We first caught wind of the TiVo Bolt via USPTO, CableLabs, and FCC regulatory filings. Info gleaned from premature website publication and industry sources suggest this Series 6 lineup will ultimately replace the four-unit Roamio family with a streamlined trio of 4k-capable models – that all include mobile “Stream” capabilities for unified functionality and marketing. The Bolt line also looks to retain spinning platters for local storage, although DVR hard drive capacity and physical size remain open questions.
Given that web graphic, it’s safe to assume at least two models will feature a stunning new enclosure that will surely elicit strong opinions. Based on the render, I originally had my doubts. But, now having seen it, I quite like and would have no problem displaying the all-white (OTA/Cable) or black & white (OTA) variant on my TV stand. Beyond aesthetics, I assume that asymmetrical arch also helps with heat dissipation.
Tuner count remains uncertain. I have some reason to believe the OTA and Cable/OTA models will sport four tuners to keep costs and heat down, while a 6-tuner “big boy” box, featuring a traditional STB form, strikes me a reasonable theory for another box down the road. Although we don’t yet have evidence of a voice-capable remote control, signs indicate voice recognition could be coming to the TiVo platform … along with a modest interface refresh — but we also anticipate both of these will make their way to Roamio and possibly even Premiere.
In terms of timing, Best Buy’s shelf reset is October 11th and TiVo CEO Tom Rogers stated, “we plan to introduce a new product sometime in the third (fiscal) quarter” which ends 10/31. So hopefully we’ll have more TiVo Bolt details, including the all-important pricing, real soon.
Ouch! that looks much worse than I thought. I think there will need to be a major improvement for me to consider selling my Roamio Pro or Roamio Basic for this model. Just looking at it makes me want to smash it into tiny little pieces after vomiting over it. :(
Based on the leaked videos, performance looks faster. Sources also indicate Flash is completely and totally done for this organization at this point. Which means we should be getting a newer, faster Hulu app at some point too. Given what I know at this point, I’m not sure I’d be motivated to update my Roamio Pro/Plus. But TiVo’s retail success is dependent upon reaching beyond us existing customers, anyhow. I’m hoping they’ve got some new pricing permutations in the hopper to help on that point. (Also, I expect we’ll see a refreshed Mini several months down the line to match the new designs and similarly bring 4k streaming.)
“Ouch! that looks much worse than I thought. I think there will need to be a major improvement for me to consider selling my Roamio Pro or Roamio Basic for this model.”
Seriously? You care about how box looks? I can always understand footprint / stacking concerns, but aesthetics? Seriously?
(Got no interest in upgrading from S5 absent major improvements and price incentives. And while I do prefer the normcore look of the S5 to the S6, it really would have zero impact on my decision. Functionality Über Alles, With the end of the IR era, you can even hide the damn box, if it offends you so.)
Yeah, while I think it’s kinda cool, I’m less interested in the design and more concerned with heat dissipation. Transcoding, especially, comes at a cost…
I keep my TiVo’s in cabinets, so I really could not care less what it looks like. But so far I haven’t heard any compelling features to push me over to a Bolt.
I will keep ears open, but it isn’t driving a lot of excitement for me yet.
“The Bolt line also looks to retain spinning platters for local storage, although DVR hard drive capacity and physical size remain open questions.”
As has been my major concern since the initial photos, the (remote?) concept of moving to 2.5″ hard drives worries me more than anything. I can’t believe TiVo would be insane enough to go there, but who the hell knows?
A lesser concern is removing hard drive upgrades / replacement from user accessibility. That’s always been a big attraction of TiVo to me, and I’d be pretty unhappy to see it go away. Though the previous leaked photos seemed to make that utterly inevitable, this photo makes it seem less inevitable…
@Chucky
Yes I am concerned with how it looks because currently most of my TiVos are out in the open. But if I got a Bolt I would definitely need to hide it. Because every time I look at it I would want to vomit. It’s bad enough the way it’s shaped. But then with the color being white. I would not want that placed out in an open space.
aaronwt, you’d be a candidate for the theoretical Pro model with more traditional enclosure.
“But TiVo’s retail success is dependent upon reaching beyond us existing customers, anyhow.”
I’m baffled why I never read anything about MSO-authenticated services being restricted to devices of each MSO’s arbitrary choosing being raised as an crucial FCC issue. We really don’t need to wait for the major and time-consuming AllVid, or CableCARD 2 decision in order for that very simple mandate to happen.
Seems to me that the FCC forcing MSO’s to authenticate services on any device that observes some simple security protocols would do more than almost anything to make TiVo more compelling to retail buyers. And, of course, it’d do good for consumers far beyond just TiVo.
(I’m happy to let the content providers, but not the MSO’s, determine what is lean-back approved as opposed to mobile-only approved, as seems to currently be the case, but that’s a totally different matter.)
I think the biggest improvement here is 4k capability. I guess that would be nice for Netflix and Amazon, but nothing else I do regularly necessitates it. Sure, my next TV will be a 4k, but that’s probably still a few years away. Hopefully by then 4k content availability is more widespread (perhaps Optimum will be offering it.)
The box is neat looking but I wonder about putting an external drive on the top, all slanty. I’d worry about it sliding down if there’s a lot of vibration.
“But if I got a Bolt I would definitely need to hide it. Because every time I look at it I would want to vomit.”
The alleged nausea would pass in hours. In a week, you wouldn’t even notice it. That’s how humans work. It’s really not what you focus your attention upon when you look at the teevee area.
“But then with the color being white…”
Paint it. Let John Lennon guide your hand. Or if you’re more a Mick Jagger type, Paint It Black.
I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my white TiVo I must have it painted black
Maybe then I’ll fade away and not have to face the facts
It’s not easy facing up when your whole world is black
I’m surprised that no one is discussing that eXistenZ bio-port shown in the back view photo…
Anyone know if this thing will make toast? If not, I’m not buying it.
Jack, I think you might have this confused with the new Roku…
https://twitter.com/davezatz/status/648618454250049538
Chucky,
I think it is time to go 2.5. Now that you can get 2TB and larger for a decent price, what reason is there to stay with the 3.5 form factor? I know our servers at work are almost exclusively 2.5 now, with the exception of really large archive arrays that use 3 or 4 TB drives.
I don’t like that it isn’t flat, but if that enables them to make it smaller and still cool effectively, then fine. I will have a problem if they aren’t able to integrate the power supply. If the Apple TV can do it, then no excuses for any other STB further cluter my rack with bricks.
Well… the new Apple TV has very different power and heat requirements as it does not tune, does not transcode, does not spin a platter. And, even then, a large percent of it’s enclosure is still occupied by a heat sink.
https://twitter.com/davezatz/status/646330230005714944
But, I hear ya! My older, mobile 22″ Vizio TV has a brick. And I hate it. Especially in places like the kitchen, where I have limited camouflage. And my Xbox One brick could eat two or three Rokus.
@Chucky
It doesn’t matter how long a white electronic device is in an area. It is very noticeable to me whether it has been there a week or a year. Which is why I don’t own any white electronic devices.
I will have no choice but to hide the TiVo Bolt if I get one. Which means I also need to supply cooling for a cabinet too. I will wait until more info is known about the Bolt. If they have switched to 2.5 inch drives then I will need to keep my Roamio Pro.
Ben – size vs power vs cost vs performance with a touch of heat dissipation thrown in.
A 2.5 will chew less power and take less space. It will also cost more. And at the absolute high end either perform poorly or potentially run hot. At budget to mid price tiers they will perform similarly but not identically, likely having less cache, and less sustainable throughout.
Personally I wouldn’t worry about performance since I bought a cheap 3tb drive for my Roamio and it handled 4 streams just fine. It was neither 7200 RPM nor full of cache.
“Ouch! that looks much worse than I thought. I think there will need to be a major improvement for me to consider selling my Roamio Pro or Roamio Basic for this model. Just looking at it makes me want to smash it into tiny little pieces after vomiting over it. :( ”
I guess if they do a bluetooth remote for this thing (seriously a Tivo with Roku’s ability for private listening would be amazing) then it won’t matter what it looks like. Just throw it behind the entertainment center!
“I think it is time to go 2.5. Now that you can get 2TB and larger for a decent price, what reason is there to stay with the 3.5 form factor?”
– I was under the impression that A/V 2.5″ hard drives still maxed out at 1TB, though I could well be incorrect. (And without A/V, durability concerns come to the forefront.)
– Price. The hard drive seems to be a significant amount of the TiVo BOM. And if you can shave dollars by sticking with 3.5″, which you always will be able to, why the hell not? Benefits consumers. Benefits TiVo’s competitive position.
– Capacity. I may be a freak, but even 3TB feels inadequate to me. And 3.5″ will always have both a max capacity advantage over 2.5″, as well as a capacity/price advantage. This is video we’re talking about. (And someday, hopefully not too far off, 4K will come to the multicast, which will exacerbate these issues.)
– The only downside to 3.5″ seems to me to be heat. If you’re not psycho-Apple, size/thinness isn’t a good in and of itself, and the damn thing is stationary and out of the way. Plus, I’d guess that with transcoding, the hard drive isn’t the biggest heat challenge in a TiVo.
“I know our servers at work are almost exclusively 2.5 now”
I’d guess that’s all about heat, no? But if TiVo can manage the heat from a single 3.5″ drive, isn’t it still more a lot more sensible for video?
(I could well be wrong about most of this. I don’t manage a server farm. But I just don’t get the rationale for 2.5″ in this particular use-case-scenario.)
Not for nothing. It’s SUPER UGLY. I mean… Come on. Also Dave, I know Apple TV won’t inherently be transcoding but I’m sure there will be apps that do that. That CPU is pretty darn capable of the iPhone 6s benchmarks and reviews are only half true. ARM just does great with low power, which I’m sure is how they keep bricks out of the mix.
Side note – anybody know if you can switch from U-verse TV to Directv keeping your internet and not busting your contract? I’m on my third DVR and they relentlessly overheat even though it’s sitting on a glass shelf under my TV in an air conditioned room with no equipment under or above it, 6 inches behind it for fan space to blow and I put some larger rubber feet on to elevate the whole thing.
Incidentally it uses a 2.5 drive. :)
Going with 2.5″ drives might be better for power, but they seem about 50% more expensive than an equivalent 3.5″ drive. And 2.5″ drives top out currently at 2TB. I guess the base models will still have 1TB of space (how much is that at 4k encoded in H.264?).
Not that I’m in the market, my Roamio is doing ok, if it weren’t for Cox’s poor SDV implementation (it was working well until a few months ago and now its awful). I’ll be stuck with this for a while (I cant get the wife to approve a new Xbox One so…).
Looks like tomorrow could be the big day…
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=532315
Dan, Roamio already uses RF remotes. And the Bolt has a remote finder button on the back – so we can assume this will too.
Tivo has lost their mind with this design. Why on earth would they consider this a good idea!
“Tivo has lost their mind with this design. Why on earth would they consider this a good idea!”
Perhaps conversations about how hideous people find it are better than no conversations at all. They can always release a Bolt “Classic” a few months down the line, to appease The Faithful.
The killer feature for me would be a terminal adapter built-in that does not need to be rebooted on a weekly basis. I know its not going to happen, but I can dream.
For those not inspired by the TiVo Toboggan’s good looks, I assume they’ll be clearing Roamio inventory for awhile…
Well I just upgraded my Roamio’s hard drive and based on where the ports are on the Bolt and Roamio and where the hard drive is in the Roamio it appears the hard drive is in the shorter section of the Bolt and is very very likely 2.5 inch.
Also with a faster processor that can deal with 4K/UHD TiVo will have to deal with more heat 100% guaranteed, so the curve may very well be required without a bigger box and/or more powerful venting. I don’t think it really looks that bad and as others have said very easy to hide anyway.
“Well I just upgraded my Roamio’s hard drive and based on where the ports are on the Bolt and Roamio and where the hard drive is in the Roamio it appears the hard drive is in the shorter section of the Bolt and is very very likely 2.5 inch.”
As stated upthread, I am indeed worried about a potential move to 2.5″ drives.
But I don’t think the internal layout of S5 implies in any way that the internal layout of S6 will be identical. So, I don’t think we can extrapolate to say the hard drive will be in the shorter section.
But I guess we’ll find out hard drive details quite soon…
There are 4TB, 2.5″ USB 3.0 drives for under $200, so I hope bare 4TB 2.5″ SATA drives are soon available as well.
Could the Bolt support expansion via USB?
Hopefully by now Tivo has rewritten their software to remove the arbitrary 3TB limit for unformatted drives.
eSATA for external storage.
“For those not inspired by the TiVo Toboggan’s good looks, I assume they’ll be clearing Roamio inventory for awhile…”
The $50 Roamio Refurb is now sold out. The only thing that kept be from pulling the trigger on it to replace a horribly unreliable TiVo 4 is the fact I would have to spend another $70 for a MoCa bridge.
“The $50 Roamio Refurb is now sold out.”
Online. I recall seeing at least one comment (on TCF) where someone was still able to order a refurb base Roamio for the $50+$250 price *after* the online form indicated ‘SOLD OUT.’
Looking at the back panel, and comparing it to the base Roamio (below)… what’s the port on the far left, to the left of the coax port?
* base Roamio: http://www.weaknees.com/images/roamio/roamio-back-1400.jpg
That’s the remote control finder button. And the CableCARD slot is on the bottom, like the base Roamio, on the side opposite the arch.
Ah, Remote Finder button. Thank you.
Chucky: As we all know hard drives need to be kept away from excessive heat, the hottest area on the Roamio is the area near the COAX connection – TiVo put the hard drive as far from that area as they could. On the Bolt, to do the same puts the hard drive in the shorter section and assures it will be a 2.5 inch drive.
The Roamio came with a 1/2 height 500GB 3.5 inch, I would be prepared for the Bolt to come with a 500GB 2.5 inch drive.
What will be interesting to see is what 6 tuner Bolt +, Pro or what ever is going to end up being called. I don’t think we have seen much if any info on that yet – wonder if it has a different release schedule or perhaps TiVo is waiting on the cable companies for some specs/requirement we don’t know about yet.
The Roamio Basic refurb is still available with a phone call to TiVo. Still $50 + $249 lifetime and a possible slide remote freebie.
I just cannot convince myself that I need a third Roamio for a total of 16 tuners (6+6+4) and cablecard on my Comcast bill. Anxious to see the Bolt Pro form factor though.
“Chucky: As we all know hard drives need to be kept away from excessive heat, the hottest area on the Roamio is the area near the COAX connection – TiVo put the hard drive as far from that area as they could. On the Bolt, to do the same puts the hard drive in the shorter section and assures it will be a 2.5 inch drive.”
You may well be correct, atmusky. But given the Roku 4 form factor, I think it’s fair to assume 4K silicon runs noticeably hotter than 1080 silicon. So who knows if the same thermodynamics of S5 apply to S6? Alternatively, who knows if the shaping of the S6 does a good enough job of heat dissipation to change the drive placement equation?
Again, you may well be correct. And I do appreciate your reasoning in this post. I just don’t think we can extrapolate from the S5 quite yet…
“The Roamio came with a 1/2 height 500GB 3.5 inch, I would be prepared for the Bolt to come with a 500GB 2.5 inch drive.”
May well be true. It’d just make me very unhappy with the implied max capacity. (Assuming I’m correct about 2.5″ A/V drives topping out at 1TB, it means anyone serious about their DVR will need external storage, which seems a Big Bag of Wrong to me. Even if 2TB A/V drives are coming, it’s still a downgrade.)
If this all plays out as speculated, I wouldn’t trade my S5 for an S6 with snappier OTT performance but less internal capacity / cumbersome and unreliable external storage for free.
I dunno. I still find this way more handsome than the base Roamio and Roamio OTA. They look cheap and plasticy, busy or even gaudy in some respects (with rubber feet prone to vanishing). I like the Bolt’s flat coloration and really appreciate that minimalist front panel with new simple logo. But unusual enclosures, like the original Boxee box or Slingbox 500, haven’t really been shown to move the needle. They’re not like phones we carry around on our person and are often tuned out or hidden in furniture.
Dave: The picture you had with the small side black and larger side white seemed to looks pretty good to me – assume it is the OTA only version based on how the web page was labeled. I would say that version (the part black & part white one) is on par with my Roamio’s looks.
I haven’t used my TiVo (I have an early generation Series 3, which required two CableCARDs) in many years, instead opting for WMC and HD Homerun.
However, now with Microsoft no longer supporting WMC at all, and their recent switch to the horrible Rovi guide data (several channels are wrong, football listings are all “TBA”, and no response at all to my reports of incorrect data), I am considering moving back to TiVo.
Would these new units have upgradeable storage? What are the networking capabilities? Is it possible at all to use these with HD Homerun as external tuners?
I actually love the look of these, it’s fun with something that isn’t the traditional boring box.
Has anyone considered they may be offering cloud space for DVR storage? Or is that too coat prohibitive for them?
BigJohnSudz, nothing like that at this time. However, one of their four TiVo Bolt trademark filings sort of leaves that door open. And I don’t think it’s be cost prohibitive, I think the issue would be bandwidth considerations in our homes.
Mike, TiVo Roamio and Premiere (4-tuner) beam live TV and recordings to TiVo Mini extender. It’s an economical and polished solution. There’s some indication a Fire TV or Roku app might be on the horizon and that would be pretty killer – but I expect we’d lose a little in pq and maybe not retain 5.1 audio. TiVo will not interoperate with the HDHomerun. Regarding upgradeable Bolt storage, guess we’ll have to wait for Weaknees to blog things after Bolt is officially announced. Roamio upgrades, up to 3TB, were cake. Above 3TB requires some effort.
@Mike, I too was a convert to WMC for several years after retiring my trusty Pioneer DVR-57 TiVo with DVD and lifetime to the closet. I’d say my WMC experience was mixed. It never realized the reliability of TiVo IMHO but I liked the flexibility. Given that WMC support is gone, I was looking at some of the MPC software alternatives when I was alerted to the recent Roamio/Lifetime deal (courtesy of Mr. Zatz) and I grabbed one and have been mighty pleased that I did so (so much so that I forked out for a second unit). You might consider a Roamio/Lifetime at the deal price to see if you like where TiVo has gone since your S3. You could likely find a buyer for the Roamio if you decide to go with the Bolt later. If you need the cablecard capable Roamio you’ll have to pay the (reduced) new price of $150 (the $50 refurbs are gone) or you could get OTA only for $50.
https://www.tivo.com/shop/promo/supersavings
In re-reviewing the filings, I do not believe there will be a different box or form factor at this time. Filings indicate same dimensions for all boxes (smaller than Roamio Basic) and no differences other than tuning and drive capacity.
Looks like a Serta i-comfort series. I’m sitting this one out…. Back to my crownies.
Based on everything you know so far, Dave, we’re still expecting three models of the Bolt, yes? Two will be cable (or cable/OTA) while the Aereo Edition model will be OTA only. From the leaked artwork, it appears the Aereo Edition unit’s case will be white and black, while one of the other two models will be completely white. I’m guessing it’s the lower end cable model that will be totally white and the higher end cable model (which we haven’t yet seen) will be totally black. And, as you just stated, all three will be the same size and shape.
If these units are all sporting 2.5″ HDDs with a max size of 1 or possibly 2 TB, I’m betting we’ll see TiVo offer supplemental cloud storage for long-term archiving of recordings. We know all three units will be able to transcode to MPEG4 (i.e. built-in TiVo Stream functionality). It’s not a stretch to think that these units will upload select recordings to the cloud too (perhaps for an additional small monthly fee). If Simple.TV can do it with their pending ShowDrive cloud DVR, I don’t see why TiVo wouldn’t dip their toe in too, if for no other reason than the marketing value of being “cloud-enabled”. All the cool kids are doing it now, dontcha know.
I don’t think it’s be cost prohibitive
I disagree, the prohibitive cost would be on the TiVo side. Bandwidth, servers, maintenance and electricity add up. Especially if you are providing the service to people that have paid a one time lifetime fee, with no more revenue coming in from them. Providing guide data to them is one thing, providing a server farm is another.
I’m only seeing 2 models coming in the inventory system I’m checking. 500GB and 1000GB. I see the base Roamio and Plus being marked as to be discontinued, but nothing on the Roamio Pro.
Perhaps the system is not completely updated, but is it also possible that TiVo is not replacing the Roamio Pro at this time??
Tim, if there are three models, my current thinking is the only differences would be tuning capabilities and drive size.
Wes, I would imagine a cloud DVR service would come with a storage fee – sort of like Aereo had tiers based on hours recorded. Outside of Lifetime, TiVo already collects a hefty service fee – yeah, some of it is hardware subsidy. But most of it is cheese (and why TiVo’s retail customers are way more lucrative than their MSO customers on a per head basis. But on a practical level, dealing with local network saturation, connectivity, and bandwidth caps make cloud DVR very hard with MPEG2. More reasonable if transcoding to MPEG4. But I still don’t know.
Also, there may be licensing issues at play – Boxee was OTA and was bought out before they had many customers. All or most other cloud DVRs, the company that licenses the content is also the one storing if off-site. Letting a third party (TiVo) archive the cable company’s content at their place could be a source of contention. I don’t know. Tim, me know when that ShowDrive is actually available in the US and if it’s any good.
Regarding the likelihood of cloud storage now, it’s not happening Maybe one day.
Mike, keeping a high-end Roamio around with more tuners and more storage could make sense for a number of reasons.
Well, I’ve been waiting to make a purchase and definitely want more tuners and capacity. I’m hoping that they don’t leave out the high-end Bolt. Would seem strange to me for the highest-end model in their line to be on an older platform.
I’m hearing a Fire TV app really is under development for what I believe to be retail folks … not sure if it’ll be announced now or that’s coming later. That’d be pretty huge. For me, anyway. :)
I think that would be great as well. I have a few Fire TV Sticks and although I wished the UI was snappier, I think they are great.
Well they almost certainly wouldn’t provide a server farm when they could use S3 from Amazon for storage but your other point is valid. Although if they offer lifetime service for the TiVo and Guide it wouldn’t preclude them from offering an extra cloud storage option for a monthly charge. Some would scream but I would find that reasonable.
I’d be more concerned with bandwidth speed and bandwidth caps to the home users. Maybe as things go MPEG-4 it’s a bit better than MPEG-2 but still… 250 gb caps and tons of video are dangerous. :)
Extra cloud storage for an additional small fee is what I was suggesting. It would only be used when the local HDD in the Bolt fills up and everything would be transcoded to MPEG4 before uploading. Yes, if you were constantly shifting stuff to and from the cloud, you could run into trouble with your ISP’s data caps (if you have any). I would see using it more for stuff you want to keep long-term or indefinitely. But who knows, instead of cloud storage, maybe TiVo will just push external add-on HDDs as the solution for those users who need more than 1 or 2 TB of storage.
As for keeping the Roamio Pro around as their current top-of-the-line model, that seems really weird. Is there any precedent of TiVo having done something like that before? Aside from the marketing awkwardness of two brand names, with the most expensive model sporting the older name, you’d have your most expensive model missing out on the biggest selling points of the Bolt, UHD streaming and a faster processor.
TiVo pulled an Apple – their online store is down. The announcement must be coming tonight.
http://www.tivo.com/shop/
Someone needs to call and try to order a Bolt.
If they have cloud storage I would rather you choose which content gets put in the cloud. For instance some recordings that aren’t as important would go to the cloud, while other could be stored locally. I wouldn’t want the TiVo to just use the cloud when the drive is full. Then everything would go there.
I can now confirm a 2.5″ drive. But we don’t yet know if it’s user replaceable/upgradeable. Or how difficult it might be.
Even if you can replace it, the limit is still 2TB for 2.5″ drives isn’t it?
I see that a 3TB, 2.5″ drive was released by Toshiba earlier this year and looks to be around $200.
Man is that ugly. White electronics are ugly, period. And I really, really hate the trend to f’ed up, asymmetrical designs. This is almost as bad as the newer Slingboxes. It just looks bent, like it was left out in the sun too long.
Ugliest TiVo ever.
I guess after looking further the 3TB drive is 15mm high. Which is very thick. Most devices can’t use a 2.5″ drive thicker than around 9.5mm. And that size tops out at 2TB.
So my new theory is no “Pro” model at this time. Maybe next spring we’ll see a Pro unit and a Bolt-design 4k Mini. I probably won’t be online tonight when the remain pieces of the puzzle break, someone fill me in tomorrow AM. :)
MZ, I edited your word choice – sorry man, I’m really not prudish, but the advertisers and Google flag for that sort of thing and they own me. :/ Did you ever plug in your Roamio?
aaronwt, this may not be for power users like you, me, Chucky. Although TiVo would probably tell you to put that eSATA port to work.
Yeah, the other question about 2.5″ drives is whether any exist that are both optimized for continuous video recording and streaming and which are high capacity (more than 1 or possibly 2 TB).
If the high-end Bolt comes with a hard drive smaller than the Roamio Pro (3 TB), I foresee a lot of griping among TiVo power users. Given that I stream a lot of stuff, I’ve yet to see the need to upgrade even the 500 GB drive in my Roamio OTA. But a lot of cable subscribers apparently like to archive entire seasons of shows on their TiVo.
“Well they almost certainly wouldn’t provide a server farm when they could use S3 from Amazon for storage”
and
“Extra cloud storage for an additional small fee is what I was suggesting. It would only be used when the local HDD in the Bolt fills up and everything would be transcoded to MPEG4 before uploading.”
To paraphrase Sam Raimi in Hudsucker Proxy:
Fellas. Fellas!
Ya got somethin’?
Fellas! I got somethin’!
Fellas, ya’ ever actually price S3 for video file storage no matter what the compression?
No. Ya got somethin’?
Fellas, it’s expensive.
You know. For kids…
As for cloud storage pricing, Simple.TV must have something figured out that’s far cheaper than Amazon S3. Hard to believe that a company (which is headed by a CEO with a cloud service background and which has just raised $5 mn in new funding) would publicly announce a new cloud DVR service that only charges 1 pound ($1.55) for 100 hours of monthly storage or 5 pounds ($7.75) for 100 hours if those rates were below cost. “Mr. VC Man, would you like to invest in our company? The business plan is to sell a new service at unprofitable prices that will burn through all of your infusion cash in a matter of months.”
If TiVo could offer supplemental cloud storage at similar rates, I could see some takers.
“I’ve yet to see the need to upgrade even the 500 GB drive … But a lot of cable subscribers apparently like to archive entire seasons of shows on their TiVo.”
They are the kings ’cause they swing amputation
Lose your arms, your legs to them it’s compilation
I can prove it to you watch the rotation
It all adds up to a funky situation
So get up get, get get down
3TB is a joke in yo town
Get up, get, get, get down
Lame 3TB wears the late crown
I happily pay for a competitive price for a comprehensive cable sub package only because I’ve got a TiVo to harvest that field of multicast.
3TB is, of course, a joke in yo town.
I archive most of what I record to my SAN, and eventually some gets archived to stored bare drives. A good chunk of my onboard 3TB is tied up with valued Time-Warner programming I can’t offload. Without this kind of situation, I’d be far less picky about my cable sub package.
I’ve always thought a cable sub is a bargain precisely of how much I can harvest off the multicast. If TiVo goes in a different direction, it’d be a damn shame for the whole ecosystem, to my eyes.
“I can now confirm a 2.5″ drive. But we don’t yet know if it’s user replaceable/upgradeable. Or how difficult it might be.”
S5 Forevah!
S6 = S4. You can’t say you haven’t been warned…
Snake people are badass!
Will have to do a debriefing tomorrow now that TiVo’s site is live with the new hardware. Two Bolts, in white, 500GB or 1TB. No Aereo edition at this time. Hm.
atmusky nails it with:
“The Roamio came with a 1/2 height 500GB 3.5 inch, I would be prepared for the Bolt to come with a 500GB 2.5 inch drive.”
And I nail it with:
“I was under the impression that A/V 2.5″ hard drives still maxed out at 1TB”
All your base are belong to stupid commenters.
1 Year of Service built in to the price?
Manual AutoHop?!?
Yes, press the ‘D’ button, but only works for specific channels.
“Yes, press the ‘D’ button, but only works for specific channels.”
(Crossing my fingers.) Please work with HBO. Please work with HBO.
That is friggin hilarious!
Where is the Bolt on the TiVo site? I don’t see anything here.
It was up for a moment and then came back down.
Why is TiVo putting the Remote Finder in the back? Seems like something you would want easy access to, and for most, the unit is in a cabinet or buried in an entertainment center of some sort… The other odd design choices aside (as they have been thoroughly beaten to death), I fail to see the value of hiding it on the back of the unit. If I misplace my remote, I have to pull my TiVo out at an angle to get behind it, or reach in and fumble around to press it. The location in Roamio was perfect and accessible.
If the new Bolt design looks nothing like previous designs, this news from last year might be why: http://www.wired.com/2014/01/tivo-lays-hardware-design-team-gets-ready-exit-hardware/
That article has been retracted quite a bit… Frankly, this is a pretty bold design, not some safe box – that doesn’t point to playing it safe.
(Not my style, but it does seem to be the trend)
I don’t think “third party” necessarily implies “safe.” If a new team worked on this, I assume they would want to prove themselves by offering new ideas. All speculation on my part, but it seemed like more than a coincidence to me.
This NY Post article indicates the new Tivos have a new Quickmode that allows you to watch shows 30% faster!
http://nypost.com/2015/09/29/tivos-quickmode-will-let-you-watch-shows-30-percent-faster/
Holy crap!! Did TiVo just raise the Lifetime service price to $599? Looking on the site it lists an All in Plan for the Bolt or Roamio Pro that costs a $599.99 one time payment. Or you can choose the yearly plan at $149.99.
It looks like a Diviner from Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Is TiVo trying to bring forth the Inhumans and turn the rest of us into dust? :-P