TiVo To Go on its way? (Updated: yes it is!)
Looks like TiVo To Go is ready to launch, as someone tipped me off to the new Media Access Key page in the TiVo account area. My guess is that this media access key will tag your shows and your player to let you view TiVo video on other devices. This is a good sign that TTG software will start hitting TiVo units in the next week or two.
UPDATE: The official URL is giving a "coming soon" message now at http://www.tivo.com/togo/ so this looks like the real deal.
I hope that we haven't created another "web hysteria" :). Hopefully this really means that TiVoToGo is on its' way!
Posted by: Alex | December 08, 2004 at 01:01 PM
Logging in gives me a 10 digit key and this message:
"This key lets you access TiVo recordings from your home network. Visit www.tivo.com/togo for more information.
DO NOT SHARE THIS KEY with anyone outside your household. The TiVo Service Agreement prohibits you from distributing copy-protected content. Visit www.tivo.com/policies for more information."
The togo link, however, does not work.
Posted by: Josh | December 09, 2004 at 07:47 AM
I also changed my DVR preferences to allow transfers to things like computers with tivo to go
Thank you for the link
Posted by: jb | December 09, 2004 at 08:09 AM
Any idea if this is Mac compatible or will we have to wait, as usual? I remember Mac compatability was promised when TivoToGO was announced.
Posted by: cd | December 09, 2004 at 08:21 AM
Word on the street is that Mac support is coming later, with the earliest estimates claiming next month, but I suspect it could take a bit longer.
Posted by: Matt Haughey | December 09, 2004 at 10:03 AM
So im assuming people with Directv TIVO's are out of luck? We arleady cant program shows from home, and now this? I dont understand why they dont allow thjat.
Posted by: Ed | December 09, 2004 at 10:23 AM
Directv is coming out with there own recording device and leaving tivo alone as a company. Sorry! However this looks to be a great idea...but how long before the MPAA has it restricted?
Posted by: Chris | December 09, 2004 at 11:34 AM
The folks at TiVo must have noticed all the hits they were getting at www.tivo.com/togo, because instead of an error, now you get a page telling you to be a good TiVo owner and be patient for an announcement in the coming weeks!! Also, if you go to your "DVR Preferences" section of your account, there's now a setting for "Allow Transfers" that controls MRV and TTG transfers. It says it takes 24 hours to take effect, so change it now everybody, just in case :-)
Posted by: Michael Charkowski | December 09, 2004 at 05:33 PM
Well if that’s true about Directv, they gotta make the new TIVO’s to be Dolby digital and dual tuner. It’s absolutely indispensable.
Posted by: Ed | December 10, 2004 at 08:08 AM
Congrats to all the Tivo owners out there. (Myself included.)
However, I think Tivo's lost me as a customer if BeyondTV meets half the expectations that I have for them. Rather than mess around with funky Windows DRM from Tivo, I'll have standard MPEG2 files instead. (Hello laptop viewing and editing!) The last thing keeping me from dumping Tivo altogether is the uncertainty surrounding devices that I can network and hook up to my television for MPEG2 playback. If any of these are halfway decent, I've found my new PVR.
And yes, I realize that I'm sound just like the MythTV advocates. :-)
Posted by: Chris | December 10, 2004 at 07:18 PM
Oh, I'm 99.99% sure there will be 3rd party software to strip the DRM from TTG files, convert them to other formats, etc. Look at history.
Posted by: MegaZone | December 10, 2004 at 11:34 PM
My question isn't whether there'll be software to strip the DR, it's whether there'll be ways to strip the DRM that don't give anyone an excuse to terminate my accounts, sue me under the DMCA, or provide fodder for a copyright-happy Dept. of Homeland Security to prosecute me under some Patriot Act nat'l security excuse. Of course, this is overly paranoid, but I'd rather not be part of a system that is fighting me tooth and nail when I would like to copy video somewhere other than my DVR, such as my Mac laptop or DVD. It just doesn't seem worth it.
Posted by: Chris | December 11, 2004 at 06:43 AM
Last time I checked, the Dept. of Homeland Security didn't really feel as if your recordings of Baywatch posed a great threat to national security. In fact, since when does the DHS have anything to do with copyrights? This is a PVR Blog, right?
Posted by: Rich | December 11, 2004 at 08:28 PM
Rich: Now that the US Customs and Borders dept. has been made a part of DHS, they now do a bit of copyright policing:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/columnists.nsf/techtalk/story/AEAB73795C5E538E86256F5E00613A4A?OpenDocument&Headline=This+shopping+season,+beware+of+piracy+at+the+malls
http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuoteCompanyNewsArticle.jhtml?duid=mtfh79544_2004-12-08_19-12-29_n08100947_newsml
Of course, this deals mostly with international pirates, but with copyright issues and cybersecurity becoming a larger issue, why give them an excuse?
(Yes, this is overly paranoid. But it doesn't mean that they're not out to get you... :-] )
Posted by: Chris | December 11, 2004 at 09:42 PM
Chris: I stand corrected on the DHS issue, but I still think that your Baywatch recordings will be safe....:)
Posted by: Rich | December 11, 2004 at 11:11 PM
Hell, if DHS came after me because of my Baywatch recordings, I'd meet them at the front door. I think that they might have a case that David Hasselhoff is a form of biological terrorism.
Now, my Trek recordings, that's a different matter. They'll have to pry those from my cold dead hands. :-)
Posted by: Chris | December 12, 2004 at 03:48 PM
We can live with that.
Posted by: Homeland Security | December 12, 2004 at 10:08 PM
Nice to finally have this but still has a long way to go to beat ReplayTV with DVArchive and Poopli: no DRM, cross-platform support (anything with Java), auto commercial skip.
http://www.replaytvfaq.com/
http://www.dvarchive.org/
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?threadid=355967
Is every HD PVR going to suck because of all the mandated restrictions?
Posted by: meehawl | December 16, 2004 at 11:28 AM
Have you heard if Mac OS X will be supported?
Posted by: Frederik | December 17, 2004 at 02:53 PM
Tivotogo is late. it is now officially Winter 2004. I wonder what the holdup is?
Posted by: Alf Head | December 24, 2004 at 09:16 AM
GOT THIS FRIDAY after i sent message to tivo web master
Hi, I'm out of the office, on vacation, from 12/24 to 01/02 inclusive. I'll be in on 01/03 for the launch. Omar will be capably handing all things web during that week, and if you urgently need to reach me, Omar knows my contact info
Posted by: TY | January 02, 2005 at 06:36 PM
I got the new TiVo2Go desktop software, but my TiVo still waits for the kernel upgrade.....I have never wanted a 4 to be a 7 so much.
Posted by: Hippy | January 03, 2005 at 10:54 AM
Does anyone actually have Tivo to go fully running. meaning the dvr also has the software? or is this one big tease?
Posted by: noone | January 19, 2005 at 03:02 PM
Mine activated today... Really kool, but now I have to change my Tivo to connect to the network via wire. The wireless is to slow. High Quality, not best 30min episode of The Simpsons took 37 min to transfer.. 812MB. Most 1hr shows are about 2.5GB and 2hr Moves are over 5GB.. Hope you have alot of HD space free.
Posted by: MECFireMike | January 26, 2005 at 05:26 AM
It's nice to see Tivo finally have networkable file transfers, but ReplayTV has this and then some. Plus, it doesn't cost anything additional.
I can now use DVArchive 3.1 on my PC to copy and move shows off the ReplayTV and get unencrypted MPEG2 files.
Tivo is great for the interface, but give me my ReplayTV...
Posted by: Lauren A Glenn | February 14, 2005 at 09:02 PM
Does anyone know if you can get a DirecTV box with TIVO to be Networked?
DK
Posted by: DK | March 21, 2005 at 10:07 AM