Steve Garfield has posted another video, this time he’s filmed a bit of a tour of the Comcast TiVo interface as he explores the various functions. The video is just over five minutes long, and a decent tour for those curious about the new software. He has it installed on his existing Motorola 3412 DVR.

I think some of the delay he’s seeing is a difference in the way the software works. From what I was told back at CES 2007, some of the intelligence in the cable software is on the head end. So it is kind of like Universal Swivel Search on the standalone TiVos (which might even be based on the same search code, now that I think about it), in that you enter a string to search and it queries the head end. So it isn’t all local like the standard search on a TiVo, which introduces some latency. But, conversely, reduces the data storage requirements and power locally.

Steve Garfield is continuing to report on his new Comcast TiVo software. And, unsurprisingly as he’s a video blogger, he’s also made his first video report on the software, focusing on the Guide:

The “archaic, stupid cable rule” that he refers to in the video would be OCAP. I think he got that from a comment I left on one of his earlier posts.

I’m a bit jealous, as a blogger. I wouldn’t give up my standalone Series3 for the OCAP software, but if I could I would have one in my home just to be able to test it and report on it. Maybe one of my friends will get it and let me come over and molest their DVR for a while. I live in MA, where Comcast is deploying this software currently. However, while much of MA is Comcast, I live in Worcester, an island of Charter monopoly.

After blogging about his ordering and installation experience, Steve Garfield has continued to blog about his experience with his newly installed Comcast TiVo software. Everything from the new Comcast TiVo peanut to the differences with fast forward compared to a standalone TiVo. If you want to follow along, you can read just his posts flagged with ‘TiVo’, or, even better, simply subscribe to this RSS feed of just his ‘TiVo’ flagged posts. Or, of course, you can read his full blog or feed. Steve also has a photo set on Flickr documenting the installation and many screens of the TiVo OCAP interface.

Blogger Steve Garfield happens to be a Boston area Comcast user, and he jumped on the opportunity to get the TiVo software - so quick that Comcast told him he was the first customer to have it installed! And, fortunately, and entertainingly, for us, he blogged the experience. It sounds like he had a little trouble getting it installed, partly due to a filter on his cable that was blocking the software download, but it all worked out in the end. And he confirms that existing recordings from the pre-TiVo software remain after the update. It is the early adopters like Steve who help smooth things out for those who follow.

If you got the TiVo software installed on your Comcast DVR, how was the experience?

Picked up from TiVo Blog.