Wow, this is a big find. Last September TiVo and Crestron announced a partnership to enable Crestron home automation systems to control TiVo boxes over the home network. At the time I said:

This is pretty cool. But it’d be even better if TiVo would publish the protocol for this IP interface so that other vendors, and 3rd party developers, could also code applications to use it. (I won’t be surprised if the hacking community reverse engineers it if they don’t.)

Well, neither TiVo nor Crestron published the protocol, and of course I’m not surprised that the community has now reverse engineered it. And it works on all TiVo Series3 and TiVo HD units running software 9.1 or higher (sorry Series2 folks).

Open a terminal or command window and telnet to the IP of your TiVo on port 31339. Then you can start issuing commands. The timeout is very short, so you might use cut & paste if you’re not a fast typist.

It is a little scary actually - there is no authentication. So anything that can talk to your TiVo on your LAN can control it. Hey TiVo, how about the tivo/MAK authentication like on the web interface? (Cue the Black Hats to write a PC worm that issues random TiVo commands over the LAN.) Still, I’m really happy to see this, and I’m sure this will spur development of a number of clever applications. Dave Zatz has already tried it by controlling his TiVo from his iPhone, and he shot a demo video of it:

I did some quick tests using telnet from a command window on my PC and it works great on my Series3. I also tried it to my Series2 just to confirm it doesn’t work - and, alas, it is confirmed.

I foresee this functionality finding it’s way into a number of TiVo apps and widgets to control your TiVo(s) from your PC, Mac, or other device. Now that the cat is out of the bag, it would be nice if TiVo would officially publish the specifications - and add some authentication. I am kind of shocked that it is wide open like that. And I’m serious, I expect someone to write some kind of TiVo-attack worm now that this news is out. There are plenty of jerks out there who get their jollies that way.

I hope TiVo keeps expanding this interface, a nice additional would be the addition of more feedback as to the current screen on the TiVo. That would make it usable remotely with positive feedback to the application that the command worked and went to the right place in the menus. This could be a more reliable (than IR blasters) way for 3rd party devices (like a Slingbox) to control a TiVo.

Disclaimer: I am currently employed by Sling Media, but my Slingbox comment is strictly speculation on my part on what I think would be cool and not meant to imply anything about what may or may not happen.

After yesterday’s announcement that the TiVo Series3 is being EOL’d, I had a few questions about the future of the S3, and the heir-apparent, the TiVo HD.

- Will work continue on the Series3 to enable M-Card CableCARDs, or will it remain S-Card-only now?

- One of the lesser known features of the S3 is support for Crestron home control systems. In the past I’ve been told this is an S3-only feature, not available on the TiVo HD. Now that the S3 is being EOL’d, will this software support be brought over to the TiVo HD?

- Will the S3 ‘Glo’ remote continue to be produced and offered for users who prefer it?

- Are there any plans for additional TiVo HD models, say with 250GB drives?

I sent these off to my contact at TiVo and I’ll see what TiVo has to say about these issues. Are there any questions on your mind in light of the EOL announcement?