A stick-sized USB device that lets users receive and record HDTV on Windows PCs will ship next month at $99 from Plextor, the company said Wed. The PX-HDTV500U Mini Digital HDTV Receiver joins a group of similar devices that let PC users receive, pause and record terrestrial HDTV. The 20- gram receiver comes with software that automatically scans for free SD and HD signals in the area, which are pulled in by a flat digital antenna, Plextor said. Recordings are compressed with MPEG-2 in real time and stored on the PC’s hard drive. The USB receiver works with desktop and laptop PCs running Windows 2000, XP or Vista. Minimum hardware requirements for SDTV are a Pentium III 1-GHz or equivalent CPU, 256-MB RAM, 32-MB VGA card, sound card or on-board sound chip. For HDTV, the receiver requires a Pentium 4 3-GHz or equivalent CPU, 512-MB RAM and 128-MB VGA card.
With Comrs. Copps and Adelstein dissenting in part, the FCC approved Verizon’s sale of Puerto Rico Telephone’s parent company, Telecomunicaciones de Puerto Rico,(TELPRI) to America Movil, a Mexican company. The Commission said the transfer is in the public interest because America Movil “has experience in designing products for rural and low income populations,” should be able to speed deployment of “state- of-the-art mobile telephony, including third generation networks,” and “has advantages of scope and scale in bringing mobile telephony to customers.”
Cablevision can’t introduce a remote PVR service -- which would give subscribers full PVR functionality without delivering a set-top box to their homes -- unless it has licenses from the programmers it carries, U.S. Dist. Judge Denny Chin, N.Y., said late Thurs. Programmers including Time Warner’s Cartoon Network and Fox sought an injunction against the service after Cablevision announced its plans last year. The ruling not only puts the kibosh on Cablevision’s plans but will give pause to other digital media innovators including online, said industry and consumer advocate lawyers. Cablevision will continue to market its set-top box PVR service while it considers appealing Chin’s ruling, it said: “We are disappointed by the judge’s decision, and continue to believe that remote-storage DVRs are consistent with copyright law.”
Cablevision can’t introduce a remote PVR service -- which would give subscribers full PVR functionality without delivering a set-top box to their homes -- unless it has licenses from the programmers it carries, U.S. Dist. Judge Denny Chin, N.Y., said late Thurs. Programmers including Time Warner’s Cartoon Network and Fox sought an injunction against the service after Cablevision announced its plans last year. The ruling not only puts the kibosh on Cablevision’s plans but will give pause to other digital media innovators including online, said industry and consumer advocate lawyers. Cablevision will continue to market its set-top box PVR service while it considers appealing Chin’s ruling, it said: “We are disappointed by the judge’s decision, and continue to believe that remote-storage DVRs are consistent with copyright law.”
Cablevision can’t introduce a remote PVR service -- which would give subscribers full PVR functionality without delivering a set-top box to their homes -- unless it has licenses from the programmers it carries, U.S. Dist. Judge Denny Chin, N.Y., said late Thurs.
Amateur writers on the Internet might get reimbursed for the costs of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests under a bill introduced by Senate Judiciary Chmn. Leahy (D-Vt.) and committee member Cornyn (R-Tex.) Tues. The OPEN Govt. Act (S-849) would also limit exemptions for agencies that don’t respond to a FOIA request within 20 days, and create a tracking system for requests with a phone or Web interface for requesters. It appears identical to a House bill of the same name introduced last week (HR-1326) by House Judiciary Ranking Member Smith (R-Tex.).
After flooding the market with rebates, TiVo is scaling them back as it shifts focus to advertising and readies a lower priced Series3 PVR, CEO Thomas Rogers told analysts in an earnings conference call.
Cable operators compete on technological advances like faster broadband speeds and VoD, not exclusive programming, industry analysts said. That could inform how the industry approaches an FCC review this year of program access rules (CD Feb 22 p5), said industry lawyers. Cable operators are focusing on offering more services such as broadband and VoIP, Sanford Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett said: “Broadband is emerging as the cornerstone of the consumer bundle.” Some pay-TV lawyers continue to push for access rule changes.
Cable operators compete on technological advances like faster broadband speeds and VoD, not exclusive programming, industry analysts said. That could inform how the industry approaches an FCC review this year of program access rules, said industry lawyers. Cable operators are focusing on offering more services such as broadband and VoIP, Sanford Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett said: “Broadband is emerging as the cornerstone of the consumer bundle.”
SANTA CLARA, Cal. -- Next-generation DVD faces a hard road, format war or no format war, a Panasonic executive said Thurs. night in a wide-ranging panel discussion here on opportunities emerging from CES.