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TiVo to Let Users Record Shows Via Cellphone

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the instant-gratification-generation dept.

Carl Bialik writes "Verizon Wireless plans to offer a new service called TiVo Mobile that will allow its customers who also have TiVos in their homes to schedule TV shows for recording when they are on the go, the Wall Street Journal reports. ' A customer might use the service to impulsively schedule a sitcom for recording after the show is recommended by a friend at a party,' says the WSJ, adding, 'Verizon Wireless executives said the service, to begin this summer, is expected to cost less than $5 a month, in addition to normal cellphone-service charges and TiVo subscriber fees, which are $12.95 a month.'"

6 of 172 comments (clear)

  1. A bit obsessive by RedHatLinux · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Seriously, are there TV shows that important one needs this service to ensure they don't miss them

  2. Where's the advantage? by magicsquid · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why should I pay $5 more a month for a service that I already have for free? Why not just go to the Tivo web site on a web-enabled phone and do your remote scheduling there?

    --


    "Chances of RHIC-induced Armageddon are exceedingly rare, but... you never know." - MIT Physicist Bob Jaffe
    1. Re:Where's the advantage? by Tackhead · · Score: 4, Insightful
      > Why should I pay $5 more a month for a service that I already have for free? Why not just go to the Tivo web site on a web-enabled phone and do your remote scheduling there?

      Because if you do it that way, Verizon doesn't get $5/month out of you! (Alternate: Because when you signed up for Verizon, they disabled the web-enabled part of your phone when they installed their ugly red user interface and branding onto it, but will re-enable it for $5/month.)

      Oh, wait, you're looking at it from the customer's perspective. Never mind.

  3. Mo Money! by SaturnTim · · Score: 4, Insightful

    $5 a month for something you will probably use a couple times a year (at most)?
    on top of your verizon plan, on top of the tivo monthly fee, on top of the broadband connection...
    (this won't work if your tivo still works on dial-up)

    Never mind (as 50 other posts mentioned) the free alternatives...

    Just doesn't make financial sense.

    --
    http://www.theMediaBunker.com
  4. Re:and orb by Romancer · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I recently scheduled the oscars to record from a web enabled phone by going to online tivo scheduling.

    WTFITBD?

    The hell I'm going to pay for a specialized app on a phone that has internet access already.

    Standards are there for a reason, if a phone can access normal web pages it can do hundreds of things, if it has a bunch of nickle and dime apps that raises your bill it's a POS and your provider is screwing you.

    If your phone can only view "mobile pages" there are scripts that you can run on your own webserver that'll strip everything but the actual info and serve you that.

    --


    ) Human Kind Vs Human Creation
    ) It'd be interesting to see how many humans would survive to serve us.
  5. Re:Japan by MrWa · · Score: 4, Insightful

    While this doesn't have Tivo-like features, it does run Linux: P901iTV Some people go too far with their Japanese fetishes but, in general, it is pretty sad how far ahead the Japanese consumer product market. Simply go to any shop in Akihabara or Yodabashi camera and there products years ahead of what is considered new in the U.S. Hell, the free phones in Japan are better than $100-200 models in the US!! The US consumer market is way too slow in adopting new technologies - or even having them available for the bleeding-edge, early adopters to play with! When a bloody $5 per month "service" to let you schedule recording on your Tivo is considered news on a tech-centric website, you know something is wrong.