Everyone is starting to get interested in digital video recorders. Tivo and other cable DVR boxes are becoming a "must have" item. It's surprising to me that they are so popular when they require not only an initial outlay, but usually a significant monthly programming guide subscription fee.
So what's the next obvious step? Turn your computer into a DVR. It may not become the average person's first choice until it's easier and quieter (computer fans are still more annoying in the den than in the office while working at your desk).
One famous Linux option is
MythTV, which has some pretty neat
features. For Windows, there's the Windows Media Center edition which is apparently becoming very popular. According to
ZDNet news, "Microsoft said recently that its Windows XP Media Center software is outselling the standard edition of the software, and Hewlett-Packard announced last year that it is developing technology to let high-definition televisions directly access digital content from home computers." Pretty impressive.
Well there's another approach available in beta for Windows users from a household name -- Yahoo! And "The Yahoo Go for TV software works in conjunction with many of Yahoo's other Yahoo Go media products, such as Yahoo Launchcast, a radio and music subscription service, and Flickr, Yahoo's photo-sharing site. In addition, Go for TV lets people view photos from any online service and to listen to music from CDs or digital-music libraries already stored on the linked computer."
Yahoo Go for TV provides the listing information. It requires a decent Windows PC with lots of free disc space, plus of course a tuner card and A/V connections. A remote control (with the tuner card) is recommended.
I looks pretty interesting, and you can check out the beta software
here to get started.