Randy Weber

Back in December 2006 I wrote about TiVo not keeping up in the quest to be the provider of the “sofa web.”

Om Malik at GigaOM discusses the new game consoles and the contribution they might make to Internet browsing. He refers to it as the “sofa web.”

It was announced that TiVo and Amazon Team Up - NYTimes.com. This is a positive step towards TiVo becoming part of the sofa web. I can’t wait to see more deals.

Zatz Not Funny! says YouTube on TiVo Launches. I know how crappy YouTube videos look on my iPhone. How bad do you think they’ll look on your big screen TV, especially HDTV? I could see people using this a few times and then dumping it. I say no big deal.

Looks like Netflix has done some thinking. Profiles feature NOT going away. Nice to see that companies can get it right sometimes.

This is the worst customer service move I’ve seen this year. Netflix has eliminated the ability to have multiple queues and reviewers per account. Here’s the details for Ars Technica:

According to an e-mail sent out to subscribers last night, Netflix is eliminating the convenient feature and removing all additional account profiles in September. And to add insult to injury, the additional profiles cannot be migrated to a new account. So all the effort you may have put in to rating hundreds, if not thousands, of movies and carefully crafting the perfect queue will be obliterated. The rental history will be merged with the main account owner, so your recommendations could suddenly change to reflect other profile users’ tastes.

I’d be really pissed if I had to recreate my queue. Maybe they want people to go back to Blockbuster.

Om Malik makes a case why EchoStar should by TiVo (Why the New EchoStar Should Buy TiVo « NewTeeVee). I’d like to make a case why TiVo should NOT sell to EchoStar.

1) They are about to win a bunch of money from EchoStar in a patent infringement suit.

2) Other than the ability to combine TiVo functionality with that of Slingbox, EchoStar has nothing to offer since it’s no longer tied to a satellite provider that can put TiVos in homes.

3) I still say that Yahoo or Apple would be a better home, though it looks like Apple has just about finished rolling out its own solution. So that leaves Yahoo. If Microsoft picks up Yahoo, then that pretty much eliminates Yahoo as a possible suitor since MS already has their own solution in the Media Center.

So, on second thought, maybe they should sell since there’s probably not going to be anyone left to buy them that could add anything to the equation.

Whatever you do TiVo, please find a way to get me a dual-tuner, HD box that will work with my cable that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.

Om Malik at GigaOM discusses the new game consoles and the contribution they might make to Internet browsing. He refers to it as the “sofa web.” It’s good reading.

He also discusses how Opera has been good at recognizing opportunities in the mobile market and is now going after the game console market.

As much as I like to see Om talk about this, it makes me sad that TiVo is not even considered in the conversation, not that they deserve to. I feel that TiVo has really dropped the ball when it comes to being the box that integrates the Internet, PCs, Audio, Video, DVR, and TV in the living room. Everything was there from the head start in the living room to the easily customizable linux-based platform on which TiVo software sits.

Perhaps TiVo and Opera need to be talking.

PVR Wire wrote an interesting post on Who will buy TiVo? Google, Yahoo or Microsoft?

Let me start this with the fact that I LOVE TiVo. However, the lack of a viable HD product has led me to use the PVR in the set-top box from Time Warner. I hate it, but I have no choice. None-the-less, I still have my TiVo which I use as a music server to get my tunes from my PC to my entertainment system. It’s slicker than anything else out there, trust me, I’ve tried them.

Now, on with my point. I want TiVo to survive. I think it has major opportunities that it has not been able to capitalize on:

1. The set-top box that integrates audio, video, PCs, and the Internet in the living room.
2. It could change the way that audio and video is monetized by content owners and distributors.
3. It could change they way that audio and video is distributed by content owners - pay-per-view, video on demand, stored content that can be moved to various devices, etc.

I want this device BAD. PVR Wire has their arguments on who is most likely to buy TiVo - they believe it will be Yahoo or Google. I want it to be Yahoo or Apple. Yahoo seems to be able to integrate a variety of Internet content and could really use TiVo rather than screwing around with their own vaporware product. Apple would be great because they’d be able to avoid screwing up TiVo’s incredible UI (they might even be able to improve it) and they have done very well with integrating various types of content on various devices.

Whether it’s Yahoo or Apple, please let it happen.

Looks like there may be some more options for TiVo lovers. TiVo is about to launch their long-awaited HD-capable DVR on September 17th. It supports cable cards so no more boxes needed.

For Cox cable subscribers, there may be an additional solution.

The TiVo software will be made available for Cox users on DVR units. And the even better news is that no hardware upgrades will be required. The TiVo software will be downloaded to the existing Cox Motorola DVR boxes. This option won’t be available until 2007…

Happy Days!