Automated TiVo to iPod formating

Berkana writes "PVR Wire reports that 'TVHarmony.com has released a new version of its AutoPilot software that supports converting TiVo-recorded shows into a format that's compatible with the new video iPod. It also works with Palm devices that can view video. "The software automatically transfers, converts and stores your TV programming. You can select shows to be downloaded automatically, in the middle of the night if you like, and process the transfers into popular formats. AutoPilot keeps track of the shows you've already downloaded so you can transfer an entire TV series without duplicates.' . . . in other words, one of the biggest gripes concerning the new iPod has been addressed."

Comments

it will also convert to PSP

[enrico_suave]

I know the video ipod is the new hotness, but it should be noted that this will easily / automagically pull content from your tivo2go network connected TiVo and spit out PSP format video for you in batch jobs...

E.

Good consumer!

[NineNine]

A Tivo AND an IPod? Anyobdy who both isn't keeping up with the Joneses, they ARE the Joneses! Does owning both of those also require that one also own a Volkswagen?

Sounds cool, but I use..

[Winckle]

Videora ipod converter

Easy to use and very useful, free as in beer, check it out.

Windows only

[mccalli]

Blatent plug for me: v3 of my Tivo Podcast software is planned to do this too. Tivo Podcast software is Perl/Java and uses two support binaries available on both Linux, OS X and Windows, so this will run on any platform. At the moment it just handles audio, as it was written before the video iPods came out. I've got a v2.1 release planned, which will be an efficiency release and still audio, then 3.0 is going to go for for video.

Cheers,
Ian

Okay, maybe not...

[toupsie]

Lower down on the page in the change log:

Moved MAK from watermark into invisibly encoded MAK directly into file.

Re:DRM?

[enrico_suave]

unless i'm mistaken... there's kinda a neat common sense approach to "DRM" at work here. They take out the annoying/retarded .tivo DRM and make a standard mpeg2 (or whatever utility you use, i.e. psp/ipod/etc) BUT they embed your tivo MAK # as a small watermark. So you'll be less likely to spread your drm-less file all over the interweb, so to speak as it has some identifiable info on it (at least somwhere in a tivo database somewhere)

I may be mistaken though, that's how it works with tivo2mpeg, i don't have a video ipod or played with the utily for the sake of spitting out quicktime ;)

Re:now I'll have to

[mctk]

The investment will be worth it, trust me. You'll understand when you're sitting on the train, hunched over a 2.5-inch LCD screen enjoying that rerun of Everybody Loves Raymond, and feeling sorry for those poor saps who still have to read or even talk to pass the time.

Re:What about OS X?

[HebrewToYou]

You don't need a Tivo.

Go talk to your cable company and get them to provide you with an HD box, specifically the Motorola DCT6200. It has a FireWire port on the back of the box. It can be connected to your Mac and with one simple application (iRecord) you're able to record television to your hard drive with less compression (AFAICT) than a TiVo.

My favorite part: there is no DRM. You can use another application (VLC) to open the files and save them in whatever format you like, including the new iPod format. It's one of the most slick integrations of technology that Apple has yet to publicize. All you need is a firewire-enabled cable box, a recently-made Mac, a FireWire cable and you're good to go.

Re:DRM?

[circusboy]

quicktime has the capability but not the necessity of DRM. I have happily encoded quite a lot of video, (from dvd's that I own) into quicktime movies that I can play without killing the battery fast.

I can play them anywhere. No 'translation' necessary. the only time DRM enters into the discussion at all is when you purchase something in the form of a file, and the vendor wishes to prevent you from making copies of that digital file.

It is not, and never has been, necessary to encode files for the iPod using any sort of DRM.

Are we all clear on this?

Re:Halo effect

[alphakappa]

You can use ffmpegx on the Mac to convert your Tivo togo files to iPod ready MPEG-4. It's free (as in beer) and is a great GUI for the ffmpeg app.

Here's a tutorial on using ffmpegx to create iPod ready videos (Link is not worksafe!)

Re:Why are Mac people buying Tivos?

[macslut]

Keep in mind that up until TivoToGo was released, TiVo offered full Mac support, and did it very well. There was, and still is compatibility with the latest version of Mac OS and Tivo Desktop which works great with iTunes and iPhoto. Maybe the fact that the CEO of TiVo is a Maccie has and the amount of support TiVo has had, as well as all the buy-out rumors through the years, may have lead many Mac users to consider buying a TiVo...as well as the fact that TiVos weren't compatible with *any* computer without hacking for quite some time.

I have eyeTV as well as eyeHome, and they work well for what they are, but there are huge advantages to TiVo, and what Mac users are complaining about is that the final bridge to compatibility is not something that would be that hard for TiVo to do. Of course, the blame may be just as much directed at Apple as to TiVo.