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Program Tivo over AOL

mynametaken writes: "Saw this article about AOL and Tivo partnering to offer services. The gist: Terms of the pact call for San Jose, Calif.-based TiVo to integrate AOL features like instant messaging (IM) and live chat into its new TiVo Series2 DVRs, which were introduced earlier this year. Also, both companies are working to provide AOL members who are also TiVo subscribers with the ability to schedule recordings on their TiVo from the AOL service. I know that being able to program a PVR remotely is a big request. It looks like we'll have to have AOL to do it, though."

17 of 149 comments (clear)

  1. all is good until by lingqi · · Score: 4, Funny

    AOL program introduces a small bug (probabbly something to do with calendar) (see previous story) and all the Simpsons we want to record turns out to be "Dawson's creek" instead...

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    My life in the land of the rising sun.

  2. No OS equiv? by Marx_Mrvelous · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hmm.. if it's programmable via AOL, couldn't someone develop another application that does the same thing? How hard would it be to fugure out the protocol?

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  3. Or just use TiVoWeb by Jack+Porter · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://tivo.lightn.org/

    I use it to schedule recordings while I'm at work all the time.

    1. Re:Or just use TiVoWeb by bstout · · Score: 3, Informative

      ReplayTV has offered the myReplayTV service for almost 2 years now. It allows any ReplayTV user to remotely program their unit from the web.

      You can see the programs that are currently on your machine (as of the last dial in), all of your record options, and all of your replay channels. From there you can do everything you need, such as delete shows and add new shows to be recorded. It is way cool, not only when I'm traveling but it sure is a lot easier to search for shows using a browser instead of the on-screen keyboard!

      (Besides which, I'm think ReplayTV is just a more hacker friendly box in general.....)

    2. Re:Or just use TiVoWeb by CaptainSuperBoy · · Score: 3, Informative

      TivoWeb doesn't work on Series2.. also it requires you to add a tivonet or setup PPP over serial. Once 3.0 is rolled out, let's hope TivoWeb is made to work on 3.0 and Series2 units. Easy USB ethernet should increase demand for web-based tivo access. Maybe then we'll get a more in-depth and user friendly solution. Heck, I'll use AOL to program my Tivo if it is a good comprehensive interface.

  4. Come on security holes... by saintlupus · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can hardly wait to fill other people's TiVo drives with dreadful Cinemax softcore porn.

    "So easy to exploit, no wonder its number one!"

    --saint

    1. Re:Come on security holes... by PinkStainlessTail · · Score: 3, Funny
      I can hardly wait to fill other people's TiVo drives with dreadful Cinemax softcore porn

      You'd be like the Santa Claus of dreadful softcore!

      --
      "Slashdot is about legos and staplers." -Cmdr. Taco
  5. Program a PVR remotely by jimmcq · · Score: 5, Informative

    I know that being able to program a PVR remotely is a big request

    That capability has been available for quite some time from ReplayTV... and you don't even need AOL to do it! :)

    1. Re:Program a PVR remotely by Sc00ter · · Score: 3, Informative
      Well, from the way I understand it the way this works is it will change the programming data next time it calls in to sync. So it's only useful if it's something for the next day (since those calls usually happen in the middle of the night). With TiVoWEB the changes happen right away. So if you're at work and you find out something is going to be on at say 4pm, and you get home at 5pm, and you have TiVoWEB installed, you'll get it, but with the replay service you won't.

      Of course TiVoWEB is a something you have to hack onto the TiVo, but it's still cool.

  6. Replay already does it by printdevil · · Score: 4, Informative

    I program my Replay over the internet all the time. http://www.myreplaytv.com/

    Even when I'm sitting in front of the TV, it's a lot easier to type in names of shows, search, etc with a full keyboard and mouse than with an on-screen keyboard. I can also download the show to my laptop's hard drive and watch it on the plane. And I don't have to be on AOL.

  7. I'm confused. by gklinger · · Score: 5, Funny

    Let me get this straight. AOL-TimeWarner owns Turner Broadcasting. Turner Broadcasting says PVR users are thieves and yet AOL is making it easier for me to use my PVR?

  8. Turner's gonna be pissed... by zaren · · Score: 4, Funny

    Turner Broadcasting thinks PVR users are theives, though... and AOL owns Turner Broadcasting!

    Maybe they can set up their system to skip recording anything that's on a Turner station...

    -----
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  9. This is Great! by Qwerpafw · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Well, maybe not great, but I think that this turn of events is properly termed a "Really Good Thing!"

    After they finish with napster (if ever) the media companies seem to have set their sights on TiVo as their next target. What with the "PVR=illegal" comment by Jamie Kellner, and the disapproval in general of being able to record and store media, its not a wonder the lawsuits haven't already begun.

    Having AOL Time Warner throw their weight behind TiVo (if only partially), will at least make most companies think twice before going after TiVo, not to mention add a veneer of legitamacy to the whole PVR movement.

    Plus, since Jamie Kellner is CEO of turner broadcasting (owned by AOL Time Warner), maybe his superiors will get him to shut up :).

  10. But Instant Messenging is theft! by eyeball · · Score: 3, Funny

    Just wait till Turner Broadcasting CEO Jamie Kellner figures out that instant messenging distracts the viewer from watching commercials during ad-supported basis. That project will be dead quicker than you can say "what a freakin jackass."

    Seriously, I could see television executives, using legislation or lawsuits, require all set-top boxes to freeze up during commercials and not allow the user to do anything but watch.

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    2B1ASK1
  11. Re:Ughh, Tivo and AOL by kindbud · · Score: 3, Insightful

    However, I don't think it's a good idea to team up with AOL.

    Oh no, getting access to 23 million+ naive consumers who have at least $20 disposable income per month is usually the death knell for any fledgling business. Yessirree.

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    Edith Keeler Must Die
  12. Re:I'm glad someone noticed this... by smnolde · · Score: 5, Funny

    The left hand is whacking the Turner idiot off and the other is choking him for autoerotic asphyxiation... sooner or later something's gonna go really wrong with a fucked up arrangement like that.

  13. same as that Dallas Morning News mess... by SethJohnson · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The real irony with yesterday's story about the Dallas Morning News opposing 'deep linking' the technological retards at the dallas morning news had invested heavily in a startup company whose only product "...instructs your Web browser to go directly to a page within a Web site, eliminating the need to go through several links."

    Geez. Even when every other critic in the world had pronounced the CueCat a stupid idea and a failed business effort, the Dallas Morning News kept supporting it. Now they've turned a 180 and want to force people to click through as many pages as possible. What gives?

    I can understand how a mega-goliath like AOL-TimeWarner might be at opposing ends of an issue. Sort of like how Sony makes CDRW drives and also finances the RIAA in battling piracy. But the Dallas Morning News people who are running their website (and presumeably the CueCat debachle) probably all sit in the same building.
    Seth