Clearly catering towards the wants, nay, needs of the average American couch potato is TiVo and Domino's Pizza, which have collaborated in order to bring on-sofa pizza ordering to broadband-connected TiVo subscribers. If you'll recall, this service was actually announced for Australia earlier this month, but users in the US of A get the first chance to indulge. 'Course, this is far from the first unorthodox method of ordering pizza, and the lack of a scheduled delivery option is certainly a weak point, but this widget does reveal that all sorts of differentiating applications could eventually find their way to a TiVo box near you. Feel free to give it a spin tonight, but don't blame us if that backlit remote gets dimmed from grease seeping into the crevices.

[Via ZatzNotFunny]

The TiVo Series 3 and TiVo HD join the ranks of the Xbox 360, Roku and various Blu-ray players, with Netflix Watch Instantly streaming movies coming to several thousand households today in beta testing, followed by a wide release scheduled for "early December." There won't be any additional fees (other than you TiVo and Netflix subs, of course) leaving the only questions when does high definition video arrive and how do we get in the early tests? Check out the full press release after the break.

Break out the tissues -- the rumors were true. Or, at least it sure looks that way. As of right now, the only two TiVo units available on the outfit's webstore are the TiVo HD and the Series2, and even if you do a bit of digging and find the still-active Series3 page, you'll notice a glaring Out of Stock notification. Of course, you can still find leftover inventory hanging around at various resellers, but all signs are pointing to this being the final hurrah for the S3. Any touching moments you'd like to share in comments as we all bid the device a fond farewell?

[Thanks, Tim]

Back in May, TiVo's VP of product marketing got all of our hopes up that the next announcement involving it and Amazon would include HD Unbox content. As you can very clearly see, this is most certainly not the case. Instead, we have the immense pleasure of informing internet-connected Series2, Series3 and TiVo HD owners that they can now buy wares from Amazon without leaving their couch. If browsing through Amazon's extraordinarily huge store with just a remote sounds appealing to you, you're in luck (and mildly insane). Also of note, the new Product Purchase feature will enable advertisers to "market products sold through Amazon on any broadcast or cable network, any TV show, or via any of TiVo's extensive interactive advertising features." In other words, next time you see Dwight using that iconic shredder, you can buy that bad boy right then and there. Take that, Staples.

[Via Zatz Not Funny]

Call it a quick holiday cash-in targeted at current TiVo owners if you must, but you're not about to kill our buzz about the fact that TiVo's resurrecting the greatly missed Product Lifetime Service (aka lifetime subscription) for Series3 and HD owners -- temporarily, anyway, and for realsies this time. As of today -- but only through January 2nd, 2008 -- current TiVo owners can upgrade their Series2 to a Series3 or HD with lifetime, or simply upgrade the service on their current S3 / HD -- equipment aside, the service will set you back $399. Sorry though, you can't transfer service between boxes, and if you're buying a new TiVo for the lifetime you have to use it under the same account. In other words, it doesn't look like they're leaving any loopholes open on this one. Pricing details after the break.

Falling right in line with the news TiVo CEO Tom Rogers hinted at back in March, the struggling company is readying the highly anticipated HD Series 3 "Lite," which will target a much wider range of consumer with a price point of around $299. Some tenacious (and possibly connected) fans posted specs and pics on the TiVo Community forums, much to the delight of broke DVR users across the globe. The new model will axe the OLED display and THX certification, and swap the deluxe remote for a standard model, but the specs remain fairly close otherwise. Here's a geeked-out rundown to keep everyone psyched: BCM740x DVR CPU with integrated MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 decoders, 1x dual MPEG-2 encoder, 2x Samsung S5H1411-based tuners, 128Mb DDR SDRAM, and a 160Gb SATA HD (down from the Series 3's 250GB drive). All in all, a pretty attractive package when you don't have a lot of cash to burn.

Ever wish you could use that friggin eSATA port TiVo taunts you with on the back of your Series3? If so your moment has finally arrived -- and not a moment too soon for many a DVR-loving TV fans whose drives are filled to the brim with HD programming. Best of all: you don't even have to crack open your box or nothin'. Ready to get it going on? Let's upgrade that TiVo.

So the worst-kept secret in the consumer electronics industry right now is that TiVo is on the verge of releasing the CableCARD-sportin', HD-recordin' Series 3 box -- but no one seems to know exactly when you'll be able to buy one. We heard from Todd the Best Buy employee that the new machines will be in stock on the 17th of this month, and now our friend Dave over at ZatzNotFunny has spotted the highly-anticipated DMR (remember, they're not DVRs anymore, and TiVo won't sell you one if you use that terminology) on Circuit City's website showing an October availability. Now does that mean October 1st? The 15th? The 31st? Well if we knew, we'd tell ya, but at least now we seem to have an actual release window: the Series 3 will (probably) be available sometime between September 17th and October 31st. As usual, we'll keep you posted as more information comes to light, but if that's not good enough, you're always welcome to switch over to satellite and pick up on of DirecTV's new HR20-700 HD DVRs -- thanks to HDBeat, we know that Best Buy will ship you one of those post haste.

Read- Series 3 [Via ZatzNotFunny]
Read- HR20-700 [Via HDBeat]

Ever since TiVo realized that it was actually going to be around for awhile and that lifetime subscriptions no longer made financial sense, those subscribers already locked into the $300 lifetime deal found themselves in a bit of a quandary -- how would they be able to upgrade to Series 3 without becoming one of the plebes paying for service by the month? Well current Series 1 and 2 owners looking to get their HD recording on need no longer worry about losing their lifetime subs, thanks to a just-announced offer by TiVo that will allow them to transfer that all-you-can-eat goodness to newly purchased Series 3 boxes -- with a few catches, of course. The TiVo Community forums are buzzing about a recently-recorded Teleworld-broadcast promotion, wherein lifetime subscribers who purchase their Series 3 devices prior to December 31st can transfer those subscriptions before January 31, 2007 for exactly $199; and what's more, this offer gives them a full year of free service on the box that they already own. Yeah, we know, you'd think that paying $800 for a new DVR would be enough to get those subs switched over for free, but considering that a transfer was previously thought to be impossible at any price, in the long run this is still a great deal -- plus, now the rest of us know that Series 3 will be available by the end of the year at the latest. See, everyone wins.

[Via TiVoBlog]

You've been waiting for this moment for a long time now, so we're not gonna get all mushy and backlinky here, instead letting you feast your eyes on the first unboxing pics of the almost-mythical TiVo Series 3. Keep reading for a few key shots, then head over to our sister blog PVR Wire for the whole glorious ritual...

It's no secret that TiVo's on the verge of shipping its HD-capable Series 3 set-top-box -- after all, the company's already notified the FCC, posted a product page, and even ignited a flurry of controversy over Time Warner's CableCARD policy -- but we have yet to hear of a solid release date or retail price for this highly-anticipated device. Well HDBeat's got an inside source at one of the big box electronics stores (to protect his identity, we won't say which one, but he goes by the name Todd and wears a blue shirt to work) who claims that the Series 3 has already been added to their system, scheduled to be in stock on September 17th for a hefty-but-not-unreasonable $799. (Side note: if that price stands, props to our boy Dave Zatz for prognosticating it many moons ago). You first heard about this box all the way back at CES, recently spotted it in the wild, and now it may finally be time to withhold next month's rent as well as ring up your cable provider to make sure they have those precious CARDs all stocked up.

It's not like they're treating the Series3 like some well-kept secret or anything, but it's kind of nice to finally see TiVo acknowledge their new dual CableCARD equipped high def DVR, even if it's only just a form on their site for getting more info when the device is released, and a silly tagline: "Combine the best of both worlds: the Emmy® award-winning TiVo® service with high-definition television for the ultimate home theater experience. Experience HD digital cable like never before." Don't act like it's nothin', even the hard hearted are eagerly awaiting this one.

[Via Zatz Not Funny, thanks Adam]

It wasn't exactly a well kept secret that TiVo was beta testing its Series 3 boxes in select markets, but up until now there wasn't a man or woman brassy enough to break the NDA and snap some shots of the damned thing. Behold, the Series 3 in the wild! Unfortunately it doesn't yet seem to have TiVoToGo, and from what we hear the cable company had to go through four CableCARDs to get the damned thing working properly (no comment on whether it was TWC) -- but all that's irrelevant. If you're half as excited as we are about this thing then you're pretty mofriggin' stoked. Click on for some more shots of this thing running on some lucky bastard's rig.

Remember how TiVo recently sent that letter to the FCC and cable operators telling them to be prepared for the Series 3 rollout, partly because of reports that some providers were refusing to hook up beta testers with the necessary CableCARDS? Well now it looks like the company's concerns may be completely legitimate, as a complaint on the website ConsumerFury contends that Time Warner Cable's Raleigh division responded to a recent customer inquiry on the matter by stating that "Time Warner Cable of Raleigh does not provide support for or allow TiVo devices on our cable network...CableCARDS will only be installed on cable-ready, CableCARD-slot-available television sets." Pretty harsh, especially considering the fact that Time Warner's policy may not even be legal: federal regulations concerning CableCARDS seem to indicate that providers must support them for any unidirectional TV, set-top-box, or recording device connected to a digital cable system. We certainly understand that cable companies see TiVo as a direct competitor to their own DVR offerings, but we're not sure that alienating customers with such a hard-line stance is the best move; after all, isn't a customer who brings his/her own DVR to the table better than no customer at all?

[Via TiVoBlog]

So it looks like TiVo is finally getting ready to roll out the long-awaited Series 3 DVR Digital Media Recorder, and just in the nick of time, it would seem; from what we can tell, consumers are chomping at the bit to start capturing the growing variety of high definition broadcasts available to them, making HTPCs a more attractive alternative as the days, weeks, and months pass with no HD TiVo. Zatz Not Funny is reporting that the DVR giant recently sent letters to both the FCC and major cable operators stating that Series 3 boxes are already being beta tested around the country and will be available "soon," though no actual release date is given. According to the letters, the CableLabs-certified device will sport two separate UDCP CableCARD slots, and TiVo is concerned about reports that certain cable installers have been refusing to provide beta testers with the necessary support -- no big surprise, as the industry has never shown much love for CableCARDs in the first place. Now, of course, we all want to know how TiVo defines the word "soon" -- previous speculation has centered around a September or early October release -- but we've been covering this beat long enough to know that hazarding a guess is pretty much useless, and that we won't find out any more info until the company is good and ready to reveal its launch plans. [Warning: PDF link]

[Via Zatz Not Funny]