techno.blog("Dion") » TiVo

TiVo: Give me a better season pass UI

dion — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 18:30:29 +0000

I love my TiVo. However, one item that I really wish I could see in a OS upgrade would be a better way to handle season passes.

At the moment, if I add a season pass to a show, TiVo dutifully goes off into its data and does a nice sort, to see what conflicts exist.

At the end of this piece of work, I get shown where the conflicts are, and get a choice of:

Record the shows which don’t have conflicts
Record all of them
Cancel the season pass

This just isn’t enough. I want TiVo to be able to show me the conflicts individually, and let me make a choice “A or B”. Then, if I choose one, go out and try to find the show I *didn’t record* on another time (this is why I wish big shows would run at 4am and the like so TiVo can find them then).

It is particularly annoying when you have shows like the Daily Show, which doesn’t seem to offer metadata. This means that if you have a season pass, TiVo will be recording the daily show every other bloody hour.

I wish we could force networks to give up the metadata, or maybe TiVo could do a hash of the show stream, and then if the new one matches, don’t record it again!

ComcasTiVo

dion — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 15:12:06 +0000

It was good to read about Comcast and TiVo getting together.

I think TiVo needs this. If you look at their numbers for new subscriptions, a LOT come from DirecTiVo. Getting Comcast in on this will take TiVo subscriptions to the next level. People will be getting it without even knowing they are getting TiVo.

I am pleasantly surprised, as I thought Comcast was doing their own DVR, and if it was “OK”, it could still have really hurt TiVo.

Late night TiVo aware showings

dion — Fri, 11 Mar 2005 07:01:10 +0000

I know that this sometimes happens, but I wish more shows were repeated in the wee hours, just to please my TiVo. It is frustrating when several shows that I want to record overlap (and I don’t have DirecTiVo with multiple tuners).

If the network put on the new show at 4am, then TiVo could be a good boy and grab it for me. Then I wouldn’t miss the show! This has probably stopped me from getting into new shows that I miss for old favorites.

Maybe the networks don’t care as they also know we skip commercials? :)

iTivo? Apple takeover speculation

dion — Thu, 24 Feb 2005 04:52:37 +0000

TiVo’s stock jumped >17% based on rumours that Apple would buy TiVo.

I wonder what Apple would do with the company? What would an iTiVo look like? Lots of classic curves…. Mac OS X instead of Linux? iPhoto, iMovie, … builtin?

Both companies DO have a similar cult following, but I am not sure if it makes sense for the merger. TiVo has a tough time fighting against the cable / satalite companies which have control :(

Browing Flickr on TiVo

dion — Mon, 21 Feb 2005 17:44:49 +0000

TiVo has always been good at cultivating the hacker community. They took it to another level when they released the Java SDK with the Home Media Engine.

Already really cool software is coming up, including a way to browse Flickr (the photo sharing site).

As interesting extensions like this come about, I will be able to spend more time using TiVo as the interface, and hence more time on my TiVo.

Watching TiVo shows on my laptop on a plane

dion — Mon, 14 Feb 2005 22:17:57 +0000

Lufthanza is offering wireless internet on their planes. I am sure others will follow.

This gets me more excited about flying across the pond than before. Mainly, because I can get online and waste the hours away.

Also, I can combine this with the box that you can plug your TiVo into which broadcasts it online.

Now, I can be sitting at 30k feet, watching my TiVo. That is cool :)

NOTE: there is a primer on the new TiVo To Go setup in TiVo 7.1

WeaKnees.com: TiVo++ Supplier

dion — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 21:36:43 +0000

I am looking to upgrade to a TiVo with built in DVD burner. I recently set one up for my parents and it works great.

A friend told me about WeaKnees.com. They are a supplier of TiVo’s, but they ‘upgrade’ them. For example, you can order from them to get a TiVo with dual 300GB drives :)

They also let you send in your current machine and they will upgrade it (including setting it up with all of your shows/todo lists/etc.

Very cool. Now I need to work out if I want to get the Humax or Toshiba. For some reason the Pioneer’s aren’t around anymore :(