Back in November of ‘07, TiVo announced that they had formed a partnership with Nero to develop a PC based version of the Emmy award winning TiVo software.  Today, TiVo and Nero are set to announce a software package called LiquidTV.  As expected, LiquidTV brings the TiVo experience to your PC.  Once installed, LiquidTV will allow you to record your favorite TV shows using up to four tuners.  The software includes many of TiVo’s award winning features as well several new capabilities which are unique to LiquidTV.  Rather than try and summarize everything that LiquidTV has to offer, I’ve decided to include the following press release.  After the press release you’ll find some additional information that I was able to gather as well as several screenshots.

Karlsbad, Germany and Alviso, Calif. (September 29, 2008) — Nero, creators of liquid media technology, and TiVo Inc. (NASDAQ: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), announced today the unveiling of Nero LiquidTV | TiVo PC. This new offering revolutionizes the way consumers experience television by offering an enhanced TiVo DVR experience directly from the PC.

“In recent years the amount of digital entertainment content available to average consumers has exploded,” said Bruce McGregor, senior analyst, Digital Home Services for Current Analysis. “Consumers have increasingly conformed to using mobile devices and the PC as sources of video entertainment; as a result they are looking for ways to port their favorite television content onto multiple mobile formats. There is an emerging opportunity for a PC-based DVR service that offers easy access to television content on a wide variety of devices.”

With Nero LiquidTV | TiVo PC, consumers can watch and pause live TV on their desktop, record their favorite shows directly to their hard drive, transfer shows between computers throughout the home, or enjoy their favorite shows on-the-go by exporting them to iPod®, PlayStation® Portable (PSP®), or burning them to DVD. Now the TiVo experience can be enjoyed on the PC, including TiVo features like WishList® searches, Season Pass® recordings, TiVo KidZone, and TiVo Suggestions.

“For more than a decade, the world’s largest mobile and consumer electronics brands have trusted Nero for technology leadership and category creation,” said Udo Eberlein, CEO, Nero AG. “Now, with Nero LiquidTV | TiVo PC, we are providing a next-generation DVR application that integrates the renowned TiVo service with the PC. This solution is truly a platform on which our vision for liquid media – where content can be easily accessed anytime, anywhere, and on any device — will become a reality.”

Nero LiquidTV | TiVo PC is designed for ease of use. No technical expertise is required to install the software on any PC with the Windows XP or Windows Vista operating system. The full retail solution comes complete with everything that the consumer needs to share the TV experience throughout their digital home: a TiVo PC remote; a TV tuner card to allow television signals to be received by the PC; and an IR Blaster to create a wireless, infrared connection between the cable or satellite box and the PC. It also comes with a one-year subscription to the award-winning TiVo service, which automatically finds and digitally records a user’s favorite shows.

“Nero has done a superb job of bringing the TiVo experience to the PC, and have done so in a way that lives up to the rich TiVo legacy,” said Tom Rogers, CEO and President, TiVo. “To be able to extend the features of TiVo to a new platform without compromising the integrity of what has made TiVo such a revolutionary product is a significant achievement, one we know both new and old fans of TiVo will love.”

Nero LiquidTV | TiVo PC with one year of TiVo service will be available in the U.S., Canada and Mexico in October 2008 with a suggested retail price of $199 USD for a retail box or $99 USD for a downloadable software-only version. TiVo service subscription renewal is on an annual basis at $99 a year. The retail box, containing a tuner card, TiVo remote control and IR blaster, will be available at participating retailers in the U.S. and Canada. The software-only version will be available for download to the U.S. Canada and Mexico online at www.nero.com.
Supports 4 tuners

Additional Info

• The included tuner is a Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-950Q ($88.70 from Amazon.com)
• LiquidTV is currently only available on a Windows PC however, Nero has said that they’re considering offering a Mac version sometime in the future.
• The transfer feature allows you to transfer recordings between other PCs as well as other TiVos on the same network.
• The DVD burning feature is integrated right into the TiVo interface.  When you play a DVD, the interface looks as though you are playing a recording that is stored on your TiVo.
• Nero has said that you will be able to schedule recordings online.  I’m not sure if this is through TiVo Central Online or if it will be via another website/service.
• TiVoCast is currently not supported in LiquidTV.
• Nero is offering a 30 day free trial.  The free trial provides all of the features minus the ability to transcode recordings to MP4.

Thanks to Dave Zatz, I stumbled upon the following post which talks about a survey that was supposedly sponsored by TiVo.  According to this post, the survey requested feedback on a completely new TiVo UI.  Here’s a couple of videos that were included in the survey.  I’m not exactly sure if the survey was actually sponsored by TiVo however, I like what I see in these videos…

Although we may never see this new UI in a TiVo DVR, I’m excited to think that TiVo is looking into changing things.  What do you think of this new UI?

Here’s episode #2 of the weekly Badoop Badoop Show.

Here’s part 1 & 2…

Part 1 can be found here….

Here’s part 1 of a 4 part interview with Tom Rogers. For some reason the D Conference hasn’t published parts 3 & 4 (at least I can’t find them). More details on the interview can be found here.

WeaKnees has uncovered new information about the upcoming DirecTV HD TiVo.  According to WeaKnees, the new DVR will provide several features which are exclusive to TiVo DVRs including, TiVo KidZone and Universal Swivel Search.  Along with these features, the new DVR will also support networking.  No information has been released as to whether or not the DVR will support TiVoToGo.  Stay tuned for more info…..

Over the past couple of days I’ve received the following help requests via this site’s “contact me” form. Rather than 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…

Jay wrote:

Hi, great site!  I have a question.  I have a series 3 hd tv with Verizon Fios.  When I watch HD channels (mainly shows with lots of action), i get a lot of pixelation and sound jumping.  Verizon did a line test and said my lines are fine.  Two separate verizon reps said it is the Tivo box not being able to pick up the fast verizon signal.  Do you know of any corrector that I can add to help stop the pixelation?  Its freakin annoying because I can never watch any football on any hd channel without getting annoyed.  Thanks for any help you can provide.

My response:

Have you tried testing the signal strenght of your connection?  If not, you might want to check out the following menu item on your Series 3: Messages & Settings –> Settings –> Channels –> Signal Strenght - Cable.  This will hopefully tell you whether or not your TiVo is receiving a strong signal.  For example, I am currently watching football on ESPN and my TiVo HD is indicating that it is receiving a 93 percent signal strength.

In terms of what the Verizon rep said, I honestly don’t believe it.  Your TiVo not being able to “handle the speed” doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.  Go ahead and test your connection so that we can eliminate that as a potential issue.  Also, you might want to check out this thread on TCF…..

Jono wrote:

I just discovered your blog, and have learned alot already; thank you! One thing I couldn’t figure out is if it’s possible to buy a movie in iTunes and then transfer it to my TiVo Series 3. And if so, what program(s) I need.

Do you have a moment to shed some light on that?

My response:

I wish I could help you with this however, iTunes’ movies have DRM (digital rights managment) in place which tries to prevent you from watching these recordings on any device other than an iPod or from within iTunes.  That being said, I’m sure there are ways to remove this restriction however, I’m not going to recommend that you do this nor can I provide with any links since this is technically against the law (DMCA). Believe it or not, you don’t own any movie that you purchase from iTunes.  Instead, you simply are allowed to watch it in iTunes or on an iPod. Isn’t DRM great?