TiVoPony just announced that TiVo Desktop 2.5 for Windows is about to ship – probably tomorrow (Tuesday). The main differences are:
TiVoBlog spotted it first.
WeaKnees announced in their blog that they’re shipment of TiVo HDs has arrived and they’re now shipping expanded TiVo HD boxes.
I checked in with DVRupgrade and they tell me that, according to the tracking info, they’ll receive their TiVo HD shipment tomorrow and will immediately begin installing the upgraded drives and shipping them back out. So they should be shipping tomorrow, Wednesday at the latest.
Also, DVRupgrade is also donating an original Series3 to the upcoming TiVoCon in Orlando, FL, happening over Labor Day Weekend. A winner will be randomly selected and they’ll ship the unit directly to the winner.
As I previously reported the new TiVo HD has suffered from some video issues, primarily macroblocking on digital channels. TiVo released an update, 8.1.7b1-01-2-652, on August 1st to correct some of the video issues. However, as you can see from the images below, there are still some issues in this release. TiVo is aware of the issues, and they continue to work on updates to correct them.
Based on user discussion on TiVoCommunity.com (see my previous post for direct links to some of the threads), it seems that the problems occur primarily with Scientific Atlanta CableCARDs, especially S-Cards. Users with Motorola cards and M-Cards don’t seem to suffer the issues with the same frequency, though it seems that they may not be immune.
These images illustrate some of the macroblocking on digital channels with CableCARD. All six of these were captured tonight from my local digital Fox channel, which was being received as a 720p signal, within a single 10 minute window. These were captured under software revision 8.1.7b1-01-2-652, the current software. I have Charter Digital Cable using Scientific Atlanta S-Cards. There were a few other, minor, glitches during this time that I didn’t bother to photograph. Note that these glitches happened as bursts – just a second, less than a second really. Most of the time the image is OK, then there will be burst of macroblocking, and back to normal.
If you’re experiencing these issues, do note that TiVo is aware of them and is working on additional updates to correct them. You should still contact customer support as more data points may help find a solution. Keep in mind that you have a 30-day window to return the unit, so try to be patient. If the problem isn’t fixed near the end of your return window, you can still return it before the 30-days is up.
If you haven’t picked up the TiVo HD yet, you should consider these issues first – especially if you live in an area that uses Scientific Atlanta CableCARDs. If you don’t want to risk experiencing the issue and you can’t live with it until TiVo issues a patch, you may want to hold off on picking up a TiVo HD until the final fix has been issued.
I do think this is a great product and it will be a success, once these teething issues are resolved.
Yahoo! has updated their Yahoo! TV pages to expand their support for recording on TiVo. From the Yahoo! TV Blog:
* TiVo Series 2 and TiVo Series 3 receivers supported. We previously only supported Series 2 TiVo receivers.
* Manage multiple TiVo devices. Users with multiple TiVo devices can now program all of their TiVos through our service, choosing which TiVo records which shows.
* Easy to read receiver names. We now display your DVR name, as you’ve set at TiVo.com, as receiver name. So for users with multiple devices, you’ll no longer need to guess which TiVo box you’re recording to with a numeric device name. We now display whatever name you associate to your TiVo boxes.
Users who have previously registered their TiVo(s) with Yahoo! TV will need to re-sync their TiVo account with Yahoo! to enable the new features. If you haven’t used the service in the past, you can sign up now.
Spotted via Troy on TiVo.
The new TiVo HD comes with five new introductory videos pre-loaded in Now Playing. TiVo Shanan just uploaded the first three of those to YouTube. (Hopefully she’ll upload the final two soon.)
