Recent Comments:
Engadget HD Podcast 143 - 06.25.2009 {Engadget HD}
Jun 25th 2009 3:30PM In the future, please feature a prominent link for chat so more EngadgetHD users can participate with real-time feedback.
Moxi HD DVR Review {Engadget HD}
Jun 23rd 2009 9:37PM "The reason why the menus do not provide a sort option is because it groups the shows by name; therefore a date sort option does not apply."
Grouping is a standard feature on most modern DVRs. Within each folder, you expect contents to be sorted by date. However, for the displayed order of the folders themselves, sort by date certainly does apply. Some people like their folders listed in order by name, others like their folders listed in order by the date of the latest recording. Other DVRs give you the choice of sort order, while Moxi does not.
Note the sort order in the following video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNvgoLVzijE&fmt=22
I wouldn't want my sports team recordings displayed at the bottom of any list. I consider sports to be time-sensitive; if there is a new sports team recording, I want to see it at the top of the list.
Moxi HD DVR Review {Engadget HD}
Jun 23rd 2009 5:13PM "There's no way for the device to know if you are going to be spoiled by having the program being recorded tuned in when you turn it on."
Of course it can. It is possible to provide the best of both worlds. It just requires a little intelligence in the design.
To eliminate the spoilers without eliminating the window, Moxi can:
(1) Always start single recordings on the inactive tuner, when possible.
(2) When the user finishes watching a recorded program, always default the liveTV window to whatever channel is not recording.
(3) If -- and only if -- two programs are recording, then black out the video window with the message, "Two recordings in progress. Press the X button to display the picture." The DVR should remember the user's choice for the duration of that recording, so the user does not have to do this again.
Items (1) and (2) should be the default. Item (3) can be option in settings, i.e. "Hide video window for recordings in progress."
If Moxi wants to see positive reviews from experienced DVR users who record the majority of their programs, then it needs to make these or similar changes. It is these experienced DVR users that make up the majority of reviewers at various Internet news sites and blogs.
As is, Moxi can only expect to receive positive reviews from more casual DVR users who still spend much of their time watching liveTV. No matter how good the experience for casual DVR users, you can't expect to succeed in the third-party DVR market without implementing the feature(s) necessary to get experienced DVR users on board.
Moxi HD DVR Review {Engadget HD}
Jun 22nd 2009 2:41PM Ben,
For future reviews, I think it would help if you could include a 720p video showing the device and its menus in action. That would allow you to illustrate any problems you have in UI navigation. For a device with video output, you can do that with a Hauppauge HD PVR (which requires you to move a computer in close proximity to the product). For other devices, you can use something like a Flip recorder.
To help others understand what you mean by the spoiler window, you might clarify that with an example, such as sports. Ex: You expect to be out Sunday afternoon so you setup a recording for the big game. You want to watch it from the beginning when you get home. You turn on the Moxi and you see the score in the third quarter --- there's no way to hide it -- ruining the first half of the game for you.
Aside from that, the only obvious oversights I see are (a) no mention of ATSC (OTA) support, or lack thereof, and (b) no mention of ClearQAM support and how it works. I realize that ClearQAM doesn't benefit you as a FiOS customer with CableCards, but many are interested in the capability for use with [limited] basic cable. Screenshots showing
the online QAM mapping interface would be nice.
DISH / EchoStar DVR injunction temporarily put on hold by court {Engadget HD}
Jun 4th 2009 9:53AM The above post is not correct with respect to its terminology. A product need not meet every claim for infringement, but every aspect of a particular claim. There are software only claims, so it is possible for software infringement to exist, but not hardware infringement.
Patent law says the "whoever actively induces infringement of a patent shall be liable as an infringer." That would be the cable and satellite companies, because they are the ones distributing the DVR hardware and software to consumers.
DISH / EchoStar DVR injunction temporarily put on hold by court {Engadget HD}
Jun 4th 2009 1:40AM >> So Macrovision must pay Tivo some kind of license fee to Tivo for their DVR version of
>> I-Guide and Passport. I guess Scientific Atlanta (now Cisco) pays some sort of fee to Tivo
>> on their SARA DVR product. And of course the Comcast Tivo vaporware, developed by Tivo
>> should be exempt because it IS a Tivo product.
TiVo's "timewarp" patent consists of a series of hardware and software claims. All those claims must be met for a product to infringe. Taken separately, the hardware and software do not infringe. Only when combined do they infringe. That's why you see the cable companies (and DirecTV) striking agreements with TiVo -- the cable and satellite companies are responsible for marrying the hardware and software into a functional DVR.
TiVo also has patents on some implementations of specific software features, including the progress bar, wishlists, and overshoot correction on FF/REW. However, TiVo has not sued anyone for infringement of those specific features, presumably because it wasn't worth the time and resources. TiVo focused their litigation on core DVR functionality, because that provides the greatest monetary return; it's also the most difficult for a provider to address. Customers probably won't care too much if their provider disables overshoot correction on FF/REW, but they won't tolerate losing the ability to watch one program (or a prior recording) while they record another.
Note TiVo also pays to license several patents for its own software. Like the cable and satellite companies, TiVo has paid millions to Macrovision/Gemstar to license those EPG patents. Macrovision owns the patents on the electronic program guide grid and several other EPG related navigation functions.
DISH / EchoStar DVR injunction temporarily put on hold by court {Engadget HD}
Jun 3rd 2009 10:20PM Comcast already has an agreement with TiVo. Dish Network could have avoided all this had they struck such an agreement with Tivo.
DISH / EchoStar DVR injunction temporarily put on hold by court {Engadget HD}
Jun 3rd 2009 10:18PM cypherx,
You can't patent an idea, only an implementation.
You can't patent the idea of Kleenex, but you can patent a particular manufacturing process for Kleenex. You can't patent the idea of a device that cleans the floor, but you can patent the particular design for a vacuum cleaner. You can't patent the car, but you could have multiple patents relating to the design of an engine.
TiVo didn't patent the concept of a DVR. TiVo patented a process that made it practical to produce a responsive DVR with bare minimum amount of processing power. This allows DVRs to be produced with low-cost hardware. Prior to the TiVo, digital video recorders only existed for industrial and military use -- they cost tens of thousands of dollars. Those device implementations were patented, too.
Patents are only good for 20 years. Virtually every new technology people use is or was patented at some point. TiVo's "time warp" patent was issued in 1998 so it will expire in 2018.
As far as Dish Network, they do use the same chipset as the TiVo. The source code isn't the same, but from what the Court found, the source does the same thing with the chip. The interface isn't the same, and the features aren't all the same, but the core DVR functions -- such as simultaneous recording and playback -- work in the same way, infringing TiVo's "time warp" patent.
DISH / EchoStar ordered to pay TiVo $190 million in patent infringement case {Engadget}
Jun 3rd 2009 5:15PM >> Regarding running TiVo on DTV hardware, I remember reading the opposite: there will be 2
>> choices, DTV's hardware or TiVo hardware, not choice of software on the same box.
TiVo has already said they will no longer be producing new hardware for DirecTV. DirecTV is responsible for all new hardware. TiVo statements imply that they are working on software for the next-generation DirecTV DVR hardware platform, not the existing HR20/HR21/HR22/HR23 platform. At this time, it is unknown whether DirecTV will sell separate versions of the same box running different software, or whether the customer will be able to choose between the two on every DVR. TiVo statements imply there will be no difference in recurring fees for DirecTV DVR customers with TiVo, although there may or may not be an added upfront cost.
>> Echostar's final bill will be significantly higher than $190 million. Last October, Dish Network
>> paid $104 million after interest for infringement that occurred up until April, 2006. Now they'll
>> pay another $104 million plus interest -- probably closer to $125 million after interest -- for
>> infringement between then and now. That amount was calculated based on $1.50/mo per
>> infringing SD DVR.
There was an error in my post above with respect to the damages. Damages were calculated based on $1.25/mo per infringing SD DVR, with the following timetable:
x - September 9, 2006 ==> $104 million, after interest, paid October 2008
September 9, 2006 - April 18, 2008 ==> $103 million PLUS back interest due
April 18, 2008 - now ==> amount to be determined in hearings In June and July
Poll: How much would you pay for Hulu on your TV? {Engadget HD}
Jun 3rd 2009 5:03PM >>I am not understanding why the Roku can't play Hulu when Netflix Streaming has many
>>NBC shows and Nickelodeon shows that update one or two days after the original airs and
>> there are NO commercials.
Netflix pays for the right to stream those NBC and Nickelodeon shows. Hulu doesn't pay anything. Hulu's agreement with content providers may only allow them to stream to PCs.
