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Entelligence: Two DVR features I'm waiting for
Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he'll explore where our industry is and where it's going -- on both micro and macro levels -- with the unique wit and insight only he can provide. I love DVRs. I have been using them for over a decade, and my original model is still in use. Whether it's a PC-based solution, something that comes from your cable provider or the granddaddy of all DVRs, TiVo, a DVR totally changes the way you watch TV, especially if you don't like watching a lot of TV but care a lot about the TV that you do watch. Last week TiVo sent out word of an event coming in March with a mysterious tagline. Even as good as my current TiVo Series 3 is, it could even be better, and while we speculate about what TiVo will announce, there's two features I'd like to see.
TiVo granted patent on recording Season Pass subscriptions by priority
It's been a ten year process, but TiVo just won a patent on managing DVR recording schedules and resolving schedule conflicts using a list of shows ordered by priority. US Patent #7,665,111 covers "recording, storing, and deleting of television and/or web page program material" by generating a prioritized list of shows that contains both shows chosen and ranked by users and shows the DVR think you'll like, matching that list against the program guide and available recording space, and resolving conflicts based on priority. Yeah, that's what essentially every DVR on the market does now -- but before you run off screaming into the woods, remember that this was all basically uncharted territory when TiVo applied for this patent way back in 1999, the same year it launched one of the first DVRs. Now, TiVo has been anything but shy when it comes to suing over its other hard-fought DVR patents, so we'll have to see how the company decides to use this new bit of IP leverage; patents that have been pending for this long aren't exactly secrets to anyone, and we're sure TiVo's competitors have been thinking of clever ways to design around it. (One bit that jumps out: the priority list has to contain both "a viewer's explicit preferred program selections for recording" and "inferred preferred program selections for recording," so DVRs that don't auto-record like TiVos could potentially be excluded.) Of course, we'd rather just see TiVo retake the lead in the DVR space with some entirely new ideas -- we'll see what happens next month.
Mysterious 'Season Pass' surfaces in 1 vs. 100
We all know 1 vs. 100 is supposed to be free to Xbox Live Gold subscribers, but while cruising around the game's menus last night, one of our more observant readers spotted something out of whack. As you can see in the images he snapped in our gallery below, an odd "Season Pass" option popped up in one of the game's menus. When trying to download it, the content was oddly labeled as "1 vs. 100 Show GB," and even though our tipster could get through the download process, doing so yielded no viable results, as the content would only give an error message. But, what puzzles us more is thig "GB" business. What could it stand for? True, the seasonal approach is something we knew about 1 vs. 100 already, but it's supposed to be free. Could Microsoft be looking to monetize the upcoming Primetime Channel game a bit more? We heard the company likes money, but we put in word for clarification just in case. We'll get back to you when we get a response. [Thanks, Josh!] %Gallery-66000%
Venture Bros. season 3 now in iTunes
Just a few short days after the new season started on Adult Swim, the latest episode of The Venture Bros. is now in iTunes for your downloading pleasure. I love this show, and this season will probably be the best yet -- show creators Jackson Publick (a.k.a. Christopher McCullogh) and Doc Hammer (no alias, that's what they call him) seem like they're going to dive full steam ahead into the huge backstory of this series (originally a spoof on the old Johnny Quest cartoons, but lately a play on everything from James Bond to Hunter S. Thompson), and it'll definitely be a wacky, hilarious ride.Unfortunately, there's no season pass for the series -- maybe Apple is a little leery to give those out considering what happened earlier this year (and let's be honest, as awesome as this show is, it's crazy enough to have been a few episodes away from cancellation since it started -- God bless the folks at Adult Swim for letting it go as long as it has).If you haven't seen this show yet, the best place to start is probably back in Season 1 (Careers in Science is probably the easiest place to start, for my money), but if you want to follow along in this latest season, the show's just an iTunes URL away.[via TUAW alum D. Chartier]
Forthcoming TiVo software update promises faster operations
If you've been doing a decent job of restraining yourself from hurling all sorts of foreign objects around the house due to the sluggishness in your TiVo's operations, you should certainly reward yourself with a baked good. Moving forward, you'll likely be tested a lot less, as a forthcoming software update (version .8) promises to "significantly" speed up common tasks. More specifically, getting to TiVo Central, navigating around your Now Playing list, channel changing, starting a recording, and setting up a Season Pass have all been tweaked to react faster (exact improvements shown above). Additionally, TiVo users will soon have access to a so-called Priority Page on the firm's website where they can "sign up for this service update sooner than the scheduled rollout," which should occur naturally in "the next few weeks."
Big Brother Season 7 available in iTunes
CBS and Apple have just made added Big Brother All-Stars, the seventh season of the reality show, available in the iTunes Music Store. I must admit that I am a faithful Big Brother watcher, I even watched the first season when the contestants got along and there were no challenges for them to do, they just sat around the house all day.The per episode price is the standard $1.99 but the season pass price of $29.99 is where things get interesting. CBS airs Big Brother three times a week over the summer which means that if you spring for the season pass you'll get 50 episodes (or so) for 30 bucks. Not too shabby.I should also point out that CBS is offering these episodes for free on Innertube, their online video service.[via Variety.com]
Scrubs, more South Park in iTunes
Season five of NBC's Scrubs has been added to the iTunes music store this morning [iTunes link]. No season pass, however. South Park fans will be glad to know that a season pass is now available for that show [iTunes link], as well as seasons 3 and 10, starting off with the infamous "The Return of Chef!" episode. Have at it.Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
Avatar: The Last Airbender in iTunes
This afternoon, we noticed that Nick's Avatar: The Last Airbender (which I had never heard of) has been added to the iTunes Music Store [iTunes link]. Nineteen episodes from season 1 are available for $1.99US each. Season 2 follows the same subscription model that Apple is using to distribute The Daily Show and The Colbert Report: For $29.99US, you can purchase a season pass to Avatar and receive each episode automatically as they're added to the iTMS. Before you do the math, note that season 1 is listed as a "partial season," so it isn't certain how many season 2 episodes you'll get for your thirty bucks.
