Comcast rollout of TiVo box begins
After more than two years of promises and delays, Comcast Corp. has finally begun rolling out its first set-top boxes that run TiVo’s digital video recording technology.
As expected, New England is the first market to get the long-awaited Comcast-TiVo offering. The rollout started in the last few days with test customers only, TiVo spokesman Whit Clay said in a statement Thursday.
The boxes will be commercially available “in coming weeks,” a Comcast spokeswoman said. Pricing has not yet been disclosed.
The Comcast-TiVo deal was first announced in 2005 and is considered a key part of TiVo’s future as it works to attract more customers and become profitable. TiVo pioneered the DVR and is the best known brand name but has struggled amid cheaper offerings by rivals, including Comcast.
Comcast, the nation’s largest cable TV provider, has said it will continue to offer its basic DVR service; the TiVo-based offering will be a premium service.
Tivo Series3 $200 Rebate
Yes, another post about Tivo. I am enjoying my Tivo’s so much that I wanted to share a $200 rebate form I just found out about. That way, everyone else will know what I am talking about….
It is a $200 mail-in rebate on the TiVo Series3 - this is only the original Series3 and not the TiVo HD. Purchase the Series3 between September 16th, 2007 and January 26th, 2008. The rebate must be postmarked by March 26th, 2008. So the rebate kicks in TODAY!
With the Series3 available for $600, or less, from a few online retailers, that brings the cost down below $400, putting it about $100 more than the TiVo HD. That’s not a bad deal for what you get - 250GB instead of 160GB, the Glo remote, and the nicer design of the unit itself.
Click here for the PDF rebate form.
Amazon Unbox
Since I’ve been in Tivo heaven lately I started using Amazon Unbox almost daily. I downloaded new episodes of Bionic Woman, Life, and Chuck, which are all new shows coming to NBC this fall. I have unfortunately ran into my first issue with the Unbox system.
I contacted Amazon customer service (800-201-7575) and informed them that I wasn’t able to download something I purchased back on the 13th of September. They informed my that there system is down at the moment and they hope to have it back up later today.
At the moment there are still lots of TV shows that aren’t in the Tivo download menu so some shows you still have to download to your PC. I purchased Battlestar Galactica: The Mini-Series so that I could start watching the whole series. As a side note, you have to watch the 2003 mini-series before watching season 1 of Battlestar Galactica. I never thought I would be into that series but a guy I am in a theatre show with right now said it was great so I thought I would at least try it out.
