Having first unveiled “the new TiVo guy” way back in November, updated plastics have finally been observed in the wild… as you can see from the refreshed TiVo Stream 4K enclosure above. But it’s been something of a long slog for the company, which began updating online marketing materials in December followed by revised Android TV product packaging spotted in January. However, Xperi’s TiVo still isn’t quite finished, because…
Despite new dongle debossing, the remote control still features the old TiVo guy on the home button — in contrast to promotional materials seen on TiVo’s site and others. Further, the remote that my Twitter pal Rob picked up from Target, during the ongoing Stream sale, confirms it’s the original UEI hardware. So the question is, will TiVo simply silkscreen the new logo on the existing remote (someday) or take this opportunity to move to the cheaper Remote Solutions model?
In any event, an additional item we can glean from these machinations: TiVo clearly isn’t done with consumer sales. But they could be done with retail DVR. As Edge certainly seems to have taken a backseat, including having recently lost Best Buy distribution.
A year ago – heck, even 6 months ago, I would’ve been very concerned at the prospect of TiVo pulling out of the retail DVR business.
But then, by miracle, Silicon Dust produced another run of HDHomeRun Primes. Snagged a few of those and installed Channels …. And now I’ve got my doomsday plan. Which, unless there’s some huge feature in Channels I’m missing, may get fully executed. We’re an Apple house so already have Apple TV’s everywhere….
TiVo will continue to support existing retail DVRs for years to come, so I don’t think there’s any worry there of a complete blackout. I just don’t think there will be much development work or new models. And it’s possible guide data and commercial skip will continue to degrade. I did replace TiVo with Channels, also leveraging a HDHR Prime (although mine was from an earlier run).
OK.. I bit the bullet and finally ordered 2x HDHR Prime devices based on these comments.. I’ve already been dabbling with channels, and TVE doesn’t seem to be getting me all the channels. FWIW, if you order right from Silicon Dust, the 3 tuner Prime has a coupon code to get it for $50 off right now (PRIME2020), maximum of 2..
I dont think I’ll give up my Tivos before I need to, and actually the longevity of Comcast support of Cable cards might be the first to go, but this will be fun to play with..
So what is everybody’s solution when Cable Cards eventually die? Channels looks interesting, but hesitant to invest in HDHR devices when they could be killed off when Cable Cards die.
I’m not worried about CableCards disappearing anytime soon, at least for me. Verizon’s entire AAA mechanism for ALL of their set-top boxes (even the FiOS One) is CableCard-based. They’ll have millions and millions of STBs to replace. So whatever affects me, will affect them a million fold. Whatever comes next, I would expect to be IP-based, and hopefully Channels’ TVE support would expand to support it. Frankly, “most” of my Fios channels are already TVE-enabled. Just have to get the rest of them there.
If not, I’ll worry about it then.
TiVo users have been “Chicken Littling” the CableCard thing for a decade now. I’m not going to let the what-ifs get in the way of progress.
Dennis, that’s easy for us to say on FiOS – we have it good (for a long time). Comcast has been moving things to fiber, which could impact tuning, and others like Optimum misapply the CCI Byte and block access to most, if not all, programming. Even on FiOS, Fox networks are out of reach via HDHR and CableCARD. Also, direct consumer support of CableCARD is different than the prepaired hardware they issue – speaking to your point of millions.
We’re looking to possibly move this summer. If we do, we’ve discussed just not picking up cable on the other side. Probably just OTA DVR and the sorts of streaming content we pay for now (Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, Paramount). So much great content and only so many hours in the day, plus we’re no longer the college football junkies we once were (and, thus, don’t really need those particular cable channels anymore).
Why are Fox networks out of reach?
I mean, I didn’t care for a while about missing FoxNews, but last time we moved, BBCA had the same issue with CableCARD and TiVo. We didn’t have BBCA on the prior plan. After enough time on hold, customer service was able to correct it when given explicit instructions from a Fios forum post on how to fix it. The installer sat on hold with them until they got it done.
Two scenarios, sometimes overlapping — cablecos can misapply copy protection (overstep imo) and Silicon Dust may not handle flags/situations ideally. I think they were supposed to be working on improvements. But for this specific FiOS matter, we’re not just talking Fox News, but bipartisan content to include FX, FS1, etc. It’s been going on for years.
https://forums.verizon.com/t5/Fios-TV-Technical-Assistance/CableCard-Problem-No-more-Fox-channels-Copy-Once-Flag-Turned-on/td-p/798274
For one-offs like your BBCA, it was probably just an incorrectly paired card. Either I never knew or I forgot why some channels would come through but not others. May have had to do with frequency.
Wait does HDHR not support CCI byte? If so, then that isn’t even an option. I’m on Cox and they flag pretty much everything except the ABC, CBS, NBC, etc.
They support it, but not to the same degree as TiVo, if memory serves. HDHR relays all content (vs being a HDMI-connected display device) so they implemented to the slightly different scenario even tho in practical terms the use case is the same. Anyway, I only half remember all this. PCMCIA was antiquated even before CableCARDs arrived… haha. But FiOS has always been the best place for CableCARD, irrespective of attached hardware.
Dave, that’s the thread. On page 2 there’s a fix from ynk1121, message 19 in the thread. Combine with the extra information in message 23 about the data id changing. It looks like message 25 confirms its still happening the same way with TiVO in 2020. We moved a few years ago now and the issue was already years old by then too. It didn’t work on our prior account and fixing it after the move was on my list.
As soon as they did this for me, all the Fox stations and BBCA started to work. I didn’t care about Fox News, but FS1, FS2 and FX plus BBCA were all impacted too. Not sure how BBCA ended up in there, but I wasn’t letting the installer leave until all the channels were fixed. They had already messed up the appointment, account move between states, and the CableCARD delivery and almost couldn’t find one then. The tech literally read that that forum post over the phone and it solved everything.
At least for a TiVo on Fios. Not ready to give up cable TV everywhere, and our Roamio and minis have paid for themselves vs cablebox fees by now.
PS: We’ve got all the streamers too, it’s like a tech party depending on the room. But, TiVo get’s the most use for random times. While the streamers are appointment watching.
Is there more information on moving from Tivo to a HDHR setup with Channels?
Looking for options and I saw that Dave is using this
Andre, Channels is a bit more geeky but very flexible and well done. You’d need a ‘server’ which could be a computer, a NAS, a Pi, or a SHIELD (like me). Then you’ll need a source like a HDHR OTA, HDHR Prime, TVE, Locast or a combination of any. For example, I do FiOS TV via Prime for everything but Disney Jr which I do FiOS TVE to get HD. Also I occasionally have a HDHR OTA online, not that I really need the extra tuners. For playback, you can use Apple TV, Fire TV, Android TV or mobile devices.
https://getchannels.com/plus/
I have 3 Tivo Streams they work great!! Best 40 bucks I’ve spent
TiVo stream. So much promise but not really good any anything. I have away 7 of them.
I used TiVo for 20 years,… had every model at least once. I finally called it quits when I got my last TiVo box last year and Optimum refused to perm the cable card. I’m now on Android tv and also cable free. Not as good as TiVo was. I don’t get how the best product failed. I even owned their dog of a stick for a while.
They are still having playback issues with youtube tv. Got mine on Saturday everything works fine except youtube tv.