I’ve long been a proponent of hub and spoke video distribution model and the 2013 TiVo Mini single-handily kept me in the fold. Dropping the TiVo extender’s service fee only sweetened the deal. However, I’ve long pined for a wireless iteration having been blessed with solid coverage – now cranked to 11 with eero.
Yet, it wasn’t meant to be as TiVo CMO Ira Bahr implies consistent performance and support could be an issue:
We currently do not have a wireless Mini on the roadmap. We deliver the highest quality MPEG2 without major compression. The TiVo Mini is truly an extention of our core product, and as such should work with the same quality as you experience from your main TV.
Unfortunately, TiVo’s half-baked Amazon Fire TV app doesn’t fill this void for me either. But with Minis as inexpensive as they are (and often on sale), I’ll give them a pass on this point and recently tricked out our baby’s bedroom with another box.
With or without wireless, the TiVo Mini is long overdue for a refresh. I’d originally anticipated we’d see something this year to complement the TiVo Bolt, in both appearance and 4k capabilities. But they’ve had a lot on their plate and it’s looking like next year.
We originally released the Mini in 2012 and it’s definitely due for a refresh. Look to the first half of next year for an update to the Mini that will be UHD 4K compatible.