High-powered technology entertains in new ways
By Edward C. Baig
USA Today
You probably don't think about the myriad computers you boot up in your car when you turn the key. Or the computer circuitry in your cell phone.
And as more hard-drive, home-networking and Internet-based boxes show up near the TV and other stereo pieces in your home entertainment center, the hope is you won't have to worry about starting them up, either.
"We're talking about moving computer technology into the living room, not computers," said Andrew Wolfe, chief technology officer of Sonicblue, which makes Rio music products and ReplayTV.
That kind of ease of use and reliability isn't guaranteed, of course, as the promise of convergence between the PC and consumer electronics comes to pass. Here are a few products that typify the trend:
Digital video recorders
TiVo and rival ReplayTV may provide the best examples of convergence. They sired the breed of machine known as digital video recorders, or DVRs (also known as personal video recorders, or PVRs).
These set-top boxes let consumers pause, replay or watch "live" TV in slow motion. The TV signal is compressed, stored on a hard drive, then decompressed, all in nanoseconds, before it reaches viewers' eyes. The latest models store as much as 320 hours of programming and can exploit networking to share video throughout a home or over the Internet.
What's more, TiVo and Replay can run through the listings to serve up the programming that consumers find most appealing. "I can watch what I want when I want," said TiVo loyalist Barbara Osterman, who works in California's Santa Clara County health department. Osterman doesn't even have to know when her favorite shows air. Instead, she sets "season passes" for "Ed," "Six Feet Under" and "ER" and lets TiVo figure out when to record.
TiVo users also can conjure up "wish lists" to have the service search for specific types of shows or actors. Over time, TiVo can suggest programs viewers might like and record them automatically.
The newest Series2 TiVo boxes ($400) can record as much as 60 hours of TV and eventually will incorporate the RealOne player from RealNetworks to serve digital music and streaming video. Ultimately, they also will display pictures and play games on your television. The Series2 TiVos also include two Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports for future expansion.
You need to connect the TiVo box to a phone line, so it can dial in the middle of the night to retrieve programming data, though broadband Net connections are on the way. TiVo subscribers must fork over $12.95 a month, or $249 for the lifetime of the recorder. TiVo also has combination boxes that work with satellite service DirecTV.
TV with no commercials
Sonicblue, which doesn't charge for subscriptions, is making noise with its broadband-ready ReplayTV 4500 ($700-$2,000, including activation fee, for capacities of 40 to 320 hours). It's controversial in part because it automatically skips commercials through special
ad-detection circuitry. It removes 70 percent to 90 percent of the ads in real-world use; commercials aren't skipped during the first two and last two minutes of a show.
The latest Replays are also "networked," meaning you can share shows with other users through cyberspace.
TiVo and Replay are not the only DVR players in town. Microsoft's UltimateTV service ($199 plus $10 a month for an RCA box that works with DirecTV) boasts two tuners, allowing you to record two programs at once, while playing a third you've already recorded.
Home entertainment servers
Components with a hard drive may have an equally big impact in music, though at hefty prices.
Sonicblue's $1,500 RioCentral plugs into your audio/video receiver and lets you store, burn and play your entire CD and digital music collection (as many as 6,500 songs) on its internal 40 gigabyte hard drive.
You can also lift MP3s or Windows Media files off your computer's hard drive (through a USB connection or a home networking system). Artist, album, song title and other data are assigned to the music you rip; a 56K modem fetches data off the Web. You can also create custom playlists or have the machine make lists for you.
