By now, if its available in your area you're probably familiar with Start Over, basically a network DVR letting people see the beginning of a TV show they might have missed. Of course, all of that's only useful if it actually works and captures everything, so Concurrent has announced its latest advance for the backend is the Real Time Pitcher 2000, using reliable multicast to ensure no loss of video capture due to network or component failures and give it the big five nines of reliability. We certainly wouldn't want anything less tha a 99.999% chance of catching the first five minutes of The Closer, would you?

Something actually launching on the very day it was supposed to? Say it ain't so! According to the New York Post, Time Warner Cable actually is rolling out its Start Over feature -- which gives users a chance to "restart a show they may have missed from the beginning with the press of a button" -- in areas of New York / New Jersey on July 1st. Reportedly, it'll hit HD subscribers first in Staten Island, with other systems to follow shortly. It should be noted, however, that the feature will only be offered "up to one minute before the program is over, and as part of an agreement between Time Warner and broadcasters, unlike a DVR, viewers cannot fast forward through commercials." Give it a go here in a few hours and let us know how it turns out. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

Lookee here, it's all coming true. The bits we heard about a massive HD rollout coming to Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, NY (not to mention New Jersey) are now being confirmed by Time Warner Cable. On April 30th, the three previously highlighted areas will have access to 50 HD channels, while those very stations will be available to all digital subscribers in Manhattan (!!!), New Jersey, the Hudson Valley region and Mt. Vernon "later this year." Additionally, TWC is gearing up to add over 250 HD VOD options, launch Enhanced HDTV (which includes Start Over) and position itself "to carry 100 high-definition channels" in NY and NJ by the close of 2008. Progress is a wonderful thing, innit? Check the full list of upcoming HD channels in the read link. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

Just days after we learned of a few channel transformations coming up in the TWC New York / New Jersey markets, along comes word that quite a few other alterations are in the pipeline. For starters, HD VOD is slated to launch on May 15th in Staten Island (which currently has an "all digital" system), and other markets (Brooklyn / Queens, Manhattan, Hudson Valley and New Jersey) should receive the service before the end of Q3 2008. Additionally, Start Over and Quick Clips will reportedly be coming to all of the aforementioned systems on July 1st, but a soft launch is apt to sneak in a month prior. Still not enough? No worries -- Time Warner will also be busting out a new service dubbed Virtual Video Store, which will supposedly offer up a library of older movies for rent at just $1.99 apiece. Now, let's see if TWC delivers, shall we? [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

Look out, Comcast -- Time Warner Cable is loosing Start Over service in South Carolina, which will enable those in that division (along with six others) to restart high-definition shows that are already in progress. 'Course, the introduction here is a few months behind schedule, but apparently, the cable operator is planning to have the feature rolled out across all of its 23 divisions before 2009 dawns. Additionally, it's being reported that TWC has "deals in place to carry 53 HD channels, with agreements pending for another 20." As if that weren't enough, there's also plans to complement those offerings with even more HD VOD. Unsurprisingly, it seems as if the firm will be relying quite heavily on switched digital video (SDV) to free up the bandwidth for all this high-def goodness, and it's even hoping to go all digital in markets where "digital service penetration makes it relatively easy to polish off the transition." If you're one that handles teasing admirably, hit up the read link for even more foreshadowing. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family]

Comcast has a timetable for its already-mentioned "Start Over" service, with plans to have it in place in select markets by the end of 2008. The service will allow customers who come late to an already-started program to restart viewing from the beginning of the content. Comcast is in talks with Time Warner Cable (partly owned by Time Warner, parent company of AOL, which owns Engadget) for licensing rights to the name "Start Over." But whatever the name ends up being, Comcast plans to start testing the service by the middle of 2008 and deploying to customers by January 1, 2009.