Awesome Fake Old TiVo Ads
From the Worth100 Photoshop Contest to design an old time ad for a modern product, two excellent entries try to imagine a 1950s ad for TiVo: one, two.
I love the logo in that first one (screenshot at right)
April 4, 2008 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (0)
Converting HD video for TiVoGoBack on a Mac
If you have a TiVoHD or Series 3 TiVo and a Mac, you've probably read tutorials like this about enabling the hidden TiVoGoBack feature on a Mac (last October's update to HD TiVos added the long-awaited feature). If you've tried it yourself, you've probably noticed that VisualHub's default TiVo mpeg profile converts everything to standard def output.
It's a great automatic feature, but it can be a drag if you're converting HD versions of shows and movies. You lose the full use of your widescreen TV because the standard def conversion adds black bars to the sides of output as well as black bars top and bottom within that area to display video at the proper aspect ratio. Zooming in on the video will exaggerate artifacts and show a fairly poor looking picture.
When the feature was first added, I spent a couple days experimenting and researching ways to use the full screen but couldn't find the right combination of settings. Thankfully, someone did finally figure it out. This guide to downloaded video playback on a HD TiVo covers the exact steps required for proper full use of the screen.
The pertinent settings are:
- Select the mpeg tab in VisualHub
- DON'T select the TiVo Profile
- Hit the Advanced button
- set the Video bitrate to
17000 - Add
-maxrate 17M -bufsize 1024kto the Video ffmpeg extra flags field - Click to enable Two-pass conversion
If you're crunching down 720p or 1080p video, it will take quite a while (especially being a two-pass process) but the results are worth it. Normal 1.85 aspect ratio movies and shows playback using the entire screen and 2.35 ratio movies work as well. My tests with 1.85 720p samples yielded good results (screenshot above of a LOST episode) and converted video was 1280x720 in size. 2.35 widescreen movies looked just as good with final output at 1280x544.
If you've got a HD TiVo and a Mac, and were considering buying an Apple TV to playback downloaded content, you might want to consider this approach and save yourself the money and added hardware. Note, for those on a PC wanting to do similar things, this guide at lifehacker covers the basics but not the full-aspect ratio HD conversion details (thanks for the tips, Phil!).
February 26, 2008 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (3)
TiVo spamming your Now Playing list?
I spotted something annoying today on my TiVo. In the past few weeks, TiVo has been ramping up the advertising efforts, loading ads for related shows/downloads whenever I delete a show and also on the main TiVo screen, but today I noticed something a bit more insidious:
The top item in my list shows 3 shows recorded, but when you go into the folder, you see four items. Turns out the fourth item is an advertising plug for some new off-road race series which doesn't exactly have much to do with a snowboarding/skiing/etc competition. That's kind of annoying. More screenshots after the jump.
Here's the "1 Pro. 1 Joe. One epic journey" screen you get when selected:
It may seem like no big deal to add another item, but I use a TiVo so that I can ignore 99% of the stuff on television and just watch the things my family enjoys. When I dropped into my folder of new shows, I instantly saw the plug for the show because it was highlighted with a star by it, but I didn't record it and it's not one of the shows I record.
The bottom line is that I don't mind general plugs for shows or products done on the main TiVo screen, at the bottom, but when it's deeply embedded in my list of shows, highlighted above the level of even the shows I tape, it's starting to go too far.
TiVo, keep the ads in general places I can choose to look at or not, but don't bury them deep within my own private selection of shows. It's annoying and feels like someone inserting spam subject lines into my inbox of email from coworkers.
January 26, 2008 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (31)
Lots of recent TiVo news
While I've let the site go a bit fallow, a lot of things have been happening with TiVo:
- TiVo launched a partnership with the Rhapsody Music service. If you've got the latest TiVo update on a broadband-connected S2 or S3 TiVo, you can stream music on the $12.99/month service
- When is TiVo coming to Comcast? Announced a couple years ago, and several months behind schedule, Dave Zatz says the service may finally debut in another month or two.
- Multi-Room Viewing on Series 3 TiVos should debut next month as promised.
October 10, 2007 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (2)
TTG & MRV Coming in November for Series3 & TiVoHD
TiVo employee Bob Pony announces Multi-Room Viewing (transfer) and TiVoToGo are finally coming to Series 3 & TiVoHD. These are two long-awaited features absent from the newer devices and are set to debut sometime this November. Transfers can also interact with Series 2 boxes on your network, provided it's not HD content. About the only missing feature left is for TiVo to finally support TiVoToGo on the Mac. [Thanks Jeffrey!]
September 7, 2007 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (3)
TiVo HD upgrades at Weaknees
Weaknees is now offering TiVo HD recorders with high capacity drives pre-installed. This is a great option if you didn't buy a Series 3 TiVo last fall and were waiting for the prices to drop.
The TiVo HD (I wrote about it here in today's NYT) is a great bargain (comparatively) at $299, and is easily upgraded to larger capacities which still comes in hundreds of dollars cheaper than a stock Series 3 TiVo. If you're looking to record HD cable, an upgraded TiVo HD is pretty much the best bang for the buck at this point.
August 2, 2007 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (0)
TiVo Series3 Lite info leaked and selling soon?
Just the other day I was saying a rumored TiVo Series 3 HD "lite" version seemed like a bad business idea for TiVo, but according to TV Squad it appears to be coming out next month. If it all turns out to be true, I imagine the full Series 3 TiVo sales will grind to a halt, but this may get more HD TiVos in the hands of people that wanted to ditch their Cable-provided DVR, but didn't want to foot the large bill for a Series 3.
July 18, 2007 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (2)
Spy Pics of TiVo Series 3 Lite?
Gizmodo has a story on what may be the first photos of a stripped down HD TiVo. There was speculation soon after the $799 Series 3 HD TiVo launch that they'd eventually do a cheaper $299 version with less features, but the photos from this gizmodo post look pretty rough and show it having dual tuners which seems like a stretch for something supposedly thin on features.
A bigger issue with TiVo is their upcoming marketing strategy if this is a real product coming out. They've got the high-end HD cable market with the $600-800 Series 3 TiVo, and Comcast is now chipping away at the low end with their soon-to-be-rolled-out TiVo-powered Comcast HD boxes. If they introduce a cheap HD TiVo for say $200-300, I think it'd hurt Series 3 sales as well as be a confusing option given the cheaper Comcast box. At this point, it probably makes more sense to try and bring the Series 3 box down to maybe $399 and leave it as their only HD TiVo offering.
July 12, 2007 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (5)
Series 3 TiVo down to $406 at Amazon
Thanks to a price slash and a $200 rebate, it looks like the Series 3 HD TiVo is finally in that coveted $300-500 range at Amazon, who is selling it for $406.95. If you've been waiting for a price break, this sounds like the best deal possible, given the news that they're working on a cheaper model with less features. [thanks Lance!]
May 31, 2007 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (3)
TiVo updates from their quarterly call
Dave Zatz has a great roundup of new information about TiVo from their recent quarterly report call. There are three big things:
- The CEO admitted 9 months after the Series 3 TiVo launched that it was too expensive. For something in development for 2-3 years before release, I can't possibly see how this could be a surprise. If you polled any typical TiVo user (not bleeding-edge home theater nuts who will buy anything at any price) previous to the S3 launch, I'm sure everyone would have said the $799 price was the biggest sticking point. That was the overwhelming feedback on launch day and continues to this day. Everyone was expecting a $499 box and hoping for something in the $300-500 range.
It sounds like they want to release a "S3 lite" in that price range, but I don't know what features they'll be removing. Dual tuners is a must, but I could live without OTA recording (if it was just a cable HD device) and I suppose it didn't have to have the aluminum case and fancy OLED display. - TiVo units from Comcast won't be making the Spring 2007 release they were rumored to, and instead it looks like they'll start in a few select markets near the end of summer. The promise of these units is definitely cannibalizing S3 sales as half my friends balked at the $799 price and said they'd wait for the Comcast offering instead. It'll be interesting to see what features are dropped in order to still differentiate it from a S3 or S3 lite TiVo (though one thing's for sure: it'll have On Demand stuff that S3 TiVo boxes won't have)
- TiVo is coming to Australia. This is great news for fans down under that go to great lengths to rig up a TiVo, though it sounds like TiVo will be tweaking/removing features in order to please broadcasters. It's unfortunate when a technology company has to cripple or disable features they already release in other markets, and especially so when it's something as core to the device as fast-forwarding.
May 31, 2007 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (2)
How To Run TivoToGo 2.4 on Windows Vista
Reader Shane wrote in with detailed instructions on how to get the newest TiVo Desktop running in Windows Vista (which is unsupported at this time):
As you know, 2.4 came out the other day without *official* support of Windows Vista and Windows Server 2003 (both of which I had 2.3a installed). Well, using Orca and a simple tweak of a setting in the TivoToGo 2.4 .MSI installer, I've got it running on Vista.
Here's how I went about it on Vista
Download and install Orca - http://www.pek.com/projects
/msi/orca.zip Download TivoToGo 2.4 - http://www.tivo.com/4.9.4.1-2
_win.asp Run the TivoToGo installer with administrator privileges
When the installer gets to the point where it says it can't continue due to an invalid operating system, DO NOT click ok.
Point Windows explorer at C:\Users\<YOURUSERID>\AppData\Local\Temp
Sort the view by date so that the latest files appear at the top
Find the file with a .MSI extension with a random name consisting of alphanumerics with the time and date near when you launched the installer.
Right click on the file, copy.
Paste to your Desktop and rename to TivoToGo24.msi
Click OK on the Tivo installer.
Launch Orca.
Open TivoToGo24.msi with Orca.
Left click to select the LaunchCondition row in the left window pane.
Remove all entries from the right window pane.
Save the file, exit Orca.
Launch TivoToGo24.msi, install and enjoy.
May 13, 2007 in Hacks, TiVo | Permalink | Comments (51)
TiVo Desktop 2.4 Beta released
Dave Zatz was the first to notice the new beta of TiVo Desktop 2.4 was released this weekend. It's PC only, and will work best with a Series 2 TiVo.
The big new feature added seems to be transcoding on the fly, reformating any mpeg1, mpeg2, or wmv video on your computer into a format that can be transfered and played back on your TiVo. They also upped the sizes of photographs that get displayed, up to 1280x720, calling it "HD photographs".
Looks like a good update, especially if you have a lot of multi-megapixel photos on a nice TV and also for those downloading a lot of shows or movies for playback on their TV.
February 26, 2007 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (6)
TiVo booth pics from CES (comcast tivo, mac transfer)
A friend is in Las Vegas and I asked him to take some shots of the TiVo booth since I didn't see much online yet. Here's a smattering of photos showing the new Comcast interface, mac transfer, and new TiVo website. They're fairly low quality phone pics, but they're good enough to get an idea how things will work:
Comcast box running TiVo (more photos after the jump)
The guide still uses the Comcast one, with a bit of TiVo functionality
Set season pass options
Serching for new programs
On Deman (VOD) menu in the TiVo interface
Selecting an On Demand show
Saved show info screen
The To Do list
Search results screen
TiVoToGo on the Mac Shots:
TiVo show transfers on a Mac
Setting up Auto-transfer to a Mac
Burning a DVD of shows with Toast
Last, but not least:
TiVo's new website?
The new Comcast stuff looks pretty good, hopefully they ironed out a lot of the kinks in the Motorola hardware (my Comcast box used to reboot randomly once a day) to go along with the new TiVo interface. Looking at the screenshots, the Comcast UI looks like it has a good deal of TiVo functionality and I'm still curious how and why current Comcast customers would ever want to upgrade to a Series 3 if this is going to be a fairly cheap add-on. Extra bonus for the On Demand stuff working within a TiVo interface (as much as I hate to say it, I do miss the VOD stuff with my Series 3).
Megazone also took a slew of photos of the Comcast UI
January 10, 2007 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (17)
Delete this ads in the wild
Delete this Tivo?
Originally uploaded by precipice.
Looks like the TiVo ads on the delete screen went live.
Unrelated, but also interesting TiVo find at flickr: A crazy nice Porsche with TIVO 1 plates (is it the current CEO's? Or maybe founder Mike Ramsay's?)
December 11, 2006 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (8)
TiVoDecode Manager: TiVoToGo for the Mac
Those of you using a Series 2 TiVo and owning a mac probably read the previous post with interest. Well, a few days later and now TiVoDecode Manager presents a nice GUI for getting video off your TiVo and onto your mac.
December 9, 2006 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (24)
TiVoToGo cracked
Looks like someone has released an open source toolkit called TiVo File Decoder. It's a command-line utility to convert .tivo movie files to normal mpeg files. It uses your own media access key, so it basically mimics what the TiVo Desktop Software does, but goes another step beyond to remove the DRM. This would allow you to view your TiVo recordings on other unsupported platforms (linux, mac) as well as other devices (cellphone video player, iPod, PSP, etc).
Of course, it requires a Series 2 TiVo in order to function, since all the TiVoToGo functionality is turned off on Series 3 boxes. [via engadget]
December 4, 2006 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (17)
"Cleaning out the TiVo" on Colbert Report
Monday night's Colbert Report featured a TiVo in a gag that The Daily Show does often, where they take a recent quote from a politician and juxtapose it against earlier statements that contradict themselves. Colbert says it's time to "clean out the TiVo" and starts randomly playing clips to make the point. It's a fairly close approximation of TiVo, though the menu fonts are wrong on the program listings. Here's the ~2 minute segment:
November 29, 2006 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (2)
It's not TiVo unless it's a TiVo
Dave Zatz has the new TiVo radio spot that features the slogan "It's not TiVo unless it's a TiVo" which sounds eerily familiar.
November 19, 2006 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (1)
TiVo raises their rates
Holy cow. That's my first reaction to TiVo raising their monthly rates to as high as $19.95/month. The 1 year service plan will bump from $12.95 to $19.95, the 2 year will go to $14.95, and the 3 year contract will retain the $12.95.
I know why companies do this, but frankly these price jumps are way too big and may ultimately do a lot of damage to the company. I'm surprised that we're seeing another rate change given the last one bumped from $9.95 to $12.95 and feels like just a couple years ago. I guess they tested the waters with the earlier free-tivo-for-a-higher-monthly plans and figured they could raise the rate and do ok.
HDTVs are flying off the shelves making the series 2 boxes less important every day, but the HD series 3 boxes are already priced at the high-end home theater market. I'm honestly not seeing a lot of new customer uptake of TiVos at these price points and wondering why on earth TiVo did this.
Are they going to be a profitable company if they slow down their new customer acquisition? Is customer loyalty high enough that they can raise the rates and retain them? Did TiVo suddenly realize maintaining a huge customer userbase was a bad idea for the long term health of the company?
Engadget mentions another slap in the face to customers today: WPA wireless security is now supported, but only for the official TiVo wireless adapter. That's disappointing to see limited to one device.
November 6, 2006 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (31)
Series 3 tips: upgrading and using in Canada
Engadget has a step-by-step guide to upgrading your Series 3 drive. In the example they go from a 250Gb drive to a 500Gb one, with the resulting absurd number of recordable hours. If you're in Canada and thinking of trying out a Series 3, this extensive review will show you the pluses and minuses of trying it up north.
October 26, 2006 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (0)
WeaKnees upgrades and CableCARD info
Weaknees has launched upgrade kits for the new Series 3 TiVo. Since the box is single drive only and no external (though someone did hack their way into adding external storage but I wouldn't recommend such drastic measures), these kits range from 500 to 750Gb drives that offer up to 60 and 100 hours of HD recording.
They also have a handy table of CableCARD pricing that summarizes a lot of blog and forum posts. I should note that while Comcast told me my two CableCARDs would be free, my first post-TiVo monthly bill says they are charging me $1.50 per card, which isn't enough to complain about but still kind of weird since they said it was free from the start.
October 18, 2006 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (0)
Series 3 TiVos and plasma remotes
It sounds like one of the first reported problems with the series 3 TiVo is that the infrared sensor might not work if you have a plasma/LCD TV and set the TiVo close to the TV's own sensor. People are saying it'll require a hardware change to fix and one enterprising owner has already done that on his own (here are the full instructions).
I have a plasma and a series 3, but the TiVo is in a lower cabinet about 8 feet away from the TV, which is mounted back up on a wall. I get great remote coverage, easily out performing the Comcast DVR it replaced. From reading the tivocommunity thread, It's unclear if this is due to certain models, backlights, or just faulty hardware.
If you're running into these issues, be sure to check out the thread on it. [thanks for the tip Wook]
September 26, 2006 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (4)
Podcast with TiVo co-founder Mike Ramsay
iInnovate, a podcast blog focused on entrepreneurship, has a good interview with Mike Ramsay, co-founder and former CEO of TiVO. Most of it covers the history and formation of TiVo as a company, and what the first couple years of TiVo was like.
September 6, 2006 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (2)
Tivo Series 3 Unboxed
Wow, it must be close! PVRWire has shots of the Tivo Series 3 boxed, and unboxed.
If this was merely a beta user, I seriously doubt the box would be adorned with HD graphics all over. Maybe it really is getting released on the 17th of September.
August 31, 2006 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (2)
TiVo Series 3 beta box snapped in the wild
Engadget has the scoop on a beta tester's TiVo Series 3, complete with screenshots. Looks like the box design is really close to what TiVo showed at CES last January. As expected, it's a dual CableCARD device and there's a shot of the CableCARD configuration screen.
August 22, 2006 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (1)
Hobotech, TiVos for Aussies
When people are restricted from something they really want, they tend to go to great lengths to get it. In Canada, TiVo wasn't available for a long time and sparked a whole project devoted to making it work.
Recently I stumbled upon Hobotech, a company in Australia that takes old Series 1 TiVos, adds networking, and converts them from NTSC to PAL format. They've got their own Guided Setup and their own guide for channels and show times put together by volunteers.
TiVo's legal team might look at this entire world of covert TiVo operations and think "infringement!" but I can't help but look at all these hacks and the length people go to make a TiVo work where it wasn't designed and appreciate the output of these resourceful bastards. That's some impressive TiVo hacking, HoboTech and OzTiVo, keep on innovating.
July 25, 2006 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (10)
TiVo Gurus Launched
Tivo announced their Guru Recommendations program yesterday, allowing editors of popular magazines to share suggested show listings. It sounds like a good program, as finding new shows to watch is generally the most difficult thing to do with a TiVo (esp. if you're avoiding channel surfing). I'm sure the magazines pay for placement slots, but I would be interested in suggested shows from Entertainment Weekly and Automobile.
Of course it'd be way cooler if any TiVo user could create suggestions and share them on the TiVo site, like the way Amazon does Listmania. It wouldn't be too tough to extend existing TiVo Online accounts and the online scheduling, along with some browsing and voting by TiVo users to filter the best recommendations to the top.
May 23, 2006 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (3)
TiVo Camouflage
There are times I laugh my ass off when I read the latest Bill Simmons has to say in his Sports Guy column over at ESPN.com, and then there are times when I laugh my ass off and recognize him as a total genius. From his mailbag column this week, in which readers email in questions for him:
Q: I love TiVo, but why can't I change the name of my saved shows? In the days of the video, I could tape what I want, change the name to "Broncos Highlights -- 1994" and rest assured my wife would never look at it. Now, if I TiVo something she might not like, "Naughty Nurses" is right on the saved list. Has there ever been a better product with such an obvious oversight?
--Brendan Lane, Darnestown, Md.
Sports Guy: You're a genius. They should add a special feature called "TiVo Camouflage" for an extra $9.95 a month. Every time you record a movie like "Naughty Nurses," TiVo Camouflage automatically changes the title of the show to something concurrently running on the NFL Network. That can't miss.
Seriously, this might be the best thing ever.
April 12, 2006 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (10)
New 180hr, dual-tuner TiVo set to drop soon
It's always great to see new TiVo hardware released and especially when it is dual-tuner with a ton of storage space. Though it's not HD, and you'll likely just be able to do analog cable on one line while using your digital cable box for the other, it is good to see a dual tuner standalone TiVo finally released. Now cable users can enjoy the benefits the DirecTiVo has offered for years.
I wonder if the device features tuner priority so I can force network TV to always be recorded on the digital tuner?
March 28, 2006 in News, TiVo | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBack
TiVo Announces New Pricing Plans
My friend Kirk Franklin wrote in that TiVo's anticipated pricing was announced, at slightly higher price points than before, and based off contract length.
TiVo announced new pricing plans today. "The product lifetime service option will be eliminated next week."
- The price for a TiVo box and a one-year service commitment is $19.95 a month or $224 prepaid
- The price for a TiVo box and a two-year service commitment is $18.95 a month or $369 prepaid
- The price for a TiVo box and a three-year service commitment is $16.95 a month or $469 prepaid
I assume current customers will continue to pay just $12.95 a month. It's good to see TiVo move away from any hardware costs, that will certainly get more TiVos into people's hands, but the monthly fees are pretty costly when you throw in a standard $50-60 cable or satellite TV package.
I'm hoping the Series 3 boxes have cheaper monthly rates in exchange for the non-free hardware.
March 9, 2006 in News, TiVo | Permalink | Comments (12)
TiVo Desktop for Mac v1.9.2
Though the old one worked on macs with a slight tweak, TiVo has released an official updated desktop client that is compatible with OS 10.4: TiVo Desktop for Mac v1.9.2 [Thanks, Warren]
February 15, 2006 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack
TiVo Headquarters Photographed
Ever wonder what the TiVo headquarters looks like outside and inside? Dave Zatz has some photos.
January 24, 2006 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (3)
HD TiVo Series 3 @ CES
MegaZone has news and pictures of the new TiVo Series 3 at CES! From his post it sounds like what a lot of people have been waiting for TiVo to deliver.
The biggest features are that Series 3 will have dual tuners and be CableCARD and HDTV ready! The dual tuner thing should be qualified though, because it will actually have 6(!) tuners. It will have 2 cable tuners, 2 ATSC tuners (for high def over the air) and 2 regular old NTSC tuners. But it will only be able to record two programs at once, according to a sign at the booth (warning 900k picture).
Other improvements include an SATA hard drive connection to add external storage, a display on the front that shows what's recording and a backlit remote. While it will still record in MPEG-2, the Series 3 will also be able to play back MPEG-4 video.
It should be available later on this year. Take a look at MegaZone's full post and his pictures (coral cache) for the full story.
January 5, 2006 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (79) | TrackBack
The TiVo tag on Flickr
IMG_1484
Originally uploaded by jackmon.
The global TiVo tag on Flickr turns up some interesting stuff. There's this great halloween costume pictured above (the shoes really sell it) and there are of course images of upgrades, TiVos ignoring phone lines, messed up TiVos, Slingboxed TiVos, TiVo charging palms, and the dreaded green screen of death. The most fun is the other stuff people do with their TiVos. There are babies with TiVo remotes and even dogs. There are people hugging TiVo and licking TiVo. There are people acting out TV and including TiVo. There's TiVo at Disneyland and TiVo repair trucks on the road. There's even TiVo in the snow. Next Halloween, I'll have to try this.
And of course, this religious iconography is probably how most fans of TiVo picture it in their minds.
st. claire
Originally uploaded by rocket_la.
December 12, 2005 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Seven Questions with Michael Cronan, designer and creator of the name "TiVo" and the mascot
Through a totally random sequence of events where a friend of a friend met someone at a party, I ended up talking to Michael Cronan of Cronan Design. Michael is noted for coming up with the name "TiVo" and mascot concept that they're still using successfully in 2005. He was kind enough to take the time to answer my questions about the process that came up with "TiVo" and how the name has worked ever since.
Matt Haughey, PVRblog: Take us back to the very beginning of the project. Before TiVo had a name or mascot, how was the project described to you when you began? Did they have a pretty good idea of the total features or was it pitched as just a "tapeless VCR?"
Michael Cronan, Cronan Design: Mike [Ramsay, former CEO of TiVo -- ed.] invited me to his home one afternoon to discuss the project. I'd created the color-name series concept for the computers Indigo and Crimson for his group at Silicon Graphics, as well as worked with him on the Silicon Studio project, the school SGI established to train animators on their technology. The project code name was Teleworld.
It was initially a "smart house" concept; a robust disc drive that would control features and functions in the home, including entertainment. I thought that the entertainment component would be the popular part of the offering, the part that was the newest, most amazing idea. Others thought so as well. When they called me in officially a few months later to start work on the identity, it was all about TV.
MH: Wow, I had no idea it started out as a whole-home concept. I'm glad they honed in on TV, given how historically it's been difficult to market and explain to people. And now the "teleworld" name from the filesystem makes sense.
When did you start work on the project, and about how long did it take to come up with "TiVo" and the mascot?
MC: We started in spring 1997. We had roughly six weeks to create a name and an identity. It may be hard to believe, but we reviewed probably 1600-plus name alternatives, seriously considered over 800 names, and presented over 100 strong candidates to the team. This might seem like an arduous task but those meetings were filled with fun, laughter and confidence that we would get the right answer.
We work on many new products and services, as well as updating the brands of existing products and services. I've learned that something really new needs to be first a little familiar before consumers can recognize or understand it. That's why marketers use metaphors to help explain new products.
One of the ways to generate a winning answer is to find the right question to ask. Answering questions is relatively easy. Asking the right question is more difficult. This was the technique we used in coming up with TiVo. We spent the early meetings trying to place a cultural context on the product. Was it to be a revolutionary or evolutionary kind of product? Once I began to understand that it could change behavior on an essential level I began to pose questions like, "what would 'the next TV' be like? are we naming the 'next' TV?"
The winning answer was we were naming the next TV. I thought it should be as close as possible to what people would find familiar so it must contain T and V. I started looking at letter combinations and pretty quickly settled on TiVo. I also liked that "i" and "o" were a part of the name from the "in and out" engineering acronym. Additionally I thought "vo" had a nice connection to "vox" and "voce" from the latin for vocal sound and Italian for voice, vote and vow are part of the same root words. In a way, every selection one makes with TiVo is a kind of vote. It was all beginning to make some sense. We created a beginning lexicon of TiVo expressions to help create what we anticipated would be a TiVo culture. One of the expressions was "TiVolution". I liked the similarity of sound to the rock band DEVO and their devolution stance.
Once we'd settled on the name (see the answer to your next question) we began work on creating the identity. I wanted to provide a kind of identity that would become as recognizable as the mouse ears are to Disney. From that impulse I placed a smile under the word that would make a face out of the lettering and signal the happy attitude of the character. We were also thinking of the shape of a TV and so added the rabbit ears. I was driving one day and saw the little Darwinian fish-with-legs evolution character on a bumper and immediately realized that TiVo needed legs.
The next day I presented a little stick figure drawing and everyone started nodding, the TiVo identity became the TiVo mascot. From that concept we developed the extended look and feel of the brand, with color palettes and the elements to create the world of TiVo, "TV my way". Later we realized that the character would need to be refined to help the animators do their work. By then Paul Newby had come aboard and helped direct the refinements to the character. At one point in the review process TiVo got a little too skinny and I urged that he get a little thicker to help keep the TV metaphor clear.
MH: I heard you say that "TiVo" wasn't the first choice. Can you recall some of the names you thought fit better? Was "TiVo" a compromise between the company and you or did they really like that name right away?
MC: It's interesting that of all the names we developed, TiVo was the ninth name we presented. It was always a favorite with me. There were names that were seriously considered, but in retrospect definitely not as good as TiVo. One was "Bongo"; at one point the team was considering that the thumbs up and down buttons on the remote might be different sizes for tactile differentiation so the notion of Bongo drums came up. "Lasso" was another candidate, it referred to capturing what you want to watch when you want to watch it.
There was really never a need to compromise anything. The team was so focused on their specific challenges and very trusting with other aspects of the project that it was a terrific collaboration and recognition of what was the right thing to do. When the schedule milestone approached for the final name we put 20 "finalists" on the conference room wall. Mike and the team, like most folks in technology, have an ingrained just-in-time modality. The engineering of great products is highly creative, the team was familiar with the feelings of uncertainty that exist before an answer comes and they were comfortable that we would get it right, it's one of the benefits of an "A" level team. Everyone gets more creative and productive when there is a hard deadline. The encouragement and support was really helpful, I thank Mike, Jim Barton, Howard Look and the rest of the team for making the process a pleasure.
I argued for "TiVo" and urged that we narrow the list down to three of four. That day the group had Ed Sullivan, from the former Pittard Sullivan, a terrific animation firm in LA who created the initial animations of the TiVo character, in for their initial meetings. Ed walked in and saw the finalists on the wall and pretty much insisted that the name was TiVo. It took one person from the outside to help the team with the choice. They at once saw the the concept through his fresh eyes and understood that he was right. Not long after that we transferred the ownership of the name "TiVo" to the company.
One of the fascinating aspects of the project was how clear the team was on the power of the concept, once they decided to focus on television. In retrospect it was an strong lesson for me in how valuable experience is in truly understanding any issue. I had had the opportunity to review the thinking in detail, use the prototype equipment and watch and listen to others using the device. Then they sent me a TiVo box at home, and one of my kids set it up. As we were watching a show, my wife came into the room and started talking to us. For the first time in my own home, I clicked the button to pause live TV. When I clicked to restart it, at that moment I really "got" the power of TiVo for myself. I began to feel, like most TiVo users do, that I wish I could use TiVo's feature set in life outside the box.
MH: TiVo really is a perfect name. If I remember correctly, I think Bongo was Earthlink's wireless service a few years later and Macromedia Director's scripting language is Lasso. What do you think about TiVo becoming a verb?
MC: TiVo is in the dictionary at this point. And I'm happy Webster's has the etymology right.
MH: Is it gratifying to hear people use it as a generic term like "xeroxing some documents" or hearing that people want to use TiVo's features in life?
MC: I am gratified that the name has helped with the understanding and acceptance of TiVo, but TiVo is a killer experience and that is what generates the wild praise. TiVo's name and Identity just helps people recognise, understand and love the what it is.
MH: Do you think the name has transcended the close ties to TV and gotten to the level of a name like say, Yahoo, or Google? (I'd say that Yahoo and Google were once closely associated with "search" but now both companies offer so many applications and features it's tough to define any one thing they focus on).
MC: TiVo has the potential to be what marketers call a Branded House, meaning that the brand evokes a level of trust that it can offer a large array of products and experiences. I actually think, from a brand perspective, TiVo has an advantage as a Branded House over Yahoo and Google. I'd bet that most people who know TiVo and Google would buy a TiVo toaster before a Google toaster.
MH: If a TiVo box could start doing all sorts of non-TV tasks, do you think the name would still work?
MC: Yes, I do think the name would work. A good name grows with what it names.
Thanks goes out to Michael Cronan for taking the time to answer all my questions, and thanks to my friend Lane for making the connection. Michael still does product and brand design as Cronan Design. Full Bio for Michael and Cronan Design follows.
Cronan Design creates names and strategic brand identities and design for some of today's most successful new products and companies. With three decades of experience in corporate communications, packaging, print graphics, exhibits and art programs, a partial client list includes Apple, Estee Lauder, Levi Strauss & Co., McKesson, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the San Francisco Symphony and Opera, Silicon Graphics, TiVo, TV Guide, the United States Postal Service, Verio, and Williams Sonoma.
In 1989 Cronan was featured in the Museo Fortuny (Venice, Italy) exhibition entitled "Pacific Wave, California Graphic Design", and was one of four graphic designers featured in "In the Public Eye," the first graphic design exhibition at SFMOMA in 1993. The recipient of numerous national and international design awards and publications feature articles, Cronan's work is represented in the collections of American Graphic Design at the Denver Art Museum, in the Library of Congress, the permanent Design Collection of SFMOMA, and London's Victoria & Albert Museum.
Cronan was born in San Francisco in 1951. He studied at the California College of Arts and Crafts (CCAC), and graduated with a degree in Fine Art from CSU Sacramento. From 1982-1999, Cronan served as an adjunct professor of graphic design at California College of the Arts. He is a founding member and former president of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) San Francisco chapter and served on the AIGA national board. Cronan is also a fine artist:: www.michaelcronan.com
December 7, 2005 in Interviews, TiVo | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack
Rocketboom delivered to your Tivo
ptpete writes in:
You can now subscribe to rocketboom on your tivo. It will be downloaded daily.
Here's the link to the announcement on TivoCommunity.
You can subscribe via the web or directly from your Tivo.
I think it's great to get some regular original internet content on the TV via Tivo.
Yeah, definitely cool to see TiVo doing this. It'll be great to see where they take this support for videoblogging. It feels a little bit early for this -- there's not a ton of great video blogs/vlogs/vodcasts out there, but this would certainly give people some incentive to create more.
December 7, 2005 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack
NBC makes noise about iPod and PSP TiVoToGo sync
In a move that surprised no one, NBC is making vague, legalish threats in TiVo's direction over the latter's push to put TV shows on iPods and PSPs.
Quoth an NBC spokesperson,
TiVo appears to be acting unilaterally, disregarding established rights of content owners to participate in decisions regarding the distribution and exploitation of their content. This unilateral action creates the risk of legal conflict instead of contributing to the constructive exploitation of digital technology that can rapidly provide new and exciting experiences for the consumer.
And here I thought TiVo was exploiting digital technology. Perhaps the subtext is that NBC would rather exploit consumers? Regardless, eWeek spoke to two intellectual property attorneys about NBC's statement. Both say NBC doesn't have much of a leg to stand on and point to the Supreme Court of the United States' Betamax judgement as the relevant precedent.
November 27, 2005 in News, TiVo | Permalink | Comments (35) | TrackBack
Update on HME Beta
I'm not in the HME Beta because of the non-disclosure agreement, but someone who is in the program was nice enough to email me this about recent HME programs:
They rolled out some more stuff -- Yahoo Traffic, Yahoo Weather, and Yahoo Photos, plus a TiVo podcatcher (I think it's audio only, so far).
The Yahoo! application sound about right, considering their recent partnership. The podcast client sounds like a smart idea. People frequently explain podcasting like TiVo for audio, now TiVo is like TiVo! It's also another avenue for TiVo to build it's internet distribution features.
I suspect it doesn't, but if the podcast client supports video files (MPEG-2 only I would think, given the existing TiVoToComeback feature) then the TiVo would act as a collection point for all sorts of non-TV content. Would anyone in the HME program care to comment on whether the podcast client supports video?
November 27, 2005 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (26) | TrackBack
Free movie preview for TiVo users
Robert Aitchison wrote in:
Looks like TiVo is doing more testing of their video delivery over broadband technology.
Yesterday it was an offer to see free product reviews from C|Net, today they are ramping up to offer an exclusive preview of the movie "Red Trousers" which apparently is a martial arts film by Tai Seng Entertainment.
Obviously this is only for Series2 Standalone TiVo units that are connected over broadband.
For more info see http://research.tivo.com/redtrousers/
Great to see TiVo moving towards broadband delivery of shows and movies. I bet it's no accident the film being tested is outside the Hollywood mainstream. If you thought TV and movie studios were nervous about TiVo before, just wait until people no longer need either for distribution of content. It'd be great to see TiVo continue to embrace these out-of-the-hollywood-loop films. Perhaps the award winners of independent film festivals will be available for streaming to TiVos next year?
I'd love to be able to enjoy the Sundance Festival from my couch.
November 15, 2005 in News, TiVo | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack
TiVo to put CNET back on the air
Remember the 90's? No, not another nostalgia show from VH-1; think back to when stock prices could only go up, it made sense to buy a 100 pound bag of pet food online and CNET was on the TV. At least one of those is coming back: the company that put Ryan Seacrest on TV is trying to get back to its roots in the form of TiVo downloadable video.
PVR Wire is reporting that TiVo and CNET have partnered to provide short product review segments for the next 6 weeks. In order to get it, you have to opt-in to get the download from the TiVo main menu and only TiVo Series 2 owners with broadband need apply. (via)
More than just the CNET deal though, this means that TiVo is using its Internet content distribution network. While the Netflix deal didn't go through, the idea of getting video independent of the broadcast networks is still sound. I wouldn't be surprised if we see something from Yahoo! on this front too, since TiVo and Y! just announced a partnership, and Y! News is now producing a video news program.
update: Dave Zatz got some good screenshots of the cnet downloads in action.November 14, 2005 in News, TiVo | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack
TiVo and Yahoo announce partnership, features
A little birdie dropped me a note that looks legit and sounds trustworthy, but I can't back it up so I'm posting this as a rumor (that I have a strong hunch is real).
It looks like there's an impending deal between Yahoo and TiVo. The Yahoo TV section will add "record to TiVo" buttons like AOL added a couple years ago to their own listings. In addition, it sounds like some sort of HME app will be launched to let TiVo users get weather and traffic maps from Yahoo.
It sounds like it will be announced very soon, so we'll see in the next couple days if the rumor was true.
update: Looks like the Record to TiVo buttons are live at Yahoo, here's their page about it. Screenshot added to this post.
another update: here's the official article
November 6, 2005 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (31) | TrackBack
TiVo Adds Overlap Protection
One enduring complaint about PVRs is that networks sometimes schedule a show just over the half hour mark, for instance ending at 8:31 or starting at 9:29. It's either an effort to transfer viewers to another show or a conspiracy to punish PVR users for skipping commercials.
Either way, it looks like TiVo's doing something about it. A knowledge base article describes a new feature called "Overlap Protection" that, when enabled, will keep a show ending at 8:31 from preventing an 8:30 recording. When an overlap occurs, the TiVo will give preference to the show with a higher priority in the Season Pass manager.
This feature is reportedly part of the 7.2.1 software currently being distributed to Series 2 TiVos.
October 31, 2005 in News, TiVo | Permalink | Comments (15) | TrackBack
Welcome to apps.tv
Via DaveZatz, it looks like TiVo has released apps.tv for the TiVo Home Media Engine. The cool thing about apps.tv is that you connect over the internet to their server to get apps and you don't need to run the HME software on your local network. Instead, the service offers a subscription manager, making it a lot easier to try out new applications for your TiVo.
October 18, 2005 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBack
Conversation with Tivo product manager at digital life
ADM over at thousandrobots.com got to have a lengthy conversation with some TiVo employees at the Digital Life convention last week. Lots of news and questions get answered. It looks like mac support is on the way for Tivo ToGo and HD TiVos are around the corner. Here's an excerpt of what they sent in:
Here is an account of my conversation
Basically he told me support for TivoToGo on the Mac is coming probably in Q1 of 2006. He told me why it doesn't work now. I told him that Tivo Desktop works on Mac OS X 10.4.2 without modification, contrary to what their website says. He said he'd update the website. We also talked about cable card support (forthcoming) and the DRM/Macrovision flag thing that caused the big outcry.
October 16, 2005 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack
TiVo's New Beta Hosted Apps
This is good news: TiVo is beginning to test hosted Home Media Engine (HME) applications on the server side. So this would mean that soon all TiVos running the latest software would have some new applications available, and you might not need to run the HME software on a local networked PC.
October 6, 2005 in News, TiVo | Permalink | Comments (10)
TiVo adds 1-year contracts
Dave Zatz pointed us to this new part in TiVo's service agreement:
WITH RESPECT TO ANY NEW TIVO SERVICE SUBSCRIPTION ACTIVATED ON OR AFTER SEPTEMBER 6, 2005, YOU AGREE TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE TIVO SERVICE FOR NO LESS THAN 12 MONTHS (THE "SERVICE COMMITMENT"). IF YOU FAIL TO MEET THE SERVICE COMMITMENT BY CANCELLING YOUR SUBSCRIPTION TO THE TIVO SERVICE (OR IF TIVO TERMINATES YOUR SUBSCRIPTION TO THE TIVO SERVICE DUE TO A BREACH OF THIS AGREEMENT), YOU AGREE THAT TIVO MAY CHARGE YOU A $150 EARLY TERMINATION FEE, AND YOU AGREE TO PAY ANY SUCH EARLY TERMINATION FEE.
This fits with their August 2005 investor call where they announced they would be moving to a mobile phone-like retailing strategy.
On the one hand, I kind of like this. I would rather see TiVo's retailing for $50 with no rebate instead of $200 with a $150 rebate. By adding a service commitment they can get rid of rebates, although I should emphasize that I have not seen anything that says TiVo is ending rebates.
Still, I'm hopeful that they're replacing one customer hassle with another, less annoying one. I'm constantly surprised that friends with $300 mobile phones think a $50 TiVo is too expensive, I think the rebates have encouraged people to think of them as $200 boxes.
On the other hand, this is much less customer friendly. People hate mobile phone contacts but everyone goes with them because they're going to be paying for the service anyways so they might as well save $100-$200 on their phone. The mobile phone companies are some of the least-liked business around, I know TiVo will lose a few evangelists over this.
Also, like I said, I'm simply speculating that this will end annoying rebates. They could simply add this on top of the rebate system (which TiVo employees have defended). That seems like a net-loss for consumers since someone who didn't like their TiVo would be out $50 before, now they're out the full $200.
September 25, 2005 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (11)
Tivo stops seling units directly, but O Canada is finally supported
On Saturday, a former employee of a company that handled all the TiVo.com sales let slip that TiVo is no longer selling units directly from their site, instead linking to Best Buy as the primary place to buy one. This seems like a good move to me, as it lets TiVo concentrate on its core business of software and support and lets retailers concentrate on sales of units.
In other TiVo news, it looks like they are officially supporting Canada, though it seems they aren't allowed to ship anything into the country so you kind of have to get one mailed to you from an American friend. It's been a long time coming for our Canadian friends and most of mine simply moved to a cable company-provided DVR as they waited for the past five years. I wonder what held TiVo back from Canada all this time? Are there stiff trade restrictions or tariffs that couldn't be settled or are the cable systems difficult to integrate into the software? [thanks Dave and Megazone for the links]
September 18, 2005 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (21) | TrackBack
TiVo/Macrovision DRM seen on IFC shows
After a few days of reading near and far about the TiVo/Macrovision DRM flap, I fully believe the response that TiVo has given is true. TiVo says some noisy broadcast video has tripped the flag accidentally, and that it shouldn't occur under normal conditions with cable and satellite connections. However, Aaron Hurley has reported seeing it on a IFC show recorded over cable, and he's posted photos of it on his box:
It's not just local stations. There is a red flag on IFC right this minute. Check it out if you can.
My Tivo is currently recording a conversation with Lauren Bacall and it has the red flag showing up saying that the program will be deleted by 9/23.
It could be another bug tripping the flag, but it looks like this might not just be limited to syndicated shows on a Fox station recorded from an antenna connection. I'm curious what caused the bug in this case.
September 16, 2005 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (27) | TrackBack
More on TiVo's Red Flagged Recordings
If you haven't already, please read our recent post about restricted shows on TiVo. As you may have noticed, a lot of people are upset about the ability for the TV industry and TiVo to control a box people thought they owned.
Many were quick to point out that restricting two year old reruns of King of the Hill wasn't the intended use for the DRM. Jim Denney, TiVo's Director of Product Marketing, told TechBlog that these were probably just "false positives."
Denney said the copy protection is trigged by a flag in the video signal. The reports appearing on the Web appear to be cases where TiVo misinterprets noise in the signal as a copy protection flag, and imposes the restrictions.
Cory Doctorow over at Boing Boing happened to be at an DRM standards meeting and asked the experts what they thought about random noise triggering the restrictions:
When I asked them if they believed that noise could be "misinterpreted" as a DRM flag, they burst into positive howls of disbelief. One present talked about Macrovision's checksums and said that that must have been "incredible noise if it completed the checksum." A semiconductor expert laughed out loud.
Charitably, an operating system vendor's rep suggested that TiVo might not be lying: rather, he said that perhaps they've just done an "incredibly bad" implementation of Macrovision.
OK, it probably wasn't bad reception that caused it, so the next link in the chain is the local TV station. Is it possible that someone at the station accidentally turned content protection on? Marc Hedlund over at O'Reilly Radar (while mistakenly assuming that the content protection comes from guide data instead of the video signal) argues that it doesn't matter: If the broadcaster … can turn the flag on whenever they want, the power of this feature is in the wrong hands altogether.
It was likely a local broadcaster that made the mistake, but what's to prevent this from happening in the future? How can I protect my TiVo from the mistakes my local TV station makes? The next time someone freaks out on live TV, will the broadcaster flip the "Copy Never" bit to control the damage?
This was probably a mistake, but that doesn't negate the fact that this bug feature is built into every TiVo (and other PVRs).
September 15, 2005 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (43) | TrackBack
TiVo Coming to Canada?
Word has it that TiVo is starting to support Canadian guide data in preparation for a launch in the Great White North (or South, for those of us in Detroit). We haven't tested this ourselves yet, but the latest Tivo software allows entering a Canadian postal code, selecting a Canadian provider, and getting Canadian guide data.
Thanks to Erik Pettersen for the tip! (Previous Canadian TiVo howto post)
September 14, 2005 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (23) | TrackBack
TiVo 7.2 OS adds content protection, blocks transfers, and auto-deletes some shows
We got a bit of a disturbing report over the weekend from a reader:
I recently got a sample of Tivo DRM, accidentally I suspect. Recently a Simpson's rerun recorded with a red-flag next to it (an icon I've never seen before). When I selected the episode, I got a message to the effect that "the copyright holder prohibited saving the episode past date mm/dd". I also noted that this episode could not be copied using Tivo Togo (but ironically it could be "saved to tape" – I guess that is the analog hole).
I have two comments for Tivo, and one for any publisher who is foolish enough to activate this flag.
Tivo 1: Just because someone asks for a feature, there is no reason to give it to them.
Tivo 2: Better treat your subscribers well, or you won’t have a business. Even your lifetime subscriptions won’t protect you when I (and many others) decide to switch over to an HDTV DVR.
To the Publisher: Go ahead and prevent me from saving your show past a certain date, I dare you. I can’t think of a single show that I would still watch! I can't think of a quicker way for you to loose my viewership!
Given that this was an episode from the early 90’s, I suspect the copy protection flag got turned on by accident. None of my likely reactions will be accidental though...
--Michael McKay
Unfortunately, he didn't have any photos of what he saw, so I started looking around for similar reports. It didn't sound like an isolated or accidental incident. The TiVo support area carries an article about generic Macrovision support in TiVo but nothing on the new flag icon.
Several similar reports are found on forums. this post over on LiveJournal and this one on TiVo's forum both sound like network transfer errors, but people acknowledge in the answers that the behavior is part of the new TiVo 7.2 OS for certain programs.
This post at the TiVo Community Forums has the lowdown. It is related to last fall's macrovision policy change (covered here). The user posted screenshots of what he saw, and how he was blocked from telling his TiVo to "save until I delete"
Here is the now showing list with new red flags
Here's the more info screen with scary warning about the copyright holder forcing this
This sucks in the following ways (and many more I'm sure others can think of):
- It treats all TiVo customers like they are criminals with big scary warnings about what you can and can't do. The TiVo interface normally is a friendly thing, not something throwing red flags everywhere. Surfacing the red flag to the top, then blaming everything on the copyright holder, and then having the TiVo website blame macrovision and even go so far as to say "Please do not contact TiVo Customer Support regarding copy protection related issues" is a total cop-out.
- It removes control from your TiVo. For the last 7 years, you've been able to record and playback TiVo'd shows and save them as long as you wanted or had space. Now, outsiders are telling your TiVo when to delete themselves whether you like it or not. In some cases we're talking about programs you could have transfered last week with the 7.1 OS that are now being blocked. If you look closely at the ToDo list screenshot, you can see the previous night's King of The Hill doesn't have protection.
- Previous mentions of this Macrovision "feature" discussed it only in terms of premium and pay-per-view content -- in other words, stuff readily available on DVD that movie studios might prefer you went out and bought or rented instead of just watched on HBO. Now I could understand that sort of restriction since a PPV movie is expected to be watched once and not saved or burned to DVD, but these examples are happening on regular TV shows, not premium movies.
Now, many people are saying this is probably a mistake on the part of a Fox affiliate station. They added macrovision "do not copy" tags to the show streams when they shouldn't have, but there was no workaround for the TiVo owner and it demonstrates what could very well happen in the near future with TiVos and other sorts of PVR devices. TiVo and other PVR companies have always had a rocky relationship with TV studios and with the loss of TV ad revenue and splintering of "prime time", TV studios have long been looking for a way to get control back. This could be their tool if used unwisely.
update: I just wanted to reiterate that yes, this was the result of a mistake on the part of the station providing syndicated shows. Still, my issue is with the TiVo software itself, for allowing red flags on content that was neither PPV or VOD. TiVo's head of legal assured Wired Magazine last fall that it would only apply to Pay Per View and Video on Demand, and yet, it appears it can happen to any show if the station adds the flag. This hole should be fixed so that mistakes in the future on the part of networks doesn't end up blocking normal TiVo activities.
another update: Dwight Silverman at the Houston Chronicle posted a quick interview with Jim Denney (director of product marketing for TiVo) about this issue. Sounds like the bug might be traced back to TiVo software misinterpretting noise in the signal as a flag.
September 13, 2005 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (74)
Become the TiVo Ambassador
TiVo made it clear in their recent stockholder call that next year was all about driving up their subscriptions and userbase. Expect to see loads of deals and marketing pitches to meet that goal. One marketing push is their new TiVo Ambassador contest.
It looks like TiVo is officially looking for innovative, outside help in their marketing efforts by throwing a contest to find someone that can convince people to sign up for TiVo. The rules are pretty simple: you refer five people by November 27th, complete an application, and make a short video explaining why TiVo is so great. TiVo will pick five finalists and the winner gets $25k, a mini convertible, starts posting to a TiVo company blog (!!!) and attends events as a TiVo representitive.
I've referred dozens of people to TiVo now and I have some ideas about the perfect TiVo commercial, so I just might take a crack at it. The deadline for submissions is December 31st, 2005.
September 6, 2005 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (9)
How to get paid $51 to get a new TiVo
This is interesting: TiVo has just upped their rebates to $150 cash back if you buy a TiVo between today and November 27, 2005. The rebate rules don't say you have to buy your TiVo direct from TiVo.com, so you can buy it elsewhere. Amazon is selling a 40 hour TiVo for $99 on their site. Dell is also selling them at $99.
So the math is simple, buy a new TiVo for $99, mail in your $150 rebate and come out $51 dollars ahead in the end. If you've ever wanted to try out TiVo, now's the time to do it as this is the best deal I've seen to date. If you want a way to thank me, just toss "matt@haughey.com" in as the referring TiVo customer when activating your new TiVo.
Also worth mentioning is that if you want a high-end TiVo, a 300 hour monster box and 80 hour-with-DVD-recorder are both only $199 after the rebates. These boxes used to sell for about $500. [thanks for the tip, Davis!]
update: some people commenting are saying the amazon deals may not be eligible -- but by my reading of the rules, the answer to this FAQ is that amazon and dell are listed on TiVo's approved sellers page and the model number of the TiVo box starts with 540, which is allowed on the first point. The only thing that may make a purchase inelligible is this question, which is vague as there's no easy way to tell why amazon and dell are selling the boxes at $99, if that assumes another deal is in place (though it doesn't involve a rebate, both places selling them at $99 on checkout).
So I can't guarantee the amazon and dell deals will result in a greater rebate than the price, but according to their rules it certainly appears to be that way.
update #2: Well it looks like the party is over, as Dell has pulled the $99 unit and Amazon has upped the price to $199. So looks like a new TiVo will cost you $49 from here on out.
September 4, 2005 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (34) | TrackBack
Yesterday's investor call
Yesterday was the quarterly investor teleconference at TiVo, which was open to the public through streaming audio and a massive conference call system. I was letting it play in the background while working on other things, so I might have missed a few key details but the big picture news consisted of the following:
- TiVo finally broke even, and made a small profit after 7 years of losses. They are hopeful that the following quarters will continue the trend and show increasing profits instead of losses
- There are teams of TiVo and Comcast engineers working on a combo TiVo/Comcast unit that is set for release sometime in 2006. They referenced this several times as a big future subscriber growth path.
- TiVo is moving to a cellphone plan business model (something I've heard suggested since TiVo was released) where you get a TiVo for practically free if you sign a long-term service contract of a year or two. They believe a major sticking point with new customers is the cost of the box.
- TiVo's goals for the next year or so is to drive for more subscriptions and start working with advertising within the TiVo service, which they believe could be profitable once their subscriber base grows.
- It costs TiVo about $200 to acquire each new customer.
- They spent a significant amount of time comparing themselves to Sirius Radio, which has half of TiVo's subscriber base at a similar monthly subscription price, but Sirius has a $9 billion marketcap while TiVo's is only around $500 million. It sounded like a bit of sour grapes on the part of TiVo executives. :)
- While DirecTV is moving away from TiVo to the NDS R15 box, they are ordering up loads of R10 combo DirecTV/TiVo units for their existing promotions. DirecTV is still using the TiVo to drive new subscriptions even though their own product is coming soon, and this was a bit perplexing for TiVo execs.
- They are in dicussions with multiple cable operators, trying to use free TiVos as a way to lure new cable customers away from satellite. They talked about the Cebridge deal and a new Cablevision deal and said more deals are in the works.
August 25, 2005 in TiVo | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack
Tivo, Internet Archive, and GlitchTV
Worship the Glitch (WTG) has a great post about finding free MPEG2 content online to stream to your updated TiVo. The Internet Archive is a huge repository aiming to be the world's library, with the goal of capturing and curating all human knowledge. Part of the Archive is their immense video library, which includes MPEG2 versions of all sorts of public domain, freely licensed, and open source movies.
WTG has offered a useful new service, GlitchTV. It's a daily feed featuring a movie from the Archive. Coupled with some podcasting software mentioned in the post, you could have automated nightly downloads of every movie in the GlitchTV feed delivered to your PC. Then it'd just be a matter of firing up your TiVo each night to see what wacky new movie awaits viewing.
August 24, 2005 in News, TiVo | Permalink</