TVSquad

Pioneering PVR company ReplayTV has been sold to satellite television provider DirectTV. I predict this means DirecTV will be changing its name to DirectReplayTV. OK, not really. In fact, while ReplayTV was once in a position to give TiVo a run for its money, in recent years the company's become something of an also-ran.

ReplayTV pulled out of the hardware market a while back, and launched a PC-based version of their software last year. I have yet to hear from anyone who's actually paid to use this software. While it covers all the basics, giving users the ability to schedule recordings, browse listings, and watch and pause live television there are just so many other popular PC-based PVR packages on the market that it's hard for latecomers to differentiate themselves.

That said, ReplayTV's software interface is certainly cleaner and easier to use than the software you see on many generic set top boxes. Could we see it pop up on future DirecTV PVRs?

Remember ReplayTV? Once upon a time the company was about as well known as TiVo, which is to say not very. While TiVo eventually became synonymous with "personal video recorder," ReplayTV stopped making set top boxes a few years ago.

Last year the company emerged from the ashes to relaunch as a desktop software maker. ReplayTV PC Edition is a complete desktop PVR solution that lets you turn your computer into a video recorder. There were just two problems:

1. A ton of other companies already had a stronger foothold in this space
2. It's not really a complete solution if you still need to buy hardware to make your PC record TV shows.

Point number 2 is a problem for pretty much anyone who sells desktop PVR software, Microsoft included. When I tell people how easy it is to turn their computer into a PVR, the first question they ask is "great, but where do I plug my cable box in?" And there's the rub. You don't, unless you get a TV tuner. For a computer geek that's hardly a deal breaker. But until TV tuners begin coming preinstalled on all computers, ReplayTV, BeyondTV, SageTV, and other PVR packages will have a limited audience of people who are savvy enough to buy hardware to go with their software.

Does the fact that ReplayTV is getting ready to launch what looks like a standard USB 2.0 HDTV tuner change any of this? Probably not. But it does give the company a way to package an all-in-one solution. Buy a retail package with the ReplayTV hardware and software all in one box. We're guessing this tuner will probably work just as well with BeyondTV, SageTV, or free software like Media Portal or MythTV.

It's probably worth noting that the ReplayTV HD looks an awful lot like the Hauppauge WinTV HVR 950 recorder with a red and white paint job. So you can probably expect it to sell for about $100.

When you first describe a PVR to someone, it's hard to convey how much it changes the way you watch television. "So it's like a VCR," they usually say. But of course, it's much more than that.

Hanford Lemoore worked on the first ReplayTV, and he estimates that he'd probably been using a PVR in his home longer than just about anyone. Lemoore had a ReplayTV unit in his house for a year before they hit the market.

But when his hard drive died a year and a half ago, he unplugged his ReplayTV and decided to see what life was like without a one.

Online DVD rental company Netflix looks like it's getting into the online video distribution industry. The company today appointed ReplayTV founder Anthony Wood to the newly created post of vice president of Internet TV.

Wood will be responsible for "development related to the company's strategic intent to deliver movies directly to subscribers' televisions via the Internet."

In January, Netflix launched a service allowing users to stream a limited selection of movies to their computers in real-time. Wood will oversee efforts to expand the number of titles available. Netflix also plans to develop streaming technology to send movies to cellphones and internet connected televisions, and not just PCs.

[via EndgadgetHD]

If you've got a ReplayTV box in the house, it looks like you've only got a few hours left to update your unit for Daylight Saving Time, as the update needs to be applied before March 11th at 2am.

But that said, whoa. ReplayTV has issued updates for all of its old 2xxx, 3xxx, 4xxx, 5xxx and Showstopper boxes. ReplayTV doesn't even make hardware anymore, and has instead shifted its focus to PC-based PVR software.

You'll need to follow the instructions on ReplayTV's site to initiate the update, unlike TiVo users who should get their updates automatically. But here's the thing, TiVo is pushing out updates for Series2, and Series3 boxes. But the older Series1 units have a major glitch that will throw off any manual recordings you make for the next few weeks.

Raise your hand if you wish ReplayTV had stayed in the hardware market?

[via Zatz Not Funny]

In one fell swoop ReplayTV PC Edition has gone from being the most expensive PC-based PVR software on the market to becoming one of the cheapest commercial options around. I'd say kudos to ReplayTV if I didn't believe the price drop was prompted by the fact that nobody was willing to pay $100 for the software.

Perhaps most surprising is the fact that ReplayTV is actually refunding $50 to each person who has already bought the software.

As we've pointed out in the past, ReplayTV PC Edition does have a nice interface and some pretty advanced search functions, but it was hampered by its high price. Hopefully this announcement will expose the software to a wider audience.

ReplayTV has also released version 1.2 of its software with updates, including enhanced mouse-based navigation.

[via PC World]