TiVo : Is it time to say goodbye to the V & V+HD Box?

[Anypermitedroute]

It has been confirmed that another day has been lost on the EPG.

would it be acceptable for VM to just RIP the V and V+ HD Box and just replace all existing non TIVO users to TIVO boxes?

There is some logic in doing this:

1) Simpler maintenance in supporting one technology (TIVO) and thus reduce overheads
2) Simplied offering of billing and packages (and thus cut out the additional charge of TIVO)
3) Universal platform for development rather than checking legacy equipment for compatibility when new enhancements take place

Is TIVO ready to be "the" single platform provider for VM as standard or is there a warranted market to both a TIVO and non TIVO offering

[Mr K]

I'm keeping my VHD box thanks very much. It's an invaluable addition to Tivo and better in a few ways. Catch Up is more reliable (i.e iplayer works), and it's generally much quicker. Also on SD channels I find the PQ a bit better with the VHD. Its an ideal box for the bedroom in that it auto powers down and is small and unobtrusive and doesn't have a hard drive whirring all night.

[johnathome]

I got half price installation of £25 (no self-install then) and a £5 credit for 18 months.
I was happy with that at the time.

---------- Post added at 14:45 ---------- Previous post was at 14:40 ----------

Did someone delete a post or have i cross-posted? Pretty sure i was replying to gemma??

[ase001]

It would be nice, but I can't see it happening.

I can't see the current Tivo becoming standard either.

In-fact I think the current Tivo platform will be the last of it's kind. They are too expensive to roll out and maintain, the replacement may-well be branded Tivo and have a Tivo user interface but it will be more like the Apple TV, Now TV type appliance (cheap as chips).

Who needs cable when you can get 50Mb+ broadband and on demand from several sources? Recording linear channels will be less important with complete box sets available online and the likes of iPlayer allowing 30days to watch catchup. When you want to record it will be straight to the cloud, well a marker placed against a library holding a generic copy of the program.

Originally Posted by Anypermitedroute

It has been confirmed that another day has been lost on the EPG.

would it be acceptable for VM to just RIP the V and V+ HD Box and just replace all existing non TIVO users to TIVO boxes?

There is some logic in doing this:

1) Simpler maintenance in supporting one technology (TIVO) and thus reduce overheads
2) Simplied offering of billing and packages (and thus cut out the additional charge of TIVO)
3) Universal platform for development rather than checking legacy equipment for compatibility when new enhancements take place

Is TIVO ready to be "the" single platform provider for VM as standard or is there a warranted market to both a TIVO and non TIVO offering

VM seem quite happy to run different platforms on their network for some reason. The question I have is what software platform is installed on the new VHD boxes?

[spiderplant]

Originally Posted by Anypermitedroute

would it be acceptable for VM to just RIP the V and V+ HD Box and just replace all existing non TIVO users to TIVO boxes?

There are well over two million non-TiVo boxes still in use. So VM couldn't "just" replace them - the boxes have to be sourced and installed. That would be a massive undertaking and cost, which at the moment outweighs the benefits.

I'd expect certain Liberate box models will be withdrawn sooner, though. (Some already have been).

Originally Posted by mhatter67

VM seem quite happy to run different platforms on their network for some reason.

"Happy" is a bit strong, but at the moment there isn't an alternative.

Originally Posted by mhatter67

The question I have is what software platform is installed on the new VHD boxes?

Liberate.

[MutleyF]

Interesting, but equally I cannot see this happening.

In my opinion, Live TV will continue - can you imagine a mother "sourcing a live feed of cbbc" for her children ?

I think the internet has to be a lot more reliable before everything goes cloud based. There would be too much uproar if the internet went down whilst someone was watching Eastenders !

Originally Posted by ase001

It would be nice, but I can't see it happening.

I can't see the current Tivo becoming standard either.

In-fact I think the current Tivo platform will be the last of it's kind. They are too expensive to roll out and maintain, the replacement may-well be branded Tivo and have a Tivo user interface but it will be more like the Apple TV, Now TV type appliance (cheap as chips).

Who needs cable when you can get 50Mb+ broadband and on demand from several sources? Recording linear channels will be less important with complete box sets available online and the likes of iPlayer allowing 30days to watch catchup. When you want to record it will be straight to the cloud, well a marker placed against a library holding a generic copy of the program.

[ase001]

Originally Posted by MutleyF

Interesting, but equally I cannot see this happening.

It's happening now, just look at the latest TVs they already offer the basic Linear TV channels, on demand and access to box sets. In the case of Sony, Samsung and LG they all are looking to provide original content too!

If we go back to the days of Tiscali (part of Talktalk now) they had a set top box that did all linear channels down the internet and it worked reasonably well. That was five plus years ago!

In my home we watch very little live TV (excluding sports), it's either on demand or recorded. If we had access to a decent library of box sets we probably would record that much TV either?

Even Tivo are looking at providing apps for internet devices (including PC's), so they can see the writing on the wall for the Tivo box! They have just re-written there software using a new library which makes it portable to other platforms! At present the apps stream from your Tivo box but they also stream from other sources!

The business model of VM TV is currently flawed and will need to change or go extinct!

[passingbat]

Originally Posted by MutleyF

can you imagine a mother "sourcing a live feed of cbbc" for her children ?

It would more likely be the children having to source a live feed for the parents