10 Responses for "Digital Media Bytes: TiVo Edition"

1. Dave Zatz September 29th, 2008 at 9:01 am 1

   Unfortunately, I was at the airport 20 mins before boarding a plane when I caught the UI source posting. So I alerted my blogging pals before taking off. (Of course, I would have preferred to blog it myself.) If legit, this looks to be quite a departure from the TiVo UI we know. Though I assume there are a variety of different approaches and looks TiVo would evaluate. Even with just this one, you can see some A/B testing going on. Regardless, assuming these are the real deal, I am VERY pleased to see TiVo exploring their next gen interface and experience.

   Due to my over-aggressive spam filter, I also got the Nero news late. I wasn’t so excited about the TiVo PC DVR software, until MegaZone mentioned to me that the PC is seen as any other TiVo on your network – meaning, multi-room viewing (MRV) in both directions (PS< ->STB) is possible. Also, the package seems to have inherited some features from the Comcast Motorala TiVo Java/OCAP build – such as picture-in-guide. Though the $99 annual fee for service after the first year expires is extreme. While it’s cheaper than the typical TiVo monthly service, it’s much more than the free guide data provided in Vista Media Center, BeyondTV, and SageTV. They’re going to need to rethink that. I’m looking forward to getting my hands on a review sample soon.

2. jon September 29th, 2008 at 9:21 am 2

   i am liking the new interface too. i love the generic ‘x-y-z’ logos everywhere…

   hopefully we can get something like that and have it be retroactive to s3 and s3 units

3. Todd September 29th, 2008 at 9:50 am 3

   Hoo ray for TiVo opening up a little bit…but don’t be so shy TiVo sales team – open the flood gates all the way! If you really wanna make so cash let us write widgets for Liquid TV.

   Oh yeah, please fast track the Linux version and make sure its supports high definition! I got $99 burning a hole on my pocket.

4. Charlie September 29th, 2008 at 10:16 am 4

   if they would only offer overseas (european) versions of the Tivo guide in this LiquidTV product….

5. Dave Zatz September 29th, 2008 at 10:27 am 5

   Charlie, actually my original suspicion was that the Nero+TiVo software would only be for European markets given TiVo’s global expansion and Nero’s homebase (Germany). I imagine they will at some point.

6. Marc Novakowski September 29th, 2008 at 11:13 am 6

   I really hope this works with the Hauppauge HD PVR device. Even though the total hardware cost would be quite high, it sounds like the closest you can get to an HD TiVo for non-cablecard markets such as Canada.

7. Charlie September 29th, 2008 at 11:52 am 7

   yeah, but the European DVR market is weird.

   Most of the consumer units are DVD burners or combined hard drive/DVD burners. I suspect the real problem is you need to combine satellite and DVB-T broadcasting in one unit to get the majority of channels — if you care enough about TV to own a DVR you probably want satellite too.

   Sigh. I don’t really except to see European guide data anytime soon.

8. cypherstream September 29th, 2008 at 12:54 pm 8

   I’m really interested in that upcoming Tivo interface. I love the widescreen HD resolution and all of the graphics and simple transitions between screens. It looks pretty slick and it’s definitely a step in the right direction. Keep us posted on that, it’s a hot story indeed.

   Bring out a Tivo Series 4 with that interface, and you’ll make a Tivo convert out of me any day.

9. Ivan Y September 29th, 2008 at 5:49 pm 9

   The new interface is very nice. But most importantly, it’s not as painfully slow as the current one (at least, on S2DT box). That leads me to believe that it won’t make it over on S2 models.

10. Dave Zatz September 29th, 2008 at 8:20 pm 10

    Ivan, I doubt the S2 platform will see any significant upgrades at this point. (And I wonder if any current hardware would be that smooth/quick.)