TiVo's 'Series 3' High-Def DVRs Demo At CEDIA

By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 9/11/2006

DENVER — TiVo will use CEDIA Expo to unveil its new Series3 digital video recorder, which among other things will receive and record both standard and high-definition programming.

The company said the Series 3 units will be available in mid-September at a $799 street retail from such stores as Best Buy, Circuit City, Ultimate Electronics, and Fry's. It will also be available direct from www.tivo.com.

The unit is billed as the “world's first and only THX-certified DVR” and TiVo's first DVR to use MPEG-4 advanced digital compression technology. This enables the user to record up to 35 hours of HD programming, or up to 300 hours of standard definition at a time.

It includes dual tuners, capable of recording two programs at a time and adds two CableCARD slots to receive and descramble premium digital cable services, including high definition. It is also compatible with analog cable and over-the-air digital ATSC (including high-definition) signals.

For networking capability, the set-top box adds Ethernet and USB ports, which will enable the Series 3 model to share digital photos, digital music and other content with other devices on the network and will tie in with online services.