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TiVo survey hints at multiroom companion box, four tuner DVR in the future

Richard Lawler
Senior News Editor
Updated ·5 min read

If you were wondering what is next for TiVo, another leaked customer survey may give some indications. ZatzNotFunny has a few screenshots, and the questions ask customers about their interest in a companion box that could sit in another room and stream live TV or recordings from the DVR on a second TV, as well as their interest in a DVR with four tuners. Windows Media Center fans with four tuner InfiniTV setups or Moxi owners with three are unlikely to accept anything with less, and TiVo itself already ships a three tuner box for Virgin Media in the UK while cable and satellite providers have largely stuck with two, making it a logical feature to beat them on. Those weren't the only features users were asked about, they also ranked items like the ability to hide SD versions of channels from the guide, browse recorded shows on every DVR from any box and other UI related options. TiVo is apparently figuring out where it should allocate resources going forward and while we'd suggest enabling the second core of that processor and extending the new Premiere UI across all menus, they didn't ask us. Check out the full text of the survey a tipster forwarded to us after the break and see if TiVo missed anything else you might want them to focus on.

[Thanks, Anonymous]



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There were mainly two questions. The first wanted a numerical rating from 0 to 100 for two options. The only stipulation was that the total of the two ratings summed to 100.

(1) A companion device for your DVR. It allows a second TV (in another room) to watch live TV (in HD) and also watch the recordings from your DVR.
(2) A 4-tuner high-definition DVR that allows you to record up to 4 shows at one time (and watch a 5th show that is previously recorded).

The second question provided a more extensive list of features which we were to choose those we thought interesting. Again, from that subset, we were to provide numerical ratings that summed to 100.

(1) Sort your recordings by season and episode number. For example, if you recorded 20 episodes of The Simpsons on your DVR, this feature would allow you to browse and watch them from earliest season to latest.

(2) Mark on demand movies you want to watch in the future. Come back to that list later, when you are ready to watch and see all the movies you previously marked.

(3) For channels you receive in HD, automatically hide the standard definition versions from the onscreen program guide.

(4) When searching for a movie or show, if it isn't available to watch or record now, have an option to save this search and automatically record it if it becomes available in the future.

(5) Customize a list of shortcuts to your favorite tasks (such as: go to the Search feature, go to Netflix Instant) and access it using a dedicated button on the remote control.

(6) Ability to watch recorded TV shows and movies from any connected DVR in your home, without having to copy the show to the DVR you are using.

(7) From any one DVR in your home, view a single, integrated list of *all* the TV shows and movies that have been recorded on any DVR in the home.

(8) When searching for a specific TV show or movie, if it is not available from a channel or video provider I currently get, list other ways I could get it, such as subscribing to a premium channel or signing up for a different video provider (Netflix, Hulu)

(9) When a conflict prevents a show from being scheduled, suggest another DVR in the home that is available to record it.

(10) Find and record upcoming sporting events by specific league or team.

(11) When browsing the onscreen program guide, see at a glance what programs the DVR recommends for you based on shows and actors you have enjoyed in the past.

(12) Organize and view your recorded shows in different ways (to include: shows you already started watching, all sports together, all movies together).

(13) Ability to see a list of live TV shows and movies that are: playing now, available on favorite channels, popular, liked by friends, or new.

(14) When looking for a movie or show to watch, see the available programs ordered by time: What is free & on right now, from on demand, or can be recorded later this week.

(15) When setting up recordings, display *all* conflicting programs and choose exactly which programs to record and which to skip.

(16) Set up a recording for specific seasons of a TV show, instead of all episodes (e.g. record only Season 1 of Lost).

(17) Customize a list of shortcuts to your favorite tasks (such as: go to the Search feature, go to Netflix Instant) and access it from the DVR's main screen.

(18) In the onscreen program guide, group channels affiliated with the same network (NBC, HBO, etc.) together in the guide, even if they have widely separated channel numbers.

(19) Record every episode of a TV show on every channel that it appears on.

(20) View a 3-line "mini Guide" while watching live TV, displaying 3 channels of program guide information at a time, so that more of the show you are watching is visible.

(21) Use search to find a particular station (like HBO, NBC or ESPN). Selecting a channel from the results takes you directly to live TV for that channel.