TiVo’s latest opt-in content downloads are a series of weekly 15 minute product reviews during the holiday season. I find this material far more compelling than the random Navy football clips last month. This seems to be a win-win situation for TiVo: another method of generating advertising revenue while hopefully entertaining us subscribers. As with other recent TiVo innovations, this is limited to networked Series 2 models.
TiVo continues to experiment with their pricing model. In September they began requiring a one year commitment or face a $150 termination fee when activating a new or used box. Now they’re running a promotion which offers a free low-end TiVo without requiring a rebate. While that sounds appealing, notice that the monthly rate has … Read more
TiVo has reversed course and is offering a priority request page for those of you with a Series 2 hankering for Overlap Protection and the bug fixes found in 7.2.1. Requests are usually filled the next business day, though it could take up to three days depending on demand. So grab your TSN and head … Read more
I don’t have many details on this yet… Last week TiVo attorney Henry Goldberg and Vice President Matthew Zinn met with the FCC Chariman’s Media Legal Advisor. TiVo says: The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the background and status of the development of cable cards and TiVos efforts in that regard.
Though TiVo’s partnership with Netflix may have fallen apart, it hasn’t deterred them from pressing forward with their Internet strategy. Several news sources have revealed TiVo will begin serving up Yahoo! content using server-based HME technology, similar to the Fandango collaboration. The first apps slated for delivery are weather, traffic, and personal Yahoo! photo collections. … Read more
TiVo has partnered with Yahoo! to provide online scheduling via Yahoo! TV. One must link a Yahoo! account with a TiVo web account to utilize the service. While this new scheduling functionality is redundant, Yahoo! provides an easily browsed grid guide which is conspicuously absent from TiVo’s site. Previously, TiVo and AOL had a similar … Read more
Here’s a little more info and picture pr0n covering TiVo’s last Series 2 software release of 2005.
New Feature
The year concludes with a long overdue capability…
Notable Bug Fix
This doesn’t impact a whole lot of TiVo owners, though it’s a welcome correction.
Minor Enhancements
These are subtle changes which may or may not be apparent… they keyword is minor.
I assume there are the typical bug fixes and tweaks under the hood, and perhaps some unrevealed enhancements preparing for future TiVo services and HME-style applications as well. One can also hope that, despite the death of the Netflix deal, the technology has been put in place to provide VOD services via new partners.
It looks like TiVo system software 7.2.1 has begun rolling out for Series 2 models. As I previously reported, the highlight of this release is Overlap Protection – a method to deal with the networks staggering the traditional beginning and ending times of shows without missing a recording. Everything else appears to be under the … Read more