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How to make the most of your hotel television

by Darren Murph posted Mar 27th 2009 at 9:33PM


We've covered a number of newer hotel chains that actually recognize the importance of delivering HDTV programming and HD VOD to guests, but for the vast majority of places still living in decades past, there's Gadling's latest how-to guide. If you're sick and tired of checking into hotels with ancient TVs and lackluster programming, there actually are some options. For one, it's always smart to carry a bit of media on a PMP and bring along every connection cable you can imagine. Furthermore, those with Slingboxen and other place-shifting solutions can usually pipe their content from laptop to TV with the right connections. If you're looking to get schooled in the ways of good travel, hit that read link and open wide.

Nero LiquidTV | TiVo PC review

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Oct 15th 2008 at 10:30AM Featured Story

Nero Liquid TV
For the most part, you'll be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't like the TiVo UI. The scary thing is that despite the fact that it hasn't seen a real overhaul in like... ever, it's still better than just about anything else out there. So it makes sense that TiVo would be willing to work with Nero to bring that TiVo experience to the PC -- with a few enhancements to boot. Unfortunately for Nero, the PC DVR market is a little more competitive than the stand-alone market, so it's going to take much more than just a pretty face to fetch the $99 a year for TiVo service.

Continue reading Nero LiquidTV | TiVo PC review

Hands-on and unboxing: Nero LiquidTV | TiVo PC

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Sep 30th 2008 at 2:00PM



We received our Nero Liquid TV review kit today and before got knee deep in experiencing TiVo on a PC, we paused and took some pictures for your enjoyment. Although we wonder how big the market is for yet another piece of DVR, HTPC software, we do want to find out if the $200 price point, and $99 a year for service, is worth it for a remote, IR transceiver, hybrid tuner, antenna and software. We'll be trying this with our Vista Media Center hardware -- including CableCARD tuners that we don't expect to work -- as well as the included remote and tuner, so stay tuned.

Gallery: Hands-on and unboxing: Liquid TV

Potential new TiVo user interface shown on video

by Darren Murph posted Sep 29th 2008 at 2:06AM


We know, you're still digesting the whole Nero LiquidTV / TiVo PC introduction, but once you get through your head that said product brings TiVo functionality to your PC, we'd like you to have a look at something only mildly related. In the best form possible (that'd be video, for those curious), a walkthrough of a potential new user interface for TiVo as a whole has been hosted up. According to the lucky soul who was able to grab this information from a recent survey, there's no telling if it'll ever actually be released. 'Course, we highly doubt TiVo pays its engineers to cook up new software for nothing, but we've heard of zanier scenarios. Check out three UI vids after the break, and be sure to look carefully for the oh-so-subtle differences.

[Thanks, Dave]

Continue reading Potential new TiVo user interface shown on video

Nero LiquidTV / TiVo PC brings TiVo interface to the PC

by Nilay Patel posted Sep 29th 2008 at 1:54AM


Rejoice, HTPC fans -- that partnership between Nero and TiVo has finally borne fruit in the form of Nero's new LiquidTV / TiVo PC DVR package, which brings the TiVo interface and featureset to Windows. The $199 package comes with a year of TiVo service, a Hauppage USB ATSC tuner, an IR receiver, and a Nero-branded TiVo remote, and does exactly as you'd expect -- it's TiVo on your PC. There are some interesting PC-specific features bolted on the usual kit -- you can navigate using the keyboard and mouse (there are even some nifty contextual menus) and you can export directly to iPod and PSP-compatible .mp4 from within the interface -- but for the most part it's the same TiVo experience you're used to, including streaming shows to and from other TiVos and TiVo PCs. If you're already running an HTPC setup, you can get the TiVo PC software and a year of service for $99, but your Media Center remote might be a little wonky without a remap, and Nero reps didn't make any promises about CableCARD compatibility apart from "it should work if Windows recognizes it." Obviously we'd like to see that firmed up a bit -- and maybe get some tru2way support in the deal -- but it's definitely a start. Should be available now.

Buffalo MediaStation Blu-ray / HD DVD enters U.S. Q1 2008

by Richard Lawler posted Jan 7th 2008 at 11:54AM

Buffalo's external Blu-ray burning / HD DVD reading combo drive -- sequel to the BHC-6316U2 -- is coming to the U.S., now branded the Buffalo MediaStation Blu-ray HD DVD (BRHC-6316U2). Based on Hitachi's 6x burning / 4x reading GGW-H20N, its hitting American USB ports in the first quarter of this year with an MSRP of $649. Unlike the previous version's Cyberlink PowerDVD bundle, this throws in Nero software for all your HDM needs. Check after the break for a side view of its sleek, entirely unremarkable external drive casing, you know you want to.

Continue reading Buffalo MediaStation Blu-ray / HD DVD enters U.S. Q1 2008

Nero 8 update brings Blu-ray authoring, mini HD DVD support

by Darren Murph posted Dec 20th 2007 at 10:18AM

Sure, there are a couple of software suites out there that offer up Blu-ray authoring, but it's still far from being a common feature. Additionally, we'd have to say that Nero is one of the more popular burning applications, and the firm's latest update to Nero 8 adds in BDMV authoring and playback, improved file encoding speed and support for mini HD DVD-Video discs. If you're unfamiliar with the latter, it's essentially the process of squeezing down content more suitable for an HD DVD onto a vanilla DVD for playback in an HD DVD player (phew) -- something we've certainly touched on before. For existing Nero 8 owners, you can snag the new plug-in for $24.99, while current owners of the plug-in will reportedly be able to upgrade gratis.

TiVo coming to PC via Nero software

by Evan Blass posted Nov 28th 2007 at 9:36AM

TiVo has just announced an agreement with multimedia software provider Nero AG that will bring its familiar interface and feature set to the PC. According to the joint announcement made today, Nero will embed the TiVo experience in its next generation of software, allowing the millions of us who rely on USB dongles for our TV to finally join the exclusive realm of Series1, 2, and 3 owners. Plus, as Zatz Not Funny! points out, Nero's international presence should help spread TiVo to the far corners of the Earth like some digital Happy Meal. Hopefully this new PC timeshifting solution -- release window: unknown -- will also convince other purveyors of home theater-only hardware-based services to finally bring their wares to the desktop. Yes, we're looking at you, Sling.

[Thanks, Dennis C.]

How to make your own HD DVDs on DVD-Rs

by Richard Lawler posted Jul 3rd 2006 at 11:29AM

Even though HD DVD burners are still off in the distance, you can make a DVD that will play back 720p or 1080i content on your HD-A1 or HD-XA1 with your existing DVD-Rs. The guys over at AVSForum have been working on this since the the Toshiba HD-A1 player launched, and they've pretty much got it down to a science. Particularly given the lack of content available so far on the format, many people have .ts files, HDV content, or mariposaHD episodes  they'd love to play back from a single shiny platter. They've boiled the process down to a few steps that anyone familiar with DVD burning should be able to follow.

Basic Steps for Creating HD DVDs:

1. Capture a high definition MPEG2 video to your computer.
2. Convert the video file from .ts, .tp or .m2t transport stream format to program stream format using Womble MPEG2VCR.
3. Create an HD DVD folder on your computer using Ulead Movie Factory 5.
4. Burn the HD DVD disc using Nero Burning ROM.

For more details and list of necessary software check out the thread, currently this walkthrough is PC-only, although WiFiSpy also notes he is working on a Mac version so that shouldn't be too far off. With a guide like this, all you need is a DVD-R, a sharpie and a Qosmio laptop to recreate the Sony Blu-ray incident. Or you can take that old rip of The Fifth Element you've got laying around and see if you can do a better job at a lower bitrate. The possibilities are endless.


[Thanks for the tip WiFiSpy!]

MPEG-4 pwned by AT&T

by Richard Lawler posted Feb 10th 2006 at 9:41AM

AT&TMPEG-4, everyone's favorite format that could potentially give you high definition video in small enough sizes to fit on a regular DVD, is officially embroiled in controversy. According to PC Magazine, AT&T claims to hold several patents to key underlying technology of MPEG-4. Right now they are targeting Apple, CyberLink, DivX, InterVideo, and Sonic as unlicensed offenders.

MPEG-LA, the group that oversees patent licensing for MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, says AT&T is not a part of them, but they can't do anything about it and they make no claim to have licenses to all technologies included in the format.

Nero and Pentax have already made deals with AT&T, so don't be surprised if the next DVD burning software you buy has a bump in price for AT&T's taste. You have to wonder how this is going to affect satellite, cable and IPTV companies looking to roll out MPEG-4; we didn't see any of them or set-top box manufacturers listed. Also, no word if their notification letter to included any references to Steve Jobs as a "n00b".

[Via Data Compression News]




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