First look at TiVo Desktop 2.1

A few weeks ago we got Engadget amigo Dave Zatz to check out the beta for TiVo Desktop 2.1 for us, and now that the final version has arrived we figured we'd ask him to take a second look and tell us what changes they might have made (oh, we should mention that TiVo Desktop is still for PCs only—a Mac version of TiVo Desktop is still years away). Here's what he found:

As we originally reported in March, the new software drops the redundant and buggy Desktop playback password, adds Portable Media Center support, and blacklists several software conversion tools.

TiVo Desktop 2.1 is a definite improvement in stability and convenience over the previous software by doing away with the Desktop playback password. Once the software has registered a person's unique Media Access Key, no human authorization is needed when opening each TiVo file.

TiVo is actually selling themselves short by emphasizing its support for Microsoft?s Portable Media Center. The integration with Windows Media Player 10 provides for the conversion of TiVo files to WMV, which means you can play the file on ANY portable device running Windows Media Player 10 Mobile, including Pocket PCs and Smartphones.

Like the beta, the final version of TiVo Desktop 2.1 blacklists various file conversion tools. The big losers here are anyone who was using Dr. DivX, TMPGEnc, and Media Encoder; none of these are able to open TiVo files any more. For a lot of people that means no more watching TiVo videos on their Palm PDAs, DivX-compatible DVD players, etc.

Surprisingly, TiVo Desktop 2.1 did not deliver the customized TiVo software player we originally tested. Presumably, it?s not ready for prime time, as we did observe wandering buttons and audio sync issues.