TiVo Home Media Rollout

ncstockguy writes "TiVo rolls out its new Home Media option next week. Subscribers with a Series2 DVR box can get some impressive new functions to their TiVos. They'll be able to screen digital photos on their TVs, listen to music stored on their computer hard drives on their home entertainment units, schedule to tape a show "remotely" through the Internet, and watch a recorded show in different rooms on different TVs. Some of the functions will require two or more computers connected either by WiFi or ethernet."

Comments

Life before the PVR

[dtolton]

It's a little suprising how much your view of Television in general changes when you get a PVR. When I originally bought mine I thought it would be a nifty little gadget, now it's painful to go to someone's home that doesn't have one. I'd forgotten how obnoxious commercial's can be.

I hope they have some solid security built in with the Web Server, I would be devastated if someone hacked my Tivo and deleted all my scheduled recordings.

What do you mean Dragon Ball Z didn't record?!?!

Not such a great deal.

[brocktune]

It costs $99 just to unlock the software. You still have to buy a USB ethernet adaptor. And for the old-timers like me, you have to get a series 2 TiVo. (And pay for a new lifetime subscription)

All I wanted was to dump the crappy built-in modem that has died twice in 3 years and use my internet link to get the guide information.

Stuff like this makes me want a roll-your-own PVR. (Gratuitous MythTV link)

Let me get this straight...

[b.foster]

At the bottom of this page:

You can turn Multi-Room Viewing off on any DVR. You decide which DVRs can share programming. Television programming is not under TiVo's control. Programming providers may restrict or limit the transfer of particular programs. TiVo does not guarantee access to or transfer of any particular program.

They're asking us to pay $100 per unit to let the content providers decide what shows we can transfer? I like how they blame "programming providers" for crippling their software.

My TiVo is a great toy, but it's looking like it's time for this company to die. First they fire RB, and now they snuggle up to the content industry? Screw them, it's time to cancel my subscription and start hacking my box. They had a chance to earn their subscription fee from me, but they blew it when they decided that they were going to give Hollywood control over my own equipment.

Oh great, just great....

[DjMd]

So this option lets you listen to MP3s? Not that bad, but unless you do creative wiring I imagine that means that your TV has to be on. And there are other ways of doing that.

You can share between two TiVo Series2 DVRs? Well that would be nice, except...

Multi-Room Viewing is available exclusively on TiVo Series2 DVRs. To transfer recordings between two DVRs, each must have active TiVo service under the same account name, and must be on the same home network. Home Media Option must be purchased seperately for each DVR.

So to do this you need:

-2 Series2 TiVos

-2 active accounts (for 2 that 25/month or 598 lifetime)

-and 2 Home media options (99 each!)

I can't believe that they require both Tivos to have both the active accounts and the media options. Does SonicBlue's ReplayTV require that double charging??

I've had SOME of this already... and more!

[RevRagnarok]

I got an ethernet card from 9thtee a while back, it is great! I then got a program called "tivoweb" which lets me remotely record, and even search future listings with a REAL keyboard (I like to compare it to my NetFlix list every now and then and queue up movies on the TiVo that I don't care about all those DVD goodies).

Then there is my e-mail on my TiVo with the shameless plug of tivo_mail that I found a while back and people seem to like it. ;)

- RR