SONICblue Inc. recently launched its ReplayTV 4500 series of digital video recorders, building off its ReplayTV 4000 design, which won Fortune magazine's "Best Video Product of the Year" in 2001. ReplayTV records television directly to a hard drive and allows the user to manipulate the recordings in a variety of ways.
The ReplayTV 4500 series has all the features of the ReplayTV 4000, plus modem support for standard phone line connections, a redesigned software package and a service-based pricing model. These design changes enable consumers with or without broadband to use the technology and allows SONICblue to enter mainstream retail distribution. The 4500 series is available in four models with recording capacities from 40 to 320 hours.
Key features of the ReplayTV 4500 series include:
* Broadband or phone access to the ReplayTV service
* Commercial skipping
* VCR-like control of recorded material
* Storage and viewing of digital photos
* Automatic recording of shows by keyword or theme, programmable over the Internet
