What I’d Like To See Out of TiVo’s Facebook Integration

Posted on Thursday, September 22, 2011 by MegaZone

TiVo Logo My last post about TiVo’s announced Facebook integration reminded me of a comment I left on their Facebook page several months ago when they asked what users would like to see from such a move.

This is a bit free form since it was an off-the-cuff Facebook comment, but this is what I’d like to see from TiVo integrating with Facebook, and social media in general. It sounds like they’ll actually be covering a few of these bases in the functionality they’ve announced.

Let us *automatically* sync our Season Passes and Auto-Record Wishlists to Facebook and share them with friends – don’t make us maintain a separate list on FB.

Let us recommend shows to FB friends that they can accept and have it automatically setup a recording on their TiVo. You can have it set to manually approve recommendations, or auto-accept all of them. I see these slotting it just above TiVo Suggestions – they only record if nothing else is recording, just like TiVo Suggestions. They delete second – after all TiVo Suggestions are deleted these are deleted. And should have their own ‘Friend’s Suggestions’ group in the NPL.

Let us rate/recommend shows right from the TiVo and have it update our Walls. Even include comments – I could see this helping to sell a few Slide Remotes. ;-)

Not directly FB related, but how about integrating support for Miso? https://gomiso.com/ (I don’t use it, but I see a lot of Wall posts from people who do. If I could do it from my TiVo, I might.)

Let me setup special groups of friends, etc, such that our tastes influence each other’s TiVo Suggestions. Or maybe this would be yet another grouping – Hive Mind Suggestions, as it were. So say I have a bunch of anime fan friends, we pool as a group and then the shows they like are more likely to be recorded as Suggestions on my TiVo, and on their TiVos. Basically adding ‘weight’ to their thumb ratings above the general anonymous masses.

Going *way* out there, how about something like Sling’s still born ‘Clip & Sling’ functionality where we can mark a section of a show while watching on our TiVos, then post that clip with a comment. If uploading the video, or otherwise getting the clip, is too much, maybe it offers a link where they can have the same clip highlighted on their TiVo if they have the episode recorded. This would be useful for fans of s show who want to discuss it. Again, sell those TiVo Slide Remotes. ;-)

Offer an easy way to create ‘Record this episode’ or ‘Create a Season Pass’ links for people to use in comments – as well as on fan pages for shows, etc. Synergy, if you’ll forgive me.

Oh – Idea for a browser plug-in – ‘Send To TiVo’! When you see a video online that you like it’d let you tell your TiVo at home to download the video and have it waiting for you to watch on the big screen. It wouldn’t work with all videos, but most of them should work with today’s TiVos. This would be more useful as a plug-in for Chrome, Firefox, etc, as it’d work on any site, not just sites you convince to add some button for this, etc.

But the basic ability to update FB status and/or tweet about the show I’m watching (again, nice Slide Remote right here, waiting), while I’m watching it, would probably be what I used most.

So what about you? What kind of integration do you want to see between TiVo and social media? Or are you a curmudgeon who thinks social media is just a passing fad and TiVo shouldn’t waste their time on it?

Posted in DVR, TiVo, Web | Tagged , | 2 Comments

TiVo Integrates Facebook Into iOS Apps

Posted on Thursday, September 22, 2011 by MegaZone

TiVo Logo TiVo has asked a couple of times on their Facebook page what people would like to see out of an integration with Facebook or other social media, and a TiVo Advisor’s survey back in April asked similar questions. Well, it sounds like they were asking the questions with intent as today, at Facebook’s F8 conference, TiVo announced that they’ll be using Facebook’s new APIs to integrate it into their iOS apps for iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch.

You’ll be able to use the app to share what shows you’re watching and your ratings with your friends on Facebook. They’ll then be able to use those ratings in the app to discover content, see what their friends are watching, and maybe check out those shows themselves. You’ll be able to discuss your shows, movies, etc, with Facebook friends – whether they’re TiVo subscribers or not.

I know a lot of people are going to think this is pointless or something they won’t use, etc. And that’s fine. No one has to use this if it isn’t something they want. But I think this is a good move for TiVo and I’ve been suggesting that they do something like this for years. (Actually I’ll dig up a comment I left on Facebook a while back and make that my next post.) I want to see TiVo integrate with social media like Facebook and Twitter to allow users to share what they’re watching, which shows they like, etc. I think it increases the value of the TiVo platform and the ‘stickiness’ which helps keep users engaged, and also helps draw others to the platform. If they do it right I think this will be good for TiVo and TiVo users.

I have one minor disappointment with this announcement – it relies on the external app. While I’m still waiting for the promised Android version (and trying to remain patient…), I’d really like to see these features built into the TiVo. With the HW in the Premiere and the Flash app platform I think they’d be able to do an overlay. With the TiVo Slide remote it would be pretty easy to send out a quick Facebook update or Tweet right from the screen. I hope we see this kind of thing in the future. But, in the meantime, support via the app is a good step forward, IMHO.

The updated iOS apps, with the new Facebook integration, will roll out later this year.

The full press release is below:
Continue reading →

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Reminder – Today is the Last Day to Get a TiVo Premiere with Product Lifetime Service for $449.99

Posted on Thursday, September 22, 2011 by MegaZone

TiVo Premiere Just a reminder, today is the last day to take advantage of TiVo’s promotional offer of a TiVo Premiere with Product Lifetime Service for $449.99. That’s a $150 savings off the normal pricing of TiVo Premiere at $99.99 and Product Lifetime Service at $499.99. So if you’ve been putting it off, today is the last day to act.

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List of New Features Coming to Virgin Media TiVos Leaked

Posted on Wednesday, September 21, 2011 by MegaZone

Virgin Media TiVo The [Unofficial] Virgin Media TiVo Blog had an interesting report today. It seems a couple of posts on the UK Cable Forum boards leaked a list of new features and fixes supposedly coming in the October.

The first post listed:

Fixes:

  • Improved 1080i up scaling so improving the picture quality.
  • HDMI connection reliability fixed
  • Info button now provides programme information in guide and mini guide
  • SCART aspect ratio corrected

And the second post listed:

Functionality:

  • Express Series Link – You can set your series links in a flash
  • Padding – Automatic padding around the start and finish of new recordings and series links (doesn’t change existing series links)
  • Multi-tap text entry – You can now search using the number buttons on your remote, just like texting on your mobile phone
  • More flexible parental control – If you don’t want to be asked for your PIN when you’re playing a recording from My Shows, you can now switch it off!
  • Skippable playlists – Full skipping functionality for Music On Demand playlists will be available
  • Live Events – Great news! You can now buy a live event on your TiVo box
  • BBC iPlayer – Full integration of all the content from the BBC iPlayer is now available in the TV Guide, the Catch Up & On Demand menus and in TiVo Search and Browse
  • PIN access on Apps – You can now control access to Apps and Games
  • YouTube app – The YouTube app has been given a whole new look with more videos than ever and now supports HD quality video
  • TiVo Buddy App – Just after we launch the new code you’ll be able to download this great new tool from the Apple App Store. If you connect your wireless router to the TiVo box with a cable you’ll be able to control many features from your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. Watch this space for more info!

These sound interesting, and I wonder if we’ll see some of these come to the US in the expected fall software update. Maybe around the time the TiVo Premiere Elite lands?

The Express Series Link sounds interesting, I wonder how it works. Multi-tap text entry is something people have been asking for in the US for ages now, pretty much since the TiVo launched. We now have the TiVo Slide remote, but that’s still an add-on sold separately. I could see TiVo not releasing this feature in the US as it could cut into sales of the Slide, but personally I love my Slide and multi-tap is no comparison. Which does beg the question – why not add support for the TiVo Slide to the UK units? Something Virgin doesn’t want for some reason?

The YouTube app being new sounds interesting. The YouTube app on the US units is getting very long in the tooth, and it seems that some of the features have stopped working correctly as YouTube has changed their site and interface. So we could really do with a new app as well. The TiVo Buddy App sounds like it is just the Virgin Media version of the TiVo iPad App, announced a couple of weeks ago.

But most interesting to me is the default padding. This feature was confirmed by a forum team member on the official Virgin Media support forums:

Automatic padding? will be available later this year. It defaults at 1 min before and 4 mins after for all recordings, which seems to be the best way to avoid recordings cutting off early. You will still be able to change this on individual recordings.

Based on the subsequent discussion it sounds like what they’re doing is defaulting the padding to 1 minute before and 4 minutes after, instead of 0 as it is today. I really hope that’s wrong, because that sounds like it would SUCK! The only way I’d find that acceptable is if it is soft padding, something that’s been requested for years in the US. The idea with soft padding is that you could set padding that is used only if there is no conflict with another recording. Basically “Record an extra X minutes, unless doing so will cause you to be unable to record something else.” So you won’t have any problems with back-to-back recordings, or having to play games with clipping, priority order, etc. If they’ve just set the defaults for the normal hard padding across the board, so you have to make a special effort to not have padding, that sounds like the cure being worse than the disease. And that seems to be the gist of the reaction on the forums too.

I think the way to do it right is to:

  • Allow users to set global default padding values for start and end.
  • Make these default values soft padding.
  • Allow hard padding settings on individual recordings, SPs, etc. which will override the global soft padding.

If I could use soft padding and record just an extra minute or two on the end of all of my recordings, except when the tuner is needed for another show, I would use it in a heart beat. But I’d absolutely hate having default hard padding I had to fight with every time I setup a recording to avoid worrying about artificial conflicts due to padding collisions.

This is a case where I really hope the discussions are incorrect and the actual implementation is not what everyone thinks it is. If it turns out to be soft padding I’ll be thrilled and hope it comes to the US. If it is default hard padding as believed I’ll feel sorry for UK users and hope fervently it never happens here.

But that one issue aside, this sounds like a good update for UK TiVo users and I hope we see at least some of these features in the US as well.

Just not default hard padding. ;-)

Via The Virgin Media TiVo Blog.

Posted in Blogs, DVR, TiVo | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Virgin Media TiVo Users Miss Out On Two Guys Beating Each Other Up

Posted on Wednesday, September 21, 2011 by MegaZone

Virgin Media TiVo OK, so I’m not a boxing fan. Actually I can’t stand sports in general. Well, except aerobatics… and F1… OK, so I like some. Anyway, what was I saying?

Oh, right. So Virgin Media had a bit of a problem with their TiVo service. It seems that TiVo subscribers who tried to watch the pay-per-view WBC welterweight title fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Victor Ortiz – couldn’t. Virgin Media is investigating the issue to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

OK, in all fairness, stuff happens, to put it politely. I’m sure they tested the PPV system before deploying TiVo in the wild, but this isn’t the first time something that worked well in the lab or beta didn’t work in wide deployment. The big wide world is a tricky place and you can’t anticipate every possible condition. Or maybe someone just flipped the wrong bit. Who knows. I’ve certainly had issues with Charter doing things like randomly disabling my tuning adapter.

Virgin is reimbursing customers who were unable to watch the PPV event, of course.

Via Cable.

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