TVSquad

While SageTV, Microsoft, and possibly Snapstream and Elgato are still working on adding support for the hotly anticipated Hauppage HD-PVR to their media center applications, GB-PVR already supports the new high definition H.264 recorder.

GB-PVR is a free, but closed source media center application. The developer says he's had an HD-PVR sitting on his desk for a month and that support is already built into GB-PVR version 1.2.9, which was released a month ago. He hasn't been able to test the unit fully, since he doesn't have high definition cable or satellite service. But in theory, it should work as soon as the new recorder is available.

[via Project HTPC]

Zap2it Labs is about to shut off the free TV guide listing service used by MythTV, GP-PVR, Media Portal, and other free PVR software applications. As we've been reporting, two separate groups are stepping up to continue offering TV listings.

But neither Schedules Direct nor CT TV will be giving the data away for free. That's because unlike Zap2it, (which is a subsidiary of Tribune Media Services), both groups have to pay to license the data.

Schedules Direct announced earlier this month that their program guide information would be available at a price of $15 for 3 months. As more customers sign up, they're hoping to bring the cost down to $20 per year. This week, CT TV announced that it would charge either $3.50 per month or $30 per year (which comes to $2.50 a month).

Considering CTpvr has long been an also-ran in the world of software-based PVRs, CT TV could become a real money maker for the company. That's assuming free PVR users are willing to pay for TV listings at all and don't just find a way to improve applications that scrape the same data off of online TV guide pages for free.

There's good news and bad news for users of free PC-based PVR suites like MythTV, Media Portal, and GB-PVR.

While Zap2it Labs plans to cease offering the free television program guide data used by these programs in September, there are at least two groups planning to offer similar data. And both are close to having tools in place to pick up where Zap2it leaves off in September. That's the good news.

The bad news is that neither group will be able to offer this data for free. It's not surprising. Zap2it was offering the TV episode data in an XML format in addition to its online TV guide. The company was is owned by Tribune Media Services, so providing data to the open source community cost Zap2it nothing.

That's not true for CTpvr or Schedules Direct, the two new groups planning to offer TV episode data. Both now say that they will be charging users for access to the data, although pricing has not yet been set.

Most users of commercial PVR applications like BeyondTV, SageTV, and Windows Media Center won't be affected. Those companies get their data from alternate sources. So you have a choice. Pay for the software, received the program guides for free. Or get free software and pay for the program guides.

Come September, MythTV, Media Portal, and GB-PVR users could be stuck staring at a blank screen. That's when Zap2it Labs will stop offering free program guide data in the easily parsed XML format used by those and other PC-based PVR applications.

The developers of CTpvr, another software-based personal video recorder are developing a product that will offer data that is nearly identical to that currently offered by Zap2it. TV listings will include data like genre, cast, crew, advisories, and original air dates.

CTpvr hasn't announced pricing yet, but the company will charge users a monthly or annual fee for access to the data. For that reason alone, I suspect that this system will be used by CTpvr customers, while free and open-source applications like MythTV will look elsewhere.

Several MythTV, XMLTV, and MacProgGuide developers have already come together to form Schedules Direct. The group, previously known as EasyTV Data, is looking at alternatives to the Zap2it Labs data that can be easily plugged into PVR software to provide you with that electronic program guide goodness you've come to rely on.

A few weeks back, Zap2it Labs announced that they would shut off their free XML TV listings in September, due to abuse of the service. This could spell big trouble for MythTV, GB-PVR, and other personal video recording software packages that rely on Zap2it for their electronic program guide data.

A group of developers from MythTV, XMLTV, and MacProgGuide have formed Easy TV Data in response to the announcement. The group is engaged in some super-secret behind the scenes development to provide reliable TV listings after Zap2it cuts the cord on September 1st.

The simplest alternative is to use screen scraping software that would visit TV listing web pages and grab the data. But this is not as reliable as the XML data Zap2it currently provides, since web services can and do frequently change their site design. Hopefully the Easy TV Data group have something a bit more exciting in mind.

[via Download Squad]

Windows Media Center, BeyondTV, SageTV, and MythTV get a lot of attention when it comes to PC-based personal video recorder software.

But the first PVR software I installed on my computer was GB-PVR. It's always been a bit rough around the edges, but GB-PVR is a full-fledged and highly customizable PVR package. And best of all, it's free, making it an ideal program for anyone who wants to see what this PVR stuff is all about, without having to "upgrade" to Windows Vista.

GB-PVR's developer released version 1.0.8 last week. The biggest change is a redesigned user interface. It should be comfortable to older users, as it uses most of the same ideas. But it's been completely rewritten. That means new graphics, and perhaps more importantly, improved screen rendering. The old version was always rendered at a fixed resolution of 720 x 480 pixels, and stretched to fit your computer's screens, which looked pretty funny on a lot of HDTV displays. The new version is designed to display your screen's native resolution.

A few features have been left out of the new version, such as support for FM Radio, online radio, and YouTube videos. They may find their way back into future releases, and can almost certainly be added via plugins.