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Post by dkennedy on Aug 24, 2006 17:57:14 GMT -5
As of September 15, 2006, Time Warner Cable will be switching several channels to new "two-way" switched digital technology that can only be handled by their set top boxes or the new "two way" CableCards. The following channels will no longer be available to "one-way" CableCard users on Time Warner Cable here in the Capital District on September 15, 2006: 115 - Disney West 708 - HBO West 709 - HBO Premium West 710 - HBO Signature West 711 - HBO Family West 712 - HBO Comedy West 713 - HBO Zone West 714 - HBO Latino West 725 - Cinemax West 726 - MoreMax West 727 - ActionMax West 728 - ThrillerMax West 746 - Showtime West 747 - Showtime 2 West 748 - Showtime 3 West 749 - Showtime Extreme West 750 - Showtime Beyond West 754 - Showtime Next West 755 - Showtime Family West 756 - Showtime Women West 763 - The Movie Channel West 764 - The Movie Channel 2 West 776 - Starz West 777 - Starz 5 Cinema West 788 - Encore West If you are a "one-way" CableCard user and would like to continue to receive the above channels, please contact Time Warner Cable at 1-866-321-CABLE before September 15, 2006 to get a set top box installed.  |
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Post by hurnik on Aug 24, 2006 19:22:32 GMT -5
WTF is this?!!! d**n TWC! So now I'll be "forced" to pay the lovely $7.95/month fee for their stupid STB instead of $1.75/month for their cable card. And that also means the Series 3 Tivo is out of the question as well.
@#$@#
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Post by dkennedy on Aug 25, 2006 4:57:03 GMT -5
WTF is this?!!! d**n TWC! So now I'll be "forced" to pay the lovely $7.95/month fee for their stupid STB instead of $1.75/month for their cable card. And that also means the Series 3 Tivo is out of the question as well. @#$@# The new series 3 TiVO (if it is released) will have "two-way" cablecard capability. However, TiVO has changed it's pricing structure (no lifetime $299 ) and you will need to pay about $12.95 monthly for their service, plus, whatever the new fee is from TWC for the new "two-way" CC (which is not yet available). By the way, Time Warner Cable will NOT reduce their digital package price and/or premium channel pricing for "one-way" CableCard users for losing the above channels... By losing the above "West" feeds TWC will have more bandwidth for HD channels. However, they may bring out new HD channels using switched digital technology, which will still prevent "one-way" CC users from viewing them. I am sorry...this is all very bad news for "one-way" CableCard users    |
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Post by hurnik on Aug 25, 2006 20:03:13 GMT -5
Actually, the Series 3 does NOT have 2-way anything. It is only a CC 1.0 and CC multistream device compliance. The ONLY Cable Card capable of 2-way communication is CC 2.0 and the spec hasn't been finalized. I've been actively watching this over at the Tivo Community Forums and Tivo has publicly stated that the Series 3 cannot and will not do 2-way communication as it does not have CC 2.0 abilities.
Which stinks.
We can only hope Veirzon FIOS TV comes through quickly as they support CC 1.0 and do not have SDV.
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Post by dkennedy on Aug 26, 2006 5:57:00 GMT -5
Actually, the Series 3 does NOT have 2-way anything. It is only a CC 1.0 and CC multistream device compliance. The ONLY Cable Card capable of 2-way communication is CC 2.0 and the spec hasn't been finalized. I've been actively watching this over at the Tivo Community Forums and Tivo has publicly stated that the Series 3 cannot and will not do 2-way communication as it does not have CC 2.0 abilities. Which stinks. We can only hope Veirzon FIOS TV comes through quickly as they support CC 1.0 and do not have SDV. You have been mis-informed, most people in other forums do some extraordinary speculation, that others take as fact. This is why I have chosen to speak to manufacturers, post manufacturers press releases, speak to media consultants, attend CES shows and confirmed media articles on the subject before posting here in our forum. The TiVO Series 3 will have a CC 1.0 slot, which others call "one-way", "uni-directional" or "single-stream" CableCards and a CC 2.0 slot, which is also known as "two-way", "multi-directional", "M-Card" or "multi-stream" CableCards. CC 2.0 is cabable of four multi-stream's, which means to take full advantage you will need 4 digital tuners in the set top. TiVO will have 2 dual tuners. These were the specifications presented at the last CES 2006 show. TiVO (to my knowledge) has not changed these specifications. A multi-stream CC and CC 2.0 are the same thing. I have several posts on the subject: CableLabs Multi-stream CableCard 2.0 Specification was released on March 30, 2005 www.opencable.com/downloads/specs/OC-SP-MC-IF-C01-050331.pdfA CableCard Primer: albanyhdtv.proboards18.com/index.cgi?board=boxes&action=display&thread=1139918111TiVO Series 3 specs: albanyhdtv.proboards18.com/index.cgi?board=boxes&action=display&thread=1136551830Motorola's Multistream CableCard: albanyhdtv.proboards18.com/index.cgi?board=boxes&action=display&thread=1152612425I hope this clarifies your understanding of the new TiVO series 3, however, as I posted in the past, receiving CableLabs approval for a device (as the TiVO series 3 received and the Motorola M Card) doesn't necessarily mean it will be mass produced. |
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Post by hurnik on Aug 26, 2006 9:38:34 GMT -5
Actually no. Tivo themselves state it is a multi-stream 1.0 card. Also, if you read your CC 2.0 spec (the PDF) it is NOT in the final state (there are I think 5 states that the spec can be in). What was at CES was a "beta" and a lot of confusion has resulted ever since that.
Trust me, I wish it were True, but even Tivo Corporate has stated repeatedly that the Series 3 CANNOT and WILL NOT do bi-directional communication. It is strictly CC 1.0 and Multi-stream ONLY.
The CC 2.0 spec (hardware--not the card itself) requires that the device have a firewire port on it. Tivo Series 3 does not have this (and the 2.0 spec isn't in the final state anyway).
Multi-stream does not require CC 2.0 specification (since that's not even finalized/closed yet).
Tivo also filed a formal complaint with the FCC regarding SDV (why do that if the Series 3 can do bi-directional M-cards?).
Even if Tivo wanted to, they could not release a CC 2.0 series 3 because the spec hasn't been finalized yet. They list it as "ISSUED" which isn't the final stage. The final stage is "closed" but it's not there yet. Apparently it can still be changed.
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Post by dan203 on Aug 28, 2006 0:25:34 GMT -5
Unfortunately hurnik is correct. The Series 3 is a CableCARD 1.0 device. All the reports that came after CES saying that it was CC2.0 were based on a single report by a guy known as Megazone. Unfortunately he was mistaken, and later corrected the statement, but the ball had already started rolling and no one payed attention. The Series 3 will support multi-stream, in lew of two single stream cards, for the sole purpose of supporting dual tuner functionality. It will NOT support any bidirectional functions. If you do not believe me then simply look at this report that TiVo's law firm filed with the FCC in response to the SDV threat.... gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/retrieve.cgi?native_or_pdf=pdf&id_document=6518400258it repeatedly refers to the Series 3 as a "UDCP", which stands for unidirectional cable product. Also, as hurnik pointed out, the CC2.0 spec is not even finalized yet. It has been given and "Issued" status, which means the hardware requirements are finished and manufacturers can start building 2.0 compatible equipment. However until it's status is changed to "Closed" the software side will not be finished, and the cable companies will not deploy CC2.0 support. Now there is a deadline on July 2007 which is supose to force cable companies to stop using propritary equipment, and start using CableCARDs for their own leased boxes. Since they depend heavily on VOD and PPV this should get the CC2.0 spec pushed though. However this dealine has been extended twice before, so it's possible the FCC might cave and extended it yet again. Until that deadline actually hits I would not expect to see cable companies deploying CC2.0, even if the spec does get finalized, as there is no mandate other then this deadline, which forces them to do so. Dan Moderator TiVo Community Forum |
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Post by dkennedy on Aug 28, 2006 4:06:54 GMT -5
Hurnik & Dan,
I have requested clarification from TiVO on this matter.
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Post by dan203 on Aug 28, 2006 14:55:27 GMT -5
As my post says I am a moderator over on the TiVo Community Forum and I have already talked to several people at TiVo and they have confirmed that the S3 is NOT CC2.0 compatible.
And if you think about it there really is no way it could be. The CC2.0 spec didn't even go to "Issued" status until late April. The Series 3 TiVo was approved by CableLabs in early April, which means it was submitted to them for testing in January, way before the CC2.0 spec was even close to being issued. There is no way TiVo developed the S3 hardware, starting almost a year earilier, using a preliminary specification which was still subject to change.
Dan
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Post by hurnik on Aug 28, 2006 21:07:00 GMT -5
But we can hold out hope that POSSIBLY with a breakout box of some sort, the Series 3 could be CC 2.0 compatible. But given the Cable Co's slowness with CC 1.0 rollout, I figure that CC 2.0 deadline will be pushed back at LEAST another year, if not two.
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Post by dkennedy on Aug 29, 2006 6:07:04 GMT -5
Dan & hurnik,
I understand what you are both stating, however, I had received my information when I attended financial institutional meetings with TiVO with other investment banking media technology analysts.
Back then, the TiVO "dog & pony" show was that the Series3 would have a CC1.0 and CC2.0 slot to be profitable and not be considered old technology with just two CC1.0 slots. We were also told we wouldn't see the Series3 until the CC2.0 specifications were finalized, taking the release of this product well into late 2007 or early 2008.
I need confirmation of the "facts" from TiVO for my bosses (with all due respect to both of you, stating that I got independent confirmation of the "facts" from dan203 & hurnik, doesn't bold well for job security) because of what you have stated and TiVO's actions (report that TiVo's law firm filed with the FCC and that the product is ready for release) indicate a reversal of the information they gave us, which in turn would change our investment outlook based on the technology.
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Post by dan203 on Aug 29, 2006 13:46:44 GMT -5
I know that when the concept was first shown at CES two years ago that was the plan. However when the FCC granted the MSOs another extension, forcing the CC2.0 deadline into mid 2007, TiVo was forced to move forward with what was available.
And your assumption that it was going to come out in 2007/2008 is way off! According to more then one Best Buy employee the S3 TiVo is showing up in their system with a release date of 9/17/06. So it's only a couple weeks, not a couple years, away.
Dan
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Post by hurnik on Aug 29, 2006 20:53:50 GMT -5
Dan & hurnik, I understand what you are both stating, however, I had received my information when I attended financial institutional meetings with TiVO with other investment banking media technology analysts. Back then, the TiVO "dog & pony" show was that the Series3 would have a CC1.0 and CC2.0 slot to be profitable and not be considered old technology with just two CC1.0 slots. We were also told we wouldn't see the Series3 until the CC2.0 specifications were finalized, taking the release of this product well into late 2007 or early 2008. I need confirmation of the "facts" from TiVO for my bosses (with all due respect to both of you, stating that I got independent confirmation of the "facts" from dan203 & hurnik, doesn't bold well for job security) because of what you have stated and TiVO's actions (report that TiVo's law firm filed with the FCC and that the product is ready for release) indicate a reversal of the information they gave us, which in turn would change our investment outlook based on the technology. Not a problem! I too, would like something more "official" about this (like on Tivo's website). It is too bad that the FCC continues to cave into the cable industry and let them get away with this stuff. |
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Post by dkennedy on Aug 30, 2006 3:48:27 GMT -5
And your assumption that it was going to come out in 2007/2008 is way off! According to more then one Best Buy employee the S3 TiVo is showing up in their system with a release date of 9/17/06. So it's only a couple weeks, not a couple years, away. Dan Not an assumption. In my field of work I don't presume anything. Vaporware is rampant in our industry. As stated in my previous email, the information was provided by TiVO to institutional investors. As far as the information of the early release, that was also stated in my previous email and posted here on this forum: albanyhdtv.proboards18.com/index.cgi?board=boxes&action=display&thread=1156758155 |
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Post by dan203 on Sept 13, 2006 23:59:04 GMT -5
Hate to say I told you so, but....  Dan |
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