Jonathan Takiff | TiVo, Qflix add new services

THE GIZMO: New video delivery devices.

Even a cable or satellite TV service with 300 channels, or a retail outlet with deep stacks of DVD titles can't get a handle on all the video content that's floating around in our entertainment/information universe. Let alone all the stuff that people actually have a craving to see - from the latest stupid pet trick on YouTube.com to one of the 5,300 films still locked away in the Warner Bros. vaults, as yet unreleased on DVD.

That's where fledging technologies from TiVo and Qflix come in. Both promise to make the un-manageable become manageable, to put the world's pearls (and also the smelly oysters) just a click or two away.

TIVO-SIZE ME: Everyone uses TiVo as the generic term for a digital video recorder with an electronic program guide that is used to search for and program recordings from cable, satellite or broadcast TV. But in truth, that market has largely been co-opted by the generic and not-quite-as-good DVR (digital video recorders)/receivers that pay TV services now supply customers.

So TiVo has been pushed into expanding its vision, with second- and third-generation boxes that also can connect to the Internet, and deliver video programs even more customized to your special interests.

About a dozen content providers are already making content available for free download to TiVo boxes via the TiVoCast broadband service - "everyone from CBS, Forbes, the New York Times and Reuters to Rocketboom, a small podcast programmer," said Tivo programming vice president/general manager Tara Maitra. Almost a dozen more providers are warming up in the wings.

Just last week, TiVo turned on links to Amazon.com's Unbox on-demand video service. This alliance lets TiVo subscribers rent or buy films and TV shows from the likes of Fox Entertainment Group, Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Warner Bros. Entertainment. At the moment, the program ordering has to be done on a computer, though the Unbox content is then delivered directly (via broadband) to the TiVo box that's attached to your TV.

The downloads - including recent hits like "The Departed" - pop up on the TiVo "Now Playing" list, alongside the TV shows and other Internet-delivered content you've asked the device to record. "This sets us apart from movie download services like MovieLink, where the content resides on a computer hard drive," said Maitra.

Today, Verizon is introducing yet another way to program TiVos - remotely through select models of Verizon mobile phones. For an additional monthly fee of $1.99, customers will have access anywhere to the same search tools and record features that show up on a TiVo-linked TV screen.

THE COSTS ADD UP: Of course there are prices for all this convenience. And limitations. A broadband-enabled TiVo Series2 box goes for $99 after rebate, while a high definition Series3 box costs a killer $799 - a price TiVo execs know has got to give. (FYI: TiVo/DirecTV boxes are not broadband-enabled.)

The monthly TiVo service charge is $12.95 to $16.95, depending on the contract plan. Rentals of TV shows and movies from Unbox start at $1.99 and you have only 24 hours to finish viewing a show once you first hit the "play" button. Movies for purchase cost $15-$20, take one to five hours (depending on broadband connection speed) to download (unobtrusively in the "background") and are of "near DVD quality." A purchased movie can be stored on up to four devices - TiVo boxes, PCs and portable media players. But you can't burn a hard copy DVD version.

QFLIX WAY: That's where Qflix technology could make a difference. Developed by Sonic Solutions, it involves coding both movie titles and blank DVD discs with special copy protection software. Hollywood has now approved the system. And later this year, the technology will begin to show up at retail store kiosks.

Customers will be able to search through an on-screen catalog boasting tens of thousands of selections and place an order. Then, 10 or 15 minutes later, they'll walk away with a finished package, including cover artwork.

A home recording solution with Internet downloads also is in the works, says Sonic Solutions. Users will need to invest in a special DVD burner (about $100) and coded blank discs, which might cost 30 cents more than a non-coded variety.

High-definition disc-burning with the Qflix system could become available a few years down the pike. And wouldn't it be sweet if movie copying from a TiVo box could also be made Qflix-friendly? *

Send e-mail to takiffj@phillynews.com.