ScreenScribe

  Today’s announcement that the TiVo’s Australasian service would end in October was inevitable but Kiwis are getting a raw deal compared to Australians. Whereas Aussie customers at least are being offered $100 “swap out” with a Fetch TV PVR, no such exit strategy is available for New Zealanders. It’s ironic that such an iconic brand should fail […]

TVNZ says it will announce its Dolby Digital plans next week. It’s been reported in some forums that the broadcaster already is transmitting in 5.1 audio, as TV3 has been doing since it went HD three years ago. But a spokeswoman says this is not the case. “As part of our preparations for launching 5.1 […]

Australian media are reporting that the Australasian TiVo service is about to fold. Channel News quotes a US TiVo executive as believing TiVo in Australia “will not continue trading”. And The Register reckons “an asset sale for the video-on-demand platform could be on the cards”. Australian TiVo executives aren’t commenting on speculation about the fate […]

Sony’s claim that its new PlayTV PVR offers more features than other PVRs has been thrown into doubt by a damning NBR online report. It highlights failings that make PlayTV sound inferior to other PVRs and speculates a rift between Sony and MediaWorks is partly to blame. Like TiVo, PlayTV’s EPG will be hobbled by […]

Sony at last is coming out to play with its PlayStation 3 PVR in NZ. PlayTV will go on sale here for $200 from November 25 – two years after its launch in Europe and a year after its Australian release. The nondescript HD module connects via USB to the PS3 and has twin digital […]

TiVo users and subscribers to My Sky HDi and TelstraClear’s T-Box all had their normal service interrupted over the weekend. On Hallowe’en eve, My Sky HDi viewers lost coverage of a vital rugby game because of a power outage and TiVo was cursed by a glitch that delayed all recordings by two hours. TiVo fixed […]

Here is TelstraClear’s response to questions I raised about its new PVR/home media device, the T-Box, in today’s review. SS: Why can the EPG only be programmed up to a week ahead (and not two, like TiVo)? TC: This is the extent of information given to us by Sky TV. Due to customer confusion if […]

TelstraClear has started installing its first PVR/home media device in the homes of Wellington, Kapiti and Christchurch customers but is the T-Box ready for primetime? The telco kindly provided me with a unit to appraise during its beta testing phase. While I’ve had it to play with for several weeks, the following should be seen […]

TiVo has become the first PVR to offer 3D downloads in NZ. The Australian licensee for the home media device, Hybrid Television Services, has just announced that TiVo customers who own a 3D TV can, from today, enjoy pay-per-view 3D content delivered over broadband to the TV via CASPA. The initiative with the DDD Group initially is […]

TelstraClear has renamed its soon-to-launch PVR the T-Box Personal High Definition Video Recorder. Long in gestation, the home media device promises to combine the best features of TiVo and My Sky HDi with the HD Holy Grail bonus of 1080p video. Five months ago the telco started demonstrating the T-Box in its Wellington and Christchurch […]