PVRblog

Series 4 TiVo wishlist

2009-05-07T11:19:58-07:00

Justin Mecham has a fantastic wishlist for Series 4 TiVo features he'd like to see. Most of them are season pass related and I have to say I agree with them all 100%. Some of them are a bit complex, but I could picture the menu options in most cases (like setting defaults for season pass options).

For myself, in addition to everything Justin mentioned (especially Hulu integration), I'd like to see the two-way CableCARD technologies implemented so that video on demand and pay-per-view content directly from cable companies could be accessed.

I'd also like to see other ways to be notified by my TiVo, perhaps by RSS, when an important event is coming up. I keep a bunch of wishlists around that I don't set to automatically record, but I often forget to periodically check them for the 1 in 25 upcoming items I do want to see. If I could subscribe to a feed of upcoming keyword/wishlist items with a handy link to record, I could easily scan recent matches and ignore or record items without having to dive into deep menus on my TiVo.

In addition to Hulu, I guess I'd like to see something more like boxee where I could play any media file on my TiVo (which is just a small computer capable of running anything), but given TiVo's ties to the major studios, I doubt that ever happens.

What TiVo should do after ten years

2009-04-29T16:57:26-07:00

There's a great long post at Engadget commemorating the ten years of TiVo and along with it are five ideas for how TiVo could improve. I really like all the suggestions and would love to see TiVo try at least a few of them. When TiVo was on the ropes a few years ago I wanted to do a "100 ways to save TiVo" post (ala Wired's 101 ways to save Apple issue) but me and a few friends petered out of ideas after 30-40 of them. A lot of the ideas were similar in some ways to the Engadget ideas by basically extending the TiVo box in ways the studios probably don't want them to.

Usually these sorts of posts where a blogger posts a few ideas never get anywhere, but amazingly enough, TiVo's head of marketing sent Engadget a response. It's got quite a bit of marketing boosterism in it without too much concrete plans for the future, but it's good that TiVo is at least listening to criticism.

Amazon HD video on demand released for HD TiVos, Roku players

2009-04-21T14:23:09-07:00

It looks like Amazon just added HD-quality video to their video on demand offerings, releasing the feature to both high-def TiVos and the Roku set top box player (they also offer it for Sony and Panasonic connected TVs).

Amazon seems to be charging about a dollar more for HD over standard definition content (HD shows look to run $2.99/episode instead of $1.99, HD movies are $4.99 per rental instead of $3.99) and strangely enough the Amazon site is telling me I have to go to my TiVo to browse and rent movies, since they can't offer HD movie playback through a browser (likely a licensing issue with the movie studios).

A lengthy interview with Margret Schmidt of TiVo

2009-03-01T21:14:18-08:00

I forgot to post this soon after it went up, but a few weeks ago, my friend Peter Merholz got to do a long interview with Margret Schmidt, head of User Experience for TiVo. It's in three parts on the Adaptive Path blog: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. In it, they talk about the design of the interface, how new features are developed, how groups work internally at TiVo, and how user experience ties into the business aspects of TiVo.

A few years ago I got to ask Ms. Schmidt a bunch of questions about the design of the TiVo remotes, how the user interface of TiVo was developed, and my personal favorite -- how they designed the audio bleeps and bloops that still to this day are the only helpful sounds I've used in a consumer device.

Vizio HDTVs with Amazon and Netflix

2009-01-14T10:08:21-08:00

I looked around at a lot of CES wrapups and to be honest didn't see too many impressive things. Nothing really stood out as an all-new aha! kind of gadget like I've seen in years past. The theme of this year seemed to be mostly just refinement of existing technologies.

Towards that theme, I'd have to say the best thing I've seen so far is this line of Vizio HDTVs with built-in 802.11n allowing for Netflix and Amazon streaming movies, Rhapsody music, and flickr photo integration. It's nice to see more opportunities for Netflix streaming to show up in the wild (I love the feature on my TiVo) and it's also nice to see it from a company like Vizio, who I associate with being an affordable brand at big box stores like Costco.

I suppose the tanking economy took the wind out of the sails of most CES news this week, but I'm still a bit surprised there weren't any wild breakthrough products unveiled.

The Digital TV switchover

2009-01-13T12:04:25-08:00

I'm going to go out on a not-so-far limb and say the scheduled Digital TV switchover away from analog scheduled to take place next month on February 17 is going to be delayed again. Originally planned to take place several years ago but pushed to 2009, the early tests in various markets sounded problematic and I can't imagine what will happen on a national scale.

Obama's transition team has already recommended a delay, I bet one of his first actions as president will be to push it back to 2010-2012. The only weird bit is that Hawaii is scheduled to change over in two days, so if Obama does move it back another year or two, will Hawaii stay digital-only?

The Good News and Bad News about New TiVo Features

2008-12-09T14:01:46-08:00

There's been a recent update to TiVo boxes, enabling two famous and long-rumored features: Netflix support and Ads displayed while pausing/fast-forwarding. Both were first discussed on this site four years ago and it wasn't until this week that both finally became available for TiVo users.

The Netflix support is really good, exactly like using a dedicated Roku box. You add things to your Instant Queue on the Netflix website, then walk over to your TiVo to play them. Unfortunately you can't search for new movies from your couch and have to use a computer to interact with the Netflix website, but the the syncing is nearly instant and easy enough to use. Video quality is quite good and I had some low-end HD video that looked a lot like the AppleTV's 720p HD movies. Movie selection is limited to studios that allow for Netflix streaming but one of my favorite genres (Documentary) is well represented.

The ads displayed during fast forwarding has been a long time coming and raised quite a ruckus when it first was announced. Gizmodo has a screenshot of what they look like and say it's only on the older Series 2 boxes for now. On first glance it doesn't seem as invasive as I envisioned, but it does seem like a distraction from the way a TiVo is typically used.

TiVo mobile launched

2008-11-26T08:50:26-08:00

I caught the news on Crave that m.tivo.com was launching as a new mobile presence for adding shows to your TiVo. TiVo previously had a mobile interface for Verizon customers (and they charged for it), but thankfully the new approach seems to follow a much more open model: a simplified HTML site open to anyone.

It definitely seems to be programmed with the iPhone in mind as it's very easy to use on one. I'll definitely use the site when I'm out and about and suddenly wonder if I was recording a major sporting event or a new show set to debut.

Here are a couple screenshots from my iPhone viewing the site this morning:

Daily picks (nice to see updated content that would make me check the site out more often):

Viewing a show when logged in (recording options match what you'd see on a TiVo screen nicely):

Pizza ordering on a TiVo coming to Australia

2008-11-05T10:54:18-08:00

This story of a new feature being added to TiVos in Australia sounds awesome: ordering pizza from the couch. Yeah, on first read it totally reinforces the whole "couch potato" aspect of watching TV and eating unhealthy food, but every once in a while a nice pizza hits the spot. I'd love to see it come to the US.

I've ordered a pizza online before (Domino's, because it was the only option) mostly just to try it out (it was easy and nice to get exactly what I wanted without having to sit on the phone for several minutes) and I imagine the experience in a TiVo environment could be pretty quick and easy once you store your address and phone number.

Wow: looks like someone floated this idea on a blog in 2004

Autographed TiVo HD being auctioned off for charity

2008-11-03T21:14:43-08:00

A TiVo HD with lifetime service is just about the best thing you could ask for when it comes to recording digital cable, and though it won't make your HD signal any sharper, having Keanu Reeves, Jack Black, and a few other celebrities signature on it is a pretty nice bonus. An employee at TiVo sent me a link to the auction at ebay, where proceeds from the sale of the unit are going to a lung cancer fund.

Previous auctions of similar devices have gone for under or about retail. Considering it's for a good cause, if you were thinking of getting a TiVo for xmas for someone, you can't do much better than the one currently at auction.