If you’re a Mac user like me, you’re probably frustrated with how TiVoToGo currently works on your Mac. Right now, if you want to playback a .tivo file you either have to purchase the officially supported solution (Roxio Toast/Popcorn) or use an unsupported utility such as TiVo Butler which strips the DRM from the .tivo file so that you can playback your recordings.
Well, according to a number of TiVoCommunity users, this limitation (along with several others) may no longer exist as soon as TiVo releases TiVo Desktop version 1.9.4. According to this thread, TiVo recently published a newer version of TiVo Desktop (v1.9.4) which appears to include a number of features including the ability to playback .tivo files on your Mac. The update has since been taken off of TiVo’s website however, the fact that an update briefly appeared seems to indicate that we should see a new version sometime in the near future.
Earlier today, TiVo released TiVo Desktop version 2.6.2 for Windows (when are we going to see a Mac update?). According to the release notes, this update includes mainly bug fixes. I went ahead and upgraded to this latest version without any problems.
Let me know if you run into any issues or if you find any new features that I may have missed.
TiVo Desktop 2.6.2
This version has the following improvements in TiVo Desktop.
Improved reliability of transfers of large recordings to the DVR.
Reduced memory usage when transferring recordings from the DVR
This version has the following improvements in TiVo Desktop Plus.
Improved communications with TiVo when linking to TiVo account and handling web video content.
Improved handling of web video content when pausing or shutting down TiVo Server.
TiVo Offers Subscribers More Ways to Discover Relevant and Personalized Content Directly from the TiVo Remote
ALVISO, Calif., July 17, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ — TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO), the creator of and a leader in television services for digital video recorders (DVRs), today announced the availability of YouTube videos on the TV via a TiVo(R) DVR. A partnership between the two companies allows broadband-connected subscribers with TiVo Series3(TM) and TiVo HD DVRs, to access hundreds of millions of user generated videos hosted on YouTube. Whether you like to watch the new up-n-comers, or classic YouTube favorites, TiVo subscribers are in control of the content they want to watch, whenever they want to watch it.
“With YouTube content now available on TiVo, on top of all the movies, music videos, songs and TV shows that are simply unavailable on cable and satellite, TiVo subscribers have more choice on their TV sets than any other TV viewers in the world,” said Tom Rogers, President and CEO of TiVo Inc.
YouTube on the Web attracts millions of viewers a day, and now TiVo offers consumers the opportunity to experience YouTube content where it is more comfortably consumed — in front of the TV set. TiVo users can now search, browse and watch their favorite YouTube videos through TiVo’s famously easy-to-use interface. Soon, users will also be able to log into their YouTube accounts directly through the TV to access their videos, channels and playlists, making the experience even richer.
“YouTube brings video where the audience is — across the Web and onto mobile devices, TVs and video games,” said Hunter Walk, YouTube’s director of product management. “The partnership with TiVo extends our ability to make YouTube accessible anywhere and lets people watch what they want, when they want it.”
Over the next few weeks TiVo will roll-out a software upgrade to Series3 and TiVo HD DVRs which will enable this feature. For more information on how to view YouTube videos on the TV via a TiVo DVR visit http://www.tivo.com/youtube.
Back in March I blogged about TiVo’s plan to offer YouTube content on your Series 3 and TiVo HD DVRs. Well, as I had expected, the 9.4 software upgrade will include YouTube support. My blogging buddy Dave Zatz was lucky enough to get his hands on the 9.4 upgrade and he has produced the following video (embedded below) showcasing the new functionality. Another cool thing about this upgrade is that the YouTube content will be H.264 encoded which means that the upgrade will enable H.264 on the Series 3 and TiVo HDs!
If you want more information you should head on over to TiVo’s press release as well as on TiVo’s website. For now all you can do is sit back and wait for your DVR to get the upgrade. I would expect that TiVo will update their priority page sometime in the near future. When they do I’ll be sure to mention it on this site.
Let me know if you DVR receives this update. I’d love to hear what you think about some of the new features.
Subject: You have a new service update!
From: The TiVo Team
Date: Tue 7/15
Congrats! You’ve just received the Summer 2008 TiVo Service Update for TiVo HD and Series 3 DVRs, including these new enhancements to your TiVo Experience:
*Play or Delete a Folder
Play or delete an entire folder of programs with a single button press (including kids shows, music videos ext). Highlight a folder and press PLAY to play all the shows in sequence. Pres CLEAR to delete the entire folder.
*Browse the Guide Any Time
Press the GUIDE button to display the program guide over what you’re watching: live TV, a previously recorded program, or even a video download.
*Jump Forward in the Guide
When the Guide is on-screen, press the ADVANCE to jump 24 hours ahead. Press INSTANT REPLAY to go back 24 hours.
*Find a Station in the Guide
Now you can search for a station “call sign” within the Guide, e.g. KQED, WPIX, MSNBC. When viewing the program guide, press ENTER to bring up Guide Options, then SELECT Find by call sign.
*Toggle Closed Captioning On and Off
The Closed Captioning icon in the Channel Banner now toggles closed captioning on and off.
*Review Thumb Ratings
To display a list of all programs that you have rated, select Find Programs, then TiVo Suggestions. Press ENTER to bring up the Review Thumbs screen
I love my TiVo DVR mainly because it provides a number of features that the competition doesn’t offer. For example, one of my favorite features that is included with all TiVo DVRs is the ability to customize which channels I want to have included in my channel list. This feature is great because it allows me to remove channels that I never watch (ie: QVC, Home Shopping Network). By doing this, I am able to reduce the number of channels that are included in the guide thereby, making it easier for me to browse the guide since I don’t have to “ignore” channels that I’m really not interested in.
In my opinion, it’s features like this which makes TiVo far superior to the competition….
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 includemore 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.
If you’re a Mac user like me, you’re probably frustrated with how TiVoToGo currently works on your Mac. Right now, if you want to playback a .tivo file you either have to purchase the officially supported solution (Roxio Toast/Popcorn) or use an unsupported utility such as TiVo Butler which strips the DRM from the .tivo file so that you can playback your recordings.
