Not only is TiVo alive and well despite some bad news for the company last year, they're making their most significant leaps in PVR technology yet seen.  The TiVo Series 3 was unveiled at CES last week and TiVo's reps say it will be available by “mid to late ’06”.  This is the TiVo unit with everything TiVo users have been looking for.

Finally a TiVo (non-DirecTV) that includes HDMI.  The Series3 will include a total of six tuners:  Two ATSC tuners (for HD over air broadcasting) and two NTSC tuners (for standard old fashioned TV) plus two cable tuners for a total of six tuners in TiVo’s new Series3 set top boxes boxes.  But you'll still only be able to record two programs at a time.  The inclusion of a CableCARD slot and full HDTV are two features that will put TiVo over the top of competing PVR’s furnished by your satellite or Cable TV Company.

If you’re stuck fiddling around with your cable companies Motorola box for your HD-PVR fix you know what an annoying implementation of the technology it is.  TiVo brings you a fast easy to use PVR with tons of extra features and a user friendliness unknown to any VCR.  Now you won’t have to sacrifice anything if you’re using cable TV.  The ability to pull over air transmission in full HD is a great feature for anyone with an HD-Monitor that doesn’t include a built in tuner.  All the major US television networks now broadcast in HD over the air. 

Rumor on the PVR blog has it that this will probably retail around $800 but so far there is no announced price.