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Television Media The Almighty Buck

TiVo Buys Super Secret Strangeberry 254

Posted by Hemos from the and-your-father-smells-of-elderberries dept.
Raindeer writes "According to SEC-filings Tivo has bought a start up of Marimba-founder and Java-designer Arthur van Hoff. The name of the startup is Strangeberry Just because of their job-titles they must be building something cool Chief Hackberry, Chief Wiseberry, Chief Smartberry. The SEC-Filings show that it has something to do with delivering broadbandservices to televission. A Dutch web-log claims to have a picture of what they are building. Anybody got anymore ideas on what this could be?"
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TiVo Buys Super Secret Strangeberry More

TiVo Buys Super Secret Strangeberry

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  • Inquiring minds want to know.

  • What it is: (Score:5, Funny)

    by wiredog ( 43288 ) on Monday January 26, 2004 @09:47AM (#8087186) Journal
    An oscillation overthruster

  • Hackberry, Wiseberry, Smartberry ... (Score:5, Funny)

    by BabyDave ( 575083 ) on Monday January 26, 2004 @09:47AM (#8087189)

    Sound like a bunch of dingleberries [reference.com] to me.

  • Translation of the Dutch weblog post (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 26, 2004 @09:49AM (#8087196)
    Kastjes onder de radar

    In een voormalige winkel in Palo Alto zit een start up waarvan de oprichters op een lauwe dinsdagmiddag naar Fry's Electronics zijn gereden om componenten te kopen waaruit ze deze vreemde kastjes hebben gebouwd. Ik denk dat binnen twee jaar iedereen met een DSL- of kabelaansluiting zo'n kastje in huis heeft. Meer mag ik er van de oprichters niet over zeggen, want die hebben de illusie dat ik er veel van snap en dus veel kan verklappen, een tragisch misverstand. Ze zijn heel bedreven in het 'onder de radar' blijven, maar intussen lopen bedrijven als Apple en Google de deur bij ze plat. Ik zie Philips of Shell niet zo snel audientie vragen bij een paar nerds uit Delft. Helaas.

    English translation
    -------------------
    Boxes below radar

    In a former shop in Palo Alto there's a startup whose founders rode to Fry's Electronics on a tuesday afternoon to buy some components to build these weird cases. I think that within two years, everyone with DSL or Cable will have one in their home. I can't say more from the founders, because they think I understand it (a grave misunderstanding) and can this tell you guys about it. They are very skilled in staying 'below radar' but in the meantime, companies such as Apple and Google are knocking at their door. I can't see Philips or Shell asking for an audience with two nerds from Delft. Pity.

    • Re:Translation of the Dutch weblog post (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Eight 01 ( 614650 ) on Monday January 26, 2004 @09:58AM (#8087265)
      It sounds like a wireless video decoder/sender so you can use your broadband connection as a pipe for video on demand.

      The hardware won't be what makes this successful or not, it will be the deals they can make with content providers. This is probably where Tivo could help.

      I don't have much hope for Strangeberry's success given the entertainment industry's history with new delivery technologies.
      • There is only one content provider: suprnova.org. Now that'd be a business model suitable for 2004, build turnkey consumer media devices that hook up by Bittorrent to whoever has content.
        • If you think suprnova will last much longer than a few more months, you're probably mistaken. Yes, I know they change hosting providers about ten times a day, but eventually the RIAA/MPAA will catch up with the guys who run it (who are German iirc) and make them shut it down. The stuff they post is so blatantly illegal and it's basically the hub of the bittorrent piracy scene, so I don't see how they'd allow it to stay active. Unless they're total idiots (which is a real possibility) and won't notice BitTor
          • I disagree: they have been around six months or so already, and they change mirrors a lot less often than you'd think. For the first few months one of their major mirrors was in fact Comcast's home pages :-). I think they'll be able to hop around for a long time, maybe forever --- after all, look at spammers. (The guy who runs it is Czech or some other place east of Germany I believe).

            They have even started up the wonderfully amateur Suprnova Radio [novasearch.net]. So I don't think they're feeling any kind of pinch.

    • It also mentions StrangeBerry [frackers.com]

      The best I've squeezed out of the online translators are these:Version #1: Near the beursgang with Mary scooter Dutch oppertechneut Arthur with Hoff ( center) once more: he and one's four colleagues gone they ultrageheime start-up Strangeberry, lodged within one store within Palo Alto, upon Tivo. The transaction vond yard worn 12 January j.l. solely Tivo bracht the novelty passport yesterday outward. Established in April 2002 wax Strangeberry yet 'pre revenues, like who thus p

      • Is that leesbaar for anyone? (Score:5, Funny)

        by l0wland ( 463243 ) <l0wland.yahoo@com> on Monday January 26, 2004 @10:48AM (#8087606) Journal
        I geloof dat I like those translators you have gebruikt. Grote chance that no hond er one reet van understands. :-)

      • Re:Take a crack at this link (Score:5, Informative)

        by Dutch_Cap ( 532453 ) on Monday January 26, 2004 @10:58AM (#8087686)
        Let me give you a proper translation:

        After Marimba went public [(got listen on the stock exchange)], Dutch ubertechnician Arthur van Hoff (center) scores again: he and his four collegues sold their ultra-secret start-up strangeberry, located in a small shop in Palo Alto, to Tivo. The transaction took place on the 12th of januari but Tivo only went public with the news yesterday.

        Founded in 2002, Straneberry was still pre-revenue, as they like to call companies who are still developing their technology. The gentlemen are working on a product related to the field of the posting below. After working together at Sun and Marimba, a bond had grown between the two which created a great atmosphere between them. Though occasionally it was hard to not tell friends everything about the activities of Strangeberry. The HIQ in Enschede and the university of Strathclyde are rightfully proud of van Hoff. It's a shame he makes his accomplishments in Silicon Valley, though, and can't pass on his experience in the Netherlands.

    • It's always good to get a second translation for comparison. Here's mine, courtesy the translation software that comes with Apple's Sherlock: [apple.com]

      Kastjes under the radar

      In a former shop in Palo alto a start up sits of which the oprichters on a lukewarm Tuesday afternoon to Fry's Electronics has driven buy components from which they have built these strange kastjes. I think that within two years everyone with DSL - or cable connection has such kastje in house. More cannot I of the oprichters say, because

  • just check archive (Score:5, Informative)

    by shlomo ( 594012 ) on Monday January 26, 2004 @09:49AM (#8087203)
    look at archive.org (way back machine) at what they used to be before becoming vaporware :) click here [archive.org]

    • Re:just check archive (Score:3, Interesting)

      by pldms ( 136522 )
      Strangeberry were known for jRendezvous (a java zeroconf library). It's moved to SourceForge [sourceforge.net], for future reference.

      I think the series 2 tivo uses rendezvous, which is the only connection I can think of between the two companies.
  • ...and apparently TiVo shouldn't company shop like that either. ;)

  • It's a Scooter! (Score:5, Funny)

    by TheLoneCabbage ( 323135 ) on Monday January 26, 2004 @09:50AM (#8087209) Homepage
    And it only has 1 wheel! It will revolutionize the... the... the... well it will revolutionize something!
    • It will revolutionize the... the... the... well it will revolutionize something!

      Must... buy... stock.. NOW!
    • And if there's one thing that "Ginger"/"It"/"Segway" should have taught us, it's that the answer to the question "anybody got anymore ideas on what this could be?" is invariably "a disappointment". Whatever it is, let's just hope they don't fall into the trap of over hyping the product like Mr. Kamen did.

  • They're probably building... (Score:5, Funny)

    by I Be Hatin' ( 718758 ) on Monday January 26, 2004 @09:51AM (#8087215) Journal
    A time machine, so they can go back to 1999, when goofy job titles and goofily-named companies were acceptable.

  • Damn, I hate it when the caffeine in my morning coffee hits all at once and I have these hallucinations flashing back to the '90's.

    "Chief Smartberry"? - "They must be building something cool, because of their job titles"?

    I thought the days of the dot.bomb were OVER!

    Seriously - does this look like VC-bait to anybody else? I mean, I love my DirecTivo, but good hardware, good software and a good service do NOT equal good management decisions!

    Like so many other things in this world, I will wait and see if a

  • If you can try to remember... (Score:5, Funny)

    by emo boy ( 586277 ) <hoffman_brian.bah@com> on Monday January 26, 2004 @09:52AM (#8087221) Homepage
    Wasn't the strangeberry what all the Smurfs were after? I think that's what got them all drunk and lusting after Smurfette.

  • My Guess (Score:5, Funny)

    by illuminatedwax ( 537131 ) <stdrange@alumni. ... u ['go.' in gap]> on Monday January 26, 2004 @09:52AM (#8087224) Journal
    Looking at the picture, it looks like they make:
    - Cable Modems
    - Router/Hubs
    - Breakout Audio/Video Box
    - Those artificial flowers that dance when they hear noises

    or some combination thereof.

    --Stephen

    • Re:My Guess (Score:4)

      by *weasel ( 174362 ) on Monday January 26, 2004 @10:14AM (#8087368)
      The technology between your desk and couch

      sounds more likely a component layer for using your TV as a display medium for communicating with your home network/Broadband connection.

      with all the disparate standards between broadcast media sources (HDbroadcast, VHF,UHF,cable,digital cabel,satellite), broadband access (dsl,isdn,cable,etc), and home networks (ipx,tcp,mac - not to mention network file sharing protocols) a component layer makes perfect sense. Particularly if you're in the business of making a consumer set-top product that is aimed to work with anything.

      And a component layer of 'berries' doesn't sound too far outside the expertise of a designer responsible for layers of 'beans' now does it?

      Just more of the same intended functionality at the end: mp3s on your home audio system, digital photo slideshow on your TV, mpg viewing, perhaps even some measure of web surfing capability. although it'd be flawed for normal sets (webtv != good surfing), HDTV sets have plenty of resolution to surf adequately. The only difference in this endeavor being abstraction to make functionality expandable independent of compatibility - java for your media.

      it only makes sense that Tivo would want their hand in such technology, to enhance their existing offering and one-up Replay.

  • Strangeberry (Score:5, Funny)

    by paul248 ( 536459 ) on Monday January 26, 2004 @09:55AM (#8087246) Homepage
    Strangeberry is... PEOPLE!!!

  • Java Rendezvous Development? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by WebTurtle ( 109015 ) <derek&blueturnip,com> on Monday January 26, 2004 @10:00AM (#8087275) Homepage
    From what I can gather from Google, it seems one of their projects was a set of Java libraries designed to work with Apple's Rendezvous service. Here is a link: http://chrisheller.org/blog/archives/000048.html

    But, I think this was only a side project... since it seems that development is now moved to Sourceforge: http://sourceforge.net/projects/jmdns/

  • Someone out there must have some info... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Isca ( 550291 ) on Monday January 26, 2004 @10:00AM (#8087278)
    Who can find out what patents they have filed? That's usually a start on what this is.

    It looks like a wireless reciever with something that may hook directly into your home ethernet, pulling media off of your home computers or the net. Maybe a media-centric version of WebTV?

    There's lots of people working on these devices, maybe this company has created a nice interface for it? Maybe Tivo wants to purchase a company who has designed a device like this so that you can watch a tivo's playback on another TV without having to have an extra Tivo in the other room?

    Hopefully this will be a killer app that will finally cause them to get bought out by a company with more clout, and get the Tivo system liscensed into more devices, making it cheaper and more affordable for me to get multiple tivo's :)

  • It looks like a mini-pc with a built in TV tuner to me..

    Rus

  • Computer & TV (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Alcoyotl ( 157542 ) on Monday January 26, 2004 @10:03AM (#8087289) Homepage Journal
    I used to work for a company whose aim was to build interactive television tools. Apart from the standard webmail/chat/TV guide apps, one really cool feature would have been to add information to TV shows.

    Let's say you're watching some show, and see some really nice toy, or outfit, or you're in front of your favorite sports/team match, and want to have some player' stats, you click on the item/player and some web page with the desired info is shown to you

    Information on demand for the user and a not so obstrusive yet effective ads/marketing scheme for the companies. this could have become the future of television, as more and more people are looking for real interactivity, and coupling TV for content and the web as a large databank would really reconcile me with TV.

    At least that was the idea... What makes me think of it is the home network/broadband/experience words in the announcement.

  • Seinfeld flashback (Score:3, Funny)

    by savagedome ( 742194 ) on Monday January 26, 2004 @10:06AM (#8087318)
    Just because of their job-titles they must be building something cool Chief Hackberry, Chief Wiseberry, Chief Smartberry

    JERRY: They sell them by the side of the road. Blueberry, Blackberry ....
    GEORGE: Blackberry, Boysenberry ...
    JERRY: Boysenberry, Huckleberry ...
    GEORGE: Huckleberry, Raspberry...
    JERRY: Raspberry, Strawberry ...
    GEORGE: Strawberry, Cranberry ...
    JERRY: Peach.
  • Hell, I never figured out what Marimba did, despite being related (by marriage) to one of their VPs. Classic bullshit artism, I'm guessing....

    • Re:Not *again*! (Score:4, Informative)

      by mydigitalself ( 472203 ) on Monday January 26, 2004 @11:02AM (#8087722)
      Marimba is an platform indepedant software deployment and management tool.

      Think of it this way: Novell have a product called ZenWorks, which sits on top of Novell Directory. Now say Mr I.T. Guy wants to deploy Napster to his 3,000 users. He could go to each of their machines and install it (sure!), he could edit the global shared login script to deploy it (messy, I'll explain in a bit) or he can use a software deployment tool.

      Lets go back the the batch script thing. Great idea, but what if someone logs in again a few minutes later - they try to get the software pushed across to them again. Or what if he only wants to deploy it to people within a certain department - or people who have existing software dependancies, or etc...

      Novell's ZenWorks allows you to create a "deployment package", which is essentially a wrapper around MSI to call all sorts of clever silent switches so the user gets a seamless experience. The package then has deployment rules, which can be based on LDAP (so organisational structure), dependancies, time of day, etc.. etc.. it also has licensing reporting capabilities built in so you can tell how many licenses of every single software package you can have installed. In truth, its got hundreds of features that you or I may go "who the fsck cares"...

      Marimba is pretty much the same thing - although its "open", yeah whatever that means! It also allows application deployment and management across server architectures as well as desktop deployment.

      So, no bullshit I'm affraid. These sorts of tools are very useful to either large and/or decentralised IT departments. Other players in this space include:
      * Tarantella
      * Microsoft SMS (now outdated)
      * Microsoft Active Directory Roll-out
      * WinInstall

      I think Tivoli from IBM may also do some of this as well.

      There you go. Whore the Karma!
      • Tarantella (and the more widely used Citrix and Windows Terminal Server) is a different beast from the other items in your list. They don't install a full-up application on the user's desktop. Instead they run the application on remote servers and provide the user a client (browser, thin client, thick client) to present that application on the user's desktop. This method does provide a quick way of allowing users to access applications because all they need is the access client rather than waiting for a ful
    • Basically, Marimba did/(does?) on the fly updates of software. It's more complicated than that, but that's basically what it did.

      I know at least one product their software was used in: Quicken. Probably a lot more, but I didn't pay that close attention to 'em.
      • Your thinking of one of their other products. Castanet. I think they have renamed everything though by now. Essentially they have two products, and they are all Java based.

        The first one is software deployment, repair, etc. for desktop applications on your PC. So it can push out new versions of Mozilla by only updating what needs to be updated and run a local repair if things get deleted.

        The second thing is emdedded into software for the purpose of updating the software. You essentially have a subscri
  • Did anyone else read that as STRANGLEberry? I gotta cut down on the soymilk enemas...

  • What's in a name? (Score:5, Funny)

    by volpe ( 58112 ) on Monday January 26, 2004 @10:23AM (#8087416)

    The name of the startup is Strangeberry Just because of their job-titles they must be building something cool Chief Hackberry, Chief Wiseberry, Chief Smartberry

    "With a name like Smuckers, it's got to be good".

    Why does logic fly out the window whenever some kind of berry or other small fruit is involved?

  • Jobs (Score:5, Informative)

    by Quixote ( 154172 ) on Monday January 26, 2004 @10:24AM (#8087420) Homepage Journal
    Here's what they had on their jobs page last year:

    Jobs
    Join a world class team. Build potent software. Strangeberry Inc. is looking for smart, independent people who thrive at startups. Here are some of our openings:

    GRAPHIC / USER INTERFACE DESIGNER
    Graphic designer with experience building interface for consumer digital media applications. Must be creative and a good communicator. Qualified candidates have 3-4 years experience with interactive design and typographic skills. Knowledge of Photoshop and Illustrator required. DVD / Game UI experience a plus.

    APPLICATION ENGINEER
    Developer with experience creating user interfaces. Must be comfortable with C/C++, Java, Windows and Unix. No VB, please. Qualified candidates have 4-5 years experience building applications.

    KERNEL ENGINEER
    Linux kernel developer with experience writing device drivers under x86. Qualified candidates have 2-3 years experience working on the kernel. Knowledge of framebuffer internals a plus. Codec experience smiled upon.

  • A guess: DSL router for multimedia (Score:4, Interesting)

    by fvdveen ( 745373 ) on Monday January 26, 2004 @10:25AM (#8087422)
    My guess, the whole business is about connecting the television to Intranet-based multimedia. What iTunes is to MP3, this system could become for movies, etc. I expect this to both schedule and maintain downloads of multimedia material, in particular from Intranet-based video channels. Mind you that Quicktime already partly implements video channels, so the step to paid video channels, and hooking them up to your television is not so far away. Given illegal copying of movies, the movie business is very much following the same fate as the music business. Pushed some further: DSL router to capture video data, stream it to a detachable, iPOD like video viewer. But then please: also put PDA and cell-phone features into it: away with cable salad and connector mess.

  • It is a TLAN system (Score:5, Interesting)

    by sadomikeyism ( 677964 ) <mlorrey@@@yahoo...com> on Monday January 26, 2004 @10:27AM (#8087436) Homepage Journal
    A Television Local Area Network, so you can view Tivo'd shows/movies anywhere in the house without having to have multiple Tivo machines (or cable boxes). About time someone recognised that TV is nothing but push media that can go across a network just like anything else.

    • A Television Local Area Network, so you can view Tivo'd shows/movies anywhere in the house without having to have multiple Tivo machines (or cable boxes). About time someone recognised that TV is nothing but push media that can go across a network just like anything else.

      They already have this. It's called home media option, and allows you to watch shows recorded on one tivo on another tivo.

    • "A Television Local Area Network, so you can view Tivo'd shows/movies anywhere in the house without having to have multiple Tivo machines"

      Actually, I bet it's a p2p system for your Tivo... wouldn't that be nice? If you forgot to record your favorite tv show no worries, just go on the Tivo p2p network and find someone that did record it.

      I'd say that's the Big Thing in Tivo innovation. Is it legal? I can't imagine it not being legal, it's no different then if you watched the show yourself, right?

  • Looks vaguely to me like they're trying to put a Blackberry in your TV set. That's a logical thing for the TiVo folks to go after, if so. When I'm in the living room watching TV, it might be nice to be able to check my mail without firing up the laptop, as long as it doesn't involve any hardware or service that I wasn't going to have already (just got a TiVo).

  • I think they're doing everything right. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by 1iar_parad0x ( 676662 ) on Monday January 26, 2004 @10:32AM (#8087467)
    Actually a company with a minimal number of employees, buying what is now cheap office space, and keeping themselves under the radar sounds pretty coherent to me. It's the start-ups that have hundreds of employees with millions of VC and they go blow it on stupid unessentials that you should worry about. Frankly, Dean Kamen couldn't keep his mouth shut. He was constantly bragging about "it". Of course, it all turned out to be a bunch of garbage.
  • He will naturally supervise the merger process of the two companies.

  • Well... (Score:5, Informative)

    by nuggetman ( 242645 ) on Monday January 26, 2004 @10:33AM (#8087480) Homepage
    First, the image is much larger [lunarpages.com] than in the page.

    Anyway... here's my thoughts.

    The far left has RCA, SVIDEO, and Ethnernet. Maybe some way to output data over a network to RCA-based stereo systems, something like a PRISMIQ.

    The middle device looks to be the same, except it has DV and optical in addition to RCA and SVIDEO. It could be another PRISMIQ-esque device, or it could also be something designed to go the other way too.

    We can't see the back of the last unit, but I'm gonna guess it's something w/ wireless similar to the first two.

    • Re:Well... (Score:2, Informative)

      by rabbitpoo ( 68666 )
      The wireless device to the right is clearly a Linksys product, like the WMA11B [linksys.com]. It allows you to playback audio and video over a 802.11b connection. The other items look more or less like devices that could do the same thing as the Linksys unit, they have almost the same port setup.

      All of the items could be off the shelf products, and that's what I'd guess they are, they look nothing like a product in development. Note the middle one with a barcode that looks like maybe a serial number and maybe a wi-f
    • The weird second connector on the middle box doesn't look like anything to do with DV. It looks more like a very short version of the mini SCSI-2 connector. Since that box has an optical out, I'll bet the weird connector goes to a breakout cable for component video. Maybe RGB too.
    • Those are all media devices to view or listen to mp3 or photos on your TV. The item on the left with the antenae, I have. It's the linksys wireless media device. The others are wired, meaning you need CAT5 to plug in. The Linksys devices does not play video due to the bandwidth restrictions (It just doesn't look good)

      All the devices run embedded Linux. My guess is they are enhancing these type products with either DRM, or more Tivo tracking magic. It's inevitable that there will be wireless DVD quali

  • Love a riddle. Here is a possible answer (Score:5, Informative)

    by rcastro0 ( 241450 ) on Monday January 26, 2004 @10:37AM (#8087517) Homepage
    Googling around, it seems Strangeberry's claim to fame is their release of an LPGLed implementation of Rendezvous (Zeroconf), an alternative to MS-Backed UPnP (Universal Plug and Play). How important is it ?

    Apple's Safari browser [apple.com] was one of the first to make use of the Rendezvous technology and, from what I gather, the most interesting thing it does is to enable local servers transparently (e.g. you can bookmark them, and you can make any computer around serve files). Open source browser Camino [mozilla.org] is also taking this route.

    Tivo has expressed what Rendevous has to do with their plans:
    TiVo
    "TiVo's upcoming premium service package will use Rendezvous technology to automatically discover Macintosh computers within the home network and determine which services they provide, allowing customers to listen to their shared music or view their shared photos on their TV," said Jim Barton, Co-founder and CTO for TiVo. "We are excited about working with Apple on other ways Rendezvous can help TiVo Series2 DVRs connect to a Mac to deliver future services."     (see this page [apple.com])
    This is just a collection of web-based info gotten through google. I may be seeing it all wrong, but the picture seems to make some sense to me. They are acquiring a company that brings something which Tivo intends to be a core offering of their system.
    • Strangeberry released a java version of Rendezvous/Zeroconf. It actually works. The code is now open at sourceforge [sourceforge.net]. I've used the code and the discovery works well, even under windows.

      Having something like Rendezvous/Zeroconf working for Tivo is key to making it even simpler to intergrate a Tivo into a home network.

      Simpler to use = deeper consumer penetration

  • I hated it better the first time when it was called WebTV.

  • from the rather good itvt.com (on Tivo) (Score:5, Informative)

    by fiddlesticks ( 457600 ) on Monday January 26, 2004 @10:45AM (#8087578) Homepage
    TiVo Announces New Products, Services & Licensing Deals at CES [itvt.com]

    DVR vendor/service provider, TiVo, generated a fair amount of news at the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas:
    • TiVo's technology-licensing business seems to be becoming an increasingly important element of the company's overall strategy. It announced that Korean consumer-electronics manufacturer, Humax, which is seeking to establish a foothold for itself in the US, will later this year unveil 2 TiVo- powered DVD recorders for the US market (the devices, which will offer home-networking capabilities, progressive scan output, and DV input, are scheduled to be available in retail by the fall), as well as 2 new TiVo Series2 DVR's, featuring 80 hours and 250 hours of storage respectively (these are scheduled to be available in retail at the beginning of the 2nd quarter). TiVo also revealed that it has extended its existing licensing agreement with Toshiba, which plans to launch a number of new TiVo- powered devices later this year, including a DVD recorder that is expected to be available in the fall: last year, Toshiba introduced a TiVo-powered product, the SD-H400, which combines a DVD player with a DVR, and which offers around 80 hours of storage. (Note: Pioneer also has a licensing agreement in place with TiVo, and last year introduced 2 DVD recorder/VCR hybrid products, the DVR-810H and the Elite DVR-57H.) In addition, TiVo said that Hughes, Philips, RCA and Samsung will this year all offer products which combine satellite receivers with TiVo-powered DVR's, and which are designed to support the "DirecTV with TiVo" service offered by satellite-TV provider, DirecTV. (Note: the "DirecTV with TiVo" service is becoming increasingly important to TiVo's bottom line: in its most recent fiscal quarter, TiVo added 150,000 net new subscriptions through DirecTV--representing growth of nearly 100% over the previous quarter and nearly 10 times the number of DirecTV with TiVo subscriptions added during the year-ago quarter--compared to only 59,000 net new stand-alone TiVo service subscriptions.)
    • It showcased a new product of its own that is targeted at "DirecTV with TiVo" customers, and that combines an HD satellite receiver with an HDTV DVR. The new product, which is called simply the "DirecTV HD DVR," will be commercially available during the current quarter. It features 4 tuners, and can automatically detect whether an incoming signal is satellite- based or off-air, and then engage the appropriate tuner for recording.
    • It said that it plans to launch a mobile version of its service next fall, dubbed "TiVoToGo." Among other things, the new service will allow TiVo subscribers who have purchased the company's "Home Media Option" (note: the TiVo Home Media Option, which was unveiled at the 2003 Consumer Electronics Show, is designed to transform the company's Series2 box into an "entertainment center." Among other things, it allows consumers to
      1. use their TiVo remote control to stream video, music and photos stored on their PC directly to their TV,
      2. schedule recordings on their DVR remotely via the Internet, and
      3. access a library of digital content which TiVo is able to offer its subscribers through various partnerships) to transfer programs stored on their DVR's hard drive to any PC or laptop: if their computer is equipped with a DVD burner, they will then also be able to transfer those programs to DVD.
    • According to TiVo, TiVoToGo will be made possible by a "TiVo Content Security Key" (a small piece of hardware which viewers must plug into their PC whenever they are watching or recording TiVo content) and by TiVo-enabled versions of the MyDVD and CinePlayer applications from DVD-creation-software specialist, Sonic Solutions: the Sonic Solutions apps, which will be installed on the customer's computer, are designed not only to allow recorded programs to be played back on a computer or burned to a D
  • LINK: http://www.frackers.com/2004/01/24/000098.html

    Translation Dutch->English

    Tivo buys Strangeberry

    Extreme-techie Arthur van Hoff scores again after his stock-exchange launch of Marimba:
    He and his four collegues sold their top secret start-up Strangeberry, housed in a small shop in Palo Alto to Tivo.
    The transaction took place on the 12. of January
    but TIVO only disclosed that yesterday.

    Founded in April 2002, Strangeberry still was "pre-revenue", as companies who are still developping their technologi
  • Hey!! I know those guys!! At least I met two of those three back when they worked at Marimba, the Java based software/content distribution tool (good design behind the product, were it not for the adherence to a non-standard GUI (Bongo), even after Swing finally came out). And before that, worked at Sun developing much of the original Java APIs. If you look through the Java sources, you can still find several references to @author Arthur van Hoff.

    Anm
  • I think it's a video on demand system where requests for programs are passed over the internet, but the actual programs are broadcast using the standard TV broadcasting network (Mpeg encoded - obviously.) That way, several thousand people can request a new film, but it only needs to be broadcast once. Less popular programs will be broadcast more slowly, or they may be sent over broadband. Tivo are needed for the recording / storing / replaying software.

  • Bigger picture (Score:2, Informative)

    by dassdraugen ( 729917 )
    The picture on the page is much larger than you actually see on the page. Just insert the picture url into your browser for a much larger view (http://apollo.lunarpages.com/~fracke2/DCP_1976.JP G)
  • They're building a device that will revolutionize personal transportation by letting you ride around major cities standing on a lawnmower!

    Or was that the LAST mysterious project?
  • The object on the right in their picture looks a lot like a Linksys WRV54G [linksys.com] Wireless G VPN Broadband Router. Linksys has a similar product [linksys.com] for 802.11b (WMA11B). I can't imagine that they would mod the router so that leaves the other two objects as the candidates.

    Paraphrasing from the Linksys site:
    - 802.11g Wireless Access Point
    - 4-port full-duplex 10/100 Switch
    - Router
    - DHCP Server
    - SPI firewall
    - VPN Support
    • I can't imagine that they would mod the router so that leaves the other two objects as the candidates.
      Hmmm - this router runs a linux kernel and there seem to be a number of people out there writing hacks for it.
  • StrangeBerry is involved in a lot of networking projects, including UPnP [upnp.org] and Java Port of ZeroConf [jini.org].

    Obviously this is going to allow for some level of interaction between your TiVo and equipment on your LAN, be it your router, your PC and/or your Mac. This could lead to an interface betweeen your TiVo and iTunes using Java [sourceforge.net]. Maybe it is about pulling down content over broadband to your TiVo, though DRM concerns immediately come to mind. Maybe it is both.

    Only time will tell.
  • Here's the link to the best image yet of this super secret project:

    Click Here [ebayimg.com]

  • They're fighting enemies from the 8th dimension. They have their own rock band, too.

    The art's pretty good, too. Looks like classic Stan and Jack stuff.

    The nature of the secret device will be revealed next iss.


    -FL

  • I have a strange feeling I've seen this before, maybe it's a scooter?!?

  • Strangeberry (Score:2, Insightful)

    by edac2 ( 652835 )
    These devices appear to be compact, next-generation DVR/cable modems. Note the USB and FireWire ports on the back, and the VCR-type controls along the top.
  • Here's the original one on the site:
    http://apollo.lunarpages.com/~fracke2/DCP_1976.JPG [lunarpages.com]
    And with a little bit of URL tweaking, the better pic:
    http://apollo.lunarpages.com/~fracke2/DCP_1975.JPG [lunarpages.com]
  • I know why TIVO made this move. It has to do with one piece of technology: ZeroConf, aka Rendezvous. I won't go into it, though. People's jobs are on the line.
  • Their faithful leader, Chief SnozzBerry.
  • Find out what they know.

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