Zatz Not Funny!

TiVo Heads Back To The Future (with new hardware partners)

There’s always a few hidden gems that turn up at CES. And 2017 is no exception, with HD Guru uncovering an unannounced TiVo Philips partnership. The initiative seemingly confirms TiVo’s intent to diversify their retail hardware business, with Philips preparing a line of over-the-air TiVo-powered personal video recorders (PVR). The mash-up is also notable given the companies* history, having launched the very first TiVo together way back in 1999.

The two-tuner prototype on display was a pretty nondescript black set-top, appearing to reuse an existing enclosure at this phase of development. Marketing imagery at the show indicates the DVRs will feature a “built-in EPG powered by TiVo for an intuitive program navigation, selection, and recording experience.” Further, the integrated wireless networking of at least one model will provide “smooth streaming of live or recorded video on your home network” — unlike most existing, native TiVo experiences, which also facilitate out-of-home streaming to iPads and the like.

The interface, as pictured in the booth, looks nothing like the current or upcoming TiVo UI. It’s not clear to me if the Roku-esque presentation is merely a placeholder, if TiVo is creating something new for partners, or if Philips is merely relying on TiVo-tech underpinnings and the Rovi guide. In any event, the cord cutting market could certainly benefit from additional players in this space and Philips appears to have been seeking retailer feedback at the show as they march towards a September release.

TiVo & Roku Introduce Screen Readers To Satisfy FCC

As I indicated back in November when the TiVo 20.6.3 software update starting rolling out, “the cool stuff” wasn’t quite ready and this revision was mostly “unremarkable” bug fixes. However, one item I was unaware of until recently is the launch of a significantly enhanced screen reader (as displayed in the SD settings above) to meet a December 20th FCC deadline. I’m no expert in this area, but TiVo’s accessibility feature seems quite comprehensive in providing the visually impaired audible cues inui menuing, during playback, and while perusing the guide.

Video content information, setup options and configuration changes are now optimized to interacts with Screen Reader. Your TiVo is programmed to read menus, program descriptions, channel numbers and similar selected options in a way that is optimized to interpret acronyms and similar formatting. The entire guide is not audible, so not all visible text will be read. Only one program at a time, when a show is highlighted/selected, is audible. Program information displayed on the screen, but not necessarily from the Guide, is also audible.

The TiVo Screen Reader is toggled by holding down the TiVo Bolt, Roamio, Premiere, or Mini remote’s A button for two seconds, so feel free to take it for a spin. Just be aware that the screen reading doesn’t have its own volume adjustment and that PCM audio will replace Dolby Digital — you’ll have to manually flip it back if/when moving on from the Reader.

Similarly, Roku also launched an “Audio Guide” in November… that seems decidedly less well-rounded than TiVo’s implementation in my brief test. While Roku supposedly provides advanced customization, it wasn’t available on my TCL television.

AirTV arrives… without OTA guide integration

In what one customer suggests “feels like a bait & switch,” AirTV has shipped without its primary selling point enabled. Instead of directly integrating over-the-air television content into the Sling TV guide, there is merely a button to launch the separate, Google-produced Live Channels OTA app. Further, the promised Netflix integration may also be incomplete leading … Read more

TiVo’s Amazon Video App Updated For 2017

Over the last few days, TiVo Bolt, Roamio, Premiere, and Mini units have been updated with a refreshed Amazon Video app to more closely mirror the latest experience deployed to other platforms like Roku and Amazon’s own Fire TV. Beyond the large tiles and left column navigation, as pictured on my Roamio, two notable enhancements are … Read more

The Tablo Update & Giveaway

Cord cutting featured prominently at CES this month, including a pair of announcements by our pals at Tablo.

Later this year, they’ll offer an Android TV app that provides local television playback with DVR capabilities. Even more interesting is the upcoming Tablo Live dongle ($99) that connects to an antenna and beams your favorite programming around the home to Roku, Xbox, iPad, etc. Even better? They’re working on a cloud storage companion.

Beyond these new goodies, the company continues to enhance the compelling Tablo OTA DVR that comes in 2- and 4-tuner models. Connect an antenna and a hard drive to watch both live and recorded content from a variety of clients within the home… or beyond. And, lucky you, here’s your opportunity to win my 2-tuner evaluation model with three months of service thrown in.

Slingbox Manufacturing Halted… In Favor Of Video Production Ecosystem

In a move that probably surprises to no one, I can confirm reports that Echostar subsidiary Sling Media halted Slingbox production last year.

Sling Media, the video place-shifting pioneer, has stopped manufacturing Slingbox units, but will continue to sell Slingboxes that remain still in stock, Satellite Business News reported in its January 6 issue.

In fact, this seems like such an obvious and natural progression given the state of the industry and what I assume have been poor, waning sales, it didn’t even occur to me to blog the development. Of course, Slingbox was Blake Krikorian’s pioneering and liberating technology that brought us TV Everywhere before that phrase had been coined. Yet we always suspected it was something of a transitional approach, with much of that video streaming functionality now offered directly via television providers — originating either from their set-tops or the cloud. Granted, it’s more locked down and ad-infested – but also way more accessible to the general populace.

The Slingbox M1, introduced back in 2014, is effectively the last Slingbox… as it was rebranded the M2 in 2015, featuring no hardware changes but an expanded focus on advertising — part of a last ditch effort to justify the businesses continued existence. Similarly, that Slingbox hardware was intended to be partially repurposed as AirTV… but that was ultimately replaced by a different technical approach and outsourced hardware production.

Fortunately, existing owners have nothing to fear in the short term as Slingbox services will carry-on. Although I wouldn’t hold out hope for much in the way of application enhancements.

So what comes next?

AirTV in Action

Cord Cutters News has posted a video demonstration of AirTV from CES… and it sure looks intriguing. AirTV is a small Android set-top that comes bundled with a USB tuner ($130) and boots directly into Sling TV. While you don’t actually need to be a subscriber of the streaming service, there’s no point in picking up … Read more

TiVo Needs Your Help Testing Cloud DVR

As revealed last year, TiVo was prepping a cloud DVR service option for retail hardware, with indications that over-the-air television recordings originating from Roamio, Bolt, and upcoming Mavrik devices will be stored and streamed remotely. While this is a CES no-show, we know work continues. Indeed, TiVo needs your help as they fine tune the offering. … Read more