The TiVo remote

Branson on TiVo

Richard Branson has little to do with the day-to-day running of Virgin Media these days - he's just the face we all associate with the Virgin brand. He still emerges from his tropical paradise lifestyle though when there's something new to promote, so T3 has a few comments from him on TiVo:

"I think that it is fantastic," Branson told T3 in an exclusive interview.
"There's numerous things one can do and I think that we have finally got a weapon that can give Sky a run for their money.
"We may well get thousands of people switching over from Sky to Virgin; it's a weapon that we've got that they can never develop which obviously gives us a bit of an advantage."

Of course it's doubtful that his Necker Island is on the Virgin Media network, but I'm sure he could get one of the early TiVo boxes easier than some of us loyal VIP50 customers...

BBC focussing on more HD than 3D

Rather than invest in 3D the BBC intends to place greater focus on making high definition production and distribution an "integral and seamless" part of its operation. (source: Telegraph)
The BBC is planning a series of limited technical trials of 3D production technology, including at Wimbledon this summer, but described them as “experiments” designed to “explore the creative potential of the new format, evaluate the different technology options and help us contribute to the standardisation process”.

Quite right, I say. Although Virgin has only dabbled in 3D with some on-demand films and documenataries, all the 3D hype on Sky has reportedly only attracted around 70,000 subscribers to its new 3D TV channel since it launched in October last year.
I'm somewhat surprised to see the BBC HD channel still showing a number of BBC1 shows (isn't that what BBC1 HD is for?) - you would have thought they could fill it with content from BBC2, BBC3, BBC4, BBC News and the children's channels. It would also be good to see the iPlayer HD content include complete series (like they do in SD) rather than just episodes from the last seven days - maybe that will be addressed when the TiVo iPlayer App is fully available and has HD content.

500Gb TiVo on its way

Virgin are going to be launching a 500Gb TiVo box shortly, no dates yet but I'm reliably informed by Square Eyes that it will be £49.95 with the £40 install, customers must also sign up for 12 months Tivo (£3 a month). All subject to last minute price adjustments of course, but expected to launch very soon. Mr Eyes reckons that the V+ is likely to be phased out, and the Tivo style box will take its place - that would seem to be borne out by the fact that the lucky few who have had TiVo installed have been allowed to keep their existing V+ boxes as a second box - Virgin dont' appear to be recovering them for redistribution.
For those who want to go TiVo but haven't fancied the price of entry, this cheaper box would appear to be a mighty fine deal.
I'd imagine the hardware will be the same as the 1Tb TiVo only with a smaller drive. I've also heard that a third box, with a 250Gb drive may complete the lineup later in the year. No idea on pricing or dates.

Ordering TiVo online

Regular Cable Forum poster and VM employee Digital Fanatic says:

I've been told that pre regs will receive a special email with ordering details, you will then order online before any other customers.
Once all pre regs have install dates, then it will be opened up to other customers and then new customers after that.
You should get your email towards the end of the month [March]...It's going to be quicker than calling everyone and you should have an install in April.

For those of us still waiting for that call (and from the poll I ran on the blog, that's 91% of the 500+ respondents) it's been a frustrating wait but hopefully almost over. Let's hope we get a discount that makes it worthwhile.

If you have TiVo, get on the map

TiVo Central has an interesting map showing where UK TiVo users are based: TiVo map

Extensive review of TiVo on Pocket Lint

Long review and some great pictures of the TiVo over on PocketLint. Here's their summary:

So there you have it the Virgin Media TV powered by TiVo box – not just an upgrade for the company, but perhaps television per se. At £199, the “activation fee” may seem steep to some, especially when combined with the £40 installation cost and £3 per month extra on the bill, but not only is it cheaper than Sky’s initial HD device was when it was launched, it’s also a small price to pay for a remarkably powerful slice of technology.
It does suffer from the occasional gltch, after all these are early days and teething troubles are to be expected, but it is undoubtedly the future of TV. And it’s here. Now.
Once you’ve spent some time navigating around the gloriously designed menu structure and search functionality, you may never want to rely on plain old linear TV again. It’s all well and good having a billion HD channels, but if you can’t choose what to watch when you want to watch it, and in such style to boot, then what’s the point. There’s never anything good on.
There is on Virgin Media’s TiVo box.


Read more: Virgin Media TV powered by TiVo review - Pocket-lint

Treme, Entourage season 7 on iTunes

It looks like some of Sky Atlantic's HBO series are appearing legitimately on the UK iTunes store after all. Boardwalk Empire has still to appear, but both Treme and Entourage season 7 are available with a "season pass". What is more Treme is cheaper than the forthcoming DVDs from the US (£16.99) but episodes are only appearing after being broadcast on Sky Atlantic.

New blog poll for TiVo

I've added a poll to see how many visitors to the blog registered an interest in TiVo and have been called by Virgin Media. Please let me know what you think. Poll closes midday next Monday.

BBC iPlayer launches on TiVo

BBC iPlayer launched on TiVo yesterday (Wednesday) via the red button. Discussion thread here: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=465875. Apparently it's still in beta so HD will come later (you can access HD content in the VM VoD menus) and the App comes via the TiVo's dedicated 10Mbs connection.
More content than VM's V+ iPlayer selection, including radio and subtitles.