Well, the good news is that the digital prince will be rolling out to iQ2 boxes around the country starting next week to activate the sleeping 4th tuner. Once it’s been woken up, Princess Tuner Number 4 will allow you to record two channels at the same time as watching a third channel live (at the moment you can only record two and either watch one of them, or watch something already recorded to the HDD or watch one of the On Demand movies or shows).

All iQ2 subscribers should be getting the update rolled out by December 1, but you won’t be notified when it’s been upgraded. It’s also a staggered rollout, so you’ll just have to keep trying to record Futurama at the same time as The Daily Show and Star Trek Voyager to see if you’ve been updated yet.

[Foxtel]

But is it the same device? Eagle-eyed reader Anthony pointed out that the slide Panasonic showcased at IFA explicitly says that it features BD-Live technology, which we know for a fact that the Australian version doesn’t. Considering you need an Ethernet port (or inbuilt Wi-Fi, I guess) plus some dedicated storage on board to be able to use BD-Live, it would mean that the DMR-BW500 for Europe would have different hardware to the Australian model.

We can’t find any specs for the European model online to compare, and although we’ve asked Panasonic to confirm they are the same machine (or that the BD-Live symbol on the presentation was a mistake), but all we’ve gotten back from them so far is a statement that the Australian model doesn’t support BD-Live, which we already knew.

If the European model does feature BD-Live, There are going to be a few disappointed customers out there who forked out over $2K for a player that doesn’t have full spec, when Panny could just as easily have included it from the beginning. The other alternative is that there was a mistake in the presentation, in which case all this means nothing. We’ll keep you posted of any updates…

[Trusted Reviews - Thanks Anthony!]
Pic from Trusted Reviews

Jeff recorded one of his favourite episodes of Star Trek at 1PM and got the message above, giving him a whole 2 1/2 hours to watch it. Last time, the flag was a gltich–it’s probably the case here, too, since the TiVo Copy Protection site doesn’t even exist. Still, it’s a nice reminder your magic box really only has as much as power as the broadcasters generously decide grant it. [PVR Blog]

Now recordings will not be transferable between systems, and HD recording has been nixed for the moment, too (but presumably coming back after launch). So what’s left to look forward to with PlayTV? The PS3 combined with the PSP will still allow streaming of PlayTV signals/content. Not bad, but not enough to justify replacing my current DVR, either. [Eurogamer]

He also played down the announcement made back in May that the new HD PVR would be “content agnostic” with the ability to play video from the web:

“Slowly we’ll introduce HD and web-based services and those kind of
things. But technology for technology’s sake just because
it’s available – we can’t afford to do that sort of thing.”

It’s a sad day for Austar subscribers everywhere.

[Australian IT]

The only problem with the Freeview concept is that it’s only launching in 2009. It should have launched at least 4 years ago. It launched in the UK in 2002, and even New Zealand has used its masthead as a driver for FTA TV since last year. The reasons behind the delay are probably too numerous to mention, but the fact that Channel 7, 9 and 10 were so precious about their EPG information for so many years certainly wouldn’t have helped.

So, get ready for an onslaught of phone calls next year from your less tech-savvy mates asking what the hell Freeview is. You’re going to get a few calls.

[Via TV Tonight]

For a start, the press release is full of smacktalk. Now, I know Channel 7 enjoys the smacktalk, but in a press release? Have a read for your self:

“The TiVo HD DVR brings you all the features, and more, that until now were only available to pay television customers. Why pay monthly fees for pay television when 56% of pay television viewing is on the free channels anyway?”

But the real disappointment isn’t in the press release. It’s in the details. Like the fact that some of TiVo’s core features will be gimped at launch, only to be switched on at a later date for a fee in the “tens of dollars”. 

Aside from the obvious dilemma of where to spend your money (there’s some new phone launching on July 11, remember?), the mid-July timeframe does work with the previous announcements that Channel 7 made about it launching before the Olympics.

The box itself is likely to cost somewhere around the $700 mark, which isn’t exactly cheap for a DVR. Seven are likely to promote the box’s superior EPG functionality in order to justify that price, although we’ll wait to see how it’s implemented ourselves before we recommend on whether you should spend the money.

The other interesting point made in the Fin’s article is that Harvey Norman are likely to have an exclusive distribution arrangement for 3 months, before it will be available in JB Hi-Fi and Dick Smith’s shops.

I’m sure there are important factors influencing that decision, like scratching the backs of old mates and heavy advertisers, but I think Channel 7 may be overestimating TiVo’s appeal in Australia. Personally – I’m very intrigued, but I would need to see some obvious advantages in TiVo’s local implementation before I dropped 700 big ones. Especially now that Foxtel’s iQ2 is on the market.

UPDATE: Pete Blasina over at GadgetGuy.com.au is reporting that the launch date is officially July 15. Considering his relationship with Channel 7, I reckon this is pretty much guaranteed.

[MIS Australia and GadgetGuy]