Back in May, TiVo's VP of product marketing got all of our hopes up that the next announcement involving it and Amazon would include HD Unbox content. As you can very clearly see, this is most certainly not the case. Instead, we have the immense pleasure of informing internet-connected Series2, Series3 and TiVo HD owners that they can now buy wares from Amazon without leaving their couch. If browsing through Amazon's extraordinarily huge store with just a remote sounds appealing to you, you're in luck (and mildly insane). Also of note, the new Product Purchase feature will enable advertisers to "market products sold through Amazon on any broadcast or cable network, any TV show, or via any of TiVo's extensive interactive advertising features." In other words, next time you see Dwight using that iconic shredder, you can buy that bad boy right then and there. Take that, Staples.

[Via Zatz Not Funny]

Oh goodie. Sometime "later this year," Tivo owners will be able to login to their YouTube accounts directly from their Series3 and TiVo HD devices. Using their fat, deceitful, meat sticks on the TiVo remote salvaged from the matrimonial wreckage, subscribers can search, browse, and watch enough content to realize just how badly they suck at Photoshop. Press release available after the break.

When we forced the TiVo HD and Series3 to go mano-a-mano back in October of last year, we had a sneaking suspicion that the latter was actually no longer being produced. Fast forward (har) three months, and sure enough, it seems that the end really is nigh for the Series3. According to TiVo Lovers (who heard directly from DVRupgrade), TiVo is accelerating the EOL (end of life) of the Series3 and "focusing all efforts on the recently launched, lower cost TiVo HD." Apparently, the firm managed to sell through oodles of Series3 boxes over the holidays (thanks in large part to a sizable rebate-based promotion), and rather than searching for creative ways to solve the "continued component shortage," TiVo is reportedly choosing to nudge potential customers in the direction of the TiVo HD. Granted, we'd still take this with a (light) dose of salt for the time being, but don't be shocked to see Series3 stock start dwindling in the coming weeks.

[Via TVSquad, thanks Brad L.]

Call it a quick holiday cash-in targeted at current TiVo owners if you must, but you're not about to kill our buzz about the fact that TiVo's resurrecting the greatly missed Product Lifetime Service (aka lifetime subscription) for Series3 and HD owners -- temporarily, anyway, and for realsies this time. As of today -- but only through January 2nd, 2008 -- current TiVo owners can upgrade their Series2 to a Series3 or HD with lifetime, or simply upgrade the service on their current S3 / HD -- equipment aside, the service will set you back $399. Sorry though, you can't transfer service between boxes, and if you're buying a new TiVo for the lifetime you have to use it under the same account. In other words, it doesn't look like they're leaving any loopholes open on this one. Pricing details after the break.

TiVo let on that November was going to be the month that both TiVoToGo and Multi-Room Viewing became a reality, and now with only a week to go it's finally here. But that's not all TiVo's taken the occasion to announce: in addition to being able to stream shows between your TiVos (MRV) and copy programming from a TiVo to your PC (TiVoToGo), TiVo has also announced (hack free) eSATA drive support along with Western Digital's My DVR Expander, which, for $199, will expand your TiVo with 500GB of space (a good 65 hours of HD). Another new feature included with this release is progressive downloads, which means you won't have to wait for TiVoCast and Unbox videos to finish downloading before you can start enjoying them. Instead, the TiVo will figured out how much of a buffer is required for uninterrupted viewing and let you start watching as soon as possible. While most of these features have been a long time coming, we can only imagine how excited TiVo owners are to know that the wait is over -- assuming they've already signed up for the priority list to received the 9.2 update.

TiVo is rolling out system software 9.2 to those HD-friendly Series3 and TiVo HD boxen, which brings official eSATA external storage at last. Of course, the adventurous among us have been able to pull this off with a pretty simple Series3 hack for ages, but official support means a whole lot more users are going to be taking advantage of that extra room for hiding away Gossip Girl episodes and all their other CW faves. The rolling update hasn't hit everyone's boxes yet, but keep your fingers crossed -- the update should also address some of those 9.1 bugs, and allows for progressive playback of Amazon Unbox downloads as they download.

It looks like it's finally going to happen, the Series3 and the TiVo HD are finally going to catch up to their SD siblings and get upgraded with the most highly anticipated TiVo features. We know all to well how complicated CableLabs can make it to bring 3rd party CableCARD products to market, and as a result we've been waiting over a year for the Series3 to get the ability to transfers shows to our PC and between TiVos. And while CableLabs has never specifically forbid these features, until recently they've made them impossible to implement. According to a post over at TiVoCommunity.com by Bob "TiVoPony" Poniatowski, a TiVo product marketing rep, both TiVoToGo and Multi-Room Viewing are currently in beta and will be available to both Series3 and TiVo HD owners in November. Naturally, Bob reminds everybody about "the first rule of beta club", so we'll just have to take his word for it -- until it leaks, anyway.

A critical eye is peering in on TiVo's personal-flotation-device known as the TiVo HD, a $300 entry-level option into the company's DVR world, and we've got the roundup to prove it. The box, which TiVo hopes will attract thriftier (read, any) users to the previously pricey platform, features HDMI and component outs up to 1080i, dual CableCARD and M-Card compatibility, and Series3-style ATSC and NTSC tuners. It appears that the general feeling on the little black box is positive, with almost everyone loving the price-point, the CableCARD functionality, and all the standard TiVo amenities, though we wouldn't go so far to say that everyone is a 100% pleased. Most of the reviews take issue with the device's sluggish UI, lack of TiVo ToGo, and the tempting, yet inactive eSATA port (which the company says it's planning to activate down the road). Browse on over to the read links for the full reviews.

Read -- PC Magazine (4.5 out of 5)
Read -- CNET (7.7 out of 10)
Read -- PC World (88 out of 100)
Read -- TiVo Lovers (Megazone's massive unboxing and review)

It's not much, but for the desperate throngs waiting to TiVo in high def without having to fork over nearly a grand for the Series3, the brief appearance of the $300 TiVo HD on TiVo's site earlier this afternoon was a little bit of glory... until the listing got pulled. We don't know who you are, anonymous-and-possibly-reprimanded TiVo web guy, but rest assured you just caused a million anxious DVR-loving hearts to skip a beat.

We got some very reliable information from an inside source on TiVo's newest DVR -- and guess what, it's called the TiVo HD (good luck trying to trademark that one, TiVo). Granted, we've heard most of this already, but our sources confirmed the TiVo HD will launch with a 160GB drive (or, as TiVo likes to put it, 160 hours SD / 20 hours HD), two CableCARD tuners, and possibly also an ATSC tuner. We can also further confirm it won't have THX certification, frontal display, or the Glo remote, but the $300 price tag is set, so it won't pinch the pocketbook quite so hard. Supposedly it's launching this week, possibly as early as tomorrow. Given that the cheapest box TiVo sells is still $100 (or sometimes free), it stands to reason this will be the new mid-range model, but from what we understand TiVo is on its way to phasing out the Series2 brand entirely.

Also in TiVo news, we understand the eSATA port will be enabled for external storage in short order, and Best Buy will have the retail exclusive on the external drive, which will supposedly be a small striped RAID array. Oh, and big time bonus for current users: TiVoToGo is on track to finally be re-enabled on Series3 boxes, but there's a fairly huge caveat: SD shows only, HD shows will have to stay safely stowed on the box. Bummer. Sweet, TiVo more or less confirmed HD will be making it in the next TiVoToGo release!

Falling right in line with the news TiVo CEO Tom Rogers hinted at back in March, the struggling company is readying the highly anticipated HD Series 3 "Lite," which will target a much wider range of consumer with a price point of around $299. Some tenacious (and possibly connected) fans posted specs and pics on the TiVo Community forums, much to the delight of broke DVR users across the globe. The new model will axe the OLED display and THX certification, and swap the deluxe remote for a standard model, but the specs remain fairly close otherwise. Here's a geeked-out rundown to keep everyone psyched: BCM740x DVR CPU with integrated MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 decoders, 1x dual MPEG-2 encoder, 2x Samsung S5H1411-based tuners, 128Mb DDR SDRAM, and a 160Gb SATA HD (down from the Series 3's 250GB drive). All in all, a pretty attractive package when you don't have a lot of cash to burn.

When TiVo first brought Amazon Unbox movies to our Series3, we wondered why we still had to log on to Amazon.com to order our flicks. We weren't the only ones and some even took matters into their own hands by creating a home grown application. Well TiVo and Amazon finally got the hint and today announced what they're calling Buy on TV -- which obviously lets you buy movies directly from your broadband enabled Series2 or Series3 set top box. You can find movies or shows to download by either browsing under TiVoCasts or via Swivel search; and so your baby-sitter doesn't run up your bill, you'll need to enter your five digit purchase pin when ordering.

[Via TiVoBlog]

Those not following TiVo hacking may want to gloss over this one, but it would appear that the latest version of spike2k5's MFSLive TiVo volume hacking tool (v1.2) enables support for both internal and external expansion. (Remember, you were bound to run into trouble if you tried the Series3 eSATA drive expansion technique if your internal drive was already upgraded.) We haven't given this a go -- any luck for you peeps?

[Thanks, Bill S.]

Read - MFSLive v1.2 release notes
Read - MFSLive download page

Ever wish you could use that friggin eSATA port TiVo taunts you with on the back of your Series3? If so your moment has finally arrived -- and not a moment too soon for many a DVR-loving TV fans whose drives are filled to the brim with HD programming. Best of all: you don't even have to crack open your box or nothin'. Ready to get it going on? Let's upgrade that TiVo.