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TiVo's Bolt Vox DVR jumps into the future with voice control
Stop us if you've heard this one before: TiVo is updating its Bolt DVR lineup with a new remote, a new UI and a new name. The TiVo Bolt Vox (and TiVo Mini Vox) are easy to spot thanks to the remote's new bright blue button that is the key to the extra characters in their name. Following a trail blazed by many other media setups lately (Amazon, Apple, Comcast, Roku -- just to name a few) voice control is a central feature of the new hardware. TiVo has had universal search across platforms including broadcast television, cable TV and streaming for quite a while, but it's not just adding a microphone.
TiVo's QuickMode viewing feature hits all Roamio DVRs
Tivo's QuickMode option, which lets you speed up recorded shows with pitch-corrected audio, is available on every Roamio DVR as of today. The feature arrived last week for the TiVo Bolt, the company's latest set-top box, but it is now officially expanding to the entire Roamio family. TiVo says that, along with the release of QuickMode, it's also making other goods available in today's update. There's a refreshed look and feel in the TiVo Guide, as well as a new setting designed to make it easy for cord-cutters to get access to their content. Of course, the main attraction here is QuickMode -- TiVo says it can "shave a month of time each year" for people who want to watch shows at a faster pace.
TiVo updates its iOS app for out-of-home streaming
Owners of certain models of TiVo's digital video recorders will be able to watch their favorite shows outside the home, thanks to a new version of its iOS app that was released today. The app enables streaming of live and recorded TV shows to an iPad or iPhone, which is what the company promised at the launch of the Roamio DVR in August. Version 3.2 of the universal app provides out-of-home streaming from a Roamio Plus or Roamio Pro DVR to iOS devices on WiFi networks, or downloading of shows to devices on LTE networks. These Roamio boxes will receive a software update today to enable the functionality on the DVRs. For anyone owning a base-level Roamio with TiVo Stream, the out-of-home streaming and downloading capability will be arriving in November.
TiVo adds Opera SDK support to Roamio platform, wants more HTML5 apps
The TiVo Roamio platform is still extremely young, what with it only having been launched earlier this month and all. Still, the DVR maker isn't wasting any time and is now finding ways to bring as many features as possible to its new set-top boxes. With this in mind, TiVo let it be known today that it's adding support for Opera's Devices SDK and TV Store to its lineup of Roamio DVRs, providing developers an opportunity to create a variety of HTML5-based applications. TiVo's hoping the partnership with Opera can introduce a slew of apps in different categories to the platform, including entertainment, fashion, sports, business, gaming news and more. As for Opera, we can imagine it's rather pleased to get its app-creating tools used by yet another company.
Daily Update for August 20, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
TiVo introduces Roamio with built-in iOS streaming
The company that singlehandedly began the DVR revolution in 1999, TiVo, has just introduced a trio of DVRs with built-in iOS streaming. The TiVo Roamio (US$199.99), TiVo Roamio Plus ($399.99) and TiVo Roamio Pro ($599.99) are perfect for the TV junkie with digital cable who wants to view video at any time, anywhere. The Roamio Plus and Roamio Pro both come with the ability to record six shows simultaneously, support digital cable, have built-in WiFi and can stream TV to mobile iOS devices. The primary difference between the two models is the storage capacity -- the Roamio Plus can hold up to 150 hours of HD video, while the Roamio Pro has a capacity of 450 hours. There's also an entry-level Roamio available for $199.99 that supports recording four shows at once, records up to 75 hours of HD video and supports both HD antenna and digital cable input. The TiVo Stream functionality was previously available as a $130 standalone product, but is now built in to the two higher-end Roamio devices (it can be purchased separately for the base Roamio). The service lets iOS device owners who are using TiVo's iOS apps to download shows to their devices or watch live TV on a home network. According to Macworld's Jason Snell, who attended a TiVo press briefing, the iOS app will be updated later this year to support streaming and downloading video from the DVRs from anywhere on the internet.
TiVo Roamio Pro review: TiVo's new DVRs are the company's best yet
It's been three and a half years since the last major TiVo release and while the company has offered some new features since -- via hardware revisions, software updates and accessories -- we're very excited to tell you that TiVo is back. The three new TiVo Roamio DVRs range in price from $200 to $600 (plus service), all with at least four tuners and built-in WiFi. And the Pro and the Plus have integrated TiVo Stream functionality. The cool new trick is out-of-home streaming for both live and recorded shows, with the ability to download shows to your iOS devices while away from home. (Note: this feature isn't coming to the Roamio until this fall, so we tested it with a TiVo Stream instead). There's also a new remote that no longer relies on IR, as well as a refreshed user interface, which includes the What to Watch Now feature and new Netflix and YouTube apps -- that launch quickly now. We'll get into all the highs and the lows in just a moment, but we're pretty confident in saying these are TiVo's best boxes to date.
