|
- ReplayTV History -
 |
|
ReplayTV at a Glance
Stock quote: DMHOF.PK $4.60 (0.00)
Headquarters: Santa Clara, California
Company founded: 1997
Product lines: Replaytv, Denon, Marantz
Monthly subscription cost:$12.95
|
|
Early History
ReplayTV
is another U.S. pioneer in the personal video recorder market. Replay Networks was founded in September 1997 with the purpose of designing, building and marketing next-generation television products using advanced digital technologies. Based in Silicon Valley, the heart of the high-technology industry, Replay Networks brought together leading engineers, interface designers and other experts to create cutting edge television products.
Replay Networks' designers and marketers were brought together from a who's-who of successful entrepreneurial companies. These include Palm, Macromedia, NeXT, InfoSeek, Disney, LucasArts, Commodore Amiga, 3DO and others.
Replay Networks' first product, ReplayTV with the Replay Network Service, was a new breed of digital recorder that will forever change the way people watch television. ReplayTV enables consumers to take charge of their televisions. No longer subject to the programming whims of network and cable executives, viewers can watch what they want, when they want.
RTV2001 Replaytv (1999)
|
Despite an early entry into the personal video recorder market, in addition to award winning features and product lines, the ReplayTV system was only able to connect with 15% of the personal video recorder market. It was dwarfed by the much larger and better financed Tivo, which had captured the remaining 85% of the market.
|
In 1999, the ReplayTV system was unveiled to the public, largely promoted as a successor to the common and extremely popular VCR. While the Tivo system which was also introduced in 1999, focused on simplicity and ease of use, ReplayTV focused on advanced features, offering many features and connections that Tivo and most other home entertainment components did not.
Early Features
The original ReplayTV system offered the following features:
- Easily create and configure your own personalized Replay Channels
- Guaranteed recording of your favorite TV shows
- VCR-type controls while watching live TV (Pause, Rewind, Fast Forward)
- Rewind to the beginning of a live broadcast while it is still being recorded
- Instant replay
- User definable video-quality levels
- Fast IEEE-1394 (FireWire connection) for future attachments and storage expansion
- RF/ANT input for cable (F-type)
- Line One input (2 audio RCA: 1 composite video RCA)
- Line Two input (2 audio RCA; 1 composite video RCA; 1 S-Video
- Line One output (2 audio RCA; 1 composite video RCA)
- Line Two output (2 audio RCA; 1 composite video RCA; 1 S-Video)
- Upgradable storage capacity
- On-screen easy-to-use program guide
- Automatic clock set
- Compatible with all over-the-air, cable, and direct broadcast satellite systems
- Easy one-button recording of TV programming
- ReplayTV does not use videotape
- Models that store 6 to 28 hours of video
The Replaytv RTV2000 series offered many never before seen features. The main drawback was a high initial cost, approximately $900 which included a lifetime subscription to the Replaytv software and programming update. Later models would allow personal photos, commercial skipping and room to room streaming.
For its time, the ReplayTV PVR was one of the most advanced on the Market with
automatic commercial skipping features and networking features
that allow room to room streaming and also sharing of recordings
over the Internet. The ReplayTV also allows you to download your
favorite photos from your PC for viewing on your TV. You can even
communicate with your ReplayTV remotely to set it to record your
favorite shows when away from home.
The ReplayTV system also has the usual PVR features such as a
detailed and interactive program guide, including that of most
major cable and satellite providers, live TV pause/recording that
allows you to pause, resume, slow-motion and instant replay of
live television broadcasts, show organizer to allow you to easily
organize your recordings, show finder to locate shows to record
via a number of searches and much more.
Recent History
In 2001, Replay Networks was aquired by SonicBlue. Over the next year, SonicBlue would work to improve the ReplayTV system, adding in contraversial new features such as commercial skipping and show sharing/streaming. It was eventually sued by a number of companies over the features, which forced it into chapter 11 bankruptcy. In March 2003, the ReplayTV line of products was aquired by Digital Networks North America, which own the Denon and Marantz line of home audio and video products. Between 2003 and 2006, Digital Networks North America continued to offer the ReplayTV systems, however it held only a small percentage of the market.
From Hardware to Software
In 2006, Digital Networks North America announced the intention to phase out production of the standalone ReplayTV hardware in favor of production of a PC-based software DVR system. This became available to the public in late 2006, requiring the purchase of a compatible PC video DVR card and purchase of the ReplayTV DVR software as well as a subscription to the ReplayTV service. While the original ReplayTV boxes are no longer in active production, they continue to be supported as well as the new PC DVR card, which share many of the same features.
|
08/04/2008 11:20 AM
In order to give the website a better focus, we are phasing out the less popular areas of the site, including the high definition and digital video recorder areas and forums. This will leave the site focused on digital satellite television and satellite radio.
|
 |
 |
90210
CW
8:00 pm ET
Silver (Jessica Stroup) recalls her childhood parties when Jackie and Teddy (guest stars Ann Gillespie and Trevor Donovan) surprise her with a "half-birthday" celebration. Navid (Michael Steger) confronts Jasper (guest star Zach Sherman) after seeing him sell drugs to Adrianna (Jessica Lowndes). Debbie and Harry (Lori Loughlin, Rob Estes) are forced to tell Dixon (Tristan Wilds) that Sasha lied about being pregnant in "A Trip to the Moon."
The Biggest Loser
NBC
8:00 pm ET
The contestants head to Colorado to train at an Olympic training facility, where they are welcomed by paralympic athlete Allison Jones and learn the game is going from teams to singles. Olympic skiers Julia Mancuso and Jeret "Speedy" Peterson help train the contestants. After a biathlon challenge, two more players are sent home. Skaters J.R. Celski and Rockne Brubaker also appear.
Independent Lens
PBS
10:00 pm ET
Child stars don't have it easy, as anyone who reads the tabloids can tell you. So can Priscilla, who at 9 is pursuing her dream of being a rap star. She and her single dad and mentor, Jesse, are starting to reap the rewards of her ambition and talent -- moving to a four-bedroom apartment and playing at sold-out clubs. But she's starting to realize that staying a little girl is going to take some effort in the new documentary "P-Star Rising."
Ninotchka
TCM
8:00 pm ET
East meets West in this 1939 comedic tale of culture shock. Three Soviet emissaries are sent to Paris to sell the family jewels of the exiled Grand Duchess Swana (Ina Claire), but all does not go as planned. The three start to see the value of a capitalistic society, prompting by-the-books comrade Nina Yakushova (Greta Garbo) -- otherwise known as Ninotchka -- to take over the mission. Garbo's next-to-last film was acclaimed as one of her best.
The Eye
TMC
8:00 pm ET
Jessica Alba challenges herself by playing both sightless and musically skilled in this Tom Cruise-produced remake of a Hong Kong thriller. Her character is a concert violinist who gets her vision back through a double cornea transplant, but her new eyes give her terrifying visions that send her on a search for their original owner. Parker Posey and Alessandro Nivola lend Alba good acting support, but you'll still be tempted to poke your own eyes out.
Valentino: The Last Emperor
SHO
8:00 pm ET
No, not Rudolph. The Valentino at the center of this 2008 documentary is fashion designer Valentino Garavani -- better known by his first name and his reputation as the creator of gorgeous dresses for some of the world's most gorgeous women, including Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. The film crew follows Valentino at work and at home as he prepares for a 45th anniversary celebration of his work.
Melrose Place
CW
9:00 pm ET
The police search for Auggie (Colin Egglesfield) after discovering his blood was on the murder weapon. An incident at work forces Jonah (Michael Rady) to pretend he is engaged to Ella (Katie Cassidy), who really gets into her role. David (Shaun Sipos) arranges a secret play date with his little brother (guest star Cameron Castaneda). Ashlee Simpson-Wentz also stars in "Ocean."
Explorer
NGC
10:00 pm ET
You may find yourself involuntarily lifting your feet from the floor while watching "Python Wars," an unsettling new episode that chronicles how Burmese pythons -- some of the largest and most powerful snakes in the world -- are poised to spread throughout the U.S. from their current home in Florida's Everglades. Scientists plot a counteroffensive designed to avoid upsetting the ecological balance in the Everglades.
Fool's Gold
MAX
10:00 pm ET
Reteamed from "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey have lesser effect together in this comedy-adventure as spouses bordering on divorce. The background settings are more attractive than they are, as the characters end up involved in a treasure hunt at sea, using the yacht on which the wife works as their base. Donald Sutherland plays the boat's owner, and Ray Winstone ("Beowulf") and Alexis Dziena also are in the cast.
Stalag 17
TCM
10:00 pm ET
The unofficial inspiration for television's "Hogan's Heroes," director Billy Wilder's 1953 comedy-drama remains one of the screen's most memorable war stories. William Holden earned an Oscar as a POW who can bargain with his German captors -- but his wits take him only so far when he's suspected of overt action against the enemy. Filmmaker Otto Preminger proves to be a great actor as the commandant. Don Taylor and Peter Graves co-star.
The Good Wife
CBS
10:00 pm ET
As Alicia (Julianna Margulies) defends a husband accused of murdering a baby sitter, she and her family prepare for the outcome of Peter's (Chris Noth) appeal and his potential homecoming in the new episode "Hi." Christine Baranski, Josh Charles, Archie Panjabi and Matt Czuchry also star; James McDaniel ("NYPD Blue") guest stars.
The Millionaire Matchmaker
BRAVO
10:00 pm ET
Patti tries to help Smike Wallen, a smart and sensitive gay man whose traveling has prevented his setting down roots, including any kind of meaningful long-term relationship, as well as high-maintenance client Rupert Wainwright, a 48-year-old director and Rhodes Scholar from England who insists that any romantic prospects be under 30 years old.
|
 |
|
|
