Ceton CableCARD PC tuner details emerge
By Ben Drawbaugh 
posted Sep 10th 2009 9:35AM
posted Sep 10th 2009 9:35AM
There's no press release or anything, but an eagle eyed blogger noticed that the FAQ for highly anticipated multi-stream CableCARD tuner for Windows Media Center on Ceton's site has been updated. Among the new details is the fact that there will be multiple offerings -- as apposed to just the one version announced at CES -- which will include 2, 4 and 6 tuner versions. The card has also been adapted to work in a low-profile PCI-E form factor, but no word if all three iterations will be available in the shorty version. The bad news is that the new release date has been pushed back from 2009, until the first quarter of 2010. Of course the new tuners also won't be restricted to the OEM requirement and will of course work with Tuning Adapters to add SDV support. The quad steam version is currently geting its stamp of approval from CableLabs so it'll be out first, but we're very saddened to tell you that there is still no word on the price. While we wait for price and availability though, you can look forward to our hands-on just as soon as we work our way to the Microsoft booth at CEDIA.[Via GeekTonic]
I predict this:
People start building their own HTPC with cable card and say good by to the cable company STB.
Cable company starts to loose money from all those un-rented STB's
Cable company gets pissed and charges a premium for the cable card rental, additional charges for them to install it, plus some other made up surcharges.
End result, cable cards and HTPC's don't seem like a good idea anymore.
The end.
Time Warner here in Central Ohio already does that -- something like $20 to come "install" the card, and $3/mo rental.
Cable companies really don't make too much money from box rentals, after all the support costs are paid. But they DO make a lot of money from things like video-on-demand, which is only accessible through their cable box. That is revenue they stand to lose if a customer switches to a CableCARD HTPC solution. But chances are the reduced support costs of a CableCARD customer will offset that somewhat.
AWESOME!!! A bit sad that I'll have to wait until next year to use it though.
As long as the price isn't crazy, this should be a winner. It looks like the 6 tuner card won't be available at retail, but 4 tuners should be enough for just about anyone...
This is the FAQ mentioned:
http://www.cetoncorp.com/ProductsWMCFAQ.php
holy shit this is awesome, i'm just a little annoyed I paid so much for my 2 tuner dell w/ ati ocur system this past christmas. i could always sell it and build a new headless server for the basement :)
Hopefully ATI will have multi-stream CableCard tuners ready today, otherwise Ceton is gonna be all over this!
btw, the CETON Tuner is in use and on display in Microsoft's booth at CEDIA in the S1Digital S800 Media Center Server (in a rack near the "theater" dispaly).
Have a look....4 tuners, 1 cableCARD.
Btw, even with the Cable companies charging for CableCARDs you still have a huge advantage over STBs because:
1. They are cheaper - usually $1 - $3 / month for rent vs. $5+ for a STB capable of HD and PVR
2. You don't have to use that terrible experience on the STB.
3. You get 1 source and experience for TV, Music, Pictures, etc...
All a win-win..Bottom line comment #1 is way off base.
My Comcast cable deal just ended and I have to pay $15/month for a 160GB HD DVR. F*** that!
gah, does this mean that i'm gonna be forced to upgrade from vista premium to 7 premium? I know vista supported the locked versions of cablecard tuners but i wish i could get a definite yes or no on vista
Cable companies already make very little, if any, money from STB rental. Some are probably losing money on them. They are more interested in selling you the signal. On top of that, even if the number of CableCard equipped HTPC users quadrupled, I don't think that would make a dent in their STB distributions.
I will probably use the quad for premium channels and a seperate OTA dual for the locals.
Cable Companys pay hundreds of dollars to SA and Motorola for thoughs cheesy STBs they rent to you... they do not make any money off of it. It takes years for the mso to pay off that box.
I'm extremely excited about the Ceton solution.
Sounds nice and all but Windows 7 really should support some form of TV tuner pooling/sharing or softsled. A lot of manufacturers have already pulled the plug on stand-alone extenders. Besides, extenders will never have the same flexibility as an HTPC. I'm planning on installing an HTPC for every room and it would be nice if I could also replace the set-top boxes without having to buy a tuner and renting a CableCARD for each HTPC.
Sounds like a very cool solution How much do you think the 4 tuner card will be?
The quad tuner sure makes it easier to fully spec a box with all 12 tuners now. I was looking at the pictures and thinking "oh god where am i going to get a mobo with 4 pci-x1". How does the 6 Tuner version work if you are only allowed 4 tuners of each type? Does anyone have any info on that point? I would be interested to see if you can use all 6 tuners in Win7MC, otherwise I guess I can deal with 4+4+4 O.o
Certain OEMs license the Advanced Entertainment Pack (AEP) for Windows, which enables support for more than 4 tuners. The Ceton 6-tuner PC card is a solution for those OEMs and systems.
For the DIY market, the 4-tuner version should be available at retail.
the cable will just hit you if cable card rent + outlet fee + hd cable card fee + sdv adepter rent.
will they also hit you with a fee per 2 turner as well.