Motorola Unveils HD/DVR Boxes

BY ANTHONY CRUPI

Motorola has drawn back the curtain on its DCT-6000 digital set-top series, a line of thick-client boxes that includes the first unit to integrate both HD and DVR functionalities.

In nearly the same breath, the set-top manufacturer announced that it had re-upped its supply agreement with Comcast Cable.

Under the terms of the new agreement, Comcast will offer its digital cable subs two boxes from its latest line, including the DCT-6200 and the DCT-6208.

Bernadette Vernon, Motorola's director of strategic marketing, said the DCT-6200 will begin shipping late this summer. The box is meant to be a replacement for the HD-capable DCT-5100 model.

?With the 6200, we've upgraded the internal processing power of the 5100 by more than 150%,? Vernon said. That really doesn't capture how fast this thing really is. Motorola says the new processor can handle up to 800 million instructions per second (MIPS), which is kind of like switching from decaf to crystal meth.

While the new box allows for multiple DTV interface configurations, the DVR isn't actually integrated into the body of the unit. The 6200 is loaded with an MPEG encoder, which makes the set-top ?PVR-capable,? but a sidecar hard drive has to be introduced into the mix in order to enable full DVR functionality.

The DCT-6208, however, offers fully integrated HD and DVR, along with the same zippy 800 MIPS processor, 1394-DTV and DVI interfaces and an internal 80 GB hard drive.

Vernon declined to disclose pricing for either model, but Motorola spokesperson Jeanne Russo said ?it's safe to say that the cost will be sub $400.?

Motorola will also pursue a retail strategy with the new boxes, Russo said.

Comcast president Steve Burke was sanguine about the DCT-6000 line's potential, saying that he believed the boxes would ?help ensure [Comcast] can meet the needs of our growing and demanding customer base.?

Cable One has also expressed interest in the DCT-6000 boxes.

Scientific-Atlanta, the other heavy hitter in the set-top arena, was the first manufacturer to offer a box with an integrated DVR, but to date the company has not announced plans for a DVR-HD play.