Earlier this week, AppleInsider reported on an Apple TV patent filed in 2006 and just published; it shows DVR features, and the patent also includes a feature where the iPod could be docked with the Apple TV to sync content for on-the-go viewing.
"For example, program data for upcoming programs, e.g., for the next month, can be downloaded and stored on the remote control device," Apple said in the patent. "Thereafter, a user of the remote control device can search programs that are to be broadcast and determine which programs to record. The recording settings can be programmed onto the remote control device, and then be provided to the video device when a data communication is established between the remote control device and the video device."
If Apple manages to implement DVR functionality for the Apple TV, it could definitely bring a game-changing device to the TV industry. Who knows, it could become a direct competitor to the TiVo. Be sure to look through our gallery of patent filing pictures.
While we wait for Apple to cram a TV tuner or cable card into the Apple TV (don't hold your breath-- seriously), El Gato continues to pump out some nice hardware/software tools for watching the tube on your Mac. One thing that caught my eye: you can start distributing recorded live video around your house 30 seconds or so after the EyeTV starts recording a show. I remember when we had to rig some VLC nonsense together to get livestreaming on a remote machine with the old EyeTV. Oh, and they've apparently added something very similar to the Season Pass feature on Tivo, which is quite cool.
We previously mentioned a hacked together, rudimentary Mac interface for the HDHomeRun and expressed hope for EyeTV support. Well, our wish has been granted as Elgato has announced the HDHomeRun for the Mac. The HDHomeRun is a nifty little device that features two over-the-air / Clear QAM HD tuners which decode HDTV signals and send them out over ethernet. The video can then be watched on any Mac on the network with the EyeTV software. Since there are two tuners, you can watch or record two different channels at the same time.
The EyeTV package includes the HDHomeRun as well two EyeTV licenses for $199.95.
I first heard about the HDHomeRun on DL.TV a while back, and while it looked very interesting I was left disappointed that it lacked full Mac support. The HDHomeRun is a cool little device that contains two over-the-air HDTV tuners to receive HDTV and then stream that HD content over your home ethernet network. The streams it produces can be viewed with VLC so it it was possible, if somewhat difficult, to make it function with a Mac. Now, however, aa1979 has posted a Mac GUI to the Silicon Dust forums which makes it much easier to set up a stream. It's still far from as full featured as the Windows Media Center interfaces, and you still need to use VLC to watch the stream, but the level of hackery necessary to use the HDHomeRun with the Mac has gone down considerably. I wish EyeTV supported the HDHomeRun, though there's some hope that once SageTV gets going on the Mac (later this year) it may support this device to make a true Mac-based HDTV DVR.
Looks like Miglia isn't the only kid on the block with a picture-in-picture TV tuner for the Mac anymore, as Elgato has released the EyeTV Diversity, offering powerful DTT reception, picture-in-picture viewing and the ability to record one channel while you watch another. DTT, for those who might be scratching their heads, stands for Digital Terrestrial Television, a new digital broadcasting standard adopted mostly by European and Asian countries, allowing for more better channels and content to be served over traditional broadcasting systems (i.e. - from what little I know about DTT from the Wikipedia entry and Elgato's product page, this product doesn't really have North Americans in its demographic, for now).
Nevertheless, judging from its size and feature list, the EyeTV Diversity is packing quite a punch, and it's available now from Elgato for 149,95 Euros.
Jeff on 123Macmini sure knows how to turn a Mac mini into an awesome PVR (that's personal video recorder to you). Check out the 'behind the scenes' pic for more details.
Elgato, the
makers of the popular eyeTV digital TV recording software and hardware for the Mac, today introduced the eyeTV 250.
This thing is small, as in barely-bigger-than-an-mouse small (see picture at right). With it, you can watch, pause and
rewind live TV, edit recorded shows and schedule recordings in advance. Plus, the included software will transfer your
shows to an iPod automatically.
Note that the eyeTV 250 only does analog cable/antenna recording. However,
it's so compact and moderately priced ($199) that I think it looks great. It's on sale now and requires a G4, G5 or
Intel Core processor, 256 MB of RAM (512 MB recommended) and Mac OS 10.4 or later.
The reaction to the new Mac minis almost universally was, 'It is great, but what it really needs is a DVR.' Well,
Larry Angell, over at iLounge, just has to go and burst our bubble. He suggests
that perhaps you shouldn't hold your breath waiting for a DVR solution from Apple anytime soon.
Why not?
Because, Larry posits, Apple is selling TV shows on the iTunes Music Store, why would they enable Mac users to easily
record the same shows that you can buy for them for free, and get them at a much higher resolution to boot.
Depressing, but it does make sense. Head on over to iLounge and read the whole thing for yourself.
As previously reported on TUAW,
Elgato has released EyeTV 2. It costs $49 and includes a host of new features including playlists, a new on screen
remote (pictured to the right), single click iPod export, batch export and much more.
While we wait for Apple to cram a TV tuner or cable card into the 
Looks like 
Elgato, the
makers of the popular eyeTV digital TV recording software and hardware for the Mac, today introduced the 
The reaction to the new Mac minis almost universally was, 'It is great, but what it really needs is a DVR.' Well,
Larry Angell, over at 
As 
