RemoteDvrScheduling
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Dish Network remote access app comes to Android, your Harmony groans
Dish Network took another step towards its ambitious TV Everywhere plans -- not to be confused with Comcast's and Time Warner's TV Everywhere partnership -- by releasing the Android version of its Dish remote access app late last week. This nicely completes the provider's suite of mobile offerings, which have already been available on the iPhone, iPad and certain BlackBerry phones. The catch is that to take advantage of the app, Android users must own a Sling-enabled Dish device like the ViP 722 / 722k HD DVRs or the recently released Sling adapter. With the necessary hardware though, the app turns smartphones into a control freak's best friend, working as a remote control, a DVR manager, and a Sling-powered media streamer to view recorded or live programming over Wi-Fi or 3G. That's a pretty nifty feature set considering it costs a lovely low price of free, and it's certainly more robust than mobile offerings from Comcast, Time Warner, or DirecTV. In other words, when it comes to getting the most from your paid TV service while on the go, it appears the underdog satellite company can certainly dish it out.
TiVo launches online Season Pass Manager
All together now: finally. TiVo's just announced a new online Season Pass Manager, allowing users to manage their season passes from the comfort of a browser -- you can add, edit, and delete passes, as well as transfer them between TiVo boxes on your account. (That ought to make upgrading to a new TiVo a million times easier, which has been one of our longstanding complaints.) The best part? Editing the priority list online means you don't have to sit and wait while your TiVo figures it all out -- you can move things around at will in the browser and it'll all get sorted out before the changes get sent to your box. Nice. Of course, TiVo is still way behind FiOS and Comcast when it comes to remote and mobile DVR management, but it's nice to see the company address one of the biggest pain points with the device. Now just hit us with a serious Premiere performance update, alright? PR after the break.
Poll: What's the most important feature in a DVR?
After breaking down every difference we could think of between the TiVo Premiere and a Windows Media Center CableCARD setup, we're wondering what you feel is really important . If you're a heavy TV watcher, a DVR is a must, and if you're on this site, we're assuming it's connected to an HDTV. But if you had to narrow it down to one extra feature, what would win out, whether it's a UI you can't live without, the ability to schedule recordings from anywhere, access to internet video or just having enough capacity to record any and everything you want to watch, let us know what you're checking off first.%Poll-50802%
Surewest adds Online DVR access, Caller ID on TV for IPTV customers in Sacramento
SureWest announced it would migrate its platform to Microsoft Mediaroom late last year starting with its Sacramento customers, and now its added a few more "advanced digital TV" features to go along with the Whole Home DVR and four tuner DVR features (not to mention lightning fast channel change times) launched in January. Now subscribers can log into the website and schedule edit, or delete recordings just like they were at home, while Caller ID on TV resolves that minor annoyance of having to actually see the phone to know who's calling. It's far from the first provider to add such features, but we're figuring Kevin Johnson and Tyreke Evans appreciate the effort. Now SureWest, let's talk about some Windows Media Center and Xbox 360 integration, ok?
Comcast Mobile 2.0 for iPhone flashes remote DVR scheduling skills on video
The ability to remotely schedule DVR recordings hasn't hit every Comcast system yet (c'mon Ann Arbor) but that hasn't stopped the company from delivering version 2.0 of the Comcast Mobile app on iPhone (Blackberry is "coming soon," no word on webOS, Android or WP7 plans) complete with the aforementioned myDVR manager, an improved TV Guide browser, push notifications for emails and voicemails and more. Comcast Voices blogger Scott McNulty has put together a pretty thorough video demo, embedded after the break (also there for comparison, our video walkthrough of the original release), so give it a look while we doublecheck... again to see if our DVR has gotten a new firmware update, or punch the read link to go straight to the App Store and download.
DirecTV DVR Scheduler quietly arrives in the WebOS App Catalog
Just a few days after making debuting on the Android Market, DirecTV has unleashed its DVR Scheduler app for WebOS phones. No surprises here, the usual program guide searching (for everyone) and remote DVR scheduling features (DirecTV customers with the right set-top boxes only) are in effect for the rock bottom price of $0. We've got a few additional pictures of the app here, but it's just as simple to get on your Pre or Pixi so why not roll over to the App Catalog and hit that download button? %Gallery-84325%
Comcast's guide software adds brains, but beauty remains elusive
We've talked at length about the (lack of) quality in most cable DVR software, but it looks like for Comcast customers it will be getting at least a little better very soon. The new A28 guide software is rolling out across the country with tweaked searches for upcoming events, a single click 5 minute back/forward skip function tied to the Page up/Down remote buttons, mass delete on recordings and of course, Remote DVR scheduling. Of course we're still waiting for the facelifted i-Guide we saw at CES '08, but for now this will have to do. Motorola's official blog suggests all areas should see the new software in the first half of this year along with some first hand impressions, while Comcast offers a detailed breakdown of the features on the way and a video walkthrough available (embedded after the break.)
Media Manager, Remote DVR scheduling features reach more FiOS subscribers
New features they aren't, but Verizon has just loosed its Media Manager software and Remote DVR scheduling features to more customers, now that they're available to all subscribers with both FiOS TV and internet service. Previously available only to Home Media DVR owners, and then all DVR owners, now more customers get the unending joy of scheduling recordings even away from home, or streaming pictures, music and compatible movie formats to the set-top box from their PC.
