Ryan & Amanda Keefer's Personal Site: Cycling, Family, Tech, Music, Software & Game Reviews, etc.
// October 13th, 2010 // No Comments » // TiVo Bytes
I’ve been wanting this for years, complimenting the online scheduling of shows on our TiVos. I’m glad they’ve finally allowed for access to TiVo’s Season Pass manager.
// September 21st, 2010 // No Comments » // TiVo Bytes
As if I don’t have enough reasons to hate Time Warner Cable. Granted us TiVo users on the TWC systems are a minority, but we are paying customers, and everyone with a TiVo HD, TiVo Series 3 or TiVo Premiere on Time Warner Cable are at the lowest, a digital cable subscriber. You’d think TWC would do everything in their power to work with the FCC mandates, and make it so more people could access their on-demand services. Sure, it’s going to cost them some dough up front, but in the long run, they’re the ones who win. Oh well. I’m not in the least surprised that Time Warner is short-sighted and doesn’t get it.
// August 27th, 2010 // No Comments » // Tech, TiVo Bytes, TV Talk
Finally, we get a glimpse of the oft rumored next generation DirecTiVo hardware. Sounds like it’s been delayed.. yet again — this time probably into 2011. No surprises there, though not really sure how these evolutionary (versus revolutionary) boxes can be so difficult to design and manufacture.
// May 16th, 2010 // No Comments » // Tech, TiVo Bytes, TV Talk
I love this client/server model that DirecTV’s releaed to compete with TiVo’s multi-room viewing. But, for DirecTV customers, this Whole Home DVR is a lot cheaper than having TiVos, or DVR’s of any brand, for that matter. It means you have a central DVR, hopefully with a nice big hard drive. Then any other TVs in the house have a box cable of talking to that big DVR, and streaming content, with a monthly price of $3 per room, with a max of 15. That’s right, if you have 15 (actually 16), you can stream DVR content to them all at $3 a piece per month.
// April 26th, 2010 // No Comments » // HDTV Bits, Tech, TiVo Bytes
Finally, the often rumored 802.11n adapter for the TiVo is out. It’s pricey at $90, but anyone that uses multi-room viewing (SD or especially HD). I first saw a press release, and it only mentioned the new Series 4 TiVo Premiere and TiVo Premiere XL. TiVo’s site itself clarifies that it’s compatible with all dual tuner standalone TiVo DVRs.
Sadly, going to 802.11n won’t help download those movies from Amazon and Blockbuster any faster, but seems like it’s essential for multi-room viewing across multiple TiVos in a household where Ethernet isn’t available or an option. Sadly, the more TiVos you have, the more of these you’d have to shell out. One of these days, TiVo will follow the lead of the Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3, a lot of blu-ray players and a whole bunch of other devices, and include the wireless networking adapter inside the DVR’s hardware. Till then, this is your best option.
// April 3rd, 2010 // No Comments » // Tech, TiVo Bytes
So here’s some good news for all of those TiVo fanboys out there who have snagged, or are going to snag TiVo’s newest hardware/software combo. TiVo is soon releasing a modified peanut remote control that has a full QWERTY keyboard. But as of now, it looks like most wireless computer keyboards will work. Plus, like the TiVo HD, there is IP control available, which means the Android Apps and the App Store for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad will soon have plenty of virtual controllers that are compatible with the Series 4 TiVo.
// March 28th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // TiVo Bytes, Video
Hmm, not a big fan of the TiVo startup video sequence below that’s featured on the fourth generation TiVo DVRs. I definitely prefer our TiVo HD’s startup video (the second clip). Having the beagle in the clip helps, but overall, I just think it looks more polished!
// March 25th, 2010 // No Comments » // HDTV Bits, Tech, TiVo Bytes
Cnet just posted a first impression review write-up and video on the first Series 4 TiVo DVR, and it reiterates my gut reaction on the new product.
Basically, if you’ve been suffering through the digital video recording sector with one of the cable (or satellite) companies’ DVRs, the TiVo Premiere will be a huge step forward in usability, reliability and just general usage day-to-day.
If you’re already a Series 3 or TiVo HD customer, other than the HD menus, and the sped up search and Flash-based interface, at launch of this product, there’s not really a compelling reason for us to upgrade.
// March 22nd, 2010 // No Comments » // HDTV Bits, Tech, TiVo Bytes
Anyone who’s got a HD capable TiVo, television with a CableCARD slot or a CC multimedia PC knows how much fo an utter nightmare the cable companies have made the current “open” standard that is CableCARD. I love the fact that the FCC is consulting with companies like TiVo on its next attempt. I am also excited that satellite companies will be included in this next standard. Call me a cynic, but I’m pretty sure Time Warner, Comcast and others will find ways to screw this up!
CableCARD Replacement Due by Dec 2012, Bandaids By This Fall
// March 11th, 2010 // No Comments » // Tech, TiVo Bytes
Lately, it’s been the TiVo and Cycling blog here at Keefer Madness, eh? When I saw this headline regarding TiVo, I thought, “Yeah, we’ve been able to do this with Multi-Room Viewing (MRV for short) for many years”, albeit with some limitations, many due to overly restrictive rules and regulations put in place by the broadcaers or original content owners. Many, myself included were hoping the latest announcement of new Series 4 TiVo would also mean updates and upgrades to the existing hardware’s software and things like MRV.
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