TiVo's Tom Rogers speaks of "whole home model"

During his sit-down at D6, TiVo's head honcho Tom Rogers was grilled with a flurry of questions. Aside from a lengthy back-and-forth over the DVR's ability to skip through ads, we finally got to some real meat. First off, Mr. Rogers noted that he was "hopeful" that TiVo would be launched in the UK "soon." Secondly -- and probably most interestingly -- was the notion that TiVo was working up a "whole home model" in order to solve the problem of needing multiple boxes to service an entire house. Sadly, that snippet is all Tom uttered, so we're left to ponder what's really going on behind the tightly sealed doors at TiVo. Here's to hoping we know more by the time CEDIA rolls around -- you listening, Mr. Rogers?

[Via Electronista]

[Mile @ May 30th 2008 11:06AM]

Are we not men? We are Tivo!

[coyotej @ May 30th 2008 3:49PM]

Well, it IS the Cable companies' fault. They hate installing CableCards, which are mandated by FCC. It's the only way ANY non-cable-company device can access encrypted digital channels [SD and HD both]. It's not worth hating on TiVo for this at all, it's not their fault.

[coyotej @ May 30th 2008 3:53PM]

doh, this was supposed to be at the end of Andy's thread. Sigh.

[andy @ May 30th 2008 11:07AM]

I hope they just update the software so that the TIVO's see each other on your LAN and coordinate recordings between them.

They should also pool storage so that everything on one unit's HDD is seen in the now playing list of the other unit.

They should play nice together instead of just ignoring one another unless sat down and ordered to speak to one another.

[Erwos @ May 30th 2008 11:27AM]

Storage pooling is harder than you think it is, cool a feature as it may be.

[retro77 @ May 30th 2008 11:41AM]

All they gotta be able to do is index what is on the storage and share that index with other Tivos.

[Geoffrey Sperl @ May 30th 2008 12:02PM]

They would have to stream the video to one another for the pooling to work the way you're thinking of.

I think they should be able to do it if all the boxes involved are Series3-based and there is a fast enough network at play.

[andy @ May 30th 2008 12:37PM]

I'm sure 100Mb wired would suffice. These are after all compressed files we're talking about.


All of the pieces are there, they just need to execute now.


PS: I'd like to see a Windows Media Center add-in. I'd pay a bit for it. Say 30 bucks one time? I've got a ton of pics and music on my computer, and the media center interface is better.

[happy_penguin @ May 30th 2008 1:19PM]

You can already see the other tivo on your list and access it's list. I would rather not see the shows in the playlist because that would be confusing, especially when the list gets long. I would, however, like to see the To Do lists coordinate. That way, you won't repeat recordings on each Tivo unless you want to.

The problem I'm having is with my new HD Tivo. I can find HD channels by tuning them in manually but Tivo can not access info for HD channels without the damn cards for which Comcrap wants $7/mo each. That's $14/mo! I can rent Comcrap's DVR for that price and not have the damn $700 investment. Plus, if I switch to satellite in the future, my new Tivo will be useless. That's why it's going back today. Thank you for the 30 day money back guarantee.

Still, I blame Comcrap for this. They suck ass.

[Ian @ May 30th 2008 11:53AM]

And what about the"dongle" to play Switch Video and a new model incorporating this hardware?

[Geoffrey Sperl @ May 30th 2008 11:55AM]

That's coming. Cisco and Motorola just previewed them at the Cable Show. Check out ZatzNotFunny and Gizmo Lovers for more on those.

[Frank Furter @ May 30th 2008 11:26AM]

I wish Tom would speak of "revamping the tired, sluggish interface" and "introducing some useful new features".

[retro77 @ May 30th 2008 11:40AM]

I smell a media server.

[Geoffrey Sperl @ May 30th 2008 11:58AM]

Remember that they have that deal with Nero that's working on.

[Geoffrey Sperl @ May 30th 2008 11:59AM]

Wow, did I screw that one up...

"...that's being worked on."

Bah.

[Charlie @ May 30th 2008 11:47AM]

How about Tivo for satellite? Kiss and make up all ready!

[chris.tunnah @ May 30th 2008 12:03PM]

But hasn't TiVO missed the boat in the UK? Both Virgin and Sky have disk-based digital recorders in place already, as well as the 'video on demand'/replay facilities of Virgin and BT......

[Jazza @ May 30th 2008 12:11PM]

Tivo launched in the TV many years ago, but it never took off. They later worked with Sky on a PVR, but Sky ended up going with a different partner.

If Tivo could launch with a freeview box, that would be great. I don't think anyone offers there features for freeview.

Check out the old Tivo UK site (http://www.uk.tivo.com/0.0.asp)

[geordiekid @ May 31st 2008 3:56PM]

The might have missed the boat with the Sky and Virgin platforms, but as Freesat has just launched, it seems like a perfect fit - so it wouldn't be surprising to see something happen there.

I don't know the history of TiVo in the UK, but I believe it worked with DSat before Sky went it's own way - which I imagine severely stunted TiVo's chances of success. Well now that Freeview has shown that an open platform can work in the UK, and that the free platforms can/could be a equal competitor to Sky - then now it's their opportunity.

I'm sure someone could say that TiVo could have done this themselves all along - and it's true, they could - but they are an American focussed *business* - and so there was no reason for them to be intereseted in being a small player in a small market with a strong competitor. Now that rival broadcasters have decided to club together to take Sky on with Freesat, that will open up that market to much stronger competition with an open platform - and that will therefore mean that TiVo have a chance of success when offering their product to the UK and it will increase TiVo's chances of success in the UK market.

[Geoffrey Sperl @ May 30th 2008 11:57AM]

Whole-house, to me, means that I will be able to use the PC as a proper archive and that the TiVos in the household will share settings and, possibly, stream video to one another instead of having to copy the recording.

I hope that's true.

Maybe that's what the Nero software is all about...

[IsleOfMan @ May 30th 2008 12:15PM]

With SD content I have no problem watching an entire program stop-free once I begin copying, as if it were streaming, over a basic 802.11g network. I only have one TivoHD in the house so I can't comment on HD content, but considering 1hr of HD takes 2-4 hours to copy to my PC, I'm guessing it wouldn't play stop-free.

A killer feature that should/could be incorporated into future boxes would be coax-home-networking allowing all boxes to talk to each other at high speed with no new wiring or wireless necessary. A usb coax-networking adapter could even let you include older boxes. This would bring high-speed tivo networking to the plug-and-play masses.

[TEG @ May 30th 2008 12:29PM]

They need to market the TiVo HD as not only HD capable, but also capable of being your Digital Converter and/or Cable Box. Also, they need to work on making the Series 2 (both the single tuner and dual tuner) compatible with the Digital Converters.

The ability to lightly customize the interface would also help, as well as a no subscription service (where you would have 3 times the current ads on the TiVo).

Also, the current TiVos can see other TiVos in your home and you can see what the other has, is doing, and can watch something from another TiVo... What they then need is the ability to set programs for remote TiVos, or have a master "to do list" and the TiVos self schedule so that everything is decentralized, also if you are watching something else on your TiVo, and it won't want to interrupt what you are watching (if the other tuner if busy) to record a show, it will just switch to an unused TiVo.

TEG

[Zach @ May 30th 2008 12:33PM]

Or, instead of whole-house, they could go with a whole-neighborhood model. They'd call it Mr. Rogers neighborhood.

[Yoyodyn @ May 30th 2008 12:35PM]

I see a sling catcher like device for streaming TIVO content to other sets.
Whether the base unit is the current Tivo, or a central media server, doesn't really matter.

[Chris @ May 30th 2008 4:26PM]

TiVo is sorely missed from the UK. I stuck out with TiVo and a Sky digibox for as long as I could, but eventually had to get Sky+.

Why do TiVo have to tease us Brits like this so often. The UK soooo needs TiVo. The only real choice we have is Sky+. Virgin's V+ box might have 3 tuners but the UI and EPG are awful. Sky+ still rules the UK roost.

TiVo should team up with Humax. Humax have probably THE best Freeview PVR. Technically sound, performs outstandingly well, almost comes out top in tests.

All the Humax needs is a good EPG and UI - enter TiVo!!!!

Come on TiVo, bring choice back to the UK!

[comfysofa @ Jun 1st 2008 4:10AM]

omg.....if the TIVO relaunched in the UK id be there.....my series one is about as far as i can take it 1.5TB of space, network, ram upgrade web services etc etc....it truly is the best bit of home entertainment kit ive every bought - gets used every day and has done for the last 10 years or so. The thing is, is that ive used a lot of pvr's and seen a lot over the years. The sky+ box has come the closest but at the end of the day - nothing buy nothing works like a tivo. Plain and simple.

[Jamie Cooper @ Jun 10th 2008 5:13PM]

a couple years ago I bought a tivo, and was in a one year contract which ended in December of 2007.
I tried to cancel my tivo service today and they said it will cost me another $90.00 dollars because I'm in a new contract that I didn't even know about!


you are thieves and I can't wait til your company (tivo) is no more!
I will never return to Tivo, and I hope others follow my example.

guess what my next song is going to be about!