Comcast customers to get TiVo any day now?

We know, it's been a long (long) time coming, but for Comcast users in New England waiting intently for their TiVo, the wait "could be" almost up. Okay, so maybe you will be forced to exercise your patience for yet another undisclosed amount of time, but at this point, are you really surprised? According to TiVo's chief executive Tom Rogers, he's "waiting for word any time now that the first non-Comcast employee will begin to get the service," which could be seen as shifting the blame to Comcast. Regardless, none of it does much to instill confidence in us.

[Via Zatz Not Funny]

[tgrove @ Oct 10th 2007 9:16AM]

so does that mean if I have a current comcast box they will push the tivo firmware to it?

[gig @ Oct 10th 2007 9:22AM]

I'd rather get the freakin Big Ten Network!

[revaaron @ Oct 10th 2007 9:31AM]

I need to go down and get a new box any how. my digital box doesn't have a serial connection to talk to my tivo.

(ps: yeah for this site mentioning new england!)

[Andrew @ Oct 10th 2007 9:40AM]

i am not holding my breath

[NHAnimator @ Oct 10th 2007 9:54AM]

IMHO, Comcast is an odd duck. I'm sure people have horror stories about them, but my experience is this:

Above-average customer service. I have been genuinely surprised at how quick and helpful they have been - including telling me how to enable the 30-sec skip code that Motorola didn't leave open on the remote. They have acknowledged problems and either apologized or even refunded monies above what they needed to.

Horribly high pricing. Everyone I compare them to is less expensive.

Let's hope the Tivo units are better than the Motorola junk I have to use now. It's embarassing when you try to FF, rewind, pause live TV only to have the box delay for 20 seconds in responding. (I have replaced the box on more than one occasion. It just sucks.)

[culbeda @ Oct 10th 2007 10:33AM]

Minus the praise of their customer service, I have to agree with you completely, NHAnimator. Perhaps you're confusing courteousness with effectiveness.

[bladzalot @ Oct 10th 2007 11:17AM]

I agree with NHAnimator, for Comcast being such a huge company, you think that they would have been able to do more in the past two years since they signed the agreement with Tivo, then to just tease us with broken promises. I live in Colorado and we have about 20 HD channels. Every time I call the call center they have no clue when they are going to be able to offer more HD channels, nobody even knows about a Tivo box coming out, and researching these solid questions seems to be something they are just not willing to do.

I have been BEGGING for this update for years, specially since the issues that NHAnimator were talking about are common amongst all comcast customers. You do not know how many times I have to hit the guide button on my remote just to have it wait two minutes and then suddenly respond retroactively to every keypress I made over the past two minutes.

For these kind of issues to still be in effect, years after they released these boxes...come on...you are a multi billion dollar company for gods sakes...

[Ben @ Oct 10th 2007 11:28AM]

I didn't even know that this was in the works but it would be great. The dvr software currently being used in the scientific atlantic boxes is abysmal at best. I had time warner dvr service 4 years ago that was better implemented than comcast's current effort (not to say that TW doesn't still sucks though imo).

[Quix @ Oct 10th 2007 10:23AM]

"Any day now???" Haven't we been hearing that for, like, two years?

I may exaggerate, but only slightly.

[Jon @ Oct 10th 2007 10:32AM]

I wish Time Warner would offer the Tivo service. TW uses the Scientific Atlanta DVR's. They usually "get the job done" but are extremely flaky and have about the worst UI I have ever seen. Graphics straight out of the 80s and menus designed by complete idiots.
I've used Windows Media Center and it just completely destroys the TW boxes so I'd imagine Tivo is even better.

[Dan @ Oct 10th 2007 10:50AM]

I take it you have never seen the Comcast DVR then. Its beyond terrible. Everything lags or takes forever to respond, menus are ugly. I have some friends in NYC so I have seen the Time Warner boxes, and trust me, they are leaps and bounds above what Comcast offers. Made me wish I had one of those boxes.

[erac3rx @ Oct 10th 2007 11:55AM]

Jon, consider yourself lucky. I've used a ton of different DVR UIs and Time Warner's is by far the best non-Tivo option. Charter's Moxi boxes are very difficult for beginners to use, and Comcast is basically a ripoff of Time Warner's UI but far less intuitive and with an inferior remote.

What do I miss most after moving from North Carolina to Chicago? Time Warner's cable service. The boxes were snappy in comparison to this Comcast s**t I have now, and they weren't breaking BitTorrent like Comcast is for my internet service either.

[Jon @ Oct 10th 2007 12:26PM]

@ erac3rx and Dan
Wow, thanks for the info. I didn't think it could get any worse than TW, but obviously I was wrong! Shows what I know...I guess the grass is always greener...

[tyderian @ Oct 10th 2007 12:33PM]

Just to clear up some confusion here, this is not a replacement box. This is TiVo software that runs on current Motorola boxes (DCT and DCH series). It will be deployed as an update, and you will be shipped a TiVo peanut remote with Comcast branding and some special color coded buttons for filtering. There will be an additional monthly fee, but no official pricing yet.

Preliminary reports rumor that the infamous Moto-lag issue is still present.

[DCGUY12 @ Nov 7th 2007 9:53AM]

Why do people want Tivo by the way? Comcast DVR does the job.

In my experience here in D.C. they've had just about the worst customer service that is legally possible. To setup and install Three HDTV/DVR boxes, and Cable Internet, they had to visit us SEVEN times to get it right. We were without cable for many days, internet wasn't working half the time, contractors didn't "have the right part," and billing us for stuff we didn't order was the worst part.

[Logboy @ Oct 10th 2007 10:41AM]

So is it going to be free, as a replacement for the Moto boxes? Or is this some way to get my friggin cable bill just a little bit higher?

[JLeibovitz @ Oct 10th 2007 12:05PM]

More than likely, Logboy, the TiVo Plus service would, (ability to search 14 in advance, use the premium services) be an additional charge of about $13 a month... but just having the box and using TiVo basic features, (ff, rewind and pause live tv within a half hour time block)? I'd think that would just be the box rental charge Comcast usually throws at you.

[Kennyb123 @ Oct 10th 2007 1:02PM]

You seriously think that's possible?

There will be an additional charge if you want your DVR to be a Tivo box, and then the firmware will be pushed.

This was announced a year or two ago... I HIGHLY doubt Comcast went the route of "let's give it to them free!"

[LukeA @ Oct 10th 2007 3:06PM]

@hartmania

"Squeezing pennies"?

Try "squeezing hundreds of dollars".

[Rey Rodriguez @ Oct 10th 2007 11:49AM]

When is TiVo coming back to DirecTV!?

[Kyle @ Oct 10th 2007 11:55AM]

No kidding, I wish they'd come back. I'll use my DTivo's until they die.

[Jason @ Oct 10th 2007 12:17PM]

I gave up waiting for the Comcast/Tivo bastard DVR and bought a new TivoHD. It's great. Except, Comcast didn't show up for the first 3 appointments to install the CableCards. Fourth one, they showed up, but the idiot installer didn't know how to install the cablecards. After I printed out the instructions for him, he still couldn't get it to work. He said he was going to meet his supervisor and come right back. Never showed. Customer service? Not really. Bravo Comcast, bravo. Suck my balls.

[Shadow @ Oct 10th 2007 12:51PM]

What does Comcast charge for the two cable cards?

[scorp508 @ Oct 10th 2007 1:00PM]

Comcast New England definitely needs to get on the ball because Verizon FiOS TV service is rolling out rediculously fast here in the area. The FiOS multi-room DVRs are way better than what Comcast has to offer at this point.

[Christopher Price @ Oct 10th 2007 3:03PM]

From what I've been told (and this was awhile back, so it could have changed), the TiVo firmware update will simply give the Comcast Motorola DVRs a TiVo UI... but none of the TiVo features. So, if you were hoping for TiVoToGo... don't hold your breath.

- Christopher Price
http://www.christopherprice.net

[LukeA @ Oct 10th 2007 3:05PM]

But then they'd have to have Comcast.

[Edgar @ Oct 10th 2007 6:44PM]

I had a Comcast guy out at my house today who I chatted to about this - he said that he was the installer for the first Comcast/TiVo beta installation in our area, which he did just yesterday apparently. It is indeed just a firmware update for the existing Moto DVR.

[Laura @ Oct 11th 2007 8:02AM]

WOW- I can't wait for this. This is a long time coming. I have had to endure my Comcast DVR for way tooo long! The fast Forward always got stuck, the rewind hardly moved. So many other issues and so little time to write about it!

The Tivo system is sooo much more user friendly. In my household we have 2 DVR's and 1 TIVO and believe me the TIVO is 100 times better.. You are all in for a BIG SURPRISE.

Thanks Comcast!

[jim @ Oct 12th 2007 12:52AM]

Hmmmmm. 13 dollars more a month for a better ui? Damn, I just wet my pants.

The current box / software sucks when it freezes, but a fix isn't worth 13 a month. You'd be better off getting a media center pc and paying the minimum on the credit card.

[Adam @ Oct 11th 2007 5:21PM]

Not to burst anybody's bubble, but the TiVo upgrade is in software only. It will still be the same crappy Motorola box with the same crappy firmware.

[chris @ Oct 23rd 2007 8:31PM]

it isnt 13 dollars a month, it is going to be 3 dollars extra a month.
i am a tech in the new england area and i am beta testing it, and have been for the past month. it is scheduled to release in a couple weeks, but they think it is going to be pushed back untill mid nov to early to mid dec.
if anybody has any questions on this or anything pretaining to comcast feel free to ask. i am an advanced cct4 tech for the company. and i usually get my hands on anything they r going to release about 2 months before it comes out. i am there guinea pig

[chuck @ Nov 2nd 2007 10:48AM]

Hi Chris,

It is nice to communicate with someone who offers answers. How about as complete a description of the new Comcast Tivo UI as you can give? What will the extra price be? Most importantly, when will it be available in Colorado and nation-wide? Any details will be greatly appreciated. I sure hope I can delete channels I do not subscribe to and/or do not watch. Can I delete those channels from the guide? I never want to see them. It is ok for them to be availabe, but not as a default as it is now. I have a tv that is 25 years old that would allow me to delete channels, but Comcast will not let me delete them from the guide. Their favorite channel list is a joke. Thanks for any help.

[Boxer Boys @ Nov 7th 2007 1:01PM]

Chris,
Will the firmware be available to all Motorola boxes; or only specific models?

Thanks...looking forward to the upgrade

[Jesse B. @ Nov 26th 2007 7:07PM]

I just called Comcast (SF Bay Area/California) and they said that they were for sure doing the integration of Tivo's software into their boxes.

The rep said that customers did not need to opt in and that the upgrade should be rolled out during Q1 or Q2 of 2008.

I also asked if the employees had an internal test of the Tivo software on the Comcast box and she said that they have not tested anything.