Tivo 2 Features On the Horizon 310
Lemuel writes "Tivo has finally pre-announced its music and photo pictures for the Tivo 2. Users will be able to play MP3s and view photos that come from their computer. It will also be possible to program the Tivo via a web site. An official announcement is due in January. There will be revenue associated with these items. Only the remote programming sounds interesting to me, but I'm glad for anything that would keep Tivo afloat."
More TiVo hacking links (Score:4, Informative)
Story != Tivo 2 (Score:3, Informative)
Of course, that's not to stop you from getting the Turbonet Ethernet Adapter Board [9thtee.com] for your TiVo from The 9th Tee [9thtee.com].
Re:What if I don't have a land line phone? (Score:3, Informative)
And your Tivo 2 can simply use one of many compatible USB ethernet adapters (support built-in to the Tivo "OS" albeit "unofficially").
Re:Tracking viewing habits (Score:1, Informative)
From what I hear, this is already being done with digital cable - when you phone the cable company for tech support, the support person can see what channel your cable box is tuned to, and can even change the channel.
I have no idea if they store this information or use it for profiling (be sure to read your contracts, terms of service, privacy policy, etc. - if they don't mention this at all, nothing prevents them from doing it), but it's one of the reasons I don't have digital cable.
YES YOU CAN! But only with a TiVo 1... (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.digitalregime.com/tivo2svcd/ [digitalregime.com]
http://www.tivonews.com/article.pl?sid=02/09/09/1
Re:Story != Tivo 2 (Score:5, Informative)
Wrong. TiVo 2 comes with USB ports. These are meant for addons. There are plenty of USB-Ethernet solutions available. In fact, TiVo 2 comes with (albeit somewhat hidden) support for these devices already. You can change your telephone dialup # to a special code, and TiVo will use the USB/Ethernet connection to download program guide data and system updates (and to update the clock).
Presumably these new addons would utilize this broadband over USB technology.
Of course, that's not to stop you from getting the Turbonet Ethernet Adapter Board [9thtee.com] for your TiVo from The 9th Tee [9thtee.com].
It's amazing that you linked to 9th tee's turbonet product, and yet completely missed the USB/Ethernet stuff [9thtee.com] I was just talking about for TiVo 2's.
Re:Non-service PVRs? (Score:4, Informative)
Not to toot the ReplayTV horn again, but their units ship with 10BaseT Ethernet. Although there isn't official Replay->PC support, there are programs that let you do it.
Re:What if I don't have a land line phone? (Score:5, Informative)
This is like the 5th highly rated comment in this article that is just plain wrong.
If you have a standalone TiVo (series 1), you can buy cards that fit in your TiVo and give you an ethernet port. Or you can buy the AirTivo device, and have WiFi connection instead!
If you have a standalone Series 2 TiVo, you can buy a USB device that plugs into the port and gives you an ethernet port. You could also buy a wireless AP and connect it to this port to give you wireless connectivity as well.
In either case, if you bought compatible hardware, you simply punch in a special code instead of a dialup phone number into the TiVo menu, and your TiVo will use your existing LAN connection to the net to download all its data each night. No software hacking required.
The TiVo forums refer to this as "broadband un-support," because while it works great in the TiVo, it is not yet officially supported.
I've used it for well over a year now, back when you used to have to muck with the software to get it to work.
Visit 9thtee [9thtee.com] for the necessary addons.
TiVo 2 vs. the spirit of CopyLeft & HDTV (Score:4, Informative)
But, even if you don't care about Free Software and the future of Linux, there is also the issue of the future of TV. The FCC keeps claiming that there will be *ALOT* more ATSC digital TV broadcasts in 2006. That is only 4 years away! Why would anyone want to pay at least $200 + $250 subscription for a total of $450 on something that the NTSC tuner can't be replaced in?? TiVo still makes no claims to the be "HDTV ready." If it had some USB2 ports then there might be hope in the future but the two USB v1 ports provided have a *practical* maxium through-put of maybe 16 Mbps *combined*. An ATSC tuner can spit end up spitting out 19.2 Mbps of digital TV goodness of which the TiVo USB ports can't keep up. By the time TiVO figures out how far behind they are either a future version of Xbox or PlayStation will have entered the PVR market.
Re:Meanwhile (Score:4, Informative)
1) The monthly fee is a financed $250 payment. Anyone with basic math knowledge will pay the lifetime fee and be done with it. (a used replay or tivo with lifetime subscription sells for about $250 more than one without). A tivo or replay costs $500 new, give or take 50.
2) PVRs do what they're supposed to do. A PC which costs more than a tivo can do the same thing as a tivo, and do a worse job. With a PVR, you're watching extreemly flexible TV. With a PC, you're using your computer to watch TV. Oh, and a new ReplayTV will do everything you mentioned and they're fighting for your right to do it in court.
Replay (Score:4, Informative)
-lets you set your program from the web www.myreplaytv.com
-Pictures can be uploaded to it
-streaming over the network
-share shows over the internet (you cant share what you recieved)
I can live without mp3
I did some temp tech support for these before SONICblue moved to India (last week). Nice PVR, wish I bought one.
Where's Canadian Tivo?!? (Score:3, Informative)
And as many Tivo users have said, it's not the PVR functionality that kicks ass, but the service features such as Season Pass (hey, that rhymes). And from what I've seen the UI is really good. My fiance and I are dying to get one of these.
Damn you, Yankees! Damn you, eh!
DVD Recording Ability (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Meanwhile (Score:2, Informative)
Say what now? [sourceforge.net]
>Season Passes.
If only it were Europe and we had standard DVB stuff, instead of the duopoly in non-standard Satellite TV we currently have. It would make viewing TV on your computer a pleasure, and you could buy any channel you want, not some moronic package that makes you buy a wildlife channel because you want TLC.
>Searching by category. Everyone so often, I like to go look at say, all the movies, coming up & Tivo the ones I've wanted to see.
Again, this is really more the result of the duopolistic control of satellite TV (soon to be monopolostic in America, unfortunately) rather than something that's actually impossible. You can also put some of the blame on Canada for our inane CRTC.
>The interface. Any way you cut it, Tivo did a great job here.
This is true. Although there are Tivo-alike projects out there (running on Linux!), however, the ones with Tivo-style features are for DVB. Some of them approach many Tivo features, I'm told.
Here's one [cadsoft.de] of the projects. Here's [freshmeat.net] some that'll work minus the DVB (I think).
If you want to go ahead and give DVB a try, there's some free programming on Telstar 5, but I doubt it'll be anything like what you get on DirecTV.
High Def. (Score:0, Informative)
The Tivo and Replay are pretty cool but what about the ability to capture HDTV? All this is pretty useless to me until it does.
Re:Revenue? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Upgrade for us? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:What if I don't have a land line phone? (Score:2, Informative)
Maybe I should have said broadband is not _supported_, rather than allowed for.
For Joe consumer, having to purchase and install unsupported equipment does not sell Tivo's.
From the FAQ on Tivo.com [tivo.com]
Is a Phone Line Required?
Yes. A TiVo Digital Video Recorder works by automatically making a brief, daily call to download the latest TV program data to its hard drive so that you can take full advantage of your TiVo service subscription (learn more about TiVo service). This call is automated, lasts just a few minutes and occurs when your phone is not in use, usually at night. You do not need to install a new telephone jack; it works with your existing phone line. The TiVo service is accessed through a standard telephone line and is available as a local call in most areas. In some areas, local and long- distance toll charges may apply.
If you want to make sure that a local access number is available in your area, you can find the most up-to-date list of dial-in numbers using the UUNet POP Locator*. Simply enter your area code and all of the local numbers available for your area code will be displayed.
You are responsible for any toll charges that you incur when using a particular access number. Check with an operator if you are not sure which numbers are local to you.
Your phone will always be available for your use. Simply pick the phone up and the DVR will hang up and make a call later. A phone line splitter and a 25-foot phone cord are provided with the purchase of a TiVo DVR. The UUNet Pop Number Locator tool is 24-48 hours ahead of the TiVo listings so all numbers appearing within the tool may not show in the TiVo interface immediately.
Tivo "lifetime" memberships end with the unit (Score:4, Informative)
Keep in mind that Tivo's so-called lifetime fee only covers the lifetime of the unit; when the unit needs replacing, so does your lifetime membership. How long will your tivo last?
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Re:Where's Canadian Tivo?!? (Score:4, Informative)
Or so I've heard. Because I certainly don't use DirecTV and TiVo up here, no siree.