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TiVo to Support Video Transfer to iPod

BWhaler said:
Service not compatible with the Mac.

Tivo still continues to suck, and get worse and worse.. And as I say this as one of their first customers.

Doesn't the management of Tivo understand that Microsoft is their biggest competitor? The XBOX 360 and Home Media Center is going after their core and only market. They would be wise to encourage people to get off of Windows to OSX and Linux before Microsoft finishes them off in the next 24 months (in addition to the Cable companies.)
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Xbox360 has no recording capabilities, so I don't see how its a competitor to TiVo. Ultimate TV was a competitor to TiVo but that sank, and the only product MS makes now is WinXP Media Editions, and the markets have shown that people arn't interested in having a computer to control their TV.

TiVo's biggest competitor is cheapo-but-good-enough DVRs from cable and satellite companies. They need to differentiate themselves in quality and value from these, otherwise people will go for the easier option all the time. Those of us who have TiVo know its a vastely superior system to any Cable company DVR, but the customer faced with a choice of $200 plus $12 a mont h compared to $10 a month for a cable company DVR is always going to go with te cheapest option.
 
greenstork said:
Yeah except el Gato doesn't have a brand name like TiVo.
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Elgato's CEO resigned in October, and now works for Apple Germany... makes you wonder if he had some inside information...
 
AidenShaw said:
compared to real-time streaming....
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aren't there people like me who still appreciate quality? watching tv on a phone sounds lame compared to watching at home on a real tv, no matter how handy it is on a portable device

oh, and i have 5 tivos for just that purpose
 
bigjohn said:
aren't there people like me who still appreciate quality? watching tv on a phone sounds lame compared to watching at home on a real tv, no matter how handy it is on a portable device... oh, and i have 5 tivos for just that purpose
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Except real TVs have a 16:9 aspect ratio, not that antiquated 4:3 nonsense! ;) TiVo does not yet support HDTV content, as delivered by cable providers. So I'll stick with my HDTV capable Time-Warner DVR.
 
Aeolius said:
Except real TVs have a 16:9 aspect ratio, not that antiquated 4:3 nonsense! ;) TiVo does not yet support HDTV content, as delivered by cable providers. So I'll stick with my HDTV capable Time-Warner DVR.
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whichever dvr you use, it's vastly superior to watching video on a phone or ipod, that was my original point (no matter how convenient it is)

i'm pretty happy archiving what i want from tv with my toshiba rs-tx20 tivo with dvd recorder... it can then be ripped to a portable device or laptop down the road anyway
 
Stewie said:
The series 2 TiV'so can use your broadband connection to connect to the TiVo service, no land line required. Plus you would need your TiVo hooked up to your home network to download the video.
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Tivo requires a initial connection using a phone line.
 
BornAgainMac said:
Tivo requires a initial connection using a phone line.
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Yes, but it doesn't have to be yours. I don't have POTS so I took it to a friends house and did the initial setup. After that, you can use the network.
 
oliverlubin said:
There's NO WAY apple is involved with this venture. It goes against the new TV show purchase on the iTMS. Why buy a show for $2 if you can get it off your TiVo for free. Now not nearly all iPod owners have TiVo but it's against the principle in general.
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They're not making money on the TV shows. They make money selling theproduct that they can be shown on. If Tivo wants to do the same thing, and use the video iPod, apple would support that. More sales. The way Tivo is pricing these days, you might get a free tivo with the purchase of any video ipod.
 
pubwvj said:
Hmm... Right now people spend an average of 9 hours a day in front of the boob-tube. So with this connection they can increase that to 16? 24? Wow, I don't know how they do it!!!
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yea, you can't just make up stats that poorly and get away with it. I think 9 hours a week is more realistic. Show some documentation or stop wasting our time.
 
bigjohn said:
aren't there people like me who still appreciate quality? watching tv on a phone sounds lame compared to watching at home on a real tv, no matter how handy it is on a portable device
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Agreed....

But this whole article is about watching TV on an iPod - and my phone has a larger QVGA screen than the iPod.

i730mid.gif
 
BornAgainMac said:
I dumped Tivo because they don't support Macs. Also made sure they knew that on the feedback form.
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I did the exact same thing. Why pay $12.95/mo for Tivo+ when all of the features won't work on a Mac? Instead, I paid $7.95 for a HD DVR from my cable company.

Then, instead of a Video iPod, I purchased an Archos AV-500... I just wish it had HD input, but SD recordings are fine. But now I have everything that Tivo2Go promised all in a Mac-compatible solution.

I also replaced the DVD that was with my Tivo player with my parent's Mac Mini that they didn't end up using. My entertainment center is now much more functional than ever with smaller and few components than before.

I just wish Apple would make an add-on for the Mac Mini that'd facilitate HD recording and an ability to export to regular DVD or a HD DVD format.
 
hayesk said:
Wouldn't one of those elGato eyeTV boxes be a much better choice than TiVo?
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From elgato's FAQ:

"Can EyeTV export video to an iPod? Yes. We are working on an update to the EyeTV software so that in future, exporting video to an iPod format will be one easy step."
 
grapes911 said:
Yes, but it doesn't have to be yours. I don't have POTS so I took it to a friends house and did the initial setup. After that, you can use the network.
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Actually, you can use a network connection for the initial setup. You have to put in a special prefix before the phone number. I've needed to do it and it worked.
 
hmmm

MattG said:
Plus the TiVo Desktop software still doesn't work with Tiger, 10.3 only.

:rolleyes:
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Am I the only one who has Tivo Desktop 1.9.1 working with 10.4? Mine works fine?
 
meghop said:
Am I the only one who has Tivo Desktop 1.9.1 working with 10.4? Mine works fine?
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I think I have it working. I don't use it that much, but I'm pretty sure I reloaded it with Tiger and got it to work. Someone on the Tivo boards was saying this too.

I had to turn it off at one point because it started gobbling up the processor.
 
greenstork said:
Yeah except el Gato doesn't have a brand name like TiVo. And, much more importantly, they don't have subscribers. Just follow the $$$ my friend, the TV content providers need compensation somehow and if they aren't getting through commecials that can now be FF'd through..... well you figure it out.
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Also, EyeTV cannot record Digital cable unless you hook it up to the cable box directly. Then you are SOL if you want to try to record something.

I've been working on a way around this by having an Automator task read the XML that EyeTV creates when it goes to record. Then with IRTrans' software, the Automator can send IR commands to the cable box to set it to the correct station.

However, now that I have my AV-500 and a TimeWarner DVR, I just make sure I schedule the same thing on the DVR and the AV-500 and that seems to work fine.
 
Why do I need a phone line for initial setup?

The TiVo® service needs to connect to your existing phone line once during setup to configure your TiVo box with the correct channel lineup.

Why do I need an existing phone line and/or broadband connection?

You can stay connected to the TiVo service either via your existing phone line or your wired/wireless home network and broadband connection. With a broadband connection you only need your phone line once for set-up, then use your broadband to stay connected. This connection keeps your program information up-to-date and ensures you always get the latest software upgrades automatically. Don't worry: Your TiVo® box will only use your phone line for a few minutes each day and will never interfere with your phone service or Internet connection.
 
oliverlubin said:
There's NO WAY apple is involved with this venture. It goes against the new TV show purchase on the iTMS. Why buy a show for $2 if you can get it off your TiVo for free. Now not nearly all iPod owners have TiVo but it's against the principle in general.
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I tend to think that you're right, Apple probably didn't endorse this project.

But I would add that sometimes you miss shows, even with TiVo, and the iTVS is a nice supplement.

It seems like this service may force Apple to co-opt it, just like podcasts did. I can imagine it being very popular and selling lots of iPods. So while it may destroy their pay per episode model, we all kind of knew that was bound to fail. There's so much more advertising revenue (read -competition) invested in video delivery than there is in audio. Instead of being the biggest fish in a relatively small pond that was music, Apple now finds itself a small fish in a really big pond.

It was a coup to get such a validation from record companies in support of the iTMS but Apple will be hard pressed to get the same cooperation from the TV execs. Everyone from the cable companies, to the phone companies, to Microsoft, wants a piece of the action.

To me, the pay per episode model seems shabby compared to the TiVo model and if an Apple fanatic like me think there are better tools out there than the iTVS for getting my favorite television, then Apple is in trouble. For success, Apple needs all of its fanboys and more with the competition it will soon face.
 
dr_lha said:
TiVo's biggest competitor is cheapo-but-good-enough DVRs from cable and satellite companies. They need to differentiate themselves in quality and value from these, otherwise people will go for the easier option all the time. Those of us who have TiVo know its a vastely superior system to any Cable company DVR, but the customer faced with a choice of $200 plus $12 a mont h compared to $10 a month for a cable company DVR is always going to go with te cheapest option.
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I have both a TiVo and a Comcast DVR. The Comcast unit has an awful interface. It is painful to try and find or schedule a show. However the Comcast DVR not only does HD, but also has a dual-tuner. Needless to say my TiVo doesn't get very much use as once you go HD, you don't want to go back. Also if you compare the monthly cost, Comcast is cheaper. Now if TiVo would come out with a dual-tuner HD (non Direct TV) unit I would gladly switch back.
 
Le Big Mac said:
They're not making money on the TV shows. They make money selling the product that they can be shown on.
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that's exactly right. Apple should offer to do all they can to support TivoToGo, on OS X and Windows...
...unless they plan to make a "media center" type Mac Mini that will function as a DVR with great interfacing/usability :D
 
Le Big Mac said:
They're not making money on the TV shows. They make money selling theproduct that they can be shown on. If Tivo wants to do the same thing, and use the video iPod, apple would support that. More sales. The way Tivo is pricing these days, you might get a free tivo with the purchase of any video ipod.
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You're forgetting the all important constituency of the content providers, the TV studios themselves. And they control who gets that content. If you don't have a model to pay these people, you don't have content (except for smaller, no name companies that have no hope of significant market adoption - like El Gato). Both TiVo and Apple have a way to pay TV studios. I tend to think that the studios prefer Apple's pay-per-episode model but DVRs just won't go away, it's out of their hands so they are forced to find a way to profit from them. TiVo, at least, offers a subscriber base and revenue for the TV studios while El Gato and the likes, do not. So while TiVo isn't going away anytime soon, it certainly isn't the best thing since sliced bread, in the eyes of the TV studios at least.

The TV studios have to find a way to make money on the shows themselves, be it through advertising, product placement, or pay-per-episode. Without money, they can't produce the shows. What I'm saying is that TV studios are going to find companies to collaborate with on these projects who offer them the best profit for their content. It may be Apple, Comcast, Verizon, Microsoft or a dozen others who want to be in everyone's living room and on everyone's computer.
 
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