TiVo Series3 HD DVR

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

The first prototype of the TiVo Series3 HD DVR was revealed at the Consumer Electronic Show, Las Vegas. The TiVo Series3 HD DVR is the very first device with CableCard functionality which allows to record and playback encrypted digital cable broadcast and records HD. The TiVo Series3 HD DVR will have two tuners, this meaning that both SD and HD video Will be recordable, via cable or over-the air sources.

The CableCard functionality will make it capable to record protected content from chanels like HBO HD, ESPN HD. Supported video formats by the Series3 HD DVR are MPEG2, VMV9, VC1 and AVC. The TiVo Series 3 will have a 250 GB hard drive to record about 250 hours of SD video or 25 hours of HD content.

The TiVo Series3 HD DVR will not allow programs to be transferred from one TiVo to another. This is partly because of technical issued and mostly because of DRM issues, but it will support content downloaded from the internet.

Additional storage capacity can be added to the Series3 through the SATA port on the back. On the CES were a 350 GB external serial ATA drive, extending the video storage to 600GB. SATA Raid drivers will be not supported, but the single drive can be as large as technically possible.

The expected shipping dates and prices of the TiVo Series 3 HD DVR were not revealed but it looks like they will be available in the middle of the year and being categorized as a premium product the cost will be the same as the current DirectTiVo HD (launched at $1,000 and now found for around $600).