Do We Need Separate TiVo-like Tech In Our Phones?
from the why-separate-it-out? dept
Texas Instruments is getting some press coverage for demoing "TiVo-like" features in a mobile phone, though they say the technology itself won't be available until next year. What's odd about this, however, is that it's not clear that we really need separate technology for this. If you can just use any media player on a phone, why not download the content to your phone, rather than "recording" it? Even more to the point, why not just use technology like Sling Media or Orb that lets you actually access your home TiVo or other PVR via your mobile phone? Then you get the same functionality, without having to pay for expensive additional tech in your phone. Also, it also makes it much easier to keep track of what shows you have recorded and watched, rather than separating the content out. This seems like another case of adding a technology to a mobile phone just because it can be, not because it's necessary and not because it adds any real additional functionality.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Tivo useful?
That'd be sweet. Or if you're getting an earful from a drunk ex, you can just pause, then skip to the end when it's done.
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Re: Tivo useful?
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this call may be recorded... later
especially if it was easy to 'play back' recorded content while in another call, or that call. e.g. play back to a company what one of thier reps promised when they "have no record of that" etc.
could be useful, but i'll bet it won't do this.
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disconnect
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Re: disconnect
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Dictaphone not Tivo
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TV on a phone?
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Recording calls from cellphones
"Digital Recording Card" is a calling card that routes calls thru a service's switch and records calls in encrypted format, which is emailed to you.
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No
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No
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http://www.pimall.com/nais/n.recordlaw.html
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I need a job...
How does it happen that so many companies create so much useless stuff. What's worse is that, inevitably, soemone always ends up buying this shit.
Does anyone know what the title is for such a position? I'm dead serious. I, for the most part, can see where consumers needs are headed and I rarely see companies satisfy them properly.
I'm not talking about product development or design. I;m talking about walking into a meeting with all the top brass, I tell them this is what consumers need, they accept it and proceed to design, develop, produce.
Anyone have the slightest idea?
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The Article Misses the Point Like Michael Bay Miss
Just like TiVo services enhance your home broadcast TV experience, mobile broadcast TV will be enhanced in the same ways. Imagine watching a broadcast of a football game and receiving a call. Do you want to have to choose between watching the next play and answering your call, or would you rather answer your call, record the play and continue watching when you're done with the call? Mobility issues like these have already been thought through on portable gaming consoles. It's rare to see a game that can't be paused and resumed at whim, because nobody's going to want to put energy into something that may be interrupted and can't be resumed at whim. In a broadcast TV scenario, TiVo is the "save-anytime" analog.
Perhaps what Mike really wants to know is, why separate out a broadcast mobile TV area when we have a viable set of terrestrial broadcast solutions and (apparently) gobs of wireless bandwidth to stream all our individual programs to our phones over it? Assuming we had enough wireless bandwidth for that solution to scale, why do we need even a terrestrial broadcast solution? If fibers have more bandwidth than RF, why do we even need broadcast? Why can't we have all media be on-demand downloaded from central content servers?
Maybe some day we'll have enough bandwidth to scale this solution, but that's not now, probably not any time soon, and definitely not in the wireless world. While we're waiting for the limitless supply of bandwidth, TiVo features will enhance the user experience for broadcast TV.
Full disclosure statement: I work for a competing company to TI that is developing the same type of product.
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Re: The Article Misses the Point Like Michael Bay
I would disagree with that. I think its absolutely absurd to think that broadcast tv will ever hit phones. Therefore a tivo for phones is useless and a waste of money.
Now, there are perfectly good sources of video that may come to your phone, but most of those are streamed, not broadcast. there is a HUGE difference there as a stream can already be replayed and rewound.
Tivo for cells would be useful for video conferencing. but I would still rather that get recorded on some other device. I dont need a hdd built into my phone so I can later take the video off and archive it on my desktop.
broadcast tv on phones... haahhahahahaahha
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Already in Japan
I think it's great... do we REALLY need it?
well you can ask that question for just about anything.
But I would be happy to buy it. I travel a lot.. it would be a good way to pass time in the airport. And I refuse to buy a video ipod. I prefer all my devices combined into a phone/pda I don't have pocket room for a seperate device for each function
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