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Television Media Patents

TiVo Plans RFID-Aware PVR 114

Posted by CmdrTaco from the different-rooms-need-different-tv dept.
Dotnaught writes "New Scientist has spotted a patent application from TiVo that suggests the company is "working on a PVR that will recognise one of several individual users, and respond to their personal preferences." The patent application describes the invention as "a multimedia mobile personalization system provides a remote control that detects a user's electronic tag, e.g. an RFID tag." It also promises personalized viewing at a variety of locations, detailing how TiVo might forward stored shows from home to a TV in a hotel room, for example. It remains to be seen whether hotels will be eager to help TiVo undermine their pay-per-view video revenue."
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TiVo Plans RFID-Aware PVR More

TiVo Plans RFID-Aware PVR

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  • I want an RFID tag (Score:5, Funny)

    by LilGuy ( 150110 ) on Tuesday November 22, 2005 @01:02PM (#14091831)
    Embed me please! I want never again to have to manually pay for anything, prove my identity, or set my TiVo to my preferences. Thanks.

  • Business case (Score:3, Insightful)

    by gingerTabs ( 532664 ) on Tuesday November 22, 2005 @01:05PM (#14091864) Homepage
    Surely this will be an additional revenue stream for hotels as they can charge the same as existing PPV to allow hotel TiVO access to external content which is more appealing to the hotel guest?
    • but will this work if i go to the hotel with my rfid card wrapped in foil, and handing foil to everyone else?

    • Re:Business case (Score:3, Interesting)

      by kawika ( 87069 )
      It's not about hotels, it's about houses. (Geez, sounds like Monopoly here.)

      TiVo has access to a lot of user preferences information. Companies like Nielsen and Arbitron have made large businesses out of tracking consumer behavior, but TiVo's use of technology would make it much more accurate.

      The problem is, the content providers only want accuracy if it benefits them. The old "journal" system for radio and TV habits reflected what the user liked but not what they necessarily watched. There was quite an upr [wired.com]

  • Oh noes, teh RFID!11!!one (Score:3, Insightful)

    by MaestroSartori ( 146297 ) on Tuesday November 22, 2005 @01:07PM (#14091884) Homepage
    I can't wait to hear someone rant about how this use of RFID tags will destroy my privacy, and somehow overnight change the world into some Orwellian police state where we're all branded with the RFID tag of the beast on our foreheads...

    Anyone? :)

  • Who Cares (Score:2, Informative)

    by abricko ( 456937 )
    Who cares about that technology... They can't even get a HD DVR out!

  • RFID + DRM (Score:4, Insightful)

    by lenhap ( 717304 ) on Tuesday November 22, 2005 @01:08PM (#14091892)
    Anyone else think of what would happen if this became a standard feature. Sure it may be nice to not have to touch a single button, but as soon as Hollywood can have a show DRM'd to a specific person rather than a specific machine, don't you think they would.

    Tinfoil hats aside, Hollywood dictating per-person DRM doesn't seem to be too big of a jump for me. I certainly can't wait for the day that I can't watch a recorded show just because I wasn't the one to record it. Go tivo!
    • Go one better, you cnat watch it unless you are the only RFID in the room 8-p
      • And it's not even per person; it is per per person per machine. So you can only watch it on the machine you recorded it on if you're the only one in the room.
        • So you can only watch it on the machine you recorded it on if you're the only one in the room.

          I was thinking along the same lines when I realized this was a PVR and not a DVR.
          • I was thinking along the same lines when I realized this was a PVR and not a DVR.

            They're the same thing. It's just because PVR was already trademarked within the same field (Digital Processing Systems' Perception Video Recorder) that TiVo changed the term to DVR.
            • I was thinking along the lines of a Personal Video Recorder like the hand-held media players that are available now. I've seen some of them referred to as PVRs.

              Maybe I was stretching too hard to find a good reason to tie a DVR to RFID. Makes no sense for recording at home since part of the reason for a DVR is recording when you aren't there so that you can watch when you are. I can see transferring your preferences to a set-top box at a hotel (unless your favorite show comes on while you're in transit).

              Ah w
  • has presented this exact application years ago.
  • I am very glad to hear of this. I've said for a long while, that while I absolutely love my Tivo, it has a few drawbacks (that can be remedied):

    1) Lack of dual (or more) tuners on standalone models
    2) Lack of support for digital channels (a la CableCard)
    3) Personalizing "suggestions" on a person basis, instead of a Tivo box basis.

    And from what I hear, #1 and #2 are in the works (rumored to come out mid-2006). And this (it sounds like) could be the third.

    I've known for awhile that my Tivo will (if "s

    • This might be a step in the right direction if they just implemented it. Not go filing a patent on obvious functionality.
    • Two more things...
      4) Sluggish user interface
      5) Lack of an on-board 100Mbit ethernet jack

      The USB ethernet dongle approach works fine when you're using it as an alternative to a phone line. However, as they add more network and home media type features, you really feel the slowness of it.

      If they came out with a new TiVo that fixed these two issues, and had a second tuner, I'd probably buy one tomorrow.
      • 4) I haven't used the 7.2 standalones, but I know that 6.2 made the DirecTivos much faster.
        5) If you are up for it, upgrade the software to USB 2.0 and this isn't much of a problem. Better yet, TiVo needs to upgrade to USB 2.0, if they haven't done so already. I have the HMO/MRV stuff enabled on my DirecTivo with USB 2.0 and it transfers a 1 hour show in about 7 minutes.
  • Really? or it just one of those things that someone in marketting came up with after hearing RFID and found it to be the new tech buzzword?

  • Quick (Score:2, Funny)

    by flipper65 ( 794710 )
    Someone send one of these to Stallman

  • Ordering food (Score:5, Funny)

    by nizo ( 81281 ) * on Tuesday November 22, 2005 @01:28PM (#14092075) Homepage Journal
    Actually if they can have one that broadcasts food preferences (I hate onions and pickles) we might be on to something here. I wonder if it is worth some of my privacy to not have to pick off the onions and pickles because I always forget to ask the Wendy's cashier not to put them on? Pretty much applies to all my other food too; just forget adding onions or pickles please.
    • Stick a postit to your phone with the sentence : "I want it without onions and pickles". And put one in your shirt in case you go yourself to the store...
    • I wonder if it is worth some of my privacy to not have to pick off the onions and pickles because I always forget to ask the Wendy's cashier not to put them on? Pretty much applies to all my other food too; just forget adding onions or pickles please.

      Have some T-shirts printed up. Vary the colors so you'll have a well-rounded wardrobe - or just keep eating at fast food joints and let them round naturally......
    • At some point in the not-to-distant future, who's to say that people won't start finding tidbits like this in their mailbox:

      Dear valued fast food customer:

      We understand that you have recently requested the removal of onions and pickles from your meal at our fast food establishment. As you know, this establishment is a fine American company that has provided affordable cuisine to many Americans for years. Because pickles and onions are fundamental ingredients of the meals that we serve, we have deemed their

    • Re:Ordering food (Score:1, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Forget about putting allergy information on the product: we'll just tag the people.

      (Great for insurance companies too!)
  • With everyone falling all over themselves to make everything we interact with use RFIDs somehow I begin to wonder... If I need one to start my car, one to pay for gas, one to identify me to the door of my house, one for security at work, one for security on the computer at work, one to "authenticate" me to my entertainment devices (how soon do you suppose the *IAA will be trying to use this for some sort of DRM???). How soon will it be before I need some sort of RFID management system built into my clothi
    • and put them on your keyring.

      Essentially they can perform the same function as a key so why not treat them as such.
      • My key ring has at least 5 'loyalty' program cards attached already, except they have bar codes instead of RFID. At least with bar codes I can choose to not show them to the cashier when I don't feel like it. I'd have to be a bit more careful with RFID.
      • How about using RFID to FIND the damn keyring. I know it won't allow you to pinpoint exact location, but narrowing down the location of my keys or anything else small, portable, and easily lost to a single room would be immensely helpful. A certain amount of radio direction finding could possibly be used to help even further.

        Yeah, I know there exists technology to make a little siren go off on the key ring or whatever, but let's stay on topic here.
  • Gee, all this money for new technology and they can't even get off their weak asses and support macintosh.

  • Does this mean that pr0n will just start popping (Score:4, Funny)

    by digitaldc ( 879047 ) * on Tuesday November 22, 2005 @01:44PM (#14092238)
    ...up in all different locations at the most inappropriate times?
  • Ok, while the RFID system is a good idea and the technology has proven it's worth in many applications, is it a good idea to have RFID chips for everything we use in real life?

    If we used RFID like this one could forsee:

    The toaster that adjusts to your desired level of toast
    The fridge that remembers that you like crushed ice instead of cubed
    The Tivo that remembers your choices (I know...mentioned in the article)
    The Car that remembers your seating positions
    The stereo that remembers your station and desired vo
    • Don't worry, you won't be able to lose it once it's embedded in your forehead and on your arm.
    • But if everyone has them you'll have to hold the toaster so that you don't get someone else's dark toast when you specifically RFID'd light. And who get's logged onto the computer? What if person X is having trouble with their PC or a program and you say, "let me drive", does the computer log them off and log you on?

    • The toaster that adjusts to your desired level of toast,
      The fridge that remembers that you like crushed ice instead of cubed
      The Tivo that remembers your choices (I know...mentioned in the article)
      The Car that remembers your seating positions
      The stereo that remembers your station and desired volume
      The computer that logs you on as soon as you sit down

      I was thinking . . . I don't need any of these things. My stereo is always set to my station, my ice is the way I like it, the car seat is adjusted for

    • The list could go on and on and with each device you need yet another RFID tag. How many of the damn things will we need in the future to go about our daily lives?

      You will only need one RFID tag that identifies you, and is used for all devices and uses. It would really be quite convenient. You just hang it on a lanyard around your neck.

    • I hereby predict the meta-RFID. A single, programmable, multi-personality RFID tag into which you can dump all of the data from all of the seperate tags that will be issued to you. C'mon, it'll be great! Your TiVo will remember your seating position, your car will make your toast at just the volume you like, your crushed ice will automatically $sys$rootkit your network logon... I love this plan!
    • Jaguar (and presumably other high-end) cars remember the driver's seating position, and have done so for quite some time. They don't use RFID, though, they just use the computer chip in your key to remember you.

      Just remember, if you're really tall and your wife is really short, don't go grabbing her keys on the way out of the house, or you may become permanently trapped in your vehicle.
  • I would think that advertizers would love to have this in everyone's living room. Then, for example, the tivo could scan the rfid tags in the kitchen and serve an ad for Hunts ketchup to every pvr that detects Heinz 57 in the fridge.
    • Then, for example, the tivo could scan the rfid tags in the kitchen and serve an ad for Hunts ketchup to every pvr that detects Heinz 57 in the fridge.

      Ummmm. I hope you don't work for Hunts' marketing department...... Although I do know a guy who puts ketchup on his steaks (and even prime rib), most of us don't see the two as interchangeable.....
    • I would think that advertizers would love to have this in everyone's living room. Then, for example, the tivo could scan the rfid tags in the kitchen and serve an ad for Hunts ketchup to every pvr that detects Heinz 57 in the fridge.

      ... and a kernel panic if it detected a roll of tin foil in the pantry.

  • And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads; "And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name
    • "And I saw TIVO coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The TIVO I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave TIVO his power and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of TIVO seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed TIVO. Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority
  • How does it know it's me? Sure, via RFID, but where is this RFID kept? Do I need to carry around an ID card for my PVR? If so, I'll probably just tape it to the side of the PVR.
  • Feature: one Tivo can remember several different user's preferences. Good feature, one that people want and would pay for.

    Implementation: instead of a simple menu choice, or a remote control button, implement this via a RFID tag. OK, so how stupid can Tivo get?
    • What if the family is watching TV together? Which tag gets chosen?
    • Most people lose the remote on a regular basis. How many will lose their RFID tags?
    • When you visit your Mother in law, you may not want the Tivo to suggest "Hot Babes IV"

    Dear Tivo: Give

    • What if the family is watching TV together? Which tag gets chosen?

      How about the intersection of the shows that everyone likes? TiVo could be smart about these kind of things.

      Most people lose the remote on a regular basis. How many will lose their RFID tags?

      Since your personal RFID tag will be used to determine what time the alarm clock goes off, how done your toast is cooked, and whether you can unlock and drive a specific car, I would guess that it would be more comparable to losing your drivers licens

  • It remains to be seen whether hotels will be eager to help TiVo undermine their pay-per-view video revenue.

    Hotels will love it, as long as they get a cut, and as long as it requires no effort on the staff to implement.

    The big flaw in this is distribution of the media. Recently I designed a system to distribute movies to a hotel chain using a bittorrent style p2p system, but it depended that the same file being distributed to the entire chain at the same time. If you're sending "personalized" media out on
  • No more suing entire families. Now broadcasters and the MPAA will know EXACTLY who to sue when you're fast forwarding though commercials, copying movies to your portable player, and other egregious acts of copyright infringement.
  • I'm assuming the identifier would be tied to CC information for ordering movies, would remove parental locks automatically, would change your favorites, so on, and so on.

    Too many questions left unanswered about RFI. We don't even know how secure an RFID system would be.

    I don't know of many people that will be all fired up to get RFID tags embedded under their skin. I know I wouldn't. And barring that, physical security would be fairly easy to compromise. And if my kid gets ahold of my tag and orders
  • and all the TVs start playing porn?
  • that RFID could improve the transfer speed of my TiVo (currently, it takes over 90 minutes to tx a 30 minute show to my PC) Certainly TiVo and the Hotel chains don't expect I'll want to pay to wait for hours before being able to view my custom content...maybe I'll be able to pre-tx the shows we'll want to watch: "No! we are not watching the latest episode, we have to save it for when we're in the hotel" Stove off? check Iron off? check Doors Locked? check Paperboy notified? check TiVo Transferring? doh!
  • Don't confuse patent applications with product annoucements. I don't see a product arriving soon that does everything their patent says. Patents are filed to protect intellectual work that may have been performed, but doesn't mean that Tivo will ever ship anything like it is described in the patent. Companies think up great stuff and patent it to protect those intellectual assets - sort of staking a "claim" on the idea. Doesn't mean they plan to develop anything yet.
  • This cannot be good... Imagine getting the "really cool" cable package and setting Tivo to get all the "ins" and "outs" of your fav shows... Then walking alongside a TV display who just happens to replay all your fav sick-o shows on for all to see... Better yet... go Tivo shopping with mom! Shell be proud.... NOT.
  • How the hell is this patentable?

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