they were not in talks with “Spot Runner”, we believe this to be manufactured press.
You may have noticed we did not link to “Cheap TV Spots” nor the bogus press release. This was done on purpose to not give free links to the news hungry company.
Source: DVR Playground
December 13th, 2006
By Alice Hill
RealTechNews
Saving shows from your Tivo can take the evening to download the file wirelessly to your PC. Same with converting video from a VCR. What if you could record directly to a digital device and then play it back on your laptop, video iPod, PSP, media server, or whatever you use to watch digital video. Behold the iRecord:
iRecord allows you to record your favorite movies or TV shows directly to your iPod, PSP(PlayStation Portable) without the hassle of a computer involved in-between. iRecord is a Personal Media Recorder that records video and audio data onto USB mass storage devices, including the Apple iPod and Sony PlayStation. Hook up your iRecord to a DVD player, VCR, TV, STB or any other analog video source, press iRecord’s record button and your favorite show will record directly to your iPod or PSP. You can now playback the recorded contents on your favorite portable media player with no other steps involved. £159.99
iRecord Product Page
Source: iSkins.co.uk via redferret
We Say: for the super geeky - you can even record your video game sessions. Sweet.
