Looks like I only managed to get half the story last Sunday – it was literally the last 5 minutes of the event and I missed a critical piece of the equation. Thursday AM I managed to swing by TiVo’s booth and got a bit more information…
In addition to manually configuring video folder monitoring on a PC as I reported, TiVo users will also be able to subscribe to categorized video podcasts on-box. For example, in the screenshot above we’re looking at the upcoming merged TiVoCast + Web Video area, within the Comedy section. We’ll still need a PC and TiVo Desktop to manage the downloads and perform video conversions, but this isn’t nearly as geeky as I thought. (Though, keeping the PC on will still be a conceptual hurdle for many.) The advanced Desktop option is pretty much for folks who aren’t offered the feeds they want via the TiVo interface, already have iTunes configured, or have other sorts of video (BitTorrent?) they’d like to auto-convert.
Both the TiVo update and new PC Desktop software (2.6) are scheduled for a March delivery. And while I couldn’t get anything specific out of TiVo, they seemed quite aware of their Mac clientèle and the additional video playback capabilities of the Series3/HD platform… I think it’s safe to assume that we’ll be seeing Mac support and less PC transcoding at a later date.
Megazone covers more of the technical details, including linking of your online account to the Desktop software and TiVo utilizing XMPP. It could be worth a read.
Very recently I have begun using Juice to automatically download video podcasts and dump them in the TiVo folder. I then check every few days to see what’s in the folder and then transfer the new stuff to the TiVo.
The new TiVo Desktop will be quite handy for me as it will eliminate the step of checking and transferring.
Also, I thought Megazone’s write up was really good and I was fascinated by the new behind-the-scenes stuff going on.
I just want folders. Folders, folders, folders. With folders I wouldn’t have to actively manage my Tivo folder anywhere near as much. And conversions in the middle of the night. And a more reliable “Select which video to transfer” that doesn’t bomb out if there are network problems. And a Tivo Desktop that loads in less than 5 minutes. And…
Still happy that I can any of this at all though, so I’ll just shut up now.