by: Alain Thys
Here's a nice one to get your head around. Online PVRs. Just go online to a programme guide and select the programmes you want to "tape". A remote service does so and you download them to your PC or Windows Media Centre & watch the show. No more hassle with commercials or trying to hit the programme. Only what you want, when you want, where you want.
Currently I've found two paying services who do this www.shift.tv and www.rentmydvr.com. For those of you who speak german there's also a free service (with a whopping 60 gig of free space) at www.onlinetvrecorder.com and yes they cover everything on German TV from Star Trek reruns to the latest TV premieres.
Whether these services will survive the legal battles which are sure to com eis uncertain, yet the signs are they may be more robust than previous efforts to launch peer2peer networks.
Though the thought itself is posing interesting challenges for cable companies (ISP = TV provider), TV-stations (I can now watch American Housewives before it's on TV here in Europe), and last but not least mediaplanners (how on earth do you plan for this one?).
Interesting times indeed.
Original Post: http://alainthys.blogging.com/blog/_archives/2005/10/12/1296079.html
