We are sorry to announce that we are in the process of phasing out our “Share to Tivo” feature.* We are including instructions on how to access your current shares.* We realize that not everyone is set up to receive internet video on their televisions, but you can continue to share your One True Media creations via our “Share to YouTube” and Facebook shares.

TiVo URL for direct type in (when user is logged in)
To manage their channel:

http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site/view_channel

To add a Video to their channel:

http://www.onetruemedia.com/otm_site…_id=**********

Directions to share:
1. Go to share online for the Video you want to add to your TiVo channel
2. In the URL replace /auth_share? with *channel_publish_work?
3. Make sure to keep the work_id
4. This take you to the TiVo share pages

Customer Care
One True Media, Inc.

I’ve never gotten the impression that One True Media is a very popular service among TiVo users, so I doubt there will be too many people up in arms over this. YouTube just dominates video sharing.

The other service TiVo is dropping may impact more users. TiVo models earlier than the Premiere lost Rhapsody, as reported by Zatz Not Funny. Rhapsody recently changed their API, which broke all of the existing third party apps, like TiVo. TiVo has created a new Flash-based app for the Premiere, but will not be updating the app for the earlier TiVo models. Given the popularity of other services, such as Pandora, the loss of Rhapsody probably won’t bring too many tears.

As Rhapsody explained it:

Here is some background: we contacted all our device partners several months before this necessary change to our service, providing them all the info necessary to make a successful change. The vast majority of these partners made the change on time and successfully tested their devices (as did Rhapsody) and signed-off. However, after roll-out, some partners found bugs in their systems not apparent in previous testing that they needed to address. These partners are working to correct the issues they discovered as quickly as they can. They realize you’re their customers too and want to get things working properly.

Rhapsody first revealed that TiVo had decided to drop support on the Series2 and Series3 platforms, updating only the Premiere:

Tivo has started pushing out their firmware update to their series 4 DVR systems. They say it should be out to everyone by the end of August.

As far as the series 2 and 3 devices, Tivo has chosen not to update the firmware for those devices, meaning Rhapsody will no longer be accessible on them. This was a call that Tivo made, not us, and yeah, it sucks. Wish it was better news, but that’s the news we have.

And this was later confirmed by TiVo on TiVo Community:

I can confirm that an update is rolling out to Series4 boxes which will get Rhapsody up and running again. Unfortunately, due to recent technical limitations with the Rhapsody application Series3 and Series2 users will no longer have access to Rhapsody from their TiVo DVR. We apologize for the inconvenience.

It sounds like One True Media didn’t give TiVo any choice, they’re pulling support. But with Rhapsody it sounds like they made a necessary update to their service to update an expiring cert and TiVo decided not to invest resources in updating the client on older platforms. Or perhaps they couldn’t, given the “recent technical limitations” statement, though I’d like to know what those limitations are.

So what about you? Are you upset by the loss of either of these services? Leave a comment.

TiVo: Get 3 Months FREE – Limited Time Only! A TiVo HD is $299.99 and a Series2DT is $149.99. Or get a factory-renewed TiVo HD for $179.99 – a $120 savings.

This service update reorganizes some of the TiVo Central menu choices, specifically adding a menu item for Video on Demand content from TiVo and it’s partners. If your DVR is connected to broadband, you’ll be able to enjoy the latest movies, television shows, and web videos directly from this menu. You’ll also find a new way to start Swivel Search anytime you pause a program!

Zatz Not Funny has several screencaps of the new interface. The Showcases item has been pushed off of TiVo Central, and is now a sub-item on the Music, Photos, & Showcases screen, renamed from Music, Photos, Products, & More. This has freed up a slot for a new Video on Demand menu item, which slots in just below the renamed Find Programs (no longer Find Programs & Downloads, thanks to the new item).

And now when you pause a program you may see ‘Press UP to show extras‘. When you so, you are presented with the option to find out more about the program, which links to Swivel Search. I expect that the extras could expand in the future to include other items, such as Amazon shopping for items related to the program, maybe links to bonus content, etc. EDIT: Correction – I was corrected in the comments, when you pause a program you see the Swivel Search link and can hide it by pressing ‘Down’, pressing ‘Up’ brings it back.

Like Dave, I’m sure we’ll see these new features added to the Series3, TiVo HD, and TiVo HD XL as well. Likely in a 9.4.x release in the coming weeks. TiVo traditionally has a fall update, and it is about that time. Although, unlike Dave, I’m not that surprised to see the S2 boxes getting an update. While the future is clearly with the HD units, with their newer hardware capable of things the S2 simply cannot do, the units still have a great deal in common with a shared core architecture. So it should be easier for TiVo to continue supporting the S2 than it was with the S1, which had a different architecture. Not to mention the sheer numbers of Series2 units in the field, much larger than the total number of S1 units sold. I think TiVo will continue to provide at least basic updates for the S2 platform for a while just to keep those users active.

Apparently the honeymoon didn’t last long. The ‘extreme’ sales were almost certainly due to years of pent up demand and, coupled with the rise of high-definitely, CBC News is reporting that TiVo is struggling in Canada. Unlike the US, where the FCC has mandated CableCARD for open access to digital cable, Canada has no such requirement. Like satellite in the US, cable in Canada is a closed system. If you want digital cable, including HD content, you have to use a cable company provided set-top box. In other countries, like Australia, over-the-air broadcasts still rule and digital broadcasting is actually increasing the use, but like the US in Canada cable dominates the market.

TiVo is currently selling the Series2DT in Canada, their only remaining unit that works with an external cable box. But the S2DT is limited to SD content only. And it is only dual-tuner for analog cable channels, for any digital channels it needs the external STB and it is limited to just one channel. This puts it at a disadvantage to the cable company DVRs which are dual-tuner and handle digital HD content on both. Without access to HD content, TiVo’s future in Canada will look increasingly bleak.

So what’s can TiVo do? Well, there are a couple of main options. The first is to do a deal with Canadian cable MSOs, such as Rogers Communications or Shaw Communications, similar to the deals with Comcast and Cox in the US. TiVo’s STB software could be deployed on Canadian cable STBs. Or such partnerships could see a version of the TiVo HD with built-in cable access (in place of CableCARD) distributed through the MSO as an alternative to the cable STB. That would be similar to the custom TiVo HD-based unit for Australia’s Seven Network. The issue here, of course, is getting such deals in place. It isn’t a technical issue but rather a business issue. And it isn’t clear that such deals would come together.

The other alternative is a technical solution, find a way to access the HD content from the system as it stands today. And the only real solution there would be to capture it from the HD component output on the cable box. Until fairly recently this was not feasible on a cost basis. The technology for HD component capture has existing for a while, but it is only now coming down to consumer price points. I reported from CES in January on the first wave of component input DVRs.

Hauppauge’s HD PVR USB add-on for PCs is one such example, but it is $249 for just a basic capture & encoding unit, the PC is doing most of the work. The Slingbox PRO-HD is another new device which can capture HD video and encode it on the fly, but it is similarly priced at $299.99. Now, those are retail prices, so the actual cost of the components to add such support is much less, but that’s just one input. To compete with dual-tuner DVRs TiVo would really need to add two HD input and encoder chains to the unit.

And it isn’t as elegant a solution while being more expensive. Not only would the TiVo cost more, but instead of one clean box you’d have the TiVo, one or two cable STBs, and the associated cabling and IR blasters. And if you had two STBs, to enable dual-tuner recording, you’d also have to contend with IR signal cross-talk to make sure signals meant for one STB aren’t ‘seen’ by the other. Still, as I noted in my TiVo HD review, it looks like TiVo may have considered at least one set of inputs for the TiVo HD. But those were probably not meant to be HD.

Perhaps TiVo could build a Hauppauge-like external USB capture box to connect to a TiVo HD via the USB ports. Such a dongle could be useful in general for other users as well, such as those using satellite but still wanting to use TiVo for HD content. Or users of cable systems which still don’t support CableCARD (some small operators have waivers). But the real question is if the market for such a solution, more expensive and less elegant as it is, is large enough to justify the costs in producing it. It is absolutely technologically feasible, but is it economically feasible? I’m not so sure it is.

There is a third option, but it seems even more remote. TiVo could convince Canadian regulators to impose open-access rules on Canadian MSOs, as the FCC has in the US. That could take the form of CableCARD (perhaps the simplest solution as it exists and is deployable today, warts and all) or some other solution such as DCAS. But passing new regulations tends to be a very slow process with little certainty.

I think, clearly, the best solution for both TiVo and the users would be a deal with the MSOs to bring the TiVo service to them at an affordable rate without lots of extra dongles and cables.

In any case right now TiVo’s future in Canada is hazy at best. As the Magic 8 Ball says – Answer unclear, ask again later.

TiVo has updated their Web Specials and they’re now offering a factory-renewed TiVo Series3 for $349.99, considering the value of the ‘Glo’ remote, the added capacity, and the few features the S3 has over the TiVo HD, that’s not a bad value when compared to a new TiVo HD.

However, factory-renewed TiVo HD units are also Web Specials, just $179.99. I don’t think the Series3 is $170 better than a TiVo HD, nearly double the price. So, personally, if I were buying a factory-renewed TiVo, I’d probably take the TiVo HD. (You can also get a factory-renewed Series2DT for just $49.99, but I couldn’t recommend that for most users.)

However, either way, the TiVo Web Specials are good deals. You have the same 30-day return window and the same product warranty as new units. So there is little risk, and you save a good deal of money.

And the developer community did not disappoint, they’ve figured out how to support video playback in HME applications. It is early days and people are still sorting it out, but it is possible to stream MPEG-2 and MPEG-4/H.264 video to a TiVo Series3 or TiVo HD with the 9.4 software. That means it is possible to implement a generic video playback application via HME to stream any MPEG-2 or H.264 video to the S3/HD – or any video as long as the application can transcode them. That’s fantastic news!

And the fact that MPEG-2 works for streaming implies that it may be possible for TiVo to add the streaming support to the Series2 for just MPEG-2, since the hardware can’t decode H.264. That hasn’t been any indication that TiVo will do so, but it would certainly be nice if they did as it would then be possible to produce a generic player application that transcoded to MPEG-2 for the S2 and MPEG-2 or H.264 for the S3/HD.

Of course, this is all reverse engineered by the developer community and it is possible TiVo could change something to disable this, but I would certainly hope that they don’t. In fact, I still feel quite strongly that TiVo should embrace HME and support 3rd party developers, and I would love to see TiVo issue an update to the public HME SDK which included official video support (and official HD support, as it is only in the beta SDK today – still).

But even without official support this has great potential. The ability to stream video from an HME application means that 3rd parties could bring video to the S3/HD directly. Sites like Revision3, Veoh, Break.com, Heavy,com, etc could host their own HME front end to allow streaming of any of their videos directly to TiVo. Of course, the elephant in the room is adult content, which TiVo seems loathe to officially acknowledge. But with the ability to stream right to the TiVo via HME, and bypass TiVo (the corporation), it is certainly possible. In general the ability to stream video is something that has been requested since the first days of HME, so now that it is here it may generate some new interest from developers who had moved away from HME. It would be especially useful if TiVo would bring the streaming support to Series2 units as it would create a much larger potential market, but even just the Series3 and TiVo HD are significant as it is a growing market with the HD being TiVo’s primary platform now.

I’m looking forward to seeing what people come up with, and when and if any video streaming sites embrace this.

Thanks to reader Kevin Moye for the tip.

TiVo has said that they’d be focusing further development on the TiVo HD platform architecture, so this comes as little surprise. In fact, we’ve talked about it here before. It’s a shame, though, for those looking for the premium experience offered only by the Series3, with its THX certification, fancier remote, and front-panel OLED display, not to mention larger hard drive.

Before long, we’d hope to see the stock TiVo HD kicked up a notch with its own larger hard drive; as more and more of what people watch shifts to HD channels, a twenty-hour capacity for HD recordings will seem stingier and stingier. Western Digital’s My DVR Expander external hard drive helps, and expansion kits and services from third parties like DVRUpgrade and WeaKnees are great for those who don’t mind modified hardware, but simply put, the average consumer wants to buy a standard product that’s all he or she needs.

So, as we wistfully recall the dear, departed TiVo Series3 (and as aficionados scramble to find remaining stock on store shelves or from DVRUpgrade and other online vendors with small stocks), we look forward to future configurations of the new flagship product, the TiVo HD.

The rebate brings the Series3 down to $392.45 through Amazon (and as low as $381.97 through their 3rd party sellers), and the Series2DT down to $65.99 through Amazon.

Personally I wouldn’t go with either of those, but rather the TiVo HD at $249.40, especially if you’re considering the Series3. Get the TiVo HD and pick up the Glo remote separately and save some money. If you plan to use any of these units with WiFi, remember to pick up a TiVo USB WiFi Adapter.

You can also pick up a factory-renewed TiVo HD for $199.99.

Via TiVo Blog.

Note that the ‘Plan Details’ pop-up for lifetime still says the offer expires on February 13, 2008. TiVo forgot to update it the last time they extended the offer, and it looks like they’ve forgotten again. (*nudge*)

While I’m checking on things, it looks like they extended another offer as well. The offer to purchase a new TiVo HD and get three months of free service had expired back on February 17, but it has been resurrected and is now good through June 30, 2008. You buy the TiVo HD for $299.99, commit to one year of TiVo service @ $12.95/month, and the first three months of that year are free.

However, the TiVo HD with product lifetime bundle offer does still appear set to expire on April 1, 2008. That’s a TiVo HD with a TiVo WiFi adapter and product lifetime for $698.99. Or the TiVo HD with a TiVo WiFi adapter and a $100 service gift card for $399.99.

Of course, once the bundle expires existing subscribers will still be able to buy the TiVo HD and WiFi adapter, then pick up product lifetime for $399 when activating, as above.

Another deal that’s still set to expire, the factory-renewed TiVo HD for $199.99 deal is set to expire on April 2, 2008. That’s a factory-renewed TiVo HD for $199.99, with a commitment for 1-year of services at $12.95/month, or one-year pre-paid service at $129.

And if you don’t need the TiVo HD and a Series2DT would do you quite nicely, you can get one of those for free. There are various promotions out there to support different organizations which will get you a free S2DT, that one happens to be for the National Council of Women’s Organizations.

TiVo has their usual web specials as well.

Thanks to a reader for the tip on the July 2 extension.

TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), today announced an agreement with YouTube™ that will offer access to YouTube videos directly from the TV via a TiVo DVR. The service will be available later this year to broadband-connected subscribers with TiVo Series3™ DVRs, including the new TiVo HD.

Every day hundreds of millions of videos are viewed on YouTube and hundreds of thousands of videos are uploaded. Upon launch of the TiVo-YouTube service, TiVo users will be able to search, browse and watch these videos directly on their television sets through their broadband connected TiVo DVRs. The combination of having the YouTube experience with the convenience and familiarity of TiVo’s intuitive user interface will provide TiVo subscribers with the ability to discover and enjoy the most shared and most discussed web videos in the world on their televisions. Importantly, users will be able to log into their YouTube accounts directly from their TiVo boxes and access their favorite YouTube channels and playlists.

“We’re delighted to be working with the world’s leading online video community so that TiVo subscribers can access YouTube’s popular content on the TV via the TiVo DVR,” said Tara Maitra, Vice President and GM of Content Services at TiVo Inc. “Being able to make available YouTube videos to the TiVo subscriber base using one device, one remote and one user interface is another major step in our commitment to combine all of your television and web video viewing options in one easy to use service.”

Now, before Series2 & Series2DT owners break out the pitchforks and torches, this was pretty much inevitable. It is a hardware issue, the Series2 platform is just behind the times. The Series3 family (which covers the box generally known as the Series3 and the TiVo HD) has hardware that can decode MPEG-2, MPEG-4/H.264, and WMV/VC-1 – while the older Series2 platform only decodes MPEG-2. That means the S3 platform can support more services than the S2, and that’s just how it is – technology moves ever forward.

Interestingly, TiVo may owe a major debt to Apple. YouTube long encoded all of their video in FLV, or Flash Video, format. But the Apple iPhone does not support Flash. In order to get YouTube on the iPhone, YouTube has re-encoded all of their videos into H.264, which is playable in QuickTime – and, coincidentally, in the decoders in the TiVo S3 platform. (Adobe also added H.264 support to the most recent versions of Flash, due to demand, so content providers can use H.264 for all their needs.)

Which leads me to the next point. This implies TiVo is enabling at least H.264 decoding. Today the hardware is there, but the software support is not. The S3 is limited to decoding MPEG-2 just like the S2. But this announcement certainly means they’ll be enabling MPEG-4/H.264 decoding, and I’m hoping it means they’ll also be enabling WMV/VC-1 decoding at the same time, but I won’t count on that. In any case, this little implied nugget is probably the biggest news of all,

Why? Because H.264 is a highly efficient codec which is widely used to encode video blogs and video downloads, including high-def video. (H.264, also known as AVC, is the most widely used codec on Blu-ray Disc, for example.) So this decoding capability would allow for much more than just YouTube (not that YouTube support isn’t big news, of course), such as wide support for video blogs – without the PC-based transcoding announced for TiVo Desktop 2.6, high-def movie downloads from Amazon Unbox (though Amazon Unbox uses WMV/VC-1 for their PC & portable downloads, which is why enabling that support on the TiVo could be good – same HD file could be played on the PC or TiVo), support for PC-to-TiVo transfers without needing to transcode, and possibly other services.

Back when the Series2DT launched I remarked that I was surprised TiVo didn’t include advanced codec support in the hardware, as they did with the Series3. I foresaw that online content would be increasingly important, and had genuinely expected TiVo to including H.264/VC-1 decoding in all of their new hardware at that point. I felt that keeping the S2DT restricted to MPEG-2 would prolong the transition because it would take longer to reach a critical mass of S3 units to make it worth developing features restricted to that platform. And I think that has been the case. But it looks like we’re finally reaching the tipping point, and I hope this is just the first of many new features to take advantage of the additional capabilities in the Series3 hardware.

I know Series2 owners may not be happy (I own two S2 boxes myself, as well as my S3), but this is just how it is. At some point old platforms can no longer support all the new features. Someday there will be a Series4 and it’ll almost certainly support things the Series3 cannot, just as the Series2 has features the Series1 lacked.

TiVo also has web specials on factory renewed TiVo HDs, at $249.99, and factory renewed Series3s, at $449.99.

Of course, you don’t want that TiVo HD offer – since you can get a factory renewed TiVo HD for $199.99, if you know where to look.

EDIT: The offer has been extended to April 2, 2008.

Ending sooner, through January 7, 2008 existing TiVo subscribers can purchase a new TiVo HD with product lifetime for $698.99, direct from TiVo.

Also, through February 2, 2008, existing TiVo subscribers can purchase product lifetime for $399 when activating any new TiVo. (Something to keep in mind if you just received a new TiVo and haven’t activated it yet.) Also, the current special holiday promotional service pricing is only good through February 2, 2008.

While you need to be a current TiVo subscriber to take advantage of the product lifetime deals, if you’re a (pending) new subscriber you could probably find a friend who is a subscriber to make the purchase for you.

Amazon is selling the TiVo HD for $270.64, the TiVo Series3 for $392.91 (after $200 rebate), and the 80-hour Series2DT for $65.99 (after $150 rebate).

The TiVo HD plus lifetime is $669.64, even less than TiVo’s $698.99 direct offer. But don’t wait too long – you need to have the TiVo activated by the deadline, so don’t forget to allow for shipping time.

And if you’re buying a new TiVo, or you just received one, and you need to use it on your WiFi network, remember to pick up the TiVo 802.11g USB WiFi adapter for $39.58.

And here’s something odd – a couple of $100 TiVo Gift cards being sold for less than $100 after shipping. *shrug*

And don’t forget the TiVo gift center.

Common Sense Media is the nation’s leading nonpartisan organization dedicated to giving parents the tools and information they need to ensure that they – and the not media – remain the primary influence in their kids lives. Common Sense reviews of movies, TV, Web sites and more so parents can quickly choose the best media for their kids.

Common Sense has paired with TiVo KidZone, a service that allows parents to access Common Sense reviews from the TiVo screen itself and create a customized viewing experience for their families.

For a limited time, all people who sign up for a free Common Sense membership will receive a FREE TiVo box with their purchase of a service plan.

The offer page is here and these are the complete details. You will get an 80-hour dual-tuner Series2DT (and will need to purchase service) for joining Common Sense Media.