DirecTV's public beta of multi-room viewing for existing DVRs is on

We truly believe that one day the idea of having a DVR in just one room of the house will be foreign to most and here's a new step in that direction. DirecTV has a new opt-in public beta of multi-room viewing software for its HR2x series of HD DVRs. Now this is not to be confused with the new hardware that uses RVU that we showed you from CES due later this year -- we wish -- this is simply adding new features to hardware you already bough leased. The way this will work is that you'll plug each DirecTV box into your home network via CAT5, enabled sharing, and pay an additional monthly fee. At that point you'll not only be able to stream shows between DVRs or standard HD set top boxes, but you'll also be able to delete shows as well as schedule new recordings. The big downer is it's far more complex than many will be willing to tackle, especially since the user must still manage the network and the sharing settings, as well as the fact as there still isn't one cohesive list of scheduled recordings. And worst of all, there is no resume sync, so if you start a show on one DVR, you'll have to figure out where you left out by fast forwarding when you decide to finish the rest in bed. Ultimately this is a great feature to offer and although it isn't what we're waiting for, it is a big step in the right direction.

Thanks Doug and Jonathan!