Some rants, some tech, some random thoughts…

Yesterday DirecTV started officially talking about its upcoming new PC tuner. At CES, product sheets outlined the features of a stand-alone, USB-connected, two-tuner device called the HDPC-20 (think external CableCard tuner). Specifically, this product provides significant new options for Media Center and DirecTV customers alike. It delivers DirecTV HD content to Windows Vista Media Center, opening new markets for Media Center and (finally) an alternative to DirecTV’s own less-than-spectacular DVRs. DirecTV isn’t offering up any information about dates and cost, but price-wise, I’d expect it to fall somewhere between their set-top HD tuners and HD DVRs. Whatever the schedule, it’s nice to see that this relationship between Microsoft and DirecTV, first announced by Gates at CES two years ago, is real.