Description

TiVo Commander is an open source clone of the TiVo for iPad and iPhone app for Android.
It is capable of connecting to and controlling a TiVo Premiere device.

Features:
* A full remote control, with keyboard input.
* Browse all recorded shows. Watch and delete them.
* Search for shows/movies/actors.
* See credits for shows/movies, and suggestions for similar shows/movies.
* Record individual shows and add/modify/remove season passes.

TiVo Commander is open source software. It is NOT affiliated with TiVo Inc.

Screenshots:

Note that he’s serious when he says TiVo Premiere. I tried it on my TiVo Series3 and it won’t connect. And if it can’t connect you can’t even get past the settings screen in the app. I checked my Series3 and it doesn’t respond on the port the app is using, so that’s Premiere-only for sure. If you have feedback there is a discussion thread at TiVoCommunity.

If you have a TiVo Series3 or Tivo HD and you’re looking for an Android app, Tim Hoeck’s TiVoRemote is still in the market for $0.99. I’ve had this on my Droid pretty much since it was released.

I also just stumbled over another free TiVo remote app for Andorid, RCX for TiVo. The app is listed as ‘free – beta’, but seems to work based on user reviews.

Both of these apps are just remote control apps, they don’t have all the fancy features for the Premiere like TiVo’s official iOS apps or TiVo Commander, but they will work with the Series3 and up. Of course, if you’re a Virgin Media TiVo customer in the UK you can use their official TV Guide.

TiVo has stated they are working on an official Android app, but no word on when we might see it.

While looking in the Android Market I noticed a couple of other interesting, TiVo-related apps.
TiVo Music Server by Earl Magnus does pretty much what the name implies. It streams MP3 files from your Android device to your TiVo, just like TiVo Desktop does on your PC. It is a fairly new app and has some limitations (MP3s must be on the SD card/external storage, not internal, etc.) but it is free and seems to do what it promises. And Earl has a support thread on TiVoCommunity for feedback.

The other app is the $1.99 Zamar by JCIDSoftware.

Description

Your Media Library Wherever You Are
Take your media library with you, where you go!
•Stream your music
•View and download photos, display them through your TiVo on you TV
•Download your movies
•Remote control your TiVo

Use TiVo Desktop media server, or pyTiVo to stream your music, photos, and music. Remote control your TiVo, and auto-scan favorite channels

While it also claims to work as a TiVo remote, the really interesting thing is that it implements TiVo’s API for streaming media – but not as a server, as a TiVo does! So you can stream/copy content from TiVo Desktop or third party servers like pyTiVo/PyTiVoX (and I’m guessing Streambaby might work), which are normally used to send content to a TiVo. That’s pretty unusual, but if you have things setup for your TiVo you can take advantage of it with Zamar too.

TiVo Commander spotted via Engadget.

Macrovision said it would combine its anti-piracy technology with Gemstar’s interactive television program guide, which is used by cable and satellite operators, to make protected TV shows, films, photos or music available on many more devices. Gemstar also publishes TV Guide magazine.

“For the consumer, (this deal) is all about discovery, making it very easy to find stuff (and) to acquire it, doing an automatic download,” Macrovision Chief Executive Fred Amoroso said in an interview. Amoroso would remain CEO after closing of the deal, expected by early in the second quarter.

“I want to take this movie, store it in my PC and then play it … in my daughter’s bedroom TV,” he said.

Interesting, but it seems more and more as if the content market is moving away, albeit slowly, from using DRM.

Via Gizmodo.