Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

Hi,

Will ReplayTV have any more new products or are they
throwing the towel to TIVO and other PVRs?

-F.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

What makes you think that that might happen? They currently have the
5500 series and haven't indicated that they are done.

From:F. C.
fc@nospam.com

> Hi,
>
> Will ReplayTV have any more new products or are they
> throwing the towel to TIVO and other PVRs?
>
> -F.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

"BruceR" <brNOSPAM@hawaii.com> shaped the electrons to say:
>What makes you think that that might happen? They currently have the
>5500 series and haven't indicated that they are done.

That's kind of it - the 5000/5500 is getting a bit long in the tooth,
the design is two years old with no changes. Normally HW gets are
least a manufacturing spin to save costs and use newer, and cheaper,
components in that kind of time span. Over the same period TiVo has
done at least two refreshes on the basic Series2 design, including the
recent jump from 2* (black) to 5* (silver) boxes - which is a
basically all new physical box, inside and out. Not to mention the
DVD and DVD-RW units, and the DirecTV HDTV unit. DNNA took over in
May 2003 - since then there has been no new RTV HW and very little
change to the SW. Also no new licensees, and previously talked about
development efforts, like integrated DVD units, thin clients for
streaming, etc, were dropped.

DNNA has indicated they are willing to let the standalone PVR products
wither. When they took over they dropped work on things like MP3
support and USB WiFi adapter support, and they also dropped any work
on HW updates to the products. They've also failed to expand their
retail presence, or do any noticable marketing for ReplayTV since last
holiday season.

Instead DNNA is focusing on the integrated media server market. It is
a smaller market, but the margins are much larger. You're talking
about units that sell for several thousand dollars. They already have
products that integrate CD, DVD, and digital music playback under
Escient. Many RTV engineers were moved to Escient to integrate PVR
functionality in their products as well. Products will also appear as
Denon and Marantz units. Such as the Denon NS-S100 shown at CES2004:
http://www.g4techtv.com/freshgear/ [...] Show.html?

Take a look at the press releases from DNNA relating to RTV. So far
there has been *one* for all of 2004 - announcing a rebate program in
July. Since DNNA took over there have only been 4 releases.

DNNA is an upscale company, the standalone PVR market just isn't what
they're after. And it is starting to get crowded, with cable box DVRs
spreading. Even TiVo has said the future is in multi-purpose,
integrated systems like DVD recorders and in providing more than just
PVR functionality - which is why they bought Strangeberry.

DNNA will probably keep selling 5500 series ReplayTV units as long as
they make money on them. But it doesn't look like there will be a
follow-on.

-MZ, RHCE #806199299900541, ex-CISSP #3762
--
<URL:mailto:megazoneatmegazone.org> Gweep, Discordian, Author, Engineer, me.
"A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men" 508-755-4098
<URL:http://www.megazone.org/> <URL:http://www.eyrie-productions.com/> Eris

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

I see your point. I guess that without Show Sharing and Commercial
Advance there isn't much to distinguish them from Tivo.

From:MegaZone
newsREMOVE@THISmegazone.org

> "BruceR" <brNOSPAM@hawaii.com> shaped the electrons to say:
>> What makes you think that that might happen? They currently have the
>> 5500 series and haven't indicated that they are done.
>
> That's kind of it - the 5000/5500 is getting a bit long in the tooth,
> the design is two years old with no changes. Normally HW gets are
> least a manufacturing spin to save costs and use newer, and cheaper,
> components in that kind of time span. Over the same period TiVo has
> done at least two refreshes on the basic Series2 design, including the
> recent jump from 2* (black) to 5* (silver) boxes - which is a
> basically all new physical box, inside and out. Not to mention the
> DVD and DVD-RW units, and the DirecTV HDTV unit. DNNA took over in
> May 2003 - since then there has been no new RTV HW and very little
> change to the SW. Also no new licensees, and previously talked about
> development efforts, like integrated DVD units, thin clients for
> streaming, etc, were dropped.
>
> DNNA has indicated they are willing to let the standalone PVR products
> wither. When they took over they dropped work on things like MP3
> support and USB WiFi adapter support, and they also dropped any work
> on HW updates to the products. They've also failed to expand their
> retail presence, or do any noticable marketing for ReplayTV since last
> holiday season.
>
> Instead DNNA is focusing on the integrated media server market. It is
> a smaller market, but the margins are much larger. You're talking
> about units that sell for several thousand dollars. They already have
> products that integrate CD, DVD, and digital music playback under
> Escient. Many RTV engineers were moved to Escient to integrate PVR
> functionality in their products as well. Products will also appear as
> Denon and Marantz units. Such as the Denon NS-S100 shown at CES2004:
> http://www.g4techtv.com/freshgear/ [...] Show.html?
>
> Take a look at the press releases from DNNA relating to RTV. So far
> there has been *one* for all of 2004 - announcing a rebate program in
> July. Since DNNA took over there have only been 4 releases.
>
> DNNA is an upscale company, the standalone PVR market just isn't what
> they're after. And it is starting to get crowded, with cable box DVRs
> spreading. Even TiVo has said the future is in multi-purpose,
> integrated systems like DVD recorders and in providing more than just
> PVR functionality - which is why they bought Strangeberry.
>
> DNNA will probably keep selling 5500 series ReplayTV units as long as
> they make money on them. But it doesn't look like there will be a
> follow-on.
>
> -MZ, RHCE #806199299900541, ex-CISSP #3762
> --
> <URL:mailto:megazoneatmegazone.org> Gweep, Discordian, Author,
> Engineer, me. "A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the
> wisest men" 508-755-4098 <URL:http://www.megazone.org/>
> <URL:http://www.eyrie-productions.com/> Eris

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

On Mon, 11 Oct 2004 19:09:05 GMT, "BruceR" <brNOSPAM@hawaii.com>
wrote:

>I see your point. I guess that without Show Sharing and Commercial
>Advance there isn't much to distinguish them from Tivo.
>

There is the ability to copy shows to computer.

>From:MegaZone
>newsREMOVE@THISmegazone.org
>
>> "BruceR" <brNOSPAM@hawaii.com> shaped the electrons to say:
>>> What makes you think that that might happen? They currently have the
>>> 5500 series and haven't indicated that they are done.
>>
>> That's kind of it - the 5000/5500 is getting a bit long in the tooth,

[snip]

--
75 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

BruceR wrote:
> I see your point. I guess that without Show Sharing and Commercial
> Advance there isn't much to distinguish them from Tivo.
>

1) Navigation and streaming are vastly superior in Replays. How anybody
can sit there tapping 30 sec skip or FF is beyond me. Think of it as a
few hundred extra remote presses a week.

2) The decoder in the 5k also provides better picture quality.

3) Hard drives are easily upgraded and huge drives are supported.

4) You can remotely control and watch Replays rom each other and the web
interface allows you to access all the machines in the house via the web.

With more sophisticated users and multiple unit installations Replay is
the only way to go. PC Mag made Replay a top choice for these reasons.
Bear in mind many of the Tivo features that mimic Replay are
"announcements".

If you don't use any of the cool features or want a gift for your
electronics challenged aunt, Tivo should work fine.