Jim Lynch: Off the Top of My Head…

Interested in trying out Boxee? Then email me and I’ll drop you an invite to Boxee. I figured that I might as well let the folks who drift onto this blog check it out as I’ve been writing about it for ExtremeTech and doing a few blog entries here about it. So if you’re interested [...]

I was wondering how this dinosaur of a company (remember renting VHS tapes from them back in the day?) was going to try to deal with online distribution. Apparently Blockbuster is coming out with it’s own set top box: Dubbed the “MediaPoint” digital media player by its manufacturer, 2Wire, Blockbuster’s box can stream roughly 2,000 [...]

It looks like Boxee has released the full, easy to install fix ready for Apple TV 2.3. You can download the updated patchstick creator software to install Boxee on your Apple TV. After a frenetic few days work, developers Scott Davilla and Stephan Diederich last night posted a full and slick fix to enable easy [...]

The new Boxee update is out and should fix any problems people have been having running Boxee after the Apple TV 2.3 update. However, it’s a geeky solution so you might still want to wait for Boxee to release a plug-n-play type solution. if you have Apple TV running the 2.3 firmware, want to run [...]

Just a heads up for anybody who might not have updated their Apple TVs yet. Don’t do it until the new patch from Boxee is out. The Apple TV 2.3 update breaks Boxee and you won’t be able to use Boxee on your Apple TV if you update it to 2.3. There’s a thread about [...]

I got this message earlier today: Error 2: share not available Turns out I didn’t have SMB sharing on. I fixed that and restarted my iMac. I still couldn’t get Boxee to see my shares though until I exited out of Boxee, went into XBMC for a moment and then back into Boxee. I have [...]

So I went to watch Rob Roy today on Boxee via Hulu and got this message: “We are sorry, but the video you have requested is restricted to users 17 years and older” Heh, heh. Well I’m certainly older than that. However I was not able to watch the movie. It just gave me some [...]

I think the CEO of Tivo has a good point about people not watching ads. I know I tended to fast forward if I was really paying attention to the program when I had my Tivo working. If I was zoning out on the computer I’d just let the program play ads and all though. [...]

Coursey has a negative take on it and I think I mostly agree with him. TiVo is sinking fast–despite brave words to the contrary from company executives. Somebody needs to buy the TiVo, but I don’t think Apple should be the one. The Great White Company can’t afford to be associated with a loser, especially [...]

Engadget has started a TiVo Death Watch. I sure hope that TiVo makes it somehow or is acquired by somebody who will keep their products going. I love my TiVo, I plop down in front of the TV every night and there’s always something I like waiting for me on my TiVo. I hate watching [...]

Very bad news for TiVo. :cry: DirecTV rolled out its own home-grown DVR strategy, with products due to debut in mid-2005. The DirecTV DVR will initially support SD video only, and will save up to 100 hours of TV. The DVR is also part of a new interactive DirecTV push that will offer video on [...]

TiVo Desktop 2.0 has been released. I hope it’s more stable than the last one. I never could get it working right. Everytime I tried to load some MP3 files off my XP box, it just ended up rebooting itself. TiVo Desktop is an easy-to-use application that lets you publish and share digital music, photos [...]

Works for me, the more the merrier. Tivo could use some competition and a good kick in the rear end. Despite all the hoopla around fiber to the home, video DSL and all, SBC instead of twiddling its thumbs is jump starting its triple play efforts by bundling satellite and DSL in one box, which [...]

Hey, not a bad deal if you can get it. For TiVo, it’s better to give than receive–especially when it involves poking a little fun at a competitor. The digital video recorder company on Friday will give away 40GB Series 2 recorders to Comcast customers who bring their cable bill and a gift for The [...]

He raises all the usual points and unfortunately he’s right. TiVo needing to do something…anything…to stay in business. The popular press, especially those working in the financial area, didn’t buy TiVo’s positive spin. Deeper in the press release, TiVo revealed that of 419,000 new subscribers gained in the prior quarter, 316,000 were actually DirecTV subscribers. [...]

I hate when networks do this. Television networks are lending new meaning to time-shifting: TV shows don’t necessarily start or end right on the hour or half-hour anymore, screwing up some viewers’ video recordings. More programs are running an extra minute or two longer to keep viewers from switching channels. Shows recently padded include CBS’s [...]

PVRs make their way to Canada. By the end of this year, experts predict 150,000 homes in Canada will be equipped with these leisure time-altering gadgets. The PVR, about the size of a video DVD player, has a computer hard drive that allows the viewer to record television programs onto the drive as opposed to [...]

If you’ve ever wanted to know how these systems stack up against each other, you need to view this chart! What a great resource for anybody who wants to know what the heck these machines can really do. For more, check out the PVR Comparisons site. Hat tip to PVRblog for the link.

TiVo’s fate looks rather grim, looks like they will be losing their DirecTV situation at some point. Hat tip to PRVblog. DirecTV is preparing to offer a digital video recorder (DVR) service in mid-2005 that could duplicate virtually every feature now available from current partner TiVo, plus provide video on demand similar to what’s offered [...]

I can’t say I’m pleased about this at all. :mad: TiVo is ratcheting up DRM restrictions on its subscribers with a couple of updates that will be rolled out to the DVRs in upcoming weeks. One patch will cause TiVos to automatically delete pay-per-view content after a preset period of time. According to a TiVo [...]