DIRECTV to Introduce Additional TiVo Features

Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2007 by MegaZone

/~ It’s the end of the world as we know it… ~/

*Checks calendar* No, July 31 is not April 1. *looks outside* I don’t see anything falling from the sky – no toads, locusts, or brimstone. *checks weather* It is 94F in Hell (Michigan). Not frozen over.

Well, after eliminating the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, is the truth.

So, it looks like DirecTV and TiVo have warmed up their relationship somewhat.

DIRECTV, Inc. (NYSE:DTV), the nation’s leading satellite television service provider, and TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ:TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVR), will develop a software upgrade to enhance the user experience for DIRECTV customers who have DIRECTV DVRs with TiVo(R) service built on the Series2(TM) platform.

Launching in early 2008, the new software download will provide these customers with DVR enhancements offered with the TiVo service, including a Recently Deleted Folder and Overlap Protection(TM), as well as DIRECTV’s Remote Booking feature. In addition, DIRECTV and TiVo will continue to explore ways to bring future enhancements to DIRECTV customers with TiVo receivers.

Remote Booking is basically online scheduling, so it sounds like the USB ports might be enabled for networking – unless they plan to rely on the phone line. But using the network is much more responsive and makes for a better feature. That could open the door for more network-based features, like music & photos, HME, TTG, etc. But I wouldn’t hold my breath for those just yet, not after it took this long for DirecTV to adopt just these features. Still, this is a good sign – and maybe lends some more hope to a real reconciliation between DirecTV and TiVo once Liberty Media assumes control of DTV.

Posted in DirecTV, Press Release, TiVo | 1 Comment

Progress toward expanding the TiVo HD

Posted on Monday, July 30, 2007 by MegaZone

One of the things discovered soon after the TiVo HD started getting into users’s hands is that the traditional MFSTools used to prepare larger drives for installation do not work on the TiVo HD. No one had been successful with installing a larger drive in a TiVo HD. And that appears to include the resellers – DVRUpgrade.com and WeaKnees.com.

I had an email exchange with Lou Jacob of DVRupgrade.com today and he told me that the pre-orders for the expanded TiVo HD were based on the expectation of the existing tools working. His best guess is that WeaKnees is in the same boat.

He said they’re open to commissioning someone to re-write MFSTools and they’d return the modified version to the community. (So, if you’re a hacker who thinks they can pull if off, there’s a potential job.) TiVo is not working with DVRupgrade.

The good news is that someone has made progress. Over at TiVoCommunity.com, user Spike2k5 has posted his success. You may remember him from the ‘Kickstart 62′ discovery. He also runs MFSLive.org which has been the home to the MFSTools. The traditional tools are based off of a Linux boot CD. However, Spike2k5 has been working on a new tool that will run directly under Windows – WinMFS.

He has the alpha version of WinMFS working on the TiVo HD and he’s posted a screenshot of a TiVo HD with a 500GB drive as well as preview screenshots of the tool. It isn’t up for download yet, but Spike says it is coming soon.

And before the conspiracy theories start, this does not look like a deliberate effort by TiVo to disabled expansion. Spike says it looks like TiVo made changes to MFS (the file system) to support 64-bit addressing. The existing system couldn’t support more than 2TB of capacity, total. And with 1TB drives out now, it is possible to max out a unit with 2x1TB. Spike isn’t sure yet if they’ve actually lifted this cap in the OS, or if they’re just laying the groundwork with the change to MFS for future software.

My advice to anyone who pre-ordered an expanded unit is to remain calm and be patient. Since Spike already has it working, it is clearly not an insurmountable obstacle. Spike believes MFSTools could be re-written to handle this, but it would take more time than he has right now so he may not do it right away. But it is open source, anyone else who has the skills could do it. And both DVRupgrade and WeaKnees have a lot at stake – profits from selling expanded units – so that’s motivation to find someone to do the work sooner rather than later. Perhaps they’ll hire Spike to do it – getting paid has a tendency to increase the priority of a project.

Keep in mind the box has only been out one week at this point. If having an expanded unit is critical for you, just wait a little while and the tools will be out there.

Posted in TiVo | 1 Comment

The company behind TiVo’s Verizon application – Action Engine

Posted on Monday, July 30, 2007 by MegaZone

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has an article on Redmond, WA based Action Engine. Action Engine is the company that created the phone application for TiVo that is the basis for Verizon Wireless’s $1.99/month service which allows users to schedule recordings from their phone, and more.

In addition to MSNBC, Action Engine has signed a deal with TiVo so that mobile phone users of the digital video recording service can select shows to record while away from their TV sets. The mobile TiVo service is marketed through Verizon for $1.99 per month, with Action Engine taking a small cut of that transaction.

Posted in General Tech, TiVo | Leave a comment

A profile of Sling Media’s Blake Krikorian

Posted on Monday, July 30, 2007 by MegaZone

From WolrdScreen.com, the folks who brought us a profile of Sling Media’s Jason Hirschhorn, comes a profile of their founder and CEO, Blake Krikorian.

Posted in Sling Media | Leave a comment

The TiVo HD is now available from Amazon

Posted on Saturday, July 28, 2007 by MegaZone

The TiVo HD is now available from Amazon. It took them a few days to get it up there, but it is now up on their site for pre-order. I’ve also added it to the TiVo Lovers Store. Purchasing from the TL store or through these Amazon links helps support the site – and is appreciated.

As always, if you activate a new TiVo the TiVo Rewards Referrals are also appreciated.

Posted in TiVo | Leave a comment