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March 01, 2005

TiVo, Changing the Way People Watch TV

The people at TiVo are constantly working to make the television viewing experience more pleasurable. They currently have 24 patents, but I doubt they will stop any time soon. The newest additions include enhanced fast forward and rewind functions, and making the system more user friendly. The most recent patent is for a system that anticipates your reaction time, so that you can fast-forward to the part you want. Normally when you're fast-forwarding, you see the spot where you want to stop, then you hit the button. Because there is reaction time involved from the time you see the spot to the time you hit the button, and additionally for the TiVo to get the message, you end up in a spot that is further into your program than you wanted. With the newest development, TiVo knows when you "meant" to stop and goes to that spot.

If you would like to see the newest patents granted to TiVo, here they are:

If you would like to know more about TiVo's infringement lawsuit against EchoStar, check out the ZDNet report TiVo is revving its patent engine to get a jump on the growing number of competitors in the market it pioneered

If you're interested in all the controversy surrounding DVR's check out this. If you're interested in the ReplayTV suits, go here. Most of the information is old, but the issues are still unresolved.

If you don't already have TiVo (or another DVR), you are absolutely missing out on one of the best inventions of our time! And it's only getting better. See Tivo to go. It won't be long before you can load all your favorite shows on a handheld player and transport them like music.

Interestingly, I don't even have a TiVo. My family has an EchoStar machine. We used to have UltimateTV (the Microsoft version), but we had to switch when we got HDTV. I would encourage anyone to get any DVR. TiVo is just the most user friendly.



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Posted by Melody Wirz at 05:44 PM.
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Comments

Hello my name is Norm and I'm a Tivo-holic. It's been 2 1/2 years since I last saw a commercial.

This is a bit of an exaggeration but we do love our Tivo and my wife should be a sales rep for the company. We were in Costa Rica and she heard a couple in the pool talking about "maybe" getting a Tivo and she swam right over and started her sales pitch, "How can we get you into a Tivo today?"

Of course there is always room for improvement; Tivo should learn that a game or show, like the Oscars, will go over and extend the recording time. Also, I can't imagine how Tivo could infer from my TV watching habits that I would want to record an episode of Hazel.

Posted by: Norm at March 2, 2005 10:14 AM

MFFIP, Inc. announces the sale of a US Utility Patent Application designated DVR001. The disclosure includes innovations in the DVR field. Bids are being accepted on eBay, item number 5981167951.

Posted by: Captain Ahab [TypeKey Profile Page] at June 11, 2005 01:38 PM