Entries for July 2007

Netflix just told me it was lowering my monthly bill by $1. Thanks! But I'm thinking I may lower the bill $3 more. Thanks again, Netflix! Oh, and we should also thank Blockbuster, which is nipping at Netflix with its own home-delivery service.

So I get my high-definition programming free, tapping new digital, over-the-air broadcasts. But recording them has been a bear. I've tried a rare DVD recorder that has a digital tuner, which is what's needed to pull in those new broadcasts, and found it disappointing. I've tried assembling my own, TiVo-like PC that acts as a digital video recorder, and that's been a struggle. Now TiVo itself may finally come to my rescue.

The best brand in TV recording, TiVo said this week that it would soon ship a $300 "TiVo HD" that can record high-definition programming. That's not cheap, but it's a lot cheaper than TiVo's only other HD offering, the Series 3, which costs $800. "We'll still offer the Series 3 but expect it will be more for more for high-end customers, such as those using custom installers," says Jim Denny, TiVo's vice president for marketing.

This business of phone numbers can be tricky, as thousands of SunRocket customers scramble to keep theirs working after the company's collapse. What's left of SunRocket, which provided cheap Internet phoning, is apparently trying to move customers to other providers. But it can be complicated, says Richard Koch, CEO of RNK Communications.

Our phone numbers become part of our identity and, for those working from home, part of a business identity. Now 200,000 customers find that piece of their selves thrown into limbo with reports that SunRocket, one of the biggest independent sellers of "voice-over-Internet" services, is shutting down operations. I'm anxious to see what happens to the company's customers, and particularly their phone numbers—although, of course, not as anxious as the customers themselves.

In the coming transition to digital television, it isn't only TVs that will need new tuners. So will anything that gets its programming over the air through an antenna, including TiVos, VCRs, and DVD recorders. To that end, RCA deserves kudos for releasing one of the first TV recorders with a tuner that can handle digital signals, as well as the standard analog, and one that even combines a DVD recorder with an old-fashioned VCR.