The Evolution of TiVo Remotes

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Gizmodo has gone back in time to document the evolution of the TiVo peanut remote, including a few unique images – such as molds and prototypes.

What caught my eye were images of a remote stand (where can I get a couple?) and discussions of a more text-entry friendly remote. For some time, I thought an Xbox-style Chatpad would be the way to go. However the Vudu (scrollwheel), Wii (motion sensor), and FiOS TV DVR (triple tap) have proven there are more efficient ways to “type” without squeezing a full-on keyboard into the remote.

And while we’re talking TiVo remotes, over the years my two favorites have been the Toshiba SD-H400 (other than ‘zero’ key placement) and the Series3/Glo (below). Additional info on Series3/Glo remote improvements over the Series2/THD can be found here.

8 thoughts on “The Evolution of TiVo Remotes”

  1. I’m pretty sure that the remote “stand” you saw was just the 5 (and soon 10) year employees service awards.

  2. Yah, but I’m happy to take a few without the inscription plate on the back. Heck, leave the inscription on there – “Years of dedicated TiVo blogging, some of it positive.” ;)

  3. I like what several people thought it was – a rechargeable remote with a charger dock. Given the battery door placement on the remote, some enterprising vendor could produce a replacement battery pack and door with charger contacts and a stand like that.

  4. Nice article. I knew there were different iterations of the remote, but I didn’t know there was that many. A remote with a battery pack and charging stand like that would be neat, but really, the batteries in my S2 remote last around a year each, I don’t see a recharger and stand making much money.

  5. My Glo/S3 remotes seem to be pretty well on batteries (despite other reports online) so I have no immediate need or desire to invest in a charging base. I had a Panasonic razor with an inductive charging stand and I’ve seen a move (which will fail) to produce charging mats and phone back plate replacements. As it was, my former Harmony 880(s) had a tough time lining up their contacts to charge and would randomly beep.

  6. That article was cool and very un-Gizmodo-like, lol. I have to say that TiVo remote spoiled me to the point where I refuse to use my universal remotes — I love super-convenient access to 15- and 30-second skips and Pause/Play button.

    Glo remote is really cool and, had I known it had programmable buttons, I’d bought it sooner. I mapped Input to toggle aspect ratio on my TV and Mute to toggle CC, so now I hardly need my TV remote at all :)

    P.S. Glo’s battery life seems to depend on how much you watch in the dark. That’s pretty much all I do and I’ve had to change batteries just this past weekend (it’s been a few months).

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