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Engadget plays with TiVo Desktop 2.1 Beta

Engadget has found their way to a beta version of TiVo Desktop 2.1 and they give it a once over.

The good stuff they find includes better support for TiVoToGo on portable devices and a TiVo-branded video player complete with the green playback bar and sounds we're all used to. They also are getting rid of the playback password, which sounds like good news, but...

They're also doing what they can to keep the TiVo files from being seen by unclean eyes software. They block certain programs from playing .tivo files, to keep programs from transcoding the files into a format without DRM.

So this "upgrade" removes my ability to strip the DRM on .tivo files so that I can watch my .tivo files on my mac laptop? Awesome, since I woke up this morning hoping that my stuff would be less useful!

Also, what's up with the UI? The TiVo remote works because my fingers can feel around the rewind/pause/fast-forward buttons. Great physical UIs don't make for great software UIs. Or maybe I'm just bitter over the whole DRM thing and taking it out on a poor, defenseless UI.

Update: Dave Zatz, who reviewed the software for Engadget, has instructions on how to downgrade from TiVo Desktop 2.1 to 2.0 if you installed 2.1 and want to restore your ability to put your media on a device of your choice.

by George Hotelling March 31, 2005 in News, TiVo

Comments

Engadget plays with TiVo Desktop 2.1 Beta

Engadget has found their way to a beta version of TiVo Desktop 2.1 and they give it a once over.

The good stuff they find includes better support for TiVoToGo on portable devices and a TiVo-branded video player complete with the green playback bar and sounds we're all used to. They also are getting rid of the playback password, which sounds like good news, but...

They're also doing what they can to keep the TiVo files from being seen by unclean eyes software. They block certain programs from playing .tivo files, to keep programs from transcoding the files into a format without DRM.

So this "upgrade" removes my ability to strip the DRM on .tivo files so that I can watch my .tivo files on my mac laptop? Awesome, since I woke up this morning hoping that my stuff would be less useful!

Also, what's up with the UI? The TiVo remote works because my fingers can feel around the rewind/pause/fast-forward buttons. Great physical UIs don't make for great software UIs. Or maybe I'm just bitter over the whole DRM thing and taking it out on a poor, defenseless UI.

Update: Dave Zatz, who reviewed the software for Engadget, has instructions on how to downgrade from TiVo Desktop 2.1 to 2.0 if you installed 2.1 and want to restore your ability to put your media on a device of your choice.