September 4 - 12:50am EDT   TiVo for its efforts at the CEDIA expo rolled out the TiVo HD XL, a deluxe version of its once-basic HD digital video recorder. The set-top box earns its title through the switch to a full 1TB hard drive that TiVo estimates should provide about 150 hours of HD-level recordings, letting it finally replace most standard-definition DVRs. It also includes the higher-end remote of the now discontinued Series 3 recorder and is THX-approved for its picture and audio quality. [full story]

September 3 - 11:10pm EDT   Amazon tonight launched the finished version of Amazon Video on Demand, the streaming version of its online video service. The official launch moves beyond the beta stage and lets any Mac or Windows PC purchase, rent and watch movies and TV shows directly from the browser, bypassing the Windows-only nature of the company's Unbox software. It also delivers a beta version of a promised link to Sony's BRAVIA TVs equipped with the Internet Video Link add-on and gives the TVs the same purchasing and renting privileges as a computer. [full story]

September 3 - 9:20am EDT   Satellite TV provider DirecTV and TiVo today extended their cooperation with each other and said they would work together to build a version of TiVo's digital video recorder that can properly capture HDTV from DirecTV's current network. The two provide few details but explain that the set-top box should support features specific to either company, such as TiVo's Swivel Search that can suggest shows based on the presence of certain actors or other metadata from a TV show. [full story]

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 4 - 2:20pm EDT   A Second Circuit of New York appeals court today ruled that Cablevision could go ahead with launching a remote digital video recorder system that potentially changes the approach to offering movie and TV content online. The decision finds that the cable provider isn't infringing on video producers' copyrights by offering a service known as Remote Storage Digital Video Recorder, or RS-DVR, that would let users record shows but store them off-site on servers hosted by Cablevision. [full story]

July 30 - 10:40am EDT   TiVo on Wednesday quietly withdrew its Series 3 flagship digital video recorder from its online store, removing its normal entry for the device and listing the DVR as "out of stock" on its separate product page. The shift leaves the lower-end TiVo HD as the only recorder capable of saving HD video and leaves the analog-resolution Series 2 as the only alternative. [full story]

July 22 - 3:50pm EDT   TiVo on Tuesday announced it has teamed up with Amazon to offer buyers the opportunity to buy items associated with the shows they're watching via their TiVo remote. The new Product Purchase feature gives television advertisers to promote products sold on Amazon.com via in-show pop-ups that are related to mainstream TV shows. The feature would not only allow the possibility of viewers purchasing products featured on shows, such as a new album or book of a guest on a talk show such as Oprah. [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 12 - 6:45pm EDT   Warner Bros. Television is expanding its internet distribution, announcing new deals with TiVo, Joost, Sling Media, Daily Motion and Veoh Networks for a “number of advertiser-supported branded channels.” The deal includes TheWB.com ad KidsWB.com, which were announced in April. The move gives Warner more platforms to broaden its reach in the increasingly crowded television marketplace -- and more opportunities to catch the elusive 16-34 year-old advertising demographic. [full story]

May 29 - 4:25pm EDT   TiVo is prepping a digital video recorder that would serve as a hub for an entire house, company chief Tom Rogers confirms at the D6 Conference. He notes that current TiVos are essentially limited and can't record or offer content to more than one TV set in the home; the Wi-Fi adapter that lets the TiVo work remotely is only a part solution to the problem, Rogers says. Instead, TiVo is working to produce a version of its self-titled hubs that could give "whole-home" access, though the executive doesn't provide more details. [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 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 18 - 9:35am EDT   TiVo this morning pushed out an update to TiVo Desktop that helps turn its DVRs into networked media hubs. The new version stresses the ability to pull podcasts and can either recognize them directly from iTunes on a networked PC or else pulls them directly through RSS subscriptions; on Series 3 units, this also includes 720p HD podcasts. Customers can also use the Season Pass feature normally used for recorded TV shows to monitor web video sources and add new videos from folders on a local PC without adding them to the list by hand. [full story]