Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments
Search

News for nerds, stuff that matters

Slashdot Log In

Log In

Create Account  |  Retrieve Password

TiVoToGo For iPods and PSPs

Posted by Hemos on Mon Nov 21, 2005 10:07 AM
from the try-to-remain-alive dept.
Media Media (Apple) Businesses Portables Television Apple Hardware
BushCheney08 writes "According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, TiVo is expanding its TiVoToGo service to allow recordings to be viewed on video iPods and PSPs. Files will be transcoded in real time and will include digital watermarks to try to cut down on piracy. The service begins beta-testing for select subscribers today, with a widespread rollout scheduled for early next year. An AP article is also available at Forbes."
+ -
story

Related Stories

[+] TiVoToGo for Portables Updated 53 comments
fistfullast33l writes "In a followup to previous stories on Slashdot, IGN is reporting that TiVo has released a new version of TiVoToGo that now allows subscribers to transfer shows to portables such as the iPod, PSP, and Treo without the need for third-party software such as Videora. The upgrade costs $25 for current subscribers and includes the ability to transfer to desktop PCs as well. To recap, you can now transfer your TiVo shows to your laptop, desktop, and portable, as well as burn them to DVD. Time for me to subscribe to HBO."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

TiVoToGo For iPods and PSPs 50 Comments More /

 Full
 Abbreviated
 Hidden
More
Loading... please wait.

  • It's surprising to me too! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by garcia (6573) on Monday November 21 2005, @10:15AM (#14081641) Homepage
    More than 50 percent of TiVo's 3.6 million subscribers have tried TiVoToGo, and nearly half use it regularly, Denney said. The number of regular users was higher than TiVo expected, and "it was surprising to us, to be honest,'' he said.

    Based on how slow the transfers are for Tivo2Go I too am surprised that Tivo has that many people using it. Granted, I was only using it over wireless but I assume that's what most of the Tivo2Go users are using as well. It was taking *more* than real-time to transmit a show to the computer and then I had to run it through Dr. Divx to bring it down to a resolution that would play well on my mobile device. Will this automated transcoding process increase the time it takes to put it on the handheld even more?

    I have mentioned before that I use the "Record to VCR" option to put shows on my mobile device as I have an Archos that will automatically record it in the best fit option if I so choose... Yeah, it's real time and it's a pain but it was actually faster and easier than using Tivo2Go. Being that I've moved to the DirecTivo I no longer have the Tivo2Go option (with a stock unit) so I am happy to use Record to VCR for now.
    • Will this automated transcoding process increase the time it takes to put it on the handheld even more?

      I don't remember if it was mentioned in one of those articles, or if it was a different one, but somewhere it said that conversion is realtime, with about another 10 mins to transfer to the iPod/PSP. It really does sound like the slowest part of the process is getting the data onto your machine from the TiVo (although, if the transcoding is able to keep up with that, then the point is fairly moot anyway
    • Well, you can't really blame Tivo if wireless networking is slow. They have slowly been adding G support, but the problem is, all of the wireless G devices that keep on changing chipsets (quielty). Also, remember with wireless, (B for example) which is 11MBps, its a shared 11MBps, so if you are transfering to a machine also on wireless, you are instantly down to 5.5MBps. Using wired ethernet, its better than real-time for medium quality video. Keep in mind, it is already doing some level of transcoding w
      • No, I can't blame Tivo for the wireless speeds but it still surprises me that 50% of Tivo users are utilizing this particular transfer method.

        Keep in mind, it is already doing some level of transcoding when transfering clips from Tivo computer, so it makes sense that transfers to iPod would not be too much worse.

        I'm sure that it won't be much worse but with the transfers already being greater than real-time any additional time spent sucks :(
      • I use my Tivo through a wired network, and it's painfully slow. It's easier to just do it real time through the record to VCR, and not deal with the Tivo software.

        • Re:It's surprising to me too! (Score:4, Informative)

          by dreamt (14798) on Monday November 21 2005, @11:47AM (#14082484) Homepage
          It depends on which series 2 Tivo unit you have. The first gen series 2 boxes (the AT&T branded ones, and the 60GB (TSN beginning with 140) were USB 1.1. The 2nd gen series 2 (40/80/140 hour), "nightlight" Tivos, and everything else are USB 2.0. Tivo has slowly been updating its software to support the USB 2.0 boxes (to support G, I suppose)

    • Re:It's surprising to me too! (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Malc (1751) on Monday November 21 2005, @11:28AM (#14082290)
      Transfers from Tivos seem to be slow whatever you use. I have a series 1 Tivo with mfs_ftp installed on it. I transfer over 100BaseT. The harddrive is a year old 72000 RPM drive, so it's not slow. Downloading from the Tivo I see about 1 Mbs. Uploading shows back to the Tivo I see 140-150 Kbs. It takes me 5-6 hours to put an hour show back on to the Tivo! So I think the problem lies somewhere within the Tivo, and not with the transfer software (be it mfs_ftp or Tivo2Go).

  • TV Shows on iPod (Score:4, Funny)

    by ccZaphod (672824) on Monday November 21 2005, @10:17AM (#14081655)
    I've been carrying shows around on my iPod for years. I've got a dozen episodes of Farscape sitting on it right now. I watch shows from my iPod on my Laptop when I'm on the road. I have not bought a Video iPod yet and think I'd prefer to watch on a big laptop screen anyway.

  • Mac Support (Score:4, Insightful)

    by JonahLee (158787) on Monday November 21 2005, @10:18AM (#14081661)
    Too bad they never added Tivo To Go For Macintosh, and I doubt they will ever add this feature to Macs either. Nice to be a second or even 3rd class citizen when it comes to Tivo because i own a mac.
    • Too bad they never added Tivo To Go For Macintosh, and I doubt they will ever add this feature to Macs either. Nice to be a second or even 3rd class citizen when it comes to Tivo because i own a mac.

      Admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery. :)
    • "Too bad they never added Tivo To Go For Macintosh, and I doubt they will ever add this feature to Macs either. Nice to be a second or even 3rd class citizen when it comes to Tivo because i own a mac."

      Don't give up yet. Word on the street is that they'll be enabling Mac support sometime in Q1 2006.

      If it really bugs you, then go to BestBuy on BlackFriday and pick up their $150 eMachines package (computer, monitor, printer) and then you can have a dedicated cheapie PC to take advantage of TiVo-2-Go. Hey, it

    • Re:Mac Support (Score:4, Informative)

      by futurekill (745161) on Monday November 21 2005, @03:44PM (#14084742)
      You don't need Tivo2Go to download shows from your Series 2 Tivo, you don't event need to mod it....if you go to 'https://tivo:@/nowplaying/index.html' you can download all the shows on your Tivo...Unfortunately, they come down as .tivo files. These files are basically mpegs with an annoying wrapper around them. I use a program (via Virtual PC :-( ) called "Direct Show Filter Dump" [prish.com] to scrape the wrapper off and leave with with an mpeg. It works pretty well, but still requires access to a PeeCee, well, sort of... If anyone knows of a utility to scrape this off in the Mac natively, give a shout. I've tried ffMpeg [slashdot.org] without any luck, although it is still a very useful program.
      • Just ask Adobe and Quark
        Adobe seems to be doing fine, not to mention Photoshop 7 and Illustrator 10 work fine on all versions of os x. And as for quark...
        well, if they spent less time on their wierd copy protection maybe the software would work better.

      • Re:Mac Support (Score:4, Insightful)

        by mr100percent (57156) on Monday November 21 2005, @02:12PM (#14083874) Homepage Journal
        iPods were doing "well" until Apple made a windows-compatible version, then they exploded into an even better bestseller.


        Yes, Apple did keep modifying their kernel and breaking stuff in the past. Now they have a consistent kernel system in 10.4 that will allow updates without breaking stuff. Read more about their kernel update system with KPIs [arstechnica.com]

  • Mac software? (Score:5, Informative)

    by toupsie (88295) on Monday November 21 2005, @10:18AM (#14081662) Homepage
    The sad part is that Apple Mac users will not be able to transcode the Tivo files for Apple iPods because of Windows DRM. I keep around an old Windows notebook just to covert Tivo files to AVIs so I can store them on my Mac Mini hooked to my HDTV. What a hassle. Tivo refuses to support Mac users and release a Tiger compatible version of their software [versiontracker.com]. Tivo is supposed to make my life easier by conforming TV to my schedule not to Hollywood's whim. Once my two Tivos die, I will never, ever give money to that stupid TV with legs and arms.

    FU Tivo.

    • Re:Mac software? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by BushCheney08 (917605) on Monday November 21 2005, @10:32AM (#14081777)
      Since the files will be converted to mp4 files, they should be playable on a Mac. Let's hope that they'll spend the next few months before rollout working on a Mac compatible version of TiVo Desktop so that you can actually do the conversion on one, too.
    • The really funny thing is the TiVo desktop does in fact work on the current version of OS X. I use it to stream music to my receiver from iTunes on my Powerbook all the time. What doesn't work is TiVoToGo. I agree it's inconvenient, but I transfer video to my Windoze box and convert the format before archiving. I still love my TiVos, as their value is in time shifting TV content for me. Archiving shows and making DVDs of things I can't buy are added bonuses for me.

      • Re:Mac software? (Score:5, Informative)

        by TheNumberSix (580081) <NumberSix@simpli ... EL.com_minusfood> on Monday November 21 2005, @12:46PM (#14083070)
        Explain please why it's Tivo's fault you bought a Mac.

        Well, here's the dilemma. TiVo had fully supported Macs for a long time. And suddenly when the Tivo2Go feature came out, TiVo just didn't release a Mac version. And they didn't say much of anything about it.

        There was no announcement that they are dropping Mac support, there was... nothing. So the Mac users who were previously supported think that they are owed either of these:

        1. TiVo should simply announce that no Mac support will be given henceforth.

        2. At least some kind of update on Mac support. Maybe not even a release date, but at least an announcement that they are working on it.

        Now maybe I'm misunderstanding your post and you're trying to snark on Macs or whatever, and that's fine. I just want to make it clear that this isn't just Mac users clamoring for support out of the blue.
  • Seeing as TiVo hasn't even bothered to make TiVo Desktop compatible with Tiger yet, I'll take this report with a grain of salt.

  • How long until (Score:3, Informative)

    by voice_of_all_reason (926702) on Monday November 21 2005, @10:33AM (#14081783)
    We get a news story about a group of mysterious stormtroopers breaking into the Tivo headquarters and slaughtering its executive board.

    I mean, didn't the MPAA just force them to allow remove-deletion of content at will? I can't imagine that promoting copying of saved tv shows will sit well with the cartels.

  • iPod and 'The Innovators Dilemma' (Score:4, Interesting)

    by rewinn (647614) on Monday November 21 2005, @10:34AM (#14081785) Homepage

    iPod seems to be turning into the canonical example of attacking an industry leader from below, as detailed in Clayton M. Christensen's "The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail" a decade back.

    In business computing, PCs broke the dominance of mainframes in the computing environment by introducing relatively cheap gadgets that were more expensive and less profitable per business function than the industry leaders, who quite logically ignored them; and then PCs crept up the functionality curve to wipe out the dinosaurs.

    In autos, the Japanese starting importing cheap cars to the US that were less profitable that our domestic industry leaders, who quite logically failed to respond effectively. While GM etc always made cheap cars too, they didn't try to match Japan's cheap-and-good model; Toyota etc crept up the functionality curve nearly to wipe out the dinosaurs.

    Now in computing: the iPod, started cheap, and is creeping up the functionality curve.

    The question is, will the industry leaders recognize and respond effectively? Or rather, can they? I don't intend to be making a yet another cheap flame of the world's leading software company, which cannot be ignorant of the what's going on, but responding may require breaking their business model.

    • "The question is, will the industry leaders recognize and respond effectively? Or rather, can they? I don't intend to be making a yet another cheap flame of the world's leading software company, which cannot be ignorant of the what's going on, but responding may require breaking their business model."

      Okay, but who are you referring to as the industry dinosaurs for your scenario, the MPAA studios or TiVo and the other DVR manufacturers? Or both, with the iPod serving as their executioner?

      • >Okay, but who are you referring to as the industry dinosaurs for your scenario, the MPAA studios or TiVo and the other DVR manufacturers?

        Wintel.

        The iPod is a cheap computer, with limited functionality compared to your desktop or your laptop. Its only advantages are its customer-pleasing price, its focus on functions customers want, and its ability to creep up to desktop functionality ... when it wants to.

  • I just don't see this flying. DRM and real-time encoding?? So you're limited in what you can do with the file AND it takes 2 hours to convert a 2 hour show and then however long to synch it with the device...

    The people who really want to watch movies on their iPods and PSP will either have already created their own (DRM-free) hacks or will have bought the movie on a UMD. The people who only casually thinks, gee, it might be nice to have a copy this week's episode of "Stacked" on my iPod won't want to wai

  • Trying vs. Overly-Restrictive DRM (Score:4, Insightful)

    by sagenumen (62467) <{mtrillo} {at} {gmail.com}> on Monday November 21 2005, @10:46AM (#14081883)
    "...will include digital watermarks to try to cut down on piracy. "

    That's what I like to hear. Honestly, they'll never eliminate it because there will be the people that just won't pay, but if there was a distribution system (that offered better than 128kbps), was reasonably priced, and offered less restrictive DRM, the general public would have little incentive to pirate. The only things keeping me from buying legal tracks are the DRM and the bitrate. I don't even mind the dollar a song because I'm not getting filler tracks that I would get on a CD.

    Anyway...I'm rambling...
  • TiVo's announcement comes as it faces stiffer competition from computer companies, cell phone providers and television networks that are scrambling to beam TV shows into any handheld device with a screen capable of playing video.

    This is great news and I don't mean to be a troll but isn't it a bit disturbing that companies seem more focused on systems that promote vendor-lockin by controlling content?

    Television is bascially a one-way pipe to a dumb terminal. I'd much rather see companies working toward
    • The funny thing is that television got to be a one-way pipe to a dumb terminal precisely when it was the most monopolistic. The US government adopted TV standards, and sold (for a pittance) the rights to spectrum that has become increasingly valuable over the years. The terminal is dumb only because a standard was imposed; otherwise, the network affiliates could all have chosen different standards to try to lock you in to watching a particular network. Or you could buy a smarter box to read them all.

      Now

  • Giveth, and taketh away (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Nom du Keyboard (633989) on Monday November 21 2005, @10:50AM (#14081919)
    So TiVo will let us transfer shows to our iPods. This is the same TiVo that already makes their DVRs will obey the Broadcast Flag despite no federal legislation ever mandating such compliance. Seems to me that Disney, the WB, and every other studio will simply flag all their broadcasts as Do Not Record, blocking such free attempts to provide content to one's iPod and PSP and requiring these shows to be purchased. Therefore this announcement therefore amounts to NOTHING!
    • "So TiVo will let us transfer shows to our iPods. This is the same TiVo that already makes their DVRs will obey the Broadcast Flag despite no federal legislation ever mandating such compliance. Seems to me that Disney, the WB, and every other studio will simply flag all their broadcasts as Do Not Record, blocking such free attempts to provide content to one's iPod and PSP and requiring these shows to be purchased. Therefore this announcement therefore amounts to NOTHING!"

      Hollywood is still trying to hoist t

  • Replay TV (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    This is pretty easy to do on my Replay TV. I have put a quite a few shows on my ipod video already. Keeps the wife busy on long car trips.
    Dvarchive to grab the shows from the Replay TV and then use one of the many free converters to change the format to IPOD friendly.
  • Great, so now i guess Tivo will make me connect my iPod to the phone line to receive "service updates" also?!?

  • It will be OS X compatible (at least somewhat) (Score:5, Informative)

    by macslut (724441) on Monday November 21 2005, @11:12AM (#14082108)
    It makes sense that they would support OS X. The old TiVoToGo relied on Windows Media DRM which was unavailable on the Mac. The tech to make this new watermarking method available on OS X would be trivial. The files themselves *must* be compatible with the Mac if they are to play on the iPod. There's no way TiVo is getting around that.

    Also TiVo Desktop *is* compatible with OS X 10.4.2 and 10.4.3 (I've heard but not confirmed 10.4.4 as well). There was an incompatibility with 10.4.0 and 10.4.1, but the later releases of Tiger worked well. The installer gives a false "failed" message, but it does install and it does work very well (better than 10.3.x).

    It should also be noted that the CEO of TiVo is a Mac user. They very much wanted to provide Mac support for TiVoToGo, but didn't want to take the legal risk of allowing shows to be transferred without any DRM. Considering Apple won't license their DRM and Windows Media DRM isn't compatible with the Mac, TiVo had little choice but to release for Windows only and/or develop their own DRM method. It looks like the success of the iPod has convinced TiVo that it was worth developing a watermark method that would make the files compatible with the iPod, and as result, the files must be compatible with the Mac.

    The only question remains is whether TiVo will provide Mac software that *pulls* (or pushes) the files from the TiVo to the Mac. If they don't, there are plenty of ways of getting around it, but I can't imagine TiVo wouldn't dedicate the couple of hours to develop this software on the Mac.

    • Also TiVo Desktop *is* compatible with OS X 10.4.2 and 10.4.3 (I've heard but not confirmed 10.4.4 as well). There was an incompatibility with 10.4.0 and 10.4.1, but the later releases of Tiger worked well. The installer gives a false "failed" message, but it does install and it does work very well (better than 10.3.x).

      Mac OS X v10.2 - v10.3.x
      (Not compatible with Mac OS X 10.4: Tiger)
      - Tivo Desktop Download Page [tivo.com]

      Perhaps you're correct that you can get it to work on 10.4, but as the download page

  • 1. Transfers take forever, regardless of wired or wireless connection.
    2. No Mac support.
    3. Tivo is notoriously hideous on hitting their timelines. They annouced TivoToGo at CES 2004 and only released it a little before CES 2005 to limited beta testers (the full official unveiling of TTG was after CES 05).
    • 4. It isn't supported on the new iPod Micro, but that's probably because it's obsolete
      • "4. It isn't supported on the new iPod Micro, but that's probably because it's obsolete"

        Was that a SNL "Weekend Update" reference to the Steve Jobs skit this last Saturday? If so, you should've referenced the micro invisible iPod that also floats.

  • Another device that'll record to PSP video is the Neuros Recorder2 [neurosaudio.com].

    It doesn't have the wide array of Tivolike features, but if you just want to convert analog video to digital for your PSP, this should work well.
  • I purchased a series2 Tivo three years ago and it has served me well, but when is Tivo going to finally release an HD capable standalone box? Three years is a lifetime for a struggling company not to release a major product update.
  • I've been holding off on getting TiVo - never really saw the need, since my TV viewing time is limited as it is and between, SciFi, Cartoon Network, Comedy Central, HBO and ESPN there's almost always something I *want* to watch on when I do have time.

    But I just got an iPod video, and now the thought of TiVo-ing Adult Swim to my iPod video for watching while I commute to/from work is just *too* tempting :-).

    • Re:MythTV (Score:5, Funny)

      by Evangelion (2145) on Monday November 21 2005, @10:20AM (#14081678) Homepage
      MPEG output. Open source. Built on any operating system you want. MythTV is simply everything TiVo, Sony, and Apple are not.

      Including about 40+ hours of your time, and several wasted unsupported TV tuner card and TV-out video card purchases.
      • I guess you didn't read the huge just buy a happauge card they work in the HowTo's??

        Realy the only huge issue that stops me from using MythTV is quality loss as compared to my HD direct tivo's, and there appears to be a rather unsightly and expensive fix for that one as well (hacked HD direct tivo's that output HD via firewire) I say unsightly as it requires anther external PC to run there code and isn't very living room friendly at least untill I get to putting in an equipment closet. I would love to see t

    • Re:MythTV (Score:5, Funny)

      by hkb (777908) on Monday November 21 2005, @10:55AM (#14081939)
      "Built on any operating system you want"

      As long as you want Linux. *cough*
    • I wonder how long before it will be that the same places that outlaw talking on a cellphone while driving have to add iPods to that list? I've never been in a situation where I needed to watch tv so bad that I felt I had to carry one around with me everywhere.

      You've never been in a situation where you might want to listen to music or catch up on some TV? I am all the time... Sometimes I bring along a book (which depending on the novel is usually more bulky than my Archos) or sometimes I chat, catch up on

    • Re:I wonder... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by thparker (717240) on Monday November 21 2005, @10:49AM (#14081907) Homepage
      I wonder how long before it will be that the same places that outlaw talking on a cellphone while driving have to add iPods to that list? I've never been in a situation where I needed to watch tv so bad that I felt I had to carry one around with me everywhere.

      I'm not sure I'd consider this a flame, but it seems unreasonable to compare this scenario to the bizarre need to constantly have access to a phone. (Don't get me wrong -- I have a mobile phone. I just turn it off sometimes. But I digress.)

      Like a bunch of people, I travel for work. I spend at least 5 hours every week on a plane. That's airtime, excluding time sitting around the airport or going back and forth to the airport. And I know many, many people who take 45-minute train rides to work. Personally, when I'm home I want to do stuff that I can only do when I'm home -- taking some shows with me to kill 5 or 6 hours while I'm traveling is pretty convenient. I kill some dead time and regain some free time at home.

      Currently, I do that with my laptop, but an iPod with video would allow me to catch up on some shows in the gate area or during my 40-minute cab ride, not have to juggle my laptop when my meal arrives on the flight, and still watch stuff in the limited space I get on small regional jets. I'm not sold on the new iPod yet -- I'll probably wait another generation and hopefully the screen will get a little bigger.

    • DirecTV tivos never even supported TivoToGo in the first place. The whole idea terrifies them.

      • Re:D'oh (Score:5, Informative)

        by The Lynxpro (657990) <lynxpro AT gmail DOT com> on Monday November 21 2005, @12:05PM (#14082684)
        "DirecTV tivos never even supported TivoToGo in the first place. The whole idea terrifies them."

        It isn't that DirecTV is terrified by the process due to legal implications; its because DirecTV's parent company - News Corp. aka "Fox" - owns TiVo competitor NDS which does not have a similar option. NDS has been slow to market with just about every platform they've developed, and Rupert Murdoch is using DirecTV as a means of making his investment in NDS not look like a foolish mistake. If TiVo-To-Go and the other Home Media features were enabled on all DirecTV branded TiVos, who would seriously sign up for the NDS DirecTV DVR model? The only things going for the NDS model is that it has a 90 minute live tv buffer and it can display Caller ID info on the screen for incoming telephone calls.

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the Poster. The Rest © 1997-2009 Geeknet, Inc.