The Hauppauge HD-PVR is now shipping. According to some of those who pre-oredered the device they are finally shipping. The device goes for $249 and is a way for HTPC owners to view true HDTV content without needing a cablecard tuner.
All you need to make it work is a cable or satellite box with component video outputs. With the included IR blaster or firewire tuning will allow you to control tuning without needing to use too many remotes.
Because the device gets its video from component outputs of your set top box it is capable of recording and time-shifting the video without having to deal with any copy protection.