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Turn your PS2 into a Tivo 140

Posted by CmdrTaco from the everyone-loves-tivo dept.
aagha writes "According to this story on CNET's News.com, two Texas companies will offer software to give your PS2, Tivo-like functionality." I'm all for anything that gets more people PVRs or PS2s ;) Course I think the next GTA and Tony Hawk will do more for the cause of the PS2.
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Turn your PS2 into a Tivo More

Turn your PS2 into a Tivo

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  • Ah, but does it include Digital Rights Management? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 17, 2002 @08:02AM (#4271852)
    Also, I'm sure it breaks at least 65536 patents.

    • ...it only breaks 4096 patents, but with special "patent combinations" it can break up to 58,621.

  • Not quite (Score:5, Informative)

    by Alranor ( 472986 ) on Tuesday September 17, 2002 @08:04AM (#4271860)
    It's not exactly turning your PS2 into a Tivo though, they've had software out for a while to allow you to use a PC to record programs, this is merely using the new network adapter for the PS2 to get that content from your PC to your TV screen.

    Why not just buy a gfx card with a TV out?

    • Re:Not quite (Score:4, Funny)

      by seinman ( 463076 ) on Tuesday September 17, 2002 @08:10AM (#4271885) Homepage Journal
      Why not just buy a gfx card with a TV out?

      because then you wouldn't be able to get your story posted on slashdot.

      • oh and also you wouldn't be able to market useless technology then cry when you go out of business wondering why.
        • IMHO, it's not useless technology.

          Most of the people I know, myself included, use their PC's in either a study room, or a bedroom. With a PS2 in the lounge next to your TV, you can now run Cat5, or even a wireless network into there, or wherever you keep your PS2 setup and have the functionality of a Tivo.

          As with all technology, some will find it useless, some will find it wonderful. IMO, this technology does have the promise which some others just didn't have. (ie, Microsoft Bob, Fee-based file-sharing (at least while Kazaa is around.))

          Tim

    • That makes sense. I was wondering how the content would get onto the PS2, as it has no video in, and I don't know of any hardware addon that would add that feature either.

      I was also going to comment that PCs are kinda loud with all their fans. But I can hear the PS2 across the room also. I bet I could build a quieter PC (not that I have a fetish for quiet PCs like the /. crew, I think the louder the better, shows you have power. :)
    • Why not just buy a gfx card with a TV out?

      Because not everyone wants to have a PC in the same room as your television.

      Most non-geeks I know have their PC in a seperate room.

      • And if you're wondering how to hook the ethernet up to is, check this out [linksys.com].

        Out can pretty much have a cable line into your PC in one room, for recording, a powerline network to connect your PC to the PS2 in the other room, and the PS2 hooked up to the TV.

        I guess if you are really hardcore, you don't even need a cable line in your TV room. Depends on if you can stream programs as they are going (which I imagine you should be able to). With multiple PS2s, you could use this to have cable in multiple rooms.

        The only thing I don't like about this is that I do enjoy being able to leave a game running for a day or so because it doesn't have convinient save spots, while switching over to cable to watch something. I guess the fact that the PVR is recording it makes it so I don't have to switch over, though.

        I guess it's time to buy one of those 320 GB harddrives [slashdot.org].
    • Why not just buy a gfx card with a TV out?


      Or burn the captured videos to VCD and watch them on your DVD player?
      • Or burn the captured videos to VCD and watch them on your DVD player? Ooooh.... you mean that ps2 I bought to play games AND watch DVDs on that doesn't play VCD's? ;)
    • The PS2 has Component output, and can support HDTV resolutions.

  • Costs? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Komarosu ( 538875 )
    Wouldn't the Harddrive addon be needed for this? i think it would possibly tip over the price of a Tivo on its own, so im thinking whats the point of reinventing the wheel with something that costs more?

    • Re:Costs? (Score:3, Informative)

      by randomErr ( 172078 )
      Wouldn't the Harddrive addon be needed for this? i think it would possibly tip over the price of a Tivo on its own, so im thinking whats the point of reinventing the wheel with something that costs more?

      The title is a bit misleading. All this software does is that it allows you to stream video(with add-on network adaptor) from a PC and show it on your TV. There is no actual information stored on the system. The PC is the one that does the recording.

      The system is more or less a video dumb terminal for your PC.

  • Cool, but.... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by blues5150 ( 161900 ) on Tuesday September 17, 2002 @08:08AM (#4271872) Homepage
    When I saw this article I thought great PS2 being used as a PVR. Come to find out after reading the article that I need a PC with Snapstream too! Seems ridiculous to have the PS2 even in the mix. Yeah I know that playback on the TV has been an issue with the Snapstream/PC combo, but I'm sure better alternatives top this mongrel can and have been proposed here on Slashdot.
    • Unfortunatly, the com.com author didn't actually read BroadQ's website...

      They have two products - SnapStream which is PVR software for your PC, and QCast - which allows you to stream media files from your PC(or Mac) to your PS2, where they're decoded and played on whatever components you've hooked up to your PS2.

      The article mistakenly makes it sound like this is one product that allows you to record TV shows onto your PS2 directly. In reality, you'll need both pieces of software, as well as the network adaptor for the PS2.

      I already have a real Tivo hooked up to my TV, so SnapStream isn't very interesting to me, but QCast might be, if they can drop the price a bit ($50 for the PS2 network adaptor + $50 for QCast is a bit too much just for something that can play video files on my TV in my opinion.)
  • Why not just use a TV tuner in a PC? With this setup, you have to turn on the PC and the PS2 to record any television. PVR's are meant to record on the spur of the moment, not waiting 60 seconds when Micro$oft Winblows starts up.
  • So, I currently use my PS2 for
    1) PS2 Linux
    2) DVD Player
    oh and 3) Playing games

    and now its going to be a tivo

    I cant wait for the coffee making functionality, mowing the lawn add on and DNA cloning plug in

  • PS/2 as a solution? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by lucifuge31337 ( 529072 ) <daryl@intros[ ]t.net ['pec' in gap]> on Tuesday September 17, 2002 @08:15AM (#4271902) Homepage
    I'm using SnapStream. It's problem is not output to a TV, it's lack of an integrated guide feature.

    Is PS/2 software and a NIC really a better or even less costly alternative than a video card with an S-VIDEO out? No.

    And I _DID_ read the article. This is stupid. It's a poor solution to a "problem" that doesnt' really exist.

    • The author of the article got his wires crossed.

      What he *should* have been talking about was QCast, and left the whole PVR/Tivo thing along.

      QCast uses the PS2's network adaptor to allow you to stream MP3, MPG, and DIVX files from your PC to your TV and stereosystem. Yes, I assume this would work with content SnapStream recorded for you, but this doesn't really turn your PS2 into a Tivo.

      If you already have a PS2 and are looking for a way to play MP3s on your normal stereo system, QCast might be worth looking into.
    • Well... It might not solve any problems if you want to have a pc in your tv-room.

      I haven't. I've got a PS2 with linux though.

      It would be great to be able to use it to watch my movies without having to run a svideocable straight through my appartment.

      I *would* like to use some kind of divx/mpeg software on it, but there isn't any good such software at the moment.

      As it is right now, I end up watching my movies on my laptop instead.

      So don't say the problem doesn't exist just because *you* haven't got the problem. :-)

      On the other hand, if you haven't already got the linux-kit it *would* be bit costly, yes...

      Either way, I'm going to sleep now.

      Oyasumi nasai.

  • Oh THAT PS2 (Score:3, Funny)

    by Gabrill ( 556503 ) on Tuesday September 17, 2002 @08:17AM (#4271913)
    I got the image of an 80's model IBM PS/2 with Transformers Armadda being recorded on it!

  • I wonder if this will be available outside the US, specifically in Australia...Tridge's brilliant hacks for addinf Ethernet [anu.edu.au] and PAL [samba.org] support aside, I'd really love one of these things.

    Of course, I suppose it's all worth nothing without a good supply of TV Guide type information. Sofcom [sofcom.com.au] is probably the best we've got down here, but I imagine a real service would include a lot more meta information connecting the episodes in a series etc.

    • If you have a modchip in your playstation that will allow you to play import games, you will be able to use this software.
  • Wouldnt it just be cheaper to get a tv-out capable vidoe/standalone card?

  • TiVo functions != PVR/DVR (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Sc00ter ( 99550 ) on Tuesday September 17, 2002 @08:22AM (#4271926) Homepage
    After reading some comments it seems like this doesn't even make the PS2 a PVR, but just because something records TV shows to a hard drive doesn't give it "TiVo-like functions". It gives it PVR/DVR functions.

    TiVo is MUCH more then recording shows to a hard drive. It's got suggestions, season passes, thumbs up/down. This is stuff that ReplayTV doesn't have (well they have the season pass).

    Just making sure that you all keep in mind that slapping a TV card in your computer and making it record the simpsons to you hard drive may be cool (and it is) and may make it a PVR, it doesn't come close to what TiVo can do.

  • Micro Channel Architecture finally pays off... (Score:4, Funny)

    by dpbsmith ( 263124 ) on Tuesday September 17, 2002 @08:22AM (#4271928) Homepage
    (Oh, wait, they're talking about some OTHER "PS2.")

    (Am I the only one to whom that initialism evokes the memory of the behemoth of personal computers, and the marvellous Micro Channel, with powers beyond imagination waiting to be unlocked by OS/2? Oh, how the mighty have fallen! Now PS2 means a game machine... and DEC [boumatic.com], the Dairy Equipment Corporation of Madison Wisconsin, founded in 1947, lives on today, while another company of the same name is but a memory.
  • Now my ps2 can lock up daily.

    Tivo is one of the first major Linux embedded systems. Too bad it has a reputation for being slow, buggy and crash prone.

    I like my Tivo -- it time shifts things easily. If it were only more reliable. Makes me want windows some days.
    • Well your PS/2 is only going to lock up daily if you do to it, what you've done to your Tivo. I'm guessing you've done something to your Tivo, because, out of the box, It doesn't lock up.

      I'll give ya the 'slow' bit, but buggy, and crash prone. NO.

      How are you defining these terms? I've had my Tivo (Sony stand alone) for a year now. Never had a crash or any 'bugs'. Including after going in an adding additional storage. And from talking to the other people I know that have Tivo's and have done the same, I'd have to say you are more than a little off-base.
      • Never opened. No hacks. Relatively simple usage. Could it be hardware? It's a Philips and it died once completely. This is the secodn model we've had. If you believe the news groups on that it's very common for the Philips unit to fry.

        I don't think we've gone more than a full week without at least one go out to lunch (i.e.: lock for at least 15 minutes).
    • Did you hack yours or something? I've never heard of any of them locking up, or being slow.. Or anything of the sort - Or are you just a ReplayTV fanatic?
      • Dedicated Tivo fan.

        Just wish it would stay up.

        BTW -- on my second unit. First one went into eternal re-bootville which is one good reason a box shouldn't rely on computer hardware for consumer electronics.

        Cost $100 to have it "exchanged" through Philips because it was 3 months beyond the 3 month warranty.

        Most days I couldn't live without it. When it's acting up I'd like to kick the butts of the developers.

        Software issue or hardware?? Don't know, don't care. It's a package issue.

        I want it, I need it to be faster on responding and not to ever appear to crash (heck, do a kernal dump in the background for all I care -- just let me go on with life!!!).
    • Yeah, I added in an extra hard drive to my tivo and after about six months it has never locked up on me. Admitantly when you have a little over 50 season pass stuff it can get pretty darn slow but no crashes. Besides I've been thinking about one of thoose memory upgrades but I'm not sure its worth it...
      • Going on one year of ownership now. I love it!!!

        I hate it!!! When it works it's the best.

        When it crashes/locks it's the worst. And it crashes/locks at least once a week. I loose no data but it becomes non-responsive (completely) for more than 15 minutes. Sometimes if you let it sit for an hour or two it will come around. Sometimes not.
    • Everyone in my office (20 people or so) got the sony tivo for Xmas 2000. I've added an extra 80Gb Drive to mine (including replacing the built in fan and drilling holes in the case for better cooling, and neither mine nor anyone else's is "buggy" or locks up. It's been rock solid for 18 months now.

      I'll give you the slow bit, but generally only when I'm re-arranging my 30-40 season passes. Other than that, it's eminently usable.
  • The article is a bit short on the technical details.

    How does the network card provide a path to the Television? I didn't understand that part?

    I don't have a PS2, but I would like to know: Does it have an IP stack? How would a PC communicate with a PS2?

    • The USB network adapter is connected to the PS2. The network adapter is connected to your home network. This gives the PS2 access to the PC's networked drives which contain the recorded video. The PS2 decodes and outputs the video to your TV.

      The only advantage I can see to this vs. using a video card with S-video out would be having a TV in the living room with the PC back in the office. You could have a long run of Ethernet rather than a long run of S-video and audio. Also, I would imagine the PS2 controller would provide the ability to "drive" rather than trying to use some type of IR remote to control your PC that is in another room.

      I don't know if a PS2 has an IP stack built in or if it is included in networked games, but games that supported play hook into home networks easily. I have my PS2 hooked into my router and can connect to net to play networked Madden 2003.

  • cool idea but ... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Mr_Silver ( 213637 ) on Tuesday September 17, 2002 @08:32AM (#4271958)
    ... they're going to have to work on it.

    Personally I think a combined DVD player, console and Tivo in one would be a killer. I seriously don't fancy paying out for three items of kit and having three boxes sitting underneath the television.

    But, this isn't really Tivo functionality. Hell, I doubt I'd need all the stuff Tivo has, but recording, time stretching, on screen programming and on screen television guides are pretty much a must.

    I'll watch the space.

    • I've said this before and I'll say it again. I just don't think you can combine a PVR and a game console into one box. They is to much CPU time being used for one or the other. So are you going to lose frame rate so you can record your show or lose quality on a recording because you were playing a game at the time?

      Now, I don't think a TiVo/DVD combo is out of the question.

  • will be the backbone of my entertainment centre soon. Now that it just became a Linuxbox recently and got a shiny new TFt attached to it it will also work as a vcr...this really rocks.

  • Broadq (Score:5, Informative)

    by mofu ( 609230 ) on Tuesday September 17, 2002 @08:48AM (#4272027)
    Snapstream appears to be taken a disproportionant ammount of credit for this. The real news here is the Broadq [broadq.com] software which installs as on your PC as a media server which you can access thru a PS2 with a ethernet adapter. Supports MP3, MPEG1,2,4, DivX, and JPEG formats. Server side runs on Linux, Windows, or OS X.

    The Snapstream software is just one way to get mediafiles on your server to watch. . . .

    Closest Open Source project similar to this VideoLAN [videolan.org]
    • Very true, I have a Tivo so I'm not in the least bit interested in Snapstream, but that broadq software looks AMAZING. Playing all my DivXs on the TV over WiFi, cool :) Only down side? No european version :( I think I'm going to cry.
    • Just like Evolution-X [xb-power.com] & RelaX et al for the Xbox?

      True, your Xbox has to be modded to run these, and they're harder to find, but they've been around for some time now.

  • I think this software is probably the best example of convergence I've seen in a while. It lets you stream mp3s and divx movies from your PC's hard drive directly to your Playstation2. The PS2 has built in digital out and there is a remote control add on available. They also mention Ogg Vorbis support as a possiblity. I was already planning on building a HTPC to do the same thing but now I can use my PS2. Imagine how much easier it makes things for other people who don't want to deal with file shares and building a second PC to store all this.
  • So you have to have a computer that has a TV tuner to record the shows. Does anyone have a TV tuner card that doesn't have TV out as well?
    • I don't, in fact ive had many tv tuner cards over the years and none of them had tv out, unless you count ATIs all-in-wonder, but thats a all-in-one video card , not a stand alone tv tuner card, my video card has a svideo out, but my tv doesnt support svideo
  • So I did something a little weird with my PS2 network connector.

    On the place where it plugs into the PS2, there's another pair of holes that line up exactly to a standard IDE hard drive power and data port.

    So I plugged in an extra hard drive I had and plugged it in.

    Nothing happened.

    But...there's no reason why something *can't* happen. We know this system is used in Japan for their hard drive/network connector kit (used in games like Final Fantasy X and XI). So hopefully the folks at Sony will get off their goddamn asses and release the HDD in the US so we can use it for TIVO things like this with just a DVD stuck in the tray.

    Then again, they're probably making us wait until the PS3.
    • There is only one expansion "slot" on the PS2. If the network card didn't have this feature, then you would be forced to choose between having a HDD or having a NIC. The HDD connectors on the NIC are a "pass-through" connector of sorts (more like they took a PS2 HDD connector and merged it with the NIC). Also, the reasons nothing happened when you plugged in your HDD are (1) no games I know of use the HDD, just the linux kit, and (2, maybe) Sony says in the documentation for the linux kit that there's something special about the hardware in their HDD that makes it slightly different from a normal HDD. They claim if you use a normal HDD in the PS2, it won't work quite right and if you use their HDD in a computer, you could fry your computer. (I didn't write it, they did.) This might just be marketing FUD, or there actually might be some differences between the PS2 HDD and a normal IDE HDD, who knows.
  • Call me silly, but would it not be easier just to buy a new PVR (or if money is the concern, buy a used one on ebay)? To me it sounds it would cost about the same to buy a dedicated unit or the ps2. Since I work and study, it would be logical not to waste my time with a ps2, to have it operational. It would be also be logical to use my time more efficently to use a dedicated unit? By using a dedicated unit, you may have more features than a ps2, have a full warrenty. I currently use a DishPlayer 7200 and works great! Cost me $150 from ebay. Got the entended warrenty from Dish Network (for $3.99 a month). I upgrade the unit to a 100 gigger worked great too. Two months ago, something went "flooky" on it, called up Dish, and they sent me a replacement unit in a week. I just removed my drive and placed it into the other one. Did not void my warrenty in any way because both units were factory serviced already :)
  • TiVo can do much more than just schedule shows for recording on a hd and playing them back later.
    It tells me what to watch; which shows are good and which are bad. You know, I rely on that functionality, I absolutely cannot decide something like that on my own.
  • I am sooooo tired of seeing the "oh I thought they meant the old computer..." jokes, references whatever. I had a PS/2, I have a PS2. It was funny 3 years ago when SONY was naming the next Playstation. Now it's just as lame as "Imagine a Beowulf Cluster of ...". It's old, it's been done, please move on.

    psxndc

  • Has anyone looked into the idea of combining PS2 linux and the various DVR projects for linux out there? It would be a reason to get PS2 linux and the hardware that comes with it.
  • No it doesn't make your PS2 record TV. It lets it recieve streamed recorded TV.

    What this is is software that is loaded on your PC and streams over IP multimedia files to the ethernet adapter available for the PS2.
    Because it loads the software off of a pressed CD/DVD {not sure which} it does not require you modify your PS2 in any way that would void your warranty.

    Why the hell would someone want this? Well I want it because it will give me an inexpensive way to create a server/client network for passing my media files around my house [small apartment]. I can have one computer that stores and records all of my tv and mp3 needs and an easy way to access it around the house.

    djweso

    • I don't live in an apartment. My main A/V system is on one floor of the house, and my main PC is on another floor.

      Sure, I could put a PC in my living room and connect it to my A/V system....or I could spend $50 for the PS2's network adaptor, another $50 for QCast, and just stream stuff from my PC over my existing network.

      Say what you will, you're *not* going to be able to build a PC for $100.

      In the past 6 months, /. has run how many stories about MP3 components for your stereo? If you've already got a PS2, this sounds like the cheapest way to get streaming media to your TV & stereo.
  • let me paraphrase the cause of the PS2 using a quote from the Matrix:

    Trinity: It's a video game machine, built for only one thing...
    Tank: Profit making.

  • Where's the software that turns a PS/2 into an XBox? :p
  • As fascinating as this may seem for the geek factor of recording on your PC and then piping through a PS2 to the TV, you can still buy a standalone TIVO for ~ $100.00 . Its quiet, requires no tinkering, doesn't require any other new hardware or cabling, and is incredibly simple to setup and use.
    This just strikes me as a case of using a sledgehammer to kill a cockroach. If you want Tivo, just buy one, and save the tinkering time for something more interesting
    • Where on earth can you get them that cheap?

      Jeez - here in the UK they cost £229 (~$350) surely they're not a third of the price in the US?
      • Here is someone with 10 of them for sale on EBAY for $99.00 each.
        http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item =1379631771
        I recently bought my second unit, a phillips dsr6000 from www.americansatellite.com which I found by linking from www.tivo.com for $119.00
      • TiVo series 2 is approx $400.

        I'd buy one for $100!!
  • It's a great option - if you've really got your heart set on doing this with your PS2. But I tend to agree witht the guy at the end of the article [com.com] from DFC Intelligence that this is something that will probably be a stock feature of something like the Play Station 3 [com.com] and other upcomming devices that will use IBM's embedded "Cell" distributed processor. That way, television sets, and desktop boxes, that also have the Cell processor embedded in them can assist in on-the-fly compression of real time video to a hard drive or some such similar storage device like we're already seeing in gaming consoles like MS's XBox.
  • This does not turn your Playstation 2 into a Personal Video Recorder. This turns a fast PC with a big hard drive into a PVR. The Playstation 2 is used to interface to a TV set, the Playstation's remote control, and a PC.

    You probably need to dedicate a PC to the PVR function, since recording and playback will suck if other loads cause dropped frames. So you've got a PC, a PS2, and some cabling dedicated to the PVR function. This will probably cost more than a TiVo. And if you have to tie up a PC, you may as well put a video interface card in it and lose the PS2.

    It's good that the software is available, though. This has potential for other uses, such as business presentations. Put the TV in the conference room on a PS2 and use it to suck video off a server on the LAN. It can display images one at a time under control of the remote, so you could use it instead of PowerPoint. Plus you can show video. This could be useful for small multimedia shops, where you want to show clips to the customer in a conference-room environment but don't want to dedicate a lot of hardware to that function. Plus, you can probably get the sales people to learn how to operate the PS2 remote, rather than having them tie up an editing bay with an operator .

  • Is the schedule service that Tivo provides.

    A PC or PS2 which can record TV for me is no more use to me than a VCR.

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