Tivo and Amazon.com Unbox Partner

Tivo's new partnership with Amazon.com Unbox is going to be good for Tivo - I'll use the service to download and watch movies. Actually, I might use it for TV shows I don't have access to as well. Smart deal.

On the same day that Walmart launched a competing movie download service and then fell flat on their face over simple browser compatibility issues, Amazon announced an incredibly cool, long rumored new partnership with Tivo. - TechCrunch

My reaction to Apple's announcements

Thomas Hawk's commentary on Apple's announcement's (watch) Tuesday mirrors my own. I got a kick out of reading his recent post on the subject today.

Someone Check Steve Job's Pipe, I Don't Think That's Tobacco He's Smoking in There

Apple is obviously continuing their push into the livingroom but IMO they're a bit late to the game. iTV feels like too little too late and it isn't even available yet. On the other hand, Apple wasn't the 1st one on the MP3 player seen either - but they delivered a better mouse trap and it paid off, in a big way, the same thing could happen in the livingroom. For me, for now - NetFlix, Tivo, and my flatpanel Sony Wega TV are working just fine. I don't even have HDTV yet. There is a real problem in the livingroom that needs to be solved. What's that? Too many wires, too much complexity, too many choices - people just want to watch and listen. Maybe Apple can solve that problem.

Related: NY Times Apple Plans to Inhabit the Livingroom 

Transferring Personal Video from PC to TiVo DVR

You can transfer video (MPEG-2) from your PC to your Tivo, assuming it's connected to your home network. Cool - did it just the other night for an episode of Lost I recorded on my cable-enabled Sony Vaio.

My "Wired" Series 2 Tivo

I've had a Tivo for over two years (1st post) now and I have to say it's still one of my favorite gadgets. It's one of the few gadgets my wife and I both see eye-to-eye on - the Tivo saves us (busy parents) precious minutes everyday. This week I finally managed to "Wire" my Tivo - it's now connected to my home network and the Internet.

Until recently, I just didn't have a reason to justify the expense or the effort required to run wire to the closet where my Tivo lives - it was connected to my analog phone line (to retrieve the TV schedule) and that was good enough. TiVoToGo, Tivo multimedia features, on-line scheduling, and other features supported by the Series 2 Tivo weren't enough to motivate me to "wire" my Tivo.

Tivo recently announced that the Tivo Desktop (software that lets you transfer stuff to and from your Tivo over your home network) will soon support video transfer to the Apple Ipod - this feature announcement  was my motivation for wiring my Tivo.

Wiring my Tivo took about as much money and effort as I thought it would. After doing some research, and making a failed trip to Best Buy (poor inventory AKA Worst Buy), I settled on and purchased a D-Link USB 2.0 Fast Ethernet Adapter – I ordered it on-line because Best Buy doesn’t have any inventory. Did I mention that Best Buy doesn’t have any inventory. The Ethernet Adapter was required to connect my Tivo to my home network – for some reason the Tivo doesn’t sport an Ethernet port, instead it has two USB ports. Connecting the Tivo to my network and the Internet was as easy as plugging in the adapter, connecting it to an Ethernet cable (which is connected to a router, etc. etc.), and adjusting a setting within the Tivo Setup. My Tivo is now more powerful than ever and I’m anxiously awaiting the new version of Tivo Desktop which should make it easy for me to transfer video content to my sexy little Apple Ipod.

By the way, I don’t regret my decision to put this off for two years – I haven’t used any of the existing features yet – I just want to transfer video content to my Apple Ipod.
 

Slingbox

Switched On: Let Freedom Sling - Engadget - www.engadget.com Ross Rubin (Engadget contributor) wrote a nice piece on the Slingbox for Engadget. 

Last month, Sling Media provided a sweet-tasting update to the software that provides the window into that its flagship product — the $250 Chunky-bar-inspired Slingbox. The product was conceived when founders Blake and Jason Krikorian became frustrated that they couldn’t catch live sporting events when they were traveling.

I've had my eye on one of these for a while - might just be time to click the Buy Now button. 

Tivo Downloads

iSee iTunes

iSee iTunes - might just be the motivation I need to "connect" my Tivo.

TIVO Commercials

I came across a post today on PVRblog regarding my TIVO service that has me concerned.

People get TiVos for different reasons, mostly it's for the time shifting nature, but the close second most loved feature has to be the ability to fast forward through ads. The advertising TiVo has added so far has been minimal impact. The commercial showcases that show up on your main menu aren't that bad and often have good ad shorts and information, but pushing that into the main TV watching interface seems like a spectacularly bad move. No longer are the ads an optional thing you can dig for more, they're soon going to be pushed in front of you when you use a key feature of the product.

The ability to fast forward through commercials is perhaps the feature I like best about my TIVO. I think TIVO customers need to stand up and fight this concept while it can still be fought. Sure, it doesn't sound like the Stage 1 implementation will be all that bad but before we know it they'll be limiting the speed of the fast forward feature to give advertisers more time to make an impression. This could be the end of a really good service. I hope this is just a bad rummor but apparently they're testing the UI.

TIVO - DVR

I gifted my family a TIVO for Christmas and I think it was probably one of the best gadget purchases I made in 2003 ? and I came to this conclusion after using it for less than 24 hours. My TIVO enabled friends have been preaching the benefits of TIVO and the way it "can change your TV viewing life" for a long time, but it's only now that I realize the truth in their proclamations. I love my TIVO! Imagine: pausing live TV, rewinding live TV, starting your favorite show 15 minutes after it starts without the commercials, and the Season Pass that records your favorite show whenever it?s on automatically. Highly recommended for new parents that can't sit down for more than 15 minutes at a time ; )