Tivo this week released a paid update of its software which will make it easier for its customers to download video to their Tivo boxes. It is known as Tivo Desktop Plus 2.6 and it will run you around $25.

The Tivo Desktop Plus 2.6 software, available for Windows users only at this moment, makes use of the Tivo Season Pass functionality to let one manage web video content. With it one can subscribe to RSS feeds over a range of video content. This is done in conjunction with Web browsers, RSS video clients such as iTunes podcasts, or other video download software to automatically copy to their TiVo DVR’s Now Playing List alongside recorded broadcast and cable TV shows.

Tivo is getting set to add another online offering to owners of its digital video recorders. This time around the company has announced a new relationship with YouTube to bring online videos to your set top DVR.

Under the terms of the announcement Tivo will begin to offer access to YouTube videos directly to owners of Tivo Series 3 DVRs - sorry Series 2 owners, you look to be out of luck. Access will be included for the Tivo HD as well.

DVR heavyweight TiVo has been relatively quiet at CES this year, making only one announcement of note. It’s a pretty big deal, at least to TiVo users. TiVo is planning to let its customer base make use of RSS feeds to pull down Web video content for view on their DVRs. The company plans to roll out this service addition in March.

TiVo said specifically customers who upgrade to TiVo’s newest pay for desktop software will be able to use the DVR’s Season Pass functionality to schedule and automatically download new Web video across a variety of categories.

Archos showed up at CES this week with its own taking on the DVR category. It’s calling its product the Archos TV+ and it should be pricing at around $250 for a 80GB model and $350 for a 250GB one.

The Archos TV+ is, according to Archos, both a TV recording device and a wireless receiver for enjoying digital media content via your television. It can connect to both your home network and the Internet to stream video content, music and photos. You can also browse Web pages, check online email, synch content recorded to it to an Archos PMP and record video in VGA resolution.

Panasonic and Comcast are tag teaming to bring Comcast customers a portable DVR so they can record programming at home and take it with them wherever they go. The Panasonic AnyPlay P-DVR Model TZ-LC100 will be available beginning in early 2009 and is being showcased at CES.

The Panasonic AnyPlay P-DVR Model TZ-LC100 is developed by Panasonic and co-branded with Comcast. It’s got 60GB of hard drive storage space, an 8.5″ folding LCD display screen and integrated stereo speakers. Also included are dual headphone jacks.

Gefen announced to the press via an email a few days ago its upcoming CES line up. Amongst the cables, switchers and other line items we noted something of interest: two personal video recorders. No specific release date was given for the items, now available for pre-order, but we did note there’s a hard drive based PVR for around $1,000 and a USB memory device based one for around $650.

Gefen’s HD-PVR, which will also connect to removable USB memory devices for storage, has a built-in 80GB hard drive. With this you connect the PVR to an HDMI enabled display, select the video source and function you want from the source inputs and off you go recording. Recording can be done up to 1080i and there’s an on-screen menu for control options. Through this PVR you can also scan storage devices for other types of media to interact with.

This credit card sized digital voice recorder is not only anorexic, but white as a hospital. A splash of color wouldn’t have killed them, would it? Anyway, despite it’s ultra white sanitary look, it’s pretty easy on the eyes. In fact, it reminds me of why I love Nurses, all dressed in white, nice curves…

It measures just 6.5 millimeters thick and has 1GB of built-in storage, a handy flip-out USB connector, and flush-mounted controls. But it’s not just a Voice Recorder, it can also be used as an MP3 player and USB flash drive. The recording is in high quality WAV file format and files can be handled easily, just copy or delete like a typical USB storage device. Of course the advantage with this device is that you can take it just about anywhere. Pick one up for $69.99.

If you’re getting frustrated with the limited feature set of your current set-top box from your cable company, Motorola is showcasing the next generation of set top boxes for the cable industry this year at the CES 2008, bringing their first MPEG-4 box for interactive in-home television programming. The new DCX series set-top boxes support high-def video content, surround sound and can act as a hub to share media between it and other compatible devices in the home.

One of the biggest complaints we’ve heard about DVRs from cable providers is the inability to easily share recorded content to anywhere else other than the DVR itself. The new DCX series boxes allow users to not only share the content with other devices so you can watch it in another room, but it also lets the owners add their own media to the device and share it as well.

As the screenwriters’ strike drags on and those without TiVos are forced to watch reruns, TiVo owners and those of other DVR style devices provided by the likes of cable companies can take stock in the fact they can stretch their original programming a little further than others. This of course does not include viewing commercials, according to a new survey from ABI Research.

The research firm found that DVR technology has reached a point in the market where anyone with this type of gear is getting used to blasting through on-screen ads. Numbers from this survey find four out of five TiVo and 82% of other DVR users skip all or most commercials. Both types are also both likely to record significant amounts of TV per day.

TiVo and Nero, a technology developer which produces ways for the “creation and distribution of content between people, devices and locations,” are teaming up to further integrate the DVR experience into your PC. The agreement between the two was announced today.

TiVo and Nero said the latter will eventually offer software which brings non-mentioned TiVo features to your computer. The two companies see this as a way to capitalize on those who want a better PC-based-DVR like experience. A report published earlier this year suggests an estimated 50.8 million PC TV tuners will be sold worldwide by 2011. No word was given on when this would be made available.

Reports have surfaced that popular DVR company Tivo is getting ready to release a major update to its Tivo Desktop software. This release, which perhaps might occur today, is version 2.5.

A posting on a Tivo user forum by a person known to be a Tivo employee reveals the software will offer “new features & improvements you’ve asked for.” The listed features include support for Windows Vista, support for DixV (DivX?) and Xvid formats for web video conversion and conversion of individual shows from the software’s new playing list to any profile.

Tivo today unveiled a new, lower cost high definition digital video recorder (DVR) in its quest to make HD recording a more economical option. The Tivo HD is priced at around $300 and should be available in early August, though pre-orders are being taken now.

The Tivo HD operates in a similar capacity to the older Tivo Series 3 HD Digital Media Recorder, allowing consumers to record and playback HD television programming as part of a home entertainment setup. This particular DVR allows you to record up to 20 hours of HD or up to 180 hours of standard definition content. It is compatible with digital cable, analog cable and digital antenna (ATSC), furthermore acting as a digital cable ready set-top box which works with many cable providers via its dual CableCard slots.

This is claimed to be the world’s smallest DVR under $3k and we have to admit that we haven’t seen one smaller, especially for under that price. The descriptions on the site lean towards those a little on the sneaky side wanting to video and record with a hidden system and the Black-Box DVR looks like it would be perfect.

Measuring only a total of 2.28 square inches it records at 30 fps and a 640×480 resolution onto an SD card which it supports up to 4GB. It also has a power AV-in port which connects and …

ARCHOS recently announced the launch of their new Gen 5 lineup of personal media players leading out with the ARCHOS 605 WiFi as an upgrade to the 604 WiFi model featuring higher quality screen resolution and easier access media content. It features a higher resolution 800 x 480 4.3 inch touch screen, WiFi connectivity and comes in sizes of 4GB flash with an SD card slot or drive capacities of 30GB, 80GB or 160GB.

ARCHOS takes more advantage of the WiFi capabilities with the Gen 5 versions through a couple of new …

Blue Raven and unveiled a new portable media player featuring a 7″ display and built-in, timed recording capabilities making it a handy pocket-sized DVR. The Mediamate 7080 is one of two new 7000 series portable media players released today by the company, differing only in capacity.

It has an 80GB internal HDD to record up to 100 hours of DVD-quality video, and can do so direct into the device. By simply connecting the MediaMate directly to your media source such as a TV or DVD player …