OzHub, the Macquarie Telecom-led cloud computing alliance, has come down firmly on the side of Optus over the copyright controversy surrounding Optus TV Now, warning that any moves to change the law "risk branding Australia a global luddite state."
As a PVR, my only real gripe with the TiVo is the lack of ad-skipping. This is annoying, but not a deal breaker. It's a sacrifice I'd be prepared to make in order to get all of the TiVo's other features in one relatively cheap and easy to use device.
Some might be annoyed that wifi is an optional extra, but I've got Ethernet in the lounge room so I'm happy TiVo left it out to keep the price tag down. Even allowing for the $AU59 wifi adaptor, it's still cheaper than the latest Topfield or Beyonwiz PVR.
The TiVo's other main short coming is that some of the features won't be enabled until a software update released next year, for which TiVo will charge extra. These will be advanced media player features, such as playing photos, music or videos from a PC. You'll also be able to copy recordings to portable players such as iPods, plus there will be an external drive to expand recording capacity. TiVo also has plans to add movie and music downloads, plus the ability to access internet video clips.
Coughing up extra cash for TiVo's extra features is annoying, but how it is received will depend on how much the update costs and whether it is considered value for money. There was a backlash against Apple for charging $20 for the iPod touch software update, but it added some great new features and I'm sure most iPod touch owners took up the offer. Considering the TiVo update will mostly offer network-based features, "mums n' dads" users probably won't even bother with it.
The upgrade will only cost "tens of dollars", says Seven's TiVo general manager Mark Hughes. Again, annoying but not a deal-breaker. Looking at the TiVo purely as a PVR, it offers everything you'd want from day one.
If you were looking to add media player features to your lounge room, you might be better off adding a dedicated media player such as the Ziova Clearstream CS615 (formerly Zensonic). Otherwise you could opt for a Blu-ray player with media player features, maybe even a PlayStation 3. I know the PS3 is getting its own TV tuner with PVR features this year, but it's highly unlikely to match the features of the TiVo. Existing PS3 owners might want to hold out to see if the TV tuner is any good, by which time TiVo's price tag may have dropped (after the exclusive deal with Harvey Norman expires).
Waiting for the media player features is frustrating, but from my first play the TiVo seems to already be an awesome Personal Video Recorder. Unless you're prepared to buy or build a media centre computer, TiVo could be the closest you'll find to the perfect lounge room companion.
David Frost
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