NY Times Grades TiVo’s Internet Features

Apr 5 2007

I was just discussing yesterday that TiVo’s biggest challenge (in relation to One True Media movie sharing) is getting the word out and educating consumers on the features they offer above and beyond the typical CableCo DVR. Pogue’s large piece in the NY Times does a nice job explaining the basics of many of these services and offers up a grade:

Broadcast home movies (One True Media): A-
Cellphone scheduling (Verizon): B
TiVoCast: A
Movie downloads (Amazon): B
Weather and traffic (Yahoo): A+
Movie listings (Fandango): A-
Internet radio (Live365): B
Podcasts: A
Guru Guides: C-
Music and photos: B

I don’t necessarily agree with all the grades ($2/mo for cellphone scheduling on one carrier? D! Can’t pause podcasts? B. Manually delete TiVoCast downloads? B. Despite SD-only and limited aspect ratio, Amazon Unbox deserves an A.), but it’s nice to see these additional TiVo services documented together in one place.

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7 Responses for "NY Times Grades TiVo’s Internet Features"

hdtivo April 5th, 2007 at 11:47 am 1
I made some comments focusing on the internet delivery theme.

One thing not mentioned is autotranscode; undertandably because I think its still in beta…

But its something that has potential to correct some of TiVo’s ills…

http://hdtivo.wordpress.com/
Glenn April 6th, 2007 at 6:09 pm 2
Cellphone scheduling? D.

Sorry, its too expensive to bother with.

TivoCast? C

Very little content. Most of what there is isn’t very good, and isn’t updated very often. And yes, the manual delete thing. If they could just figure out some way of transcoding video podcasts to MPEG-2, or simply support the AVC formats on the Series 3…

Movie Downloads? B

Very cool, and too early to comment on content, but the movies available for rental part is VERY limited, and not updating very quickly/often. If the rentals were same day as DVD releases I would often use it instead…

Podcasts? C

No video podcast support…

Guru Guides? D

Pretty much useless, though the “new fall season” one did help out at the start of the season. But that’s it. The others I’ve tried just recorded weird random crap that had nothing to do with the seeming topic…
Dave Zatz April 6th, 2007 at 6:21 pm 3
Yeah, maybe I was too generous with TiVoCast… I think you’re right, they should find a way to open up the platform. In addition to auto-delete, I also want things labeled better so I don’t have to click all the way in to see what the topic is.
Bierby April 7th, 2007 at 5:27 pm 4
Sorry Dave Unbox gets a C- or D in my book for three reasons..
1) No subtitles for the hearing impaired
2) Lousy audio (2.0 only…no DD5.1)
3) No HD or widescreen for TiVo
Dave Zatz April 7th, 2007 at 5:53 pm 5
I know it’s very limited now in quality and selection, but the idea of it excites me. Being able to rent movies through a set-top box I already have that doesn’t belong to my cable provider is meaningful to me. I’m a sucker. Though I’m hopeful Unbox evolves into something better and soon.

The aspect ratio does bug me (especially compared to my Xbox video downloads) and with one of my rentals I did notice some weird subtle stuttering (I noticed it; Melissa did not) of the video during fast motion. But I’m forgiving. For now.

So what did Pogue say when you questioned him on Unbox?
Bierboy April 7th, 2007 at 7:10 pm 6
Actually, he just wanted to make sure that my comments were about unbox and not about another movie service for TiVo. I e-mailed him the same comments I listed above.
Steve April 7th, 2008 at 8:50 pm 7
I like the concept but I hate the fact that the unbox features dont include captions or subtitles. I got TWO lame e-mail responses from them about this issue. As far as I’m concerned they get a thumbs down for this disservice.