August 27 - 3:50pm EDT   DVR maker and service provider TiVo announced on Wednesday it will partner up with Entertainment Weekly to provide viewers with content that is always available. Under the new agreement, Entertainment Weekly’s What to Watch recommendations will be automatically recorded on TiVo’s Internet-connected digital set-top boxes. Users will also be able to download Entertainment Weekly video content via TiVo, including Just a Minute, Ausiello TV and Idolatry, in addition to behind-the-scenes video from photo shoots. [full story]

August 25 - 4:50pm EDT   Panasonic updated its DIGA-series Blu-ray DVR recorders, which were released late last year, announcing today it will soon launch the three recorders that include the 1TB capacity DMR-BW930, 500GB DMR-BW830 and 320GB DMR-BW730. All will support the web-based BD Live bonus content, record HD programming onto their onboard hard disk drives and be able to burn Blu-ray AVCHD format (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264) videos onto blank Blu-ray discs at 6X speeds. [full story]

July 17 - 12:50am EDT   TiVo on Thursday announced that its Series3 and TiVo HD DVRs will soon support YouTube content, allowing users to browse and view videos on the Google-owned service. In the future, TiVo hopes to introduce a login interface, which would let users access their YouTube accounts, videos, channels, and playlists. Tivo expects to have the update delivered over "the next few weeks" for the aforementioned players. [full story]

June 10 - 4:00pm EDT   Iomega today announced the release of its DVR Expander drive, made to work with TiVo and Scientific Atlanta DVRs and more than triple their TV program storage capacities. The 500GB DVR Expander interfaces via an eSATA connection, capable of 1.5GBps transfer speeds, and can hold up to 300 hours of standard-definition TV programming or 60 hours of high-def programs. [full story]

May 28 - 4:55pm EDT   Hitachi on Wednesday unveiled a pair of new hard drives to add to its CinemaStar line, with the C5K320 and the 5K500. The former is a 2.5-inch hard drive with up to 320 GB capacity, while the latter is built around a 500GB, 3.5-inch hard drive. All of Hitachi’s CinemaStar hard disk drives are designed to extend the recording capacity of DVRs in home theater setups, but can also work with media center PCs. [full story]

May 28 - 11:35am EDT   DVR provider TiVo on Wednesday announced it will offer videos on demand from the Walt Disney Studios library, with some of the content made available in high-definition. The service will be available for all subscribers with Internet-ready Series2 and Series3 terminals via CinemaNow. TiVo made it clear movies in standard definition will be available for a 24-hour period, although how many HD movies will be available and if the timeframe for watching them will differ from the SD offerings was not specified. [full story]

May 20 - 1:15pm EDT   Recent interference with Vista Media Center recording was accidental, NBC says. TV viewers last week reported being unable to record episodes of American Gladiators and Medium, and instead receiving messages saying that DRM restrictions had been enabled. This triggered a number of of online complaints, including concerns that NBC was attempting to deter the use of DVRs, which allow people to skip unwanted advertising and other distractions. [full story]

May 15 - 2:25pm EDT   The subscription-based TiVo service has quietly brought back its Lifetime Service subscription plan on a permanent basis, extending what was originally a temporary deal. When it originally launched, the service offered similar lifetime subscriptions that were ultimately phased out in July 2003. The lifetime service is receiver-specific, though it is possible to transfer it from an older receiver to another one for a fee of nearly $200 that also maintains a one-year subscription to the TV recording service for the older device. [full story]

April 11 - 8:40pm EDT   In response to the ruling against the Dish Network, the company writes that it is disappointed with the court's rejection for an appeal, but that it will not affect current or future customers. According to the note, EchoStar has already developed and deployed a new version of the DVR software to customers as an automatic download. Dish claims the new software does not infringe on patents held by Tivo Inc. [full story]

April 11 - 4:15pm EDT   The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has once again denied an appeal by the Dish Network in light of a legal victory by TiVo, filings show. TiVo contends that Dish DVRs violate a software patent it holds, connected to split recording and viewing; the latter company has protested this however, and fought not only the initial verdict of a lower court, but also the outcome of its first federal appeal. In the wake of this second appeal, the Federal Circuit's decision is final and Dish has little to no legal recourse. [full story]

March 13 - 11:10am EDT   Apple may be aiming to eventually transform the Apple TV set-top into a full DVR, new filings with the US Patent and Trademark Office suggest. Submitted in October 2006 but only just made public, the filings depict a unique interface for the Apple TV, able to browse and record live TV programming, in addition to downloading movies and TV shows sold through iTunes. Such features would put the Apple TV into direct competition with TiVo, whose set-tops can not only record TV but buy movies through Amazon's Unbox service. Recently, the company announced that it would support YouTube content, much like the Apple TV. [full story]

March 6 - 4:40pm EST   DVR maker TiVo is preparing to support Tru2Way technology, according to a financial statement released by the company. Fomerly known as OCAP, the technology enables two-way interaction over cable set-tops, including services such as games, chat, web browsing and shopping. The technology will only be available in in the form of an upcoming standalone device, however, and not as an update for present set-tops like the TiVo HD or Series 3. [full story]

February 14 - 1:10pm EST   Digital video recorders (DVRs) are increasing the amount of time people spend watching TV, says the Nielsen research group. While DVRs can theoretically make people extremely selective, it appears to simply be enabling people to watch more programming they would ordinarily miss, due to inconvenient timeframes. A study specifically contrasted viewing from November 2005 -- before much DVR penetration, Nielsen says, although it did not track DVRs at the time -- and November 2007. [full story]

February 8 - 2:45pm EST   Archos has dramatically increased the capacity of its 405 media player, an announcement reveals. Although last year's model had just 2GB of hard drive space, the player now holds 15 times that capacity at 30GB. This should theoretically be enough to hold 40 movies, 300,000 photos, or 15,000 songs. The player is equipped with a 3.5-inch screen, and is able not only to output to TV, but act as a miniature DVR unit through a DVR Station Gen 5. The new 405 should be on sale in the UK by the end of February, for £200 ($388); no North American plans have been mentioned, but the majority of Archos' products are sold on the continent. [via Pocket-lint] [full story]

January 31 - 4:25pm EST   A federal court has upheld a ruling in favor of TiVo in its case against the Dish Network, the Associated Press writes. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is supporting a lower court's verdict, which holds that the Dish Network violated one of TiVo's software patents. Specifically the patent addresses split recording and viewing, one of TiVo's signature features, although neither TiVo nor Dish are the sole users of the concept. [full story]