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TiVo Introduces Series2
KMFMS writes "Yesterday, TiVo introduced their Series2 line of TiVo DVRs. The TiVo web page for the Series2 states that it will have "2 USB expansion ports to connect to peripheral devices like... network adaptors..." " Presumably
this will mean Tivo will have Broadband support to compete with the new ReplayTV 4000's.
It also claims to support music and stuff too.
As a Tivo owner (and modifier), I can say that it's exciting that there will be an improved Tivo hitting the stores soon. I'm a little disappointed in a few things, though:
The announcement doesn't indicate what, if any, connectivity options they intend to use by default for the Tivo2. USB ports are great and everything, but if it still requires a modem line to get guide data and uses the USB network adapter for its "extended services"... Yuck.
And about the extended services: Why do I suspect that it'll be an extra charge for those?
I'm also a bit put out that Tivo isn't doing anything to announce improvements in the following areas:
- Show Send (a la ReplayTV)
- Archival of recorded shows to media or PC
- Show scheduling via Web page
- Management of recorded items via Web
- "Self-upgrade" capability via removable media
These, given the platform it's based on, would be simple to achieve. In fact, some of the same things are out there now that others outside of Tivo have created! Why not rely on the experiences of the power users, and be a truly hip company by adopting and supporting some of their work? Isn't that how the Open Source model is supposed to work -- the Adoption of What Works?
Or maybe I'm just mad that I spent all that time modifying my Tivo to add the above features and wish that I had the obviously superior Tivo2 hardware at the time.
:)
They're not selling the data. They're selling the format and convenience of the data.
You can buy a sunday paper and get the TV listings. Somehow TV Guide stays in business selling the same "data" to people, but usually in a better format.
Not that i wouldn't love to be able to get all the stuff for free, but the key to tivo staying in business and making cool boxes is for them to make money somehow. If it would just go over my DSL IP connection I'd be happier than the whole dialing-in thing.
Recursive: Adj. See Recursive.
I've bought 3 TiVo's in the last year. One for me, one for my parents, and one for my brother. All three were the cheap 20-hour units, upgraded with a 3rd party hard-drive.
... it says they have a new graphics engine)
I sure as hell am not going through this again until they add HDTV support and dual tuners.
I would also love to see:
- 802.11b options, not only for downloading the updates via your local LAN, but also for streaming MPEG to other PC's and wireless devices on your LAN.
- Optical digital audio outputs (to go with the HDTV support).
- Newer video codecs with better quality (maybe they have added this in the latest release
- Firewire output would be nice, also.
Of course, my dream unit would be one that is integrated with TimeWarner's digital cable box, so that it can take advantage of the digital channels, much like DirecTiVo does. The integration with TW's channel guide alone would be awesome...
"And like that
The new features are all well and good, but I think the key to TiVo's long term success will continue to lie in its simplicity. Right now, it's something that your grandmother can use. It's simple, intuitive, and useful. While adding ports may up the "geek factor" to compete with ReplayTV, it really adds very little in the long run.
If you really want a whiz-bang system with home networking and other features built in, the way to get that NOW is to roll your own PC based system. There's plenty of software available.
If TiVo makes the mistake of over complicating their product and bogging it down with vaporware (see previous RealNetworks article), then they may have problems. Ask yourself what level of technology your non-technical friends and relatives are comfortable dealing with. Most can't even hook up their VCR correctly.
I love my TiVo. It's easy to use and simply works great. I don't ever see myself being without some sort of PVR.
-S
--- What parts of "shall make no law", "shall not be infringed", and "shall not be violated" don't you understand?
While it's true that for streaming over the internet directly from a Tivo it wouldn't matter, but it's pretty crazy to go around transferring full bitrate MPEG encoded movies - what most people want to be able to do is download video to their computer and re-encode or shrink it down to a reasonable archiveable size.
This sketches me out - I have a strange feeling that something is going on behind the scenes here - remember the flap over the ReplayTV that could "share movies with your friends". Tivo is a saavy company when it comes to placating the media world. I have a feeling there is a reason they are putting USB on it rather than ethernet directly. But it doesn't quite click to me what it could be - other than that this allows them to assess the industry response to it, and choose to release or not release official ethernet-USB support at a later date without endangering the product itself, and surely some hackers will make ethernet work anyway to appeal to the gear head crowd.
So I think this is a carefully considered business decision. I also know a lot of folks in the Tivo community and have no doubt that within weeks of these things hitting the stores all sorts of cool unintended uses for these USB ports will be thought up. I'll be first in line to buy one, as soon as the DirecTV-integrated version is out.
Yeah I had the same attitude until I bought one. When you realize the power the guide data gives Tivo. you can easily appreciate paying $10 a month. Sure the data is free, but programming the Tivo is not. If you had to manually program the guide data every two weeks, I think that would suck. Otherwise, the Tivo is just a digital VCR. You can easily use your computer to just record tv shows digitally. The fact that the system keeps itself updated, tracks shows that you like, automatically record a show if it moves, etc. etc etc. Its more than just the fact you are getting free data. You are getting to use the power of Tivo with that data. It takes a lot of effort to make the data useful, and that is what you are paying for.
$5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
"2 USB expansion ports to connect to peripheral devices like digital cameras, network adaptors, MP3 and CD players, etc."
Etc. could be a USB CD burner, perhaps? That popping sound was the MPAA's aneurism.
I'd love to know the percentage of people who own DirecTiVo units who are actually using the dual tuners. I suspect that as a marketing feature, it was a necessary thing to add to compete against UltimateTV, but I think the reality is that only a small percentage of people are utilizing it.
The added cost to a standalone TiVo of adding a second tuner is probably not trivial. For those systems, the TiVo is doing on-the-fly mpeg compression. Adding another tuner also means adding at least another compression co-processor. For the DirecTiVo versions, the signal is already compressed coming from DirecTV, so those are parts they didn't have to add. For a dual-tuner the thing needs to be able to handle three video streams at once... two recording/compression and one playback. That's a lot of number-crunching. The DirecTiVo only ever has to deal with set of number-crunching (for playback).
-S
--- What parts of "shall make no law", "shall not be infringed", and "shall not be violated" don't you understand?
If you are so concerned, TiVo allows you to opt out of the data collection.
Personally, I like that they collect what I watch. Maybe that will mean that the shows I watch don't get cancelled...
Twostep
There are 10 different types of people in this world... those who understand binary, and those who don't.
Actually a bunch of folks on the TiVo Underground on the AVS forum actually sniffed the data.
It sells composite viewing habits by area code. Basicailly, it knows that 25% of the TiVo Owners in zip code 30075 (for instance) watched Buffy on Tuesday night...But that's it. Nothing about your personal viewing habits - just your zip code's viewing habits.
And it takes a whole whopping 5 minutes to opt out. Unfortunately, I actually like the fact that they know I have Babylon 5 and MST3K season passes. Call me dumb and naive, but I want these shows to stay on the air (and possibly make spinoffs to have new episodes!)
Note you can opt-out, and it has been confirmed (via tcpdump) that once you do your TiVo sends your account number and date of last call, and nothing about your viewing, how much stuff is on the drive, or anything else.
Opt-out is free (toll-free call, and no monthly service charge or anything). It's described in chapter 7 of my manual (which is all about privacy) in the same size print everything else is. I don't think TiVo is trying to pull a "fast one" which is how the privacyfoundation spins it. Which is a real shame because I think they have done a lot to hurt the only one of the 3 PVR companies that even lets you opt-out!
I'll also note that both ReplayTV and UltimateTV sell your data, don't make claims about washing it first (that I know of), and don't have an opt-out number (that I know of).