Just today I finally got around to trying out the preview release of TiVo Desktop 2.4. 2.4 has a number of new features that have me excited. For example, I’m really interested in being able to view my Quicktime movies on my TiVo. 2.4 is supposed to be able to transcode several different video formats to a format that my TiVo will then be able to play. In some ways, this feature is similar to what the Apple TV will provide.

Update 2/28 @ 7:20AM: Marc informed me that TiVo desktop plus is required for the video transcoding feature to work. I haven’t been able to find any documentation which supports this however, it does seem to make sense. If this is in fact a requirement, TiVo needs to update their website and the interface for TiVo desktop 2.4 so that it reflects this. If I can’t figure it out I bet a lot of other people are wondering why this feature doesn’t work. Thanks Marc!

Here’s several screenshots that I took both during the install and while I was configuring 2.4. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get the new video transcoding feature to work. For some reason, TiVo doesn’t list any of my videos that I’ve copied into my TiVo recordings directory. For the life of me, I can’t figure this out. I assume it’s just a bug with this version, after all it is a preview release….

When you install 2.4 it asks you if you want to uninstall your previous version:

TiVo Desktop 2.4 (Preview) Installer

Here’s a screenshot of the 2.4 interface. Notice that 2.4 now says “Published Media” on the left.

If you have a Series 3 TiVo, this is where you configure TiVo desktop so that your pictures are displayed in high-def.

In order to transfer your recordings to a portable device such as an iPod, you need to purchase an upgrade. The upgrade costs $24.95 and it can be purchased here. Since I don’t own a portable device that is capable of playing video, I haven’t purchased the upgrade.

Here’s where you configure how TiVo desktop converts your recordings for your portable device(s).

As I said before, TiVo Desktop 2.4 is supposed to allow you to transcode your video files to a format that is then playable by your TiVo. This screen explains how to set this up so that you can view your videos on your TiVo. Bascially all you need to do is copy your video files to your TiVo Recordings directory. If you don’t want to copy your files, you can also make a shortcut in the TiVo Recordings directory which then points to your video files.

I tried both of these techniques however, I was unable to share either a .mov or a .mpeg movie. Hopefully this problem will be fixed in the next release. If this works for you let me know….

Sorry this post doesn’t contain more content however, I had planned to review the new transcoding capability. I guess I’ll just have to wait until the next release when TiVo hopefully fixes the problem I’m having.