Recently I stumbled upon yet another TiVoToGo client for the Mac called TiVo Butler.  In the short amount of time that I’ve used this app I’ve already fallen in love with it.  Unlike some of the other TiVoToGo Mac clients, TiVo Butler organizes your TiVo’s recordings into groups so that you can easily select which program(s) you would like to transfer to your Mac.  For example, by default TiVoButler displays a “STATIONS” group which organizes your TiVo’s recordings into folders based on the channel in which the original program aired.  This feature is especially useful if you have multiple TiVos in your household all of which have been upgraded to include more disc space (ie: I record way too much stuff).

If you’re looking for a free Mac TiVoToGo client you are definitely going to want to download TiVo Butler.  From what I’ve seen the app works really well even though it is still in beta.

For those of you who are keeping track, I’ve gone ahead and updated my “Mac Software Roundup” to include this app.

In case you missed it, Gizmodo.com has posted a great article which talks about the history of the TiVo remote and how the remote that we all know and love has come about.  The article was produced in cooperation with TiVo and Paul Newby (the individual who helped create our beloved “peanut” remote).

In my opinion, the most interesting part of the article was when Gizmodo asked Paul what the possibility was of TiVo adding a QWERTY keyboard to the remote.

With the next generation TiVo remote on the drawing board, I wondered what the possible additions could be.

When I asked if adding a small QWERTY keyboard was a possibility for the next generation, I was surprised by Newby’s answer.

Based on Paul’s reply, it looks as though TiVo is considering adding a keyboard to a future generation remote!

“We’ve either given it thought or were in the process of prototyping it. I’d say it’s a healthy combination of both never been done, done before and what’s been done well elsewhere.”

If you follow this blog at all, you probably already know my opinion on this. On at least one occasion I’ve mentioned that TiVo should offer a keyboard which would allow you to control your TiVo from the comfort of your couch. Just think about the possiblities a keyboard would offer. Wouldn’t it be great if you could browse the web using your TiVo and your HDTV?  Wouldn’t it be great if you could type in a SeasonPass search?

What do you think?  Does a QWERTY keyboard remote have you interested?

Continue reading: Story of a Peanut: The TiVo Remote’s Untold Past, Present and Future

Update 06/24 @ 11:42PM: And the winner is….Nate L.  Thanks to all those who participated and stay tuned for more giveaways.

Here’s your chance to win a TiVo headband so that you can impress your friends and family with your devotion to TiVo.  To win the headband all you have to do is leave a comment on this post letting me know that you want it.  A winner will be randomly picked sometime in the near future.  As always, I’ll pickup the cost of shipping so you really have nothing to lose.

Also, stay tuned for more giveaways.  This is giveaway is one of many to come….

Here’s a video that I captured while I installed my DVR Expander drive ($174.99). As you can see from the video, the installation was extremely easy. Thanks to this device, my TiVo can now record up to 86 hours of HD content!.

Once again, I would like to thank this site’s readers who were generous enough to give me the referrals that allowed me to order this drive.

Earlier today, I finally got around to installing my Western Digital DVR Expander Drivewhich I received via the now defunct TiVo rewards program. As expected, the installation process was extremely easy. Thanks to this drive, I can now record up to 86 hours of high definition content on my TiVoHD (before I installed this drive I could only record 20 hrs.)!  I’m planning on posting a video of the installation process however, until I get the video up here’s some pictures that I took while I unboxed the drive.

Over the past couple of days I’ve received the following feedback via this site’s “contact me” form.  Rather then answer each of these questions with a personal email, I’ve decided to post my response here so that hopefully it will benefit somebody else.  If you’d like to add anything to my response please feel free to leave a comment.

Chris wrote:

I like your blog, but the intellitxt ads are very annoying.

My response:

Chris, thanks for sending in this feedback. I’m sorry to hear that the Intellitxt ads are annoying you. I definitely don’t want these ads to annoy you and that is why back in Sept. of last year I installed a WordPress plugin which reduced the number of ads that “regular” TiVo blog readers see.  A regular reader is somebody who has left a comment.  If you’d like, you can leave a comment on this post and from that point forward (assuming you don’t delete your cookies) you should not see any of the Intellitext ads.  If you don’t want to leave a comment, you could also install a Firefox addon known as AdBlock (just like you suggested).  I hope my response makes your TiVoBlog reading experience that much better.  In the future I may get rid of Intellitxt ads entirely.

Mai wrote:

Hi. I am new to Tivo. I stumble upon your blog as I was trying to find a way to get TiVo Desktop 2.6.1 to allow me to transfer files directly from my TiVo to my Seagate FreeAgent Pro 500GB usb hard drive. I have read through several of your blog entries and feel you are more qualified than the people at TiVO technical support to help me. I have spoken to 5 agents and they said Tivo desktop is only capable of transferring to the default “My Tivo Recordings” folder created during install. (Then why do they give the option to “change” location in the program?) I have attempted to change the folder location for my recordings but I get an error that says “The specified service does not exist as an installed service”. What does that mean? Anyways, I have a very small 30GB hard drive on my laptop with only about 7.5GB free. I can only transfer 3 hour long SD shows at a time, then transfer those shows to the FreeAgent drive before I can transfer more shows to my laptop. Is there a way I can transfer directly to the Freegate? Your assistance would be much appreciated.

My response:

Mai, is it possible that you are having a problem with 2.6.1’s certificate?  The following thread on TiVoCommunity suggest that you should update TiVo Desktop’s certs.  Let me know if that works…

Andrew wrote:

Hi there, love the site, but was wondering if you could help me out. looking to buy an hd tivo and with the new rebate on the series 3, i was seriously considering it. my only hesitation is that theyre not making em anymore and i would guess have a new model coming soon since that came out in 2006. do you know of any rumors about a new tivo model? a post about that might be a good idea as the series 3 is now 2 years old and the tivo hd almost a year. there may be others like me wondering if they should just wait. thanks and keep up the good work.

My response:

Andrew, I understand your concern but I don’t think I would hold off on buying a Series 3 or TiVoHD simply because you’re worried about TiVo releasing a new DVR.  There has been some rumors about a Series 4 or OCAP enabled TiVo however, I haven’t heard anything in quite some time.  If I were you, I would go with a TiVoHD and then purchase an expander drive if you need the extra space.  Don’t forget that TiVo is always adding new features to their DVRs.  For example, sometime in the near future you will be able to watch YouTube and Disney Movies on your Series 3 and TiVo HD.

Bryan wrote:

I’m running Desktop 2.6.1 and the program won’t load. It returns the error message: “Unable to begin TiVo Desktop. Element missing”. I tried re-instlling the software to no avail. Any ideas on how to fix this?

My response:

Bryan,have you taken a look at this thread on TiVoCommunity?  It looks as though you could be having a problem with the registry/TiVo Desktop cache.

Louis Gray (louisgray.com) has posted a great article which points out a number of actions that TiVo should take inorder to improve its postion in the “social web” revolution (think digg, facebook, etc).  I like a lot of these suggestions however, the fourth suggestion really peeked my interest.  Wouldn’t it be great if TiVo made available a widget that would display what you’ve recorded on your TiVo?  I know I would love to use a similar widget on this blog.

Granted, you can probably around do something like this with the following XML hack however, it sure would be nice if TiVo made it so that a geek like me didn’t have to come up with my own solution.

What do you think about these suggestions?

I just received an email from Amazon.com letting me know about the Samsung/TiVoHD dealwhich I blogged about a couple of days ago.  At first I didn’t pay much attention to the email however, after reading through it I noticed that Amazon is offering three months of TiVo service for free along with free “White Glove Delivery” service.  This makes the deal even better then I had originally thought it was.  If only I needed another TiVoHD I would probably take advantage of this offer.  I’m currently in the market for a LCD HDTV and I’m thinking about going with either a Samsung or a Sony HDTV.  If you are interested in this offer you can head on over to Amazon’s websitewhere you can see which TVs qualify for this offer.

As someone who has shown an interest in digital video, you might like to know that through June 6 you can get a a free TiVO HD DVR and three months of free TiVo service when you purchase some of our most popular Samsung HDTVs from Amazon.com, including Wireless Plasma HDTVs that eliminate all of those connecting wires.

Use your TiVo HD DVR to record standard or high-definition programs; pause live TV; and transfer photos, music, or movies from your PC to your HDTV easily.

To top it all off, we offer FREE White-Glove Delivery on all 27-inch or larger HDTVs purchased from Amazon.com.