Posts Tagged ‘ TiVo ’

Talking TiVo on Popular Technology Radio

cover170x170On Saturday, 2/28/15, I appeared again on the syndicated radio show Popular Technology Radio, this time talking about TiVo. TiVo is rolling out a new feature for TiVo customers called OnePass, which integrates traditional and streaming video more tightly. OnePass replaces TiVo’s popular SeasonPass feature, now giving customers season-by-season access to show episodes, regardless of whether they’re recorded or available online through Netflix, Hulu, VUDU, or Amazon.

The show is available now in iTunes and online at poptechradio.com.

An E-mail Message to TiVo

I like TiVo’s new universal Swivel Search feature [though I wish it didn’t look so lousy in HiDef], but…seriously, what were you thinking with that name? Universal Swivel Search. Ugh! Your menus are getting so cluttered as you tack on new features without rethinking structure. They’re even more confusing with the unnecessary branding of individual features: Amazon Unbox. TiVoCast. Universal Swivel Search. KidZone. What ever happened to TiVo being easy to understand and use for everyone in the household?

Recommendation: Rethink the TiVo menus and stop obfuscating features through branding. Instead of the above-mentioned menu items, how about Downloaded Movies, Subscription Programs, and Advanced Search instead?

TiVo’s great features aren’t any good to anyone if people can’t find them.

– Richard
Long-time (three-time) TiVo owner, advocate, critic, and stockholder

Feature Suggestions for TiVo

I have HD TiVo (Series 3). I wish it would:

  1. Display the caller ID information for incoming calls. Your most direct competitor – Windows Media Center – already offers caller ID support.
  2. Allow me to watch content from TiVo Series 2 devices elsewhere in my home. There’s no reason that transferring external content to the HD device would jeopardize the digital content on the HD device.
  3. Provide me with the subscription content like TiVoCast, Rocketboom, etc. Series 2 devices can do it – why not Series 3?
  4. Let me know the remaining storage space and alert me know when a show is in immediate danger of being deleted. Again, Media Center can do it.
  5. Give me an option to avoid recording two scheduled programs at once during typical viewing hours. Dual tuner is great, but if TiVo schedules two recordings at the same time, I still can’t watch anything else. With an option that avoided simultaneous recording when possible, TiVo could attempt to schedule other showings of an episode at an alternate time.