Posted May 17th 2007 10:22AM by Brad Linder
Filed under: Software, TiVo
Why invest in an expensive media center remote control when you could just use that Wi-Fi enabled Windows Mobile PDA or Smartphone you've already spent good money on?
Matt Ivers has posted a
clear and concise set of instructions for developing your own application that will let you control your Windows Media Center machine from a handheld device running Windows Mobile 5.0. While it's not quite as easy as downloading and installing an application that will do all the work for you, if you've got a little coding experience, it looks like a fun weekend project.
You'll need Visual Basic or Visual C#, Windows Media Center SDK 5.0, and Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone SDK, and of course a PC running Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 or Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate.
Hopefully if enough folks leave feedback for Ivers, he'll consider releasing a prepackaged version of the program for the less technically inclined.
[via
Ian Dixon]
Posted May 15th 2007 7:00PM by Brad Linder
Filed under: PVR Wire, TiVo
There are plenty of TiVo owners out there who say the set top box has revolutionized the way they watch TV. But there are TiVo fans, and then there are TiVo fans.
San Jose natives Tina and Andy Szeto had a
TV/TiVo themed wedding. The cakes were made up to resemble TiVo mascots, and each table was named for one of the couple's favorite television shows, with
Heroes,
Las Vegas, and
Nip/Tuck all represented.
Although neither Tina nor Andy are affiliated with TiVo in any way, when the company found out about the wedding, TiVo donated plush toys and antennae for wedding favors.
Posted May 14th 2007 11:09PM by Brad Linder
Filed under: PVR Wire, Software, TiVo
Within 6 to 8 weeks, TiVo will roll out a new expanded search feature the company's calling "
Universal Swivel Search."
Universal Swivel Search will let you find programming that you like based on titles, actors, genres, or suggestions from other users. Sure, you can browse or search for actors or other keywords right now, but the new search feature won't require searching a specific database. My best guess is that means you'll be able to type in a show that you like and your TiVo will spit out a list of other shows you might want to record.
The bigger story is the fact that Universal Swivel Search will let you search for programs online as well as for shows that will be airing soon on television. The search will cover TiVo's online partners, ranging from Amazon Unbox to Rocketboom and other vlogs with TiVoCast channels.
Posted May 14th 2007 8:37AM by Brad Linder
Filed under: PVR Wire, Software, TiVo
TiVo recently released a
public beta of TiVo Desktop 2.4 with support for displaying high definition photos and sharing content from more folders on your PC. Unfortunately, the current release doesn't play nice with Windows Vista -- unless you're willing to get your hands a little dirty.
A
PVRblog reader submitted his workaround. Essentially, it involves using Microsoft's
Orca database editor to alter some settings in the TiVo Desktop installer. You have to install TiVo Desktop 2.4 as an administrator, and when you're told that you can't go any further because Vista's not supported, you stop the install process, find the temporary installer file, edit it, rename it as TiVoToGo24.msi and you can install the program on Windows Vista.
It's easier than it sounds, if you just follow the step by step directions on PVRblog. Of course, this raises the question, if it's this easy to make the program work with Windows Vista, why didn't TiVo do it?
Posted May 12th 2007 7:45AM by Brad Linder
Filed under: PVR Wire, Hardware, TiVo
That piddly 250GB hard drive on a TiVo Series3 not doing it for you? The thing about buying a high definition PVR is that high definition TV takes up a lot of space, so you can only store about 32 hours of HDTV programs.
Well,
DVR Upgrade and
WeaKnees have been giving you the option of buying modified TiVos with hard drives up to 750GB. That should be enough for 100 hours of HDTV or 1000 hours of standard definition programming. But that's not good enough for you either, now is it?
Well, WeaKnees has announced that they're
preparing a 1TB Series3 TiVo, capable of storing 144 hours of high definition recordings. Of course, WeaKnees charges $1250 to $1600 for a Series3 box with a 750GB hard drive, so don't expect the 1TB model to come cheap.
Posted May 11th 2007 9:56AM by Brad Linder
Filed under: PVR Wire, Awards, TiVo
People have been hacking their TiVo recorders as long as there have been TiVo boxes. You can add more storage, enhance your networking experience, or make your TiVo remote control a bit more useful.
While some of the more advanced hacks require some technical know-how and some modifications that could potentially leave you with a dead PVR, there are plenty of beginner-level hacks. Our buddy
Dave Zatz has compiled his top 5:
- Program your TiVo remote control to add a 30-second "commercial skip" button.
- Add an extra hard drive or replace your existing hard drive with a larger one (or pay someone to do it for you).
- Transfer video to your TiVo box.
- Remove the DRM from TiVoToGo programs you've moved from your TiVo to your computer.
- Stream AAC, WMA, OGG and MP3 files to your TiVo.
Zatz's article has all the steps you need to take to perform these hacks.
Posted May 4th 2007 11:47PM by Brad Linder
Filed under: PVR Wire, TiVo
Ever since TiVo launches the Series3 high definition box last year, users have been staring longingly at the eSATA port on the back of their TiVo units. It's supposed to allow you to plug in an external hard drive, but TiVo hasn't enabled that feature yet.
As is usually the case with these things, the members of the TiVo Community Forum have
stepped in to finish the job. So here's the hack to activate that eSATA port on your Series3 TiVo. It only seems to work on an unmodified box, so if you've already cracked the lid and upgraded the internal hard drive, there's no guarantees. Also, this hack has been tested on boxes running TiVo 8.1.1 software.
Continue reading How to add storage to your Series3 TiVo through the eSATA port
Posted May 2nd 2007 10:47AM by Brad Linder
Filed under: PVR Wire, TiVo
TiVo's latest marketing campaign involves a new "
My TiVo Gets Me" website where users can upload photos, add TiVo antennae to their photos, and edit their profiles.
TiVo's also launching a new
user generated video contest. Create a video explaining how TiVo helps deliver content related to "your deepest passion," and you could win a Series3 TiVo, a lifetime subscription, and a 42 inch plasma TV.
Of course, with all this deepest passion talk, I expect to see a lot of people uploading videos about recording adult content.
TiVo's also uploaded a few commercials of its own to YouTube. One in particular plays on male insecurities as a TiVo owner wonders why his neighbors antennae are bigger than his own. Another features the age-old dillema: sports or sex. These seem a bit risqué for a company promoting its family-friendly KidZone feature.
Continue reading TiVo launches mildly disturbing marketing campaign - VIDEO
Posted May 1st 2007 9:00AM by Brad Linder
Filed under: HDTV, PVR Wire, TiVo
So Gizmodo's
fanning the flames of the rumor mill by reporting that TiVo's could be prepping a $300 high definition personal video recorder. Sure, the Series3 HD TiVo launched at $800, but now TiVo's offered it at promotional prices
as low as $499. Is it too much of a stretch to think the company can offer a stripped down model for $300?
Maybe. Here's the thing. While TiVo CEO Tom Rogers did say back in March that the company is
looking into a lower-cost PVR, I'm just not sure we can expect them to release a device anytime soon that's going to dramatically undercut the sales of the their existing box. Because if you could pay $300 or $800 for boxes that do almost the same thing, which would you choose?
Continue reading Rumor mill: TiVo to launch $300 HD PVR
Posted Apr 29th 2007 5:02PM by Brad Linder
Filed under: PVR Wire, TiVo
TiVo has released the final version of TiVo Desktop 2.4 for the PC. While TiVo doesn't usually do the public beta thing, this software's been available in beta form for the last few months.
The updates includes support for additional PC folders and viewing high definition photos (if you happen to have a Series3 TiVo).
While TiVo Desktop is free,
if you pay $25 you can get a Plus key and the ability to convert TiVoToGo files to portable WMV and MP4 files for playback on a PSP, iPod, or other device. You can also convert WMV and MP4 files into movies that you can watch on your Series2 TiVo.
[via
Zatz Not Funny]
Posted Apr 27th 2007 5:35PM by Brad Linder
Filed under: HDTV, PVR Wire, TiVo
Looks like TiVo's
pushing out version 8.3 of its software to Series3 HD TiVo boxes. And while there's no really dramatic updates like adding TiVoToGo or multi-room viewing for Series3 units, TiVo had added a few new
HD-specific features.
Now you can search for HD programs or create wishlists that will only look for HD programming. There's still no HD suggestions, but this is a good start. There's nothing worse than buying an expensive new PVR that will work with your HDTV only to realize that most of the programming you're recording is in standard definition. Well, there's probably a few things worse, but it can still be pretty annoying.
Posted Apr 27th 2007 11:53AM by Brad Linder
Filed under: PVR Wire, TiVo
Fox is hoping to patent technology to
replace the commercials in shows sitting on your personal video recorder.
In other words, if you record
24 Monday night, but wait until Thursday to watch it, some of the promos for upcoming shows, movie release dates, and ads for retail sales will be outdated by the time you watch it. This patent would automatically download updated commercials to replace the old ones.
Fox says it hopes to test the process with TiVo. On the one hand, this leverages the power of a PVR as basically an internet-connected computer. On the other hand, it ignores the fact that the users who skip past commercials don't really care if they're new or old.
Of course, if this technology works, it could lead to advertisers putting firmer cues than brief black screens on their commercials, which would make it easier for 3rd party developers to come up with accurate programs to automatically skip commercials. Programs like ComSkip and Snapstream BeyondTV's SmartChapter generator each do this today, with varying degrees of success.
[via
TiVo Lovers]
Posted Apr 26th 2007 9:34PM by Brad Linder
Filed under: PVR Wire, Hardware, TiVo
The biggest (and pretty much only) complaint with the high definition Series3 TiVo is it's $800 price tag. Well, apparently TiVo's been paying attention -- and selling enough units to make it cost efficient to drop the price of the box. Because TiVo's offering
one heck of a discount in its latest promotion.
For $499.99 you can pick up a Series3 TiVo plus a wireless TiVo adapter. No need to fill out any silly rebates, and there's free shipping included. That's $360 worth of savings.
The offer is only good through April 30th. But now that TiVo's starting to offer discounts on Series3 units, I think it's fair to say there'll be another promotion along soon. The company almost always has one rebate offer or another available for Series2 boxes.
Speaking of which, the latest Series2 deals include a free wireless adapter with an 80-hour single-tuner box or a 180 hour dual-tuner box for $70 or $120 respectively.
[via TiVoBlog]
Posted Apr 25th 2007 8:33PM by Brad Linder
Filed under: PVR Wire, Software, TiVo
Are you a Mac-loving, TiVo-loving person who only opens Google Reader to look for TiVo related blogs? Well now you don't even need to go that far.
Alex over at TiVoBlog has created a
nifty little OS X dashboard widget using Yahoo Pipes and Apple's dashcode. The widget shows you TiVo-related content from a number of website, including TV Squad,
TiVoBlog,
ZatzNotFunny,
TiVoLovers,
Zeigen.com, and
DavisFreeberg.com.
Sure, you could bookmark each site individually or add them to your RSS reader, but this is the sort of widget that I think is really useful. I tend to read hundreds of RSS feeds every day, and it would be impossible to add each one my desktop. By grouping a bunch of the best sites on a given topic together, you can condense the number widgets you need. Just add another for local and national news and you're all set (assuming you're only interested in news and TiVo information).
Posted Apr 25th 2007 6:36PM by Brad Linder
Filed under: PVR Wire, Hardware, TiVo
Best Buy is offering customers a
$50 gift card when they pick up an 80-hour Series2 TiVo. When you combine that with the $170 rebate currently offered by TiVo, that's a free box.
But the gift card can only be applied toward future purchases. So it's only free if you plan on buying $50 worth of items from Best Buy in the future.
The promotion is listed in Best Buy's weekly ad, so it could be gone soon.
[via
Troy on TiVo]
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American Idol: Top 2 (season finale part 1)
Heroes: How to Stop an Exploding Man (season finale)
BewbTewb: Jack gets at least 48 more!
