We were a bit hazy on the deets
the first time around, but now that
TiVo has unveiled its new TiVoCast "network content partners" for Series2 boxes, it turns out there really isn't too much more to tell. Despite TiVo's protestations, TiVoCasting is still pretty much straight up video podcasting, with rejiggered branding and a lack of user flexibility. The main news is that TiVo has managed to nab some fairly decent -- if not totally exclusive -- content for the service, including various programming from CBS Interactive, Reuters, Forbes, dLife, Plum TV and Nano, not to mention old standbys like
Rocketboom, and our personal fav,
Danger Rangers. Unfortunately, Plum TV looks to the main one providing full episodes over the service, while other networks are mainly repurposing their online or supplemental content for TiVoCasting. As for developing your own channel of TiVoCast content, TiVo has teamed up with One True Media to allow people to upload and edit their movies online, and then share them via TiVoCast with a special code given to friends and family with Series2 setups. Not quite the sort of TiVoCasting freedom we would hope for, but it might prove to be a welcome feature to Joe Consumer. What we found much more exciting was the new PC-to-TiVo functionality being rolled out the TiVo Desktop Plus 2.4. We've got a full walkthrough after the break, but the basic gist is that you can take pretty much any video file and shoot it on over to your TiVo with little hassle. You just set TiVo Desktop to watch a particular folder, and when you place files in there they get automatically transcoded over to TiVo's format and become available to your TiVo over the network. Keep reading for the lowdown.
Alright, we laid these out chronologically, so it shouldn't be too hard to follow along at home.
First, find a vid. Borat seemed to be the theme of the night -- no complaints here.
Download vid to TiVo folder.
Video gets automatically converted.
And can of course be previewed from TiVo Desktop.
Connecting to the PC from the TiVo.
Select the video.
Transfer the video -- real rocket science, eh?
Wait for the video. To be honest, this didn't take long at all to queue up, maybe 3-5 seconds.
Play the video.
And here we go!
As you can see, playback starts before the whole video is even transferred. The green bar denotes amount transferred. Quite slick.
Green bar gets a closeup.
And that's the gist of the new PC-to-TiVo functions -- simple but effective.
Now for One True Media:
Videos can contain text, video, pics and songs, and it all looked fairly easy to throw together in One True Media's web app.
Once you're done with the vid, just click "Add to Your TiVo Channel" -- video is exported at VGA quality.
Let your homies know what be up.
The video had already been downloaded to the TiVo, but it was all pretty straightforward anyways.
Aren't they the cutest!
Happy birfday Sarah!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Joe D @ Nov 15th 2006 8:30AM
Curious as to personal DVD's I have copied to MY PC, will they be able to be played via TiVO?
netposer @ Nov 15th 2006 8:48AM
Anyone know what formats the TiVo service will convert to the .tivo format? I'd really like to play Divx movies on my TiVo.
SJGMoney @ Nov 15th 2006 1:58PM
I've been using the Videora Tivo converter software right now and it works fine, no reason why this shouldn't either. Basically converts whatever video file you have to .mpg file which Tivo can understand and play back.
Adam Lerman @ Nov 15th 2006 8:49AM
How good is this with formats? Will it work with any video format? Can I transfer movies to it, then using tivo desktop have it transfer them back and into ipod mode. Slow but easy way to do that?
Ryan Dean @ Nov 15th 2006 9:58AM
All this article needs is one more picture...
HOLY COW MAN.
Bochi @ Nov 15th 2006 9:59AM
Is this a feature on the Series 3 as well, and if so would one be able to read either hi-def DVD format?
HDTiVo @ Nov 15th 2006 1:57PM
Think of it as the S3 getting only video FROM the internet. Nothing related to TO/FROM PC yet.
S2 gets everything.
thoruen @ Nov 15th 2006 10:51AM
anyone know if we'll be able to transfer videos bought from itunes to our Tivos?
Chuck Yoder @ Nov 15th 2006 11:20AM
Without a doubt, no. Unprotected MPEG4 and H264, maybe (I do that now with TivoServer and my DirecTivos) But absolutely, without a doubt no on encrypted iTunes files.
andy @ Nov 15th 2006 11:34AM
Remind me again why I bought a S3 instead of the cheaper S2 again?
Jason @ Nov 15th 2006 1:33PM
Whatever happened to Tivo Desktop on the Mac? Once again, Mac users get the shaft.
eyei3 @ Nov 15th 2006 2:01PM
Can we get a walk through of how a person would join your network once they have received a request to do so? Does that request come via email? What do they do once they receive the request?
Glenn @ Nov 15th 2006 2:13PM
Are conversion to .tivo or .mpg?
I heard somewhere that conversions were only from .wmv, .mp4 and specifically NOT from AVI (divx, xvid...). Which would make this pretty much useless for most internet video honestly.
Can you confirm?
Alex @ Nov 15th 2006 3:32PM
When does 2.4 come out? As of today the website still says 2.3.
MegaZone @ Nov 16th 2006 8:26AM
It doesn't convert to .tivo, it converts to plain MPEG-2. And you can do it today without waiting for 2.4 Desktop Plus. TiVo is just making it easier for non-savvy users to use their tools. If you're comfortable converting video today, you can do it now - and have been able to do it for a long time. Here's a decent resource: http://www.zatznotfunny.com/gtt.htm
To answer other questions:
- Yes, you can transfer ripped DVDs to a TiVo. Many people do this.
- Converting video to MPEG2 to transfer to the TiVo, then transferring them back to the PC and converting them for an iPod might be possible - but dumb. It would be harder and slower than just using any number of free tools out there and converting right from whatever format the video is in to MPEG4/H.264 for the iPod.
- IIRC, the press release said 2.4 would be out later this year.