Slashdot Log In
The Secret Origins of TiVo
Posted by
CowboyNeal
on Sat Sep 02, 2006 10:05 AM
from the trust-no-one dept.
from the trust-no-one dept.
Davis Freeberg writes "TiVo is probably better known for their ad zapping technology than their television advertisements. In fact, other then a few lousy infomercials and a commercial that was rumored to be banned by the networks, TiVo has never really had much in the way of TV advertisements. Apparently though, one of TiVo's more rabid fans did some sleuthing and discovered a hidden easter egg video buried deep within TiVo's own website. The video itself exposes the true origins of TiVo's technology and how they got their hands on that ad zapping photon remote to begin with."
Related Stories
[+]
TiVo Announces High-Def Series3 DVR 225 comments
prostoalex writes "Catching up with the competition, TiVo is set to unveil a high-definition digital video recorder. The unit will feature dual tuners, 250 GB, and a hefty price sticker: 'The long-awaited product will be $800 and available in mid-September, the company said. Subscription fees for the TiVo service are separate ... TiVo officials attributed its long development time in part to waiting for certain technologies to mature and the lengthy process of getting industry-related approvals, such as for the set-top-box's two built-in CableCARD slots. CableCARD slots allow users to access digital programming from a cable TV provider without the need for a separate receiver. The Series3 HD box also represents TiVo's first major product upgrade since it released its networked Series2 DVR in 2002.'"
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
File format? (Score:2)
Ask Dan Rather (Score:5, Funny)
He has some MP4 files that Bush actually recorded with his Powerbook in 1972.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Now if only Tivo boxes would be able to play back MPEG-4, then we'd have some news here.
~jeff
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Don't like TiVo, huh? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Not nice, like sueing companies for having the gall to implement playback and recording at the same time? Or sueing companies for making it so that pressing "play" after fast forwarding/rewinding causes playback to resume slightly before the button was pressed?
Not nice, like removing the commercial skip feature due to pressure from TV studios?
I wonder what TiVo could possibly have done to make peop
Patented Technology (Score:3, Funny)
40 MB? (Score:2)
BitTorrent download (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Cómo se dice "Viral Marketing?" (Score:3, Insightful)
When it's been on
Then then then... than? (Score:2, Insightful)
And then their television advertisements what? Did they do something after that? Oh, hehe, no, you're trying to make a comparison! For that we use "than". I know they've devolved to homophones in certain english dialects but that's still no excuse. This is such a commonly made and silly mistake that it bears pointing out when it appears on the front page of Slashdot, for heaven's sake.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Well, better on Slashdot front page then New York Times.
Re: (Score:2)
"is probably better known for their ad zapping technology, then their televison advertisements, then their funny little SOS signals they send out"...
Re: (Score:2)
Zap Ads? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Zap Ads? (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Or you can just use MythTV [mythtv.org], where you can automatically skip them without pressing anything.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Zap Ads? (Score:4, Informative)
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Second, I didn't havethe luxury of being able to just upgrade an existing 'puter, I tend to use outdated laptops.
I didn't realize that Tivo no longer does the lifetime sub. I was just pointing out that for a lot of folks out there MythTV is not the lower-cost option. I'd say if it weren't for that this would still be the case - most folks I know use laptops that they cart around fairly often, and I'd assume that
Re:Zap Ads? (Score:5, Interesting)
tivo's "bosses" (the entity higher up the food chain, that trickles down 'stuff') wouldn't dare allow that, of course. I'm very surprised they even 'allowed' any skipping at all! I consider that a fluke, actually; in the age of 'do not FF' (the icon that appears when you first insert a dvd and are FORCED to watch stuff that you don't want or need).
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Wonder what this is promoting? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Wonder what this is promoting? (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Mirror to MP4 file (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.qcs-rf.com/slashdot/bluemoon.mp4 [qcs-rf.com]
Re: (Score:2)
Viral Ad (Score:3, Informative)
I love the smell... (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
1-frame watermark (Score:2, Interesting)
Youtube.... (Score:5, Informative)
Pictures behind Waterman's shoulders (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
*Sigh* Kids.
On the right is Gerald R. Ford, Nixon's VP after Agnew resigned, who became President when Nixon resigned.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
If you need more proof than the picture (which was probably obtained by fast-forwarding the nightly news all the way to the present), Diebold [diebold.com] had just opened their electronic research, testing and development facility in Ohio...
Ohio! Think about it, people!
Clear Pictures are not Guaranteed (Score:2)
"Ad zapping?" (Score:2)
MirrorDot (Score:3, Informative)
My home movies? (Score:2)
alien technology (Score:2)
fake timestamp (Score:2, Interesting)
WTF?
Commercial Skip? (Score:2, Funny)
Well Gollieee (Score:2)
My personal rule is to avoid whenever possible companies who compete via lawsuit, rather than by price and/or quality.
about 3 minutes too long (Score:3)
got pretty banal pretty quick.
Rabid fan? (Score:3, Interesting)