Announced at the TiVo Community forum was a neat piece of Windows software called TiVo.net that allows you to use your TiVo as a media extender so you can play a variety of video formats from your PC.
A list of video formats and codecs that TiVo.net supports can be found here. The software works by converting the video on the fly to MPEG2 TiVo compatable video that can then whizz across your home network to your TV screen, via your TiVo.
TiVo.net is an open source project so others can get involved. It's early days for the software and if you experience any bugs it would be worth pointing them out to the developer.
A Mac version of TiVoToGo was finally announced a few days ago but unfortunately it did not come cheap. Mac users would have to fork out for the full Roxio's Toast Titanium 8 package which costs $100.
The Roxio Toast Titanium package offers full DVD/CD burning capabilities plus a little bit more but many MAC users will probably have software that does this already making $100 extremely expensive for just TiVoToGo considering regular Pc users can get it for $25.
Fortunately Roxio has said at this weeks CES that there is a possibility of a standalone Roxio TiVoToGo for Mac which would of course be sold for a lot cheaper.
TiVo has announced it will be adding two more web TV channels/Vodcasts to its TiVoCast lineup available on Series 2 TiVo's (and hopefully the Series 3 soon too).
The two new channels that have been added are LX.tv and Golfspan, both of which use the Brightcove internet video system to deliver video on the internet. TiVo teamed up with Brightcove to offer web TV in May last year.
Brightcove actually has hundreds of TV channels using the Brightcove system so I wonder what makes LX.tv and Golfspan so special that they are included on TiVoCast. It would be interesting to know what gets a Brightcove Web TV channel onto TiVo.
Remember the good old days when you'd buy a product for an advertised price, and be able to find the advertised price directly on the shelf or at the product's website? These days it seems like you need a Ph.D. to figure out how to get the best price/deal out of a product like TiVo.
So here's the latest.
If you buy a Series3 TiVo by the end of January and activate it by March 2nd, you can transfer lifetime service from your existing TiVo for $199. This is an extension of a previous offer.
Of course, TiVo's still charging $799 for a Series3 unit, so this is only a bargain if you'd willing to spend $1000 for a hi-def unit rather than waiting a while for the prices to fall. We've seen resellers discount the Series3 by as much as $200+ but that's still a lot of cash.
Or if you're in the market for a new box and hi-def isn't that important to you, check out the latest rebates on Series2 boxes, which basically let you pick up an 80-hour Series2 TiVo for free (plus a year's service).
WeaKnees points out that TiVo's offering up a new round of rebates for Series2 units, replacing the rebates that expired on December 31st.
Just like last time around, you can get $220 off the price of a standard 80-hour Series2 box, bringing the total price to... free.
You can also get $180 off of a dual-tuner Series2, which brings the price to $69. You have to activate your TiVo and sign up for at least a year of service.
The offer is good for Series2 units purchased between January 1st and February 17th, 2007. After that, TiVo may very well offer another round of rebates. No word yet on any upcoming rebates for Series3 units. But at this rate, it's safe to say you'll be able to pick up a free Series3 with a year's service sometime around 2017 when the Series4 3-dimensional holographic recorder is released.
If you have just recently unwrapped a new TiVo this Christmas then you may like to know what you can do with it to customize It for your own needs to get the best TiVo experience.
AllPVR.com has come up with six ways to customize your TiVo:
TiVo has updated its Guru Guides, so that now you can subscribe to guides directly through your TiVo. Up until now if you wanted access to preselected lists of shows you might enjoy you had to sign up through your computer, or ask your significant other.
While it's nice to be able to schedule TV shows to record from work, the more services you can actually access from your TiVo itself the better. Sure, it takes a couple of extra steps to sign up for guides with a remote control, but not having to get up and walk into the other room is worth its weight in gold.
Dave Zatz warns that you may have a hard time getting past the privacy screen if you're signing up for your first Guru Guide. A quick trip to the office where you can sign into your TiVo.com account, try to add a Guru Guide, and accept the privacy agreement should resolve the issue.
The update only works on Series2 TiVo's at the moment, but Series3 support should be coming any day now.
Using the TiVo HME developers tool InteracTrivia.com has added its multiplayer trivia game to Series 2 TiVo DVRs. The game allows you to answer trivia questions pitching yourself against other players around the world. Definitely good for a bit of boredom.
Here are the instructions to get this working on your Series 2 TiVo.
Press the Tivo button your Tivo remote control.
Select Music, Photos & More from the list.
Scroll down and select Manually add a server...
Using the keypad on your remote control, enter 209.97.196.52
Select Add server to list.
Press Left on your remote to go back to Music, Photos & More.
Select apps.tv Subscription Manager from the list.
Select Browse Apps.
Add InteracTrivia: Multiplayer Trivia to your subscribed applications.
Exit back to Music, Photos & More and find InteracTrivia: Mutiplayer Trivia.
In honor of TiVo releasing the Top 10 TV moments in 2006, and not actually releasing something that will gain them some favor with current customers, potential new customers, and shareholders such as a non-fan created TiVoToGo for Macs, a robust movie delivery system, TiVoToGo on Series3 boxes, or a TiVo that dispenses Samuel Adams - I've decided to make my own list that highlights the top 11 most worthless or annoying TiVo moments at PVR Wire in 2006.
4. TiVo thinks up innovative ways to advertise to its money paying subscribers. I have to admit, the ads are pretty benign. Doesn't make them any less aggravating.
6. In '05 TiVo announced that software would be available on Comcast set-top-boxes with a similar deal announced in '06 for Cox. Deals are pretty much universally appreciated by fans, but TiVo fails to mention rollout would not occur until after the biblical rapture. Shouldn't this be out by now? Particularly the Comcast arrangement? Can't wait to try this out during my stay in Hell.
7. TiVoCast updated! Still less fun than replacing your friends dandruff shampoo with the contents of a bottle of Nair, although most things are. Is anyone using this?
8. Cablevision brings TiVo to Mexico. Como se dice "who cares"? Okay, this was actually good to hear, but I wanted to break out some busted Spanish.
9. TiVo unveils "It's Not TiVo Unless it's TiVo" marketing campaign. In related news, The Captain Obvious Marketing Company signs its first client ever.
10. TiVo offers free pizza for anyone who signs up for a years service and gets a new TiVo box. Let's see. A PVR, a pizza, a remote, and a couch. You wonder why the country has an obesity problem?
Some time ago TiVo opened up third party developments for its PVR software allowing developers to add custom functions to TiVo.
Unfortunately the HME front has quieted down a lot recently with developments few and far between. Apps.tv is one of the few directories of HME applications which you can run on your TiVo DVR.
Apps.tv has not released anything new for some months, but the website has just added an Amazon product browser to the works.
I haven't personally tried it out and I'm unsure as to whether you can actually buy products on Amazon or not using the application.
Instructions on how to activate the apps.tv plugin can be found here. If any of you use the plugin please let us know some more information.
I've just posted a DirecTV advert so I thought I'd even things out a little and post a TiVo advert too. Below you can see a TV commercial from Radio Shack advertising the Series 2 TiVo.
The advert is promoting the free TiVo, failing to mention that a paid yearly subscription is also required, other than in the small print.
Radio Shack has been selling TiVo PVRs since August.
Can't wait for TiVo to roll out version 8.1 of its software, with support for WPA security for wireless network-connected TiVo's?
Now you can sign up for TiVo's priority list. Either you'll be one of the first to get the update or you'll get it at the same time as everyone else, but at least feel like you're doing something about it.
The update is for Series2 Tivos only. It won't work with DirecTivos, Series1, or Series3 recorders. If your TiVo Serive number starts with these numbers, you're eigible for the update: 110, 130, 140, 230, 240, 264, 275, 540, 565, 590, 595, and 649.
It looks like WPA's not the only update. There's also support for adding recording time to scheduled recordings. So if you're planning to record a sporting event, for example, and the program guide says it ends at 10:00, but you know they always run late, you can add an extra half hour of recording time.
Doing the complete opposite to my last post, here is a tutorial by Josha Garnett that explains how to convert DVDs to watch on your PVR, specifically a TiVo PVR.
This makes use of TiVo Desktop by converting your DVD videos into MPEG videos that can be stored on your computer and subsequently watched on your network enabled TiVo.
This potentially allows you to have an extra movie library available to watch on demand that was previously on DVD.
The tutorial is about a year old but we have not covered it on PVR wire before.
This tutorial is unique from other similar tutorials because it allows you to convert 16:9 content into letterboxed 4:3 content without any audio sync problems.
Garnett's tutorial is based on Dave Zatz' DVD to MPEG to TiVo tutorial which uses a slightly different method.
Our friends over at Engadget got a chance to try out some of those new TiVo features we told you about yesterday. Most of these new services won't roll out until next year, but TiVo was showing them off last night at a Digital Life holiday preview event in New York last night. For a ton of photos of TiVo Desktop 2.4 "autotranscoding" web video for playback on a Series2 TiVo, head on over to Engadget. There's also photos of the new interface for uploading videos to One True Media's website and creating a personal TiVo channel for sharing home videos with your friends and family.
Announced at the TiVo Community forum was a neat piece of Windows software called TiVo.net that allows you to use your TiVo as a media extender so you can play a variety of video formats from your PC.
A Mac version of TiVoToGo was finally 
If you have just recently unwrapped a new TiVo this Christmas then you may like to know what you can do with it to customize It for your own needs to get the best TiVo experience. 
