Realistic TiVo Series 3 wishlist

[sbrown23]

Things I'd like to see in Series 3 -

Hardware Upgrades -

Support for 480p, 720p, 1080i via already compressed video streams (satellite, cable box/card, etc.)
Component and/or HDMI inputs (HD cable/sat box) and outputs (to TV)
Higher bit-rate recording, required for HD broadcasts, but SD content should be up around 7-8 mbps by default on Best quality rather than the current 5mbps or so.
USB 2.0 physical ports
Minimum of 4 USB 2.0 ports, with at least 1-2 on the front
Built-in 10/100 Ethernet port
An appropriate amount of RAM to support HD UI, menus, large media lists, etc (128MB?)
Slightly faster processor (~ 300MHz) for handling large media lists, large numbers of season passes, etc.
Two tuner support
Cable Card slot, QAM tuner
Firewire port for plugging in the video camera (not really too important, but nice to have)


Software Upgrades -

Integrated LBA48 kernel enabling >137GB drives for all TiVos
Free space indicator letting you know how much space is available (i.e 27GB free = XX hours at BEST, XX hours at High, and so on)
Software support for USB 2.0
Support for adding USB 2.0 external Hard Drives
Drivers for 802.11g USB wireless adapters
Integrated TivoWebPlus type features for web control
Built in TiVo ToGo functionality (program transfer to PC for DVD burning, laptops)
Support for WMA/WMV streaming from PC
Ability to store media locally on the Tivo as a media server (MP3, photos, WMA/WMV, MPG, etc.)
Easier switching of video sources (cable, satellite, etc.) without going thru full guided setup
Out of the box support for networking, NO requirement for phone line for guided set up (some people don't have land lines)
Option in Settings for 16:9 widescreen UI support (so you don't have to zoom or stretch on a widescreen TV).
Option in Settings to allow user adjustable buffer. Come on, I should be allowed to determine whether I'd prefer a 15 min, 30 min, or 1 hour buffer.


And that is about it! Nothing too outlandish like 2GHz processors or anything. This is still supposed to be a low cost PVR appliance. A lot of this stuff is software updates, and the hardware stuff is really not too much to ask for. Come on TiVo!!!




<edit1> Added two tuner, Cable Card, and WMA/WMV to list
<edit2> Removed HD encode/decode request; changed support for HD resolutions via already compressed streams; USB ports on front; switch video source w/o guided setup.
<edit3> 1/31/2005 - Added component/HDMI ins and outs; high bit-rate recording; firewire support; Tivo as media server; out of box networking/no phoneline guided setup; 16:9 UI support; free space indicator; separated Hardware and Software Upgrades into their own lists
<edit4> 2/3/2005 - Added user adjustable buffer

[Mako]

You forgot the two tuners and Cable Card functionality. =)

[Dennis Wilkinson]

Originally posted by sbrown23
Things I'd like to see in Series 3 -

- Integrated LBA48 kernel enabling >137GB drives
- USB 2.0 physical ports (Series 2 only has USB 1.1 ports)


Some Series 2 boxes already have these -- the DVD-R combo units from Pioneer have LBA48 support, and the majority of Series 2 boxes have USB 2.0 physical ports (hardware), but not 2.0 drivers (software.) IIRC, a Series 2 box will have USB 2.0 hardware if the TSN starts with "2".

[rwhitlow]

I would like to see some overlapping show functionality in any Series! i.e. Complete show 1 and get as much of show 2 as possible, and visa versa.

[sbrown23]

Originally posted by Dennis Wilkinson
Some Series 2 boxes already have these -- the DVD-R combo units from Pioneer have LBA48 support, and the majority of Series 2 boxes have USB 2.0 physical ports (hardware), but not 2.0 drivers (software.) IIRC, a Series 2 box will have USB 2.0 hardware if the TSN starts with "2".

See, I mentioned in another thread that I asked TiVo support about USB 2.0 support in the Series 2. I also gave them my TSN which starts with 240 and they said that I only have USB 1.1 hardware. In any case, with Series 3 (or with a Series 2 update) I wish they would enable USB 2.0 speeds.


Hmmmmmmmm.... :confused:

[classicsat]

Current S2 support is only for USB1.1, regardless of the hardware.

Also, IMO, asking for a component encoder is unrealstic. If you want somethin realistic, a cablecard Tivo is what you want.

Also add keyboard/mouse support.

Make the S3 peanut UEIC compatible (meaning JP1 programmable upgrades)

In box PIP could be considered, maybe an out of box decoder could be done for SD PIP.

2 of the USB2.0 ports on the front.

Maybe built in ethernet (with network GS), but add on modem.

[sbrown23]

Originally posted by classicsat
Also, IMO, asking for a component encoder is unrealstic. If you want somethin realistic, a cablecard Tivo is what you want.

Why is it unrealistic? Cost? I'm not sure how much it would add to the cost of the box, but TiVos already have hardware MPEG-2 encode and decode for standard television right? Is an HD encoder that much more expensive?

[Jonathan_S]

Originally posted by sbrown23
Why is it unrealistic? Cost? I'm not sure how much it would add to the cost of the box, but TiVos already have hardware MPEG-2 encode and decode for standard television right? Is an HD encoder that much more expensive? Yes. Offhand an MPEG-2 encoder for realtime standard definition costs maybe ten or fifteen bucks. (And that is probably high). The only thing I've seen that does High Definition realtime MPEG-2 encoder was a multichip parallel array that took several 64 bit 66 Mhz PCI slots and ran upwards of twenty thousand dollars.

A massive difference in price. Uncompressed analog high definition takes an insane about of bandwidth. This is why it is transmitted digitally and compressed.

The only way to currently time shift HD affordably is to record these already compressed digital signal without ever having converted it to analog. For OTA this is easy since they are transmitted unencrypted, and the HD-DTiVo does exactly that. It also records the encrypted satellite HD signal digitally. However to do this for cable you either need a HD PVR issued by your cable system or a cable card HD PVR, either of which can record and decrypt the digital signal directly.

[maharg18]

Originally posted by sbrown23
Why is it unrealistic? Cost? I'm not sure how much it would add to the cost of the box, but TiVos already have hardware MPEG-2 encode and decode for standard television right? Is an HD encoder that much more expensive?

Yes, very expensive.. That's why no one makes a box that does this! (with a reasonable cost)

[pawchikapawpaw]

how about an easier option to switch between video sources? i understand about tivo dialing out to grab the correct channel lineup and stuff, but a: why can't it just use the HMO when it's available, and b: why do i have to go through the guided setup from start to finish?

[sbrown23]

Updated the list again... Edit2

[Ronin1]

Especially now that Firewire 800 is commonplace (and can be made to work with Firewire 400 (at the 400 speed) devices by the use of a conversion cable).

[ElPuerco]

How about a peanut with a DVR *button* rather than a DVR *switch*. Some of us may want to have more than 2 TiVos in our living room! (Especially if Best Buy offers them for -$1 after rebate next week.) Push the button and you go to the next TiVo, or press the button and then a number (0-9) and go to that TiVo number.

[Mako]

Originally posted by Jonathan_S
Yes. Offhand an MPEG-2 encoder for realtime standard definition costs maybe ten or fifteen bucks. (And that is probably high). The only thing I've seen that does High Definition realtime MPEG-2 encoder was a multichip parallel array that took several 64 bit 66 Mhz PCI slots and ran upwards of twenty thousand dollars.

A massive difference in price. Uncompressed analog high definition takes an insane about of bandwidth. This is why it is transmitted digitally and compressed.

The only way to currently time shift HD affordably is to record these already compressed digital signal without ever having converted it to analog. For OTA this is easy since they are transmitted unencrypted, and the HD-DTiVo does exactly that. It also records the encrypted satellite HD signal digitally. However to do this for cable you either need a HD PVR issued by your cable system or a cable card HD PVR, either of which can record and decrypt the digital signal directly.

Well TiVo had a prototype HD PVR so they must have figured a way to do it for much less than the thousands of dollars. They said they could not generate interest in the device. Not sure why. Maybe it was still prohibitively expensive. I doubt they would have even made the prototype if the price was going to be more than a car.

[maharg18]

Originally posted by Mako
Well TiVo had a prototype HD PVR so they must have figured a way to do it for much less than the thousands of dollars. They said they could not generate interest in the device. Not sure why. Maybe it was still prohibitively expensive. I doubt they would have even made the prototype if the price was going to be more than a car.

Their prototype recorded HD OTA signals ONLY, therefore it didn't need an expensive HDTV encoder. As you can probably imagine, the market for an OTA-only recorder is probably pretty small, which is probably why the PVR never materialized.

[Ronin1]

Perhaps someone with a technical background can shed some light on the matter of HD encoding. I find it hard to imagine that a DSP with a few other things on an inexpensive circuit board would not be able to handle the encoding/decoding. I realize that there is quite a volume of data involved, but I would think that the current state of the art should be able to handle it in a consumer level device.

Thanks!

[Jonathan_S]

Well according to a fairly quick Google search, uncompressed HD is 1.5 GBps (1.5 Giga-bits per second), or 675 Gigabytes per hour!

As a point of reference the DirecTV HD-TiVo stores 30 hours of HD on a 250 GB disk, making for a data rate of 8.3 GB/hour. (ignoring whatever part of the disk is reserved for software, showcases, buffers, etc.)

So to take uncompressed HD and compressing it down to HDTiVo levels requires a chip that can handle 1.6 billion bits per second and compress them down to 1/81st of that.

[ChiliDog]

How about wireless G support for faster wireless connections?

Chili

[rwhitlow]

Originally posted by ChiliDog
How about wireless G support for faster wireless connections?

Chili

Especially since the B slows down the whole network, not just the Tivo Connection!

[Ronin1]

Originally posted by rwhitlow
Especially since the B slows down the whole network, not just the Tivo Connection!

If the new models are delayed much there should be an A/B/G WiFi on a single chip set available, or if things are delayed very much more some of the 802.11n systems will be coming on line.

The alternative at the present is to get an inexpensive 802.11B WAP and add it to the LAN exclusively for the TiVo (and other B devices) thereby keeping your G speeds.

[heyitscory]

Dual tuners would be nice, but unless it has a built-in digital cable descrambler, two cable boxes and two IR blasters might be a little too much junk. (Although worth it.)

Who needs a realistic wishlist? I want the series 3 to have tailfins and be made of candy. In fact, while I'm wishing, how about a TiVo where you can fast forward live TV... I could clean up in the office football pool.

[cynthetiq]

I have no need for dual tuners... i shouldn't be watching live TV, and the bedroom tivo picks up the overflow...

i'd like the ability to manage my Tivo from the desktop... maybe even help me queue up what I'm gong to watch ala netflix style...

[Dreddnaught]

While they are releasing TivoToGo they ought to add support for external USB hard drives NOW...really making this functionality seamless, then you can share your shows with or without a computer. (no need to rely on the Broadband connection to send it or burning it down to a DVD)

[Snowman]

I added this in another area, but here goes...

Lose the peanut remote. Without feeling for the IRD, I don't know which end is which in the dark.

One thing I'd also really like to see is an interface for my PC (either via http or not) that will allow me to perform Tivo functions from my PC. Why? Because I spent good money on hardware for my PC so it'll run fast. If I could browse the guide for a week or two out, set up new season passes, and then push the resulting data back to the Tivo, it would be GREAT.

Of course, since it's a DirecTivo, even if Tivo releases such an animal, I'll have to rely on someone to port it to DirecTivo hardware/software, in which case, I'm still having to hack my own Tivo to make it useful :(.

Did I mention FORCING Hughes to get with the program and add more functionality that these stand-alone guys keep talking about?

[merdock777]

OK I have one that I have suggested before but never seems to garnish any support. how about using the number key section for a keyboard. Every cell phone/land-line I've ever seen can type both numbers and letters by pushing the corisponding numbers on the phone, why is it so hard to do this on a TiVo. I've never really checked to see if there are ways to do this already via hacking my TiVo, But I think it should be supported from the start. No more spelling using the D-pad, I'd love that.

[tfardella]

What I would like to see is a more open, higher end Tivo. It would have PCI slots for adding extra tuners, GB Ethernet cards, MPEG2 decoders, HD TV tuner, etc. There should also be room for at least one more hard drive. That way you could customize it to your needs.

I would also like to have to ability to store digital music and photos on the Tivo box. This is where the extra disk space would be handy.

Short of having the open slots I would like to see gigbit Ethernet and Firewire ports on the back of the box. That would allow fast transfer between boxes as well as facilitate hooking up external hard drives.

[pstgh]

What about two person customization???? How about Tivo being set up to ask who you are upon coming out of Standby, then having all of *your* preferences / suggestions / recordings etc... all waiting there for your viewing enjoyment. Then, when my wife turns it on, she can have all of her stuff there for her.

WELL.....?!?!?!?!?!

[Jasoco]

I'll second, or third or fourth the Two Tuners idea. I don't have DirecTV (Nor do I want it nor will I ever have it.) so not being able to record two programs at once, (Even if it's only so I can set some programs to record a minute or two over and still record the program after it.) is a burden.

Aside from that, I just want a faster processor that can handle reorganizing my database every time I move a show around. (It literally takes up to 10 minutes to sort my shows when I move stuff. I have "This might take a minute" burned into my brain.) I have 52 Season Passes!

[lafos]

I see a lot of interesting ideas in this thread, but let me play devil's advocate on some. The TiVo is a convenience. It needs to be simple to operate and be as bullet-proof as possible. My wife loves her TiVo, and she doesn't have to be an IT type to use it. Some of the stuff here could be done by a PC with video capture card. I have an ATI AIW card, and it has some of the features of TiVo, but not most of the good ones.

The extended programming, distributed scheduling, etc. would all be nice. A software package for a PC having the right hardware would be a great addition. Maybe TiVo can expand into that market.

BTW, I have 3 TiVos that I prefer over the TV-capture functions of my PC.

[Test]

have to agree with lafos, alot of these "features" are PC standards...check out winfast pvr, mythtv, ati-all in wonder...you can store music on your pc hard drive, put in more tuners, you can install another hard drive (for mp3's), they allow for diff users/preferences....

sounds like you guys want to re-invent the media center pc...sometimes i want my pc to just be a pc and my tv to just be a tv...and now my tivo to just be a tivo...

[Ronin1]

Who cares what you call it?

People want a machine with features they find useful. At present, there are no machines that combine the feature sets that people want. That includes TiVo, RePlayTV, Media Center PC (though the Win MC 2005 demo I saw looked better than the earlier version), or Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8000/8300, although the SA Explorers at least have dual tuners. The (open source Linux project) MythTV may offer a lot of promise for the future as the available hardware opens the door to useful features.

Right now it is an open question whether ReplayTV or TiVo have what it takes to survive. There was a recent article discussing the possibility of someone putting together boxes with MythTV for retail sales. It sounded very promising. Now for someone to actually do it. :D

[mikebridge]

firewire inputs (my humax drt-800 has it already) or firewire outputs (some HD tv's can take their HD input from firewire)

[swyatt]

Dual tuners would be very nice.

I would also like to be able to manage multiple tivos as a single unit. Sure I can pull shows from another unit, but I can't configure my unit in another room short of going into that room. I would like to be able to pull up the season pass manager or the programming guide and click to record. If the unit that I'm connected to is busy it should give me the option of recording it to the other unit(s). I would also like to be able to prune the recorded shows from the other units.

I would also like to see a Tivo extender like the Media Center that allows a TV in a room to pull content from the other Tivo(s). The problem with that is the Tivos don't seem to stream the data from unit to unit, but I would think that could be fixed.

[EwanG]

Just to add my vote for the USB2 external Hard Drive support. Though I can also imagine that the business model for that (existing users who would be more likely to buy multiple machines) is probably a lot smaller than the business model for selling more expensive machines with more space.

FWIW,
Ewan

[Ronin1]

Originally posted by EwanG
Just to add my vote for the USB2 external Hard Drive support. Though I can also imagine that the business model for that (existing users who would be more likely to buy multiple machines) is probably a lot smaller than the business model for selling more expensive machines with more space.

FWIW,
Ewan

The Scientific Atlanta 8300 PVR/DVR boxes have a SATA (Serial ATA) plug for an external SATA drive to increase storage space. Unfortunately, it is not yet active. The transfer rate is substantially the same as an internal SATA drive which is potentially much faster than a USB2 drive and should also be less expensive than either a USB or Firewire case.

[Ely]

How about improving the software they already have on the S2 and Humax DVD units? My suggestion is to offer alternatives when we get a schedule conflict instead of making us wade thru the view other showings of this program. The system knows what times the show you want is on, how about making it easier for us to find another time to record a show that is in conflict? Maybe a listing of the shows other times available below the screen, that way we can just scroll down and verify the description of the show and select it! It could even highlight the instances that do not have conflicts with other shows scheduled to record.

How about adding "this tivo is busy at that time, would you like to use your other tivo on HMO to record it? Ain't rocket science here, just useabillty issues.

Matt ;) :cool:

[Ronin1]

"Tick, tick, tick" What is taking so long for TiVo to get some new models out??? More and more it is looking less and less likely that they are going to come out with products "that people want" in any sort of useful time frame. The longer they wait the more people make decisions involving other choices. Despite the many problems and limitations of the cable providers' PVR/DVR boxes they are "jumping off the shelves". Some people are no doubt choosing them as an interim solution as I am, but there must be many others who will stay with them.

[classicsat]

What do you mean new models? The new silver/nightlight S2s came out in July, and the new Humax, Toshiba, and Pioneer units in the fall. Not tomention the new R10 DirecTV DVR.
They only publically acknowleged thought of a CC TiVo in july, and are probably developing it as we speak.

[Ronin1]

Originally posted by classicsat
What do you mean new models? The new silver/nightlight S2s came out in July, and the new Humax, Toshiba, and Pioneer units in the fall. Not tomention the new R10 DirecTV DVR.
They only publically acknowleged thought of a CC TiVo in july, and are probably developing it as we speak.

As near as I am able to make out these products do not do anything different or offer any substantially improved capbabilities...certainly not enough to warrant buying them. That is the problem. Time is running out for TiVo (and ReplayTV for that matter) to bring products to market while they still have much of a market left. I do not believe that the present products are going to compete well with other alternatives.

If Scientific Atlanta, Motorola, and the cable companies quit screwing around and get the software for their boxes right the window of opportunity for TiVo and ReplayTV may close. The marketing advantage of the cable companies will overwhelm them.

[holligl]

I second the motion for the external USB hard drive support. The kids got us a 40hr TiVo for Christmas. I can see how 40 hrs could be used in a hurry. Mean while I have a 60G external drive sitting on the shelf. Seems like all the hardware and technology is in place; oh for the right software! With an external case, swapping larger drives is simple.

I do like what I am hearing about the TiVo to Go (assuming it includes DVD burning capability).

While we are on the external drive support, how about adding capability for an external USB DVD burner...

Glen

[Dan_8o]

Originally posted by pstgh
What about two person customization???? How about Tivo being set up to ask who you are upon coming out of Standby, then having all of *your* preferences / suggestions / recordings etc... all waiting there for your viewing enjoyment. Then, when my wife turns it on, she can have all of her stuff there for her.

That would be my ideal. Not necessarily logging in to the Tivo but just a marker to say who recorded an episode of something. I have many times recorded some weird episode of something and my wife will delete it wondering, "Why did that get recorded". Perhaps just a letter inside the yellow or green ball to note who recorded it. We tend to watch a lot of TV together so for us logging in and out would not help.

Also a feature that would allow us to crop the beginning or end of a show. Like if you saw the first half of a 2 hour movie and wanted to chop off the beginning to save recording room. Or wanted to chop off the commercials at the beginning of a kids show so they are not barraged with the exact same advertisement every time they watch Dora the Explorer. I'd like to cut that off and the end commercials too. So a way to permanently say "delete from here to the end", or "from the beginning to here".

You could get all fancy-shmancy and manually edit out all the commercials too but I think that would be confusing. Like a delete from this marker to this marker and the Tivo would close the gap between the video.

I like the 2 tuner idea. :) Partially because a lot of shows are now doing the 1 minute overlap where you either miss the end or beginning of a show by 1 minute.

[wintermute11]

Here's my input, and this is coming from somebody who is building an open source DVR. I love my TiVo, but I like the features offered in some of the open source DVRs. I have a series 1, so maybe some of these features are already in series 2.

1. I would like to have the ability to store videos in a central location and allow access to the videos from multiple TiVos in my house. This is, by far, my #1 request. Possibly allow TiVo to mount a remote NFS or NTFS share. Possibly even stream live video to the remote terminals so I can watch them without a cable connection.

2. I would like those centrally stored videos to be in a format that I can read with my computer, and allow me to view videos I created or downloaded with my computer.

3. News feeds. Allow me to subscribe to online news feeds or on demand video.

4. Play MP3's, possibly with the album cover and album information being displayed. I copied all my CDs to my file server, and point my open source DVR to these MP3s.

5. Display my photos from the central server. Include a slide show, and allow my MP3 feature to continue playing.

6. Skins. Allow me to download different skins or themes to customize my display.

7. Would it be possible to add security features? Could I record a show and place it in a location that requires a password to even see it? In other words, can I keep children from viewing certain videos?

8. Add a picture in picture so when I'm doing something in the TiVo menu, I can still view and hear the video I was just watching (either live or recorded).

9. Provide a digital connection to my cable box so TiVo can command it without using the clunky IR interface. IR on my cable box is slow. It has various electrical connections in back, so I assume one of those would allow TiVo to command it without the IR interface.

10. This would be a cool feature, but not too important. Add a video input connection that could stream live video to another TiVo box. My family is spread all over the US. It would be a huge sell if we could connect our video cameras and talk, with video, to each other.

These might sound like unrealistic requests, but the open source DVR applications do provide most of these functions already. The only reason why I have very little need for #10, is because it takes technical savy to build your own DVR and nobody else in family is up to the task. I would have nobody else to chat with.

[Sam Lowry]

While we're all jumping in with ideas...

This may have been mentioned before....

I'd like to see a day-by-day grid of what's going to record for the next week.
- SL

[gambalem]

The first hard-drive cell phone has been released and many more are to come. Why doesn't Tivo partner with a cell phone manufacturer to store Tivo programs on small hard drives. The hard drives could be plug and play so to speak into cell phones and either you can bring your recorded programs with you (to be played on a TV somewhere or your phone (someday....)) or you can leave an extra hard drive in your Tivo to store your favorite programs for the next day or week. Pop out one hard drive in your phone for another and you can switch.

I think this is very do-able although issues such as how long it takes to play off a portable hard drive, etc could come up.

Thoughts?

Mike

[DJQuad]

Originally posted by sbrown23
Things I'd like to see in Series 3 -

- Drivers for 802.11g USB wireless adapters
- Integrated TivoWebPlus type features for web control
- Built in TiVo ToGo functionality (program transfer to PC for DVD burning, laptops)
- Support for WMA/WMV streaming from PC
- Easier switching of video sources (cable, satellite, etc.) without going thru full guided setup

Correct me if I'm wrong but all these can be done with TiVo-released software upgrades. I don't see why they would have to wait for S3.

[sbrown23]

Originally posted by DJQuad
Correct me if I'm wrong but all these can be done with TiVo-released software upgrades. I don't see why they would have to wait for S3.

Very true... I would love to have them now.

But if I could get them in a new version of the Tivo platform that had hardware improvements such as a slightly faster processor (~ 300MHz) CableCard, dual-tuners, etc., I would gladly shell out for the new box.


Originally posted by Dan_8o
I like the 2 tuner idea. :) Partially because a lot of shows are now doing the 1 minute overlap where you either miss the end or beginning of a show by 1 minute.

Good point! NBC is a prime offender with this tactic.

[sbrown23]

Edit #3 - Updated original list with the following

1/31/2005 - Added component/HDMI ins and outs; high bit-rate recording; firewire support; Tivo as media server; out of box networking/no phoneline guided setup; 16:9 UI support; free space indicator; separated Hardware and Software Upgrades into their own lists

[Ronin1]

Originally posted by sbrown23
Very true... I would love to have them now.

But if I could get them in a new version of the Tivo platform that had hardware improvements such as a slightly faster processor (~ 300MHz) CableCard, dual-tuners, etc., I would gladly shell out for the new box.




Good point! NBC is a prime offender with this tactic.


The head-end sync on my cable system is frequently off by something less than a minute from the start/end of a program even where the start time is not other than published in the guide. Two tuners really are not enough...four would be a good starting point.

It does seem that there are a growing number of programs that start/end one or two minutes off of "the hour" just to mess with people changing channels.

The real question in my mind is how long TiVo will hang on before going belly up. I just do not see them as a survivor. I hope that someone will pick up something useful from whatever is left at the bankruptcy proceedings.

[Dan_8o]

Originally posted by Ronin1
The head-end sync on my cable system is frequently off by something less than a minute from the start/end of a program even where the start time is not other than published in the guide. Two tuners really are not enough...four would be a good starting point.

It does seem that there are a growing number of programs that start/end one or two minutes off of "the hour" just to mess with people changing channels.

The real question in my mind is how long TiVo will hang on before going belly up. I just do not see them as a survivor. I hope that someone will pick up something useful from whatever is left at the bankruptcy proceedings.

The Head-end sync? Is that the way the Tivo gets the time? Mine is also off by less than a minute too. Is there a way to manually resync the Tivo?

I wonder if it is a response to Tivo so people can only record their show and not the competitors show since they overlap. It really irritates me.

I have read a couple of places in this thread that people think Tivo is in trouble and will go out of business. I don't understand why people think this. What is your reasoning for this?

[classicsat]

The TiVo hs its own clock which is set on call in.

[Raymond Day]

I guess Caller ID is not that good on a TiVo. No one said it here. That's what I would want.

A gigabit Ethernet would be super too. A faster CPU would be good. It's like they put one it to just make it. Because how it will slow down a little if you have a lot of shows on it.

[Bloo Ice]

A feature I'd like to see is having multiple TiVos work together. If you have them networked together they could talk to each other and compare schedules. Say if TiVo 1 was set to record a 2 shows at once, and it only had 1 tuner, and TiVo 2 wasn't doing anything at that time, it could record the second show for it, and then transfer it over. That'd be a nice feature. If they had 2 tuners, you could have 4, 6, 8 or more shows recording at once.

[Ronin1]

I guess Caller ID is not that good on a TiVo. No one said it here. That's what I would want.

A gigabit Ethernet would be super too. A faster CPU would be good. It's like they put one it to just make it. Because how it will slow down a little if you have a lot of shows on it.

Raymond,

Testing conducted by several sites indicates that hard drive performance is degraded when the drive is more than about 80% full. You might try getting some programs off of it and see if it speeds things up any. A faster CPU would be a good starting point though.

[Acer1]

MPEG4/H.264 support please for native compression.

It would be really awesome if it can play/stream protected Windows Media Audio (MSN Music store, XM Radio on Windows Media etc.), Video (Movielink, CinemaNow), iTunes AAC (DRMed).

As much as Microsoft is disliked, their formats are here to stay so why not add support for them as a counterpoint to cable offerings?

[Raymond Day]

It looks like they will have a Series 3 soon. All I know is it sounds like it will have built in Ethernet :)

Any one know were more info. is on it?

[Test]

It looks like they will have a Series 3 soon. All I know is it sounds like it will have built in Ethernet :)

Any one know were more info. is on it?


where'd you get that info from? (about the new series 3 soon)

[Jasoco]

Ethernet would be great. I haven't been able to get my 2 to cooperate with wireless for a long time.

[HTH]

TiVo Networked RAID, either as an ability to chain TiVos together into one unit or an additional unit that allows the addition of hard drives by the end user and provides space for one or several recording TiVos. Even a device that has no recorders of its own and looks to HMO as just another TiVo to which you can pull shows into or TiVos can push shows to automatically as their own storage space demand requires (maybe keeping TiVos' local capacity usage below 80%).

[cyril]

Most importantly we need UK support!

Twin or triple Tuners, faster processors to support 1500 GB drives etc..

We still only have series one units here!

[abricko]

MPEG 4 is the future, can store much more *HD* content on same sized Hard Drives, also would support future DBS upgrades and even ability to play divx/xvid from your computer, come on folks who doesn't have tivo hooked up to their network and wish you could just play that trailer you grabbed on your nice tv hooked up to your nice sound system...

I'd just love to see a real tivo pushing HD content (audio / video) where i live there are more OTA HD stations, than analog that i can't record on my tivo.

[HeyGuy]

how about a bottom screen scroller customizable for news, weather, etc. like ESPNs bottom scroller or CNN's but with your prefs.

[rwhitlow]

Boy, I'd like to be able to turn that off, when ESPN puts that up...

Drives me nuts!

Rich

[Jasoco]

I'd rather just use Konfabulator on my computer for that kind of information and leave my TV for showing TV shows.

[custer]

My suggestion is to offer alternatives when we get a schedule conflict instead of making us wade thru the view other showings of this program. The system knows what times the show you want is on, how about making it easier for us to find another time to record a show that is in conflict?


Good idea, but why make it easier for US to find it? If the show is on four different times and the first one conflicts, why can't the TiVo just check the next one to see if it conflicts and change by itself?

And to take that a step further, if the new show requested is only on once, and the show already scheduled is on four times, let the original one change times.

Or if that is too much (and it may be) just present a menu of possible choices that eliminate the conflict and let us choose one.

Now in MY case, I have four networked TiVo units - and I'd rather just see it bounce the show to one of the other boxes, but taht's just me.

[custer]

I second the motion for the external USB hard drive support. The kids got us a 40hr TiVo for Christmas. I can see how 40 hrs could be used in a hurry. Mean while I have a 60G external drive sitting on the shelf.

Which makes me wonder, why does the TiVo have two USB ports on it, but no ethernet? I had to buy $30 adapters for all of mine to get them to network, and as far as I can tell the USB ports serve no other purpose. External USB drives would be a boon - you could have 4 drives on a unit that way if you combine it with an internal drive upgrade.

[dhansberry]

What about being able to AUTOMATICALLY record a certain show to your computer? (via the tivo server. I always watch stargate SG-1 on another computer, and having the tivo server automatically copy it to the computer if it's been recorded would be sweet. any thoughts?

[dhansberry]

You should try out 'orb' for watching your tivo stuff over the internet. (streaming...) goto their website.

[steelcage]

Biggest Thing. Record more than one show at the same time! (3 shows on at 7pm that you want to watch Bam record all 3 at the same time watch them latter) Man that would be awesome!

[custer]

[QUOTE=swyatt]Dual tuners would be very nice.

I would also like to be able to manage multiple tivos as a single unit. Sure I can pull shows from another unit, but I can't configure my unit in another room short of going into that room. I would like to be able to pull up the season pass manager or the programming guide and click to record. If the unit that I'm connected to is busy it should give me the option of recording it to the other unit(s). I would also like to be able to prune the recorded shows from the other units.
QUOTE]

As someone with four series 2 TiVo units, I would find this feature very useful indeed. I often find myself recording the same show multiple times as I forget that I already programmed it into one of the other units. Not a disaster, but irritating.

But the one thing I personally would really like is for the networked TiVo to be recognizable as a drive by my other networked computers so that I can put TiVo to go files BACK into the TiVo to view them. Likewise, and probably easier to accomplish, would be for any PC running the TiVo desktop software to be recognizable by the TiVo as an additional source for files.

Right now I go to "now playing" and I see what's on that TiVo and the other three units listed on the bottom as networked. I'd liek the PC to show up as well so I can draw the downloaded "to go" file in liek I can from one of the other units. Untill then, I had to settle for getting extra HD's in order to store the files on the TiVo until the thing fills up and I have to move the program to a PC, never to return.

I'd really like to be able to make it return!

[EwanG]

But the one thing I personally would really like is for the networked TiVo to be recognizable as a drive by my other networked computers so that I can put TiVo to go files BACK into the TiVo to view them. Likewise, and probably easier to accomplish, would be for any PC running the TiVo desktop software to be recognizable by the TiVo as an additional source for files.

Right now I go to "now playing" and I see what's on that TiVo and the other three units listed on the bottom as networked. I'd liek the PC to show up as well so I can draw the downloaded "to go" file in liek I can from one of the other units. Untill then, I had to settle for getting extra HD's in order to store the files on the TiVo until the thing fills up and I have to move the program to a PC, never to return.

I'd really like to be able to make it return!

This is my number one pet peeve with the current TTG implementation. If I really want the TiVO to be my home media center, I need to be able to index and show my own content - home movies and such.

Just to pile on to a good idea :)

[nach0427]

When would a Series 3 Tivo feasibly come down the line? Am I stupid for just having upgraded to lifetime subscription 5 days ago when I could wait a little bit for a newer version and slap the lifetime on that?

[classicsat]

AFAIK, there is know known TiVo called Series 3. S3, at least in the context of this thread, is purely conceptual.

Now, there is the Cablecard TiVo, supposedly coming early next year, but I don't believe that TiVo considers it a Series 3.

[SystemJinx]

TiVo Online Central needs to be revamped. It's to difficult to find shows I want to record. It's okay if I already know of a specific show I want recorded, but if I only want to browse local listings and maybe record a show or two that grabs my attention, it's a horrible setup.

TiVo needs to check out TitanTV(dot)com. They have wonderful listings of local television programming. Maybe TiVo could create a similar webpage using their layout or contract with TitanTV(dot)com and use them directly for online listings.

Please TiVo, check out TitanTV(dot)com. They have the best online TV Guide style layout!

Please note this forum will not let me post the proper URL. Please change (dot) to .

[psquarednyc]

Well, I definitely add myself to the list of people wanting better schedule conflict management.

I haven't seen anyone else suggest this, but what I really want is better customization of the wishlists -- specifically I want to control what channels it searches. This would be great for searching for movies on commercial-free channels, which are the only movies I want to record.

Now, the second part of this (that would make it even better) is that we should have the ability to create more than one "favorite channels" list. My partner loves history, science, blah blah blah. I only want sports, movies and sitcoms (I ain't trying to have my tv teach me nothin). If just about every new car that rolls off the assembly line can remember how tall i am and where i like the steering wheel as opposed to how tall he is and where he wants the wheel, i think my tivo should be able to accomodate two (or more) different sets of channel searching criteria.

[Jasoco]

I'd like to have a special priority that I can use for what I like to call "Filler" shows. They're like Suggestions in that they get recorded but retain a very low priority and will get deleted first no matter what. The main difference between them and actual Suggestions is that I could choose what show I want to be filler myself. Then my TiVo, could record all these shows, fill up all the empty space on the HD with them and keep them around until something new needs to be recorded that has a higher "Normal" priority.

I don't know if I explained it well enough. Basically, it's a special "delete me first" flag that tells the TiVo to delete one of them instead of the next show in the list of shows to delete.

Stuff I'd have on this special list would be old sitcoms and syndicated TV shows. Basically, I'd love to keep my syndication shows that I can see any time I turn on the TV separate from my regular new shows and movies and specials. In other words, I want to set the TiVo to hold newer stuff and movies and specials in a higher regard to the older syndication stuff.

I think this would be a neat addition.

[Brian Siano]

I think I might've mentioned this before. But I would _love_ to be able to connect my TiVo to a computer with the USB port, and edit my schedule using a computer-based program.

Here's how I'd like it to work. The computer has a TiVo program that gets the schedule data from the TiVo unit. The schedule can be displayed as a programing grid, with color coding for show type. The schedule could be filtered to show only shows scheduled and the shows that were requested but not scheduled; perhaps one view could show the TiVo Recording Schedule in the top few rows, so the user can scroll down the full schedule with potential conflicts readily visible.

Keyword searches could be done with Boolean logic (i.e. "Jack Nicholson" AND NOT "Michelle Pfeiffer")

Printouts could be created, perhaps customized. Some basic print configurations might be a) Current TiVo Schedule, b) Results of Keyword Search, c) Past Recording Log, d) Full Upcoming Schedule, e) Filtered Upcoming Schedule (only certain channels), f) Movies only (or other show types).

And when one finishes editing the schedule on one's computer, it can be sent back to the TiVo.

[appletj]

I would love to see a Stand Alone Tivo with two HDTV tuners designed for cable reception. I know, its scrambled, but I believe the OTA Local HD channels are not encrypted.

I will be leaving Direct TV & returning to Cablevision soon and I am really going to miss the ability to record two shows at the same time while watching a previously recorded show.

[jteezy]

1. Dual tuners so you can record shows at the same times
2. Records and plays back in HDTV
3. Overlap. If i pad a show to end two minutes later and it causes interference with another recording, the tivo should just start recording that next show even though i will miss the first 2 minutes
4. Remote with light up buttons and a Picture in Picture button

[classicsat]

Cablecard TiVo, at least the second version of it, will do that, as will two current TiVos (although that adds some logistics problems, and doesn't do HD).

[Justin Thyme]

Here's my list. I briefly mention the motivation for the feature.
Video is not Fluid in the home. Series 3 needs a 20X improvement in video transfer rates. I should get a 1 hour show off of a local Tivo or server in 3 minutes, not 1 hour. This will represent another a sea change in viewing styles.
Mpeg4 decoding: we know we need great high speed decoders able to handle the most complex WMVs. The metric is that it should pass certification for DivX Hidef, not just the lower resolution home theater certification.
Picture quality- Carriers want to widen the gap between ED and premium HD content. Tivo should provide technology that narrows that gap. This means great post processing to remove Mosquito noise and other compression artifacts rivaling what Aloglith boxes do. Also current technology allows much better handling of analog encoding.
Advertising Multimedia support- Port Macromedia Flash engine to Tivo, and put in the necessary hardware to perform compelling interactive content.
Better database support for user stored data- Cheap HDs mean Terabyte Tivos will become the norm. Users will time shift much more substantial lists of shows making it difficult to find them. Besides an engine that can do basic category lookups like what musicmatch can do, Tivo needs to publish metadata structures for video akin to what ID3 tags did for MP3. Users need to be able to navigate through hundreds of Tivo shows regardless where on their home network they are located, and regardless whether the video was Tivo generated or not.
VOIP service- Tivo doesn't have to be a one trick pony. Tivo already has a great set of resources (though incomplete) for a cool VOIP base station for the home. Tivo should move agressively into communications services, and provide platform features that support those services.

[Jasoco]

What it needs is built-in Ethernet, high speed Ethernet, at least 10/100. Make copying a show from one to the other faster. It's stupid to just have a USB port which slows it down a lot. Even if you use an Ethernet adapter, it's still hindered by USB's slow band.

All I want is to know just when it's coming. It's taking too long. Or have they scrapped the idea for a Series 3, instead going for the integrated market with devices like the Comcast deal?

And it's been said many times, but TWO TUNERS PLEASE!!!

[pldoolittle]

I would like to see some overlapping show functionality in any Series! i.e. Complete show 1 and get as much of show 2 as possible, and visa versa.


I second this!! Make it optional to ignore overlaps and schedule recordings only on priority. By that I mean that if program 1 and program 2 overlap, record 1 until it ends, then start #2 as soon as possible. With all the new XX:01 start and end times, this is a must have feature.

[pldoolittle]

Lose the peanut remote. Without feeling for the IRD, I don't know which end is which in the dark.

I could not disagree more. IMHO, the peanut is without a doubt the most user friendly remote I own. The layout and contours ensure that I can use it in the dark w/o ever looking at which button is which.

That said, the newer remotes with the 1-2 switch are just a little too long and the new extra buttons crowd the control pad. I use my old S1 remote for all my units old and new.

[pldoolittle]

Dual tuners would be very nice.

I would also like to be able to manage multiple tivos as a single unit. Sure I can pull shows from another unit, but I can't configure my unit in another room short of going into that room. I would like to be able to pull up the season pass manager or the programming guide and click to record. If the unit that I'm connected to is busy it should give me the option of recording it to the other unit(s). I would also like to be able to prune the recorded shows from the other units.

I would also like to see a Tivo extender like the Media Center that allows a TV in a room to pull content from the other Tivo(s). The problem with that is the Tivos don't seem to stream the data from unit to unit, but I would think that could be fixed.

I second this one. If a conflict exists, use the net to look at tivo #2, 3, ..., n and see if it is busy at that time. If not, schedule the recording there. I HATE having to schedule some programs in the living room, others in the bedroom, and doing the seasons pass shuffle everytime a new program comes up or a series changes nights... Better yet, implement global scheduling for all Tivo's in one residence/network.

[pldoolittle]

Just to add my vote for the USB2 external Hard Drive support. Though I can also imagine that the business model for that (existing users who would be more likely to buy multiple machines) is probably a lot smaller than the business model for selling more expensive machines with more space.

Sell a Tivo approved external drive. My wife's tivo needs an upgrade badly. But after 15 years in IT support and 2 successful tivo upgrades, I dare not touch the screws on her case at the risk of a divorce.

I'd pay a premium for a plug-n-play space expansion. Of course, that means USB2.0 or firewire support and that's not on the roadmap presently.

[pldoolittle]

That would be my ideal. Not necessarily logging in to the Tivo but just a marker to say who recorded an episode of something. I have many times recorded some weird episode of something and my wife will delete it wondering, "Why did that get recorded". Perhaps just a letter inside the yellow or green ball to note who recorded it. We tend to watch a lot of TV together so for us logging in and out would not help.

I'd like a "I've been seen" marker. My wife and I often watch the same show at different times. And the show sits there because neither will delete it for fear the other has not seen it yet. They just hang arond like a bad penny until we sit down and clear out what we have both seen.

[pldoolittle]

The real question in my mind is how long TiVo will hang on before going belly up. I just do not see them as a survivor. I hope that someone will pick up something useful from whatever is left at the bankruptcy proceedings.


I hope this never happens, but should it come to pass I have one more request. Before you turn out the lights, release a patch to allow using open source guide data sources.

[pldoolittle]

I'd like to have a special priority that I can use for what I like to call "Filler" shows. They're like Suggestions in that they get recorded but retain a very low priority and will get deleted first no matter what. The main difference between them and actual Suggestions is that I could choose what show I want to be filler myself. Then my TiVo, could record all these shows, fill up all the empty space on the HD with them and keep them around until something new needs to be recorded that has a higher "Normal" priority.

I second this. I record alot of filler shows that must stay on the HDD a minimum of 2 days. If the disk is full, they need to go.

[MikeMar]

What do you guys honastly think Series 3 will have? not even a wish list, just pure realistic functions?

All I can think of would be, better networking and maybe a bigger HD for the same price.

They COULD do a dual tuner and just split cable coming in or something.

[classicsat]

Honestly:
Hardware:
Dual tuner ATSC/QAM/Analog tuner/encoder (I'd make it be a daughterboard).
500 Mhz processor. 64 MB RAM.
Built in ethernet.
External HDD upgradeable.
Multi Codec capable video decoder.
Re-vamp of the remote. Maybe make it back end programmable with a USB, IR, or serial connection to the DVR.
Make more capable of adding a drive, like S1s.

Software:
Expansion of HME capabilities.
On screen announcement feature.
Maybe an IM chat system.
Expansion of multimedia capabilites.
Usage of existing x86 compiled network drivers.
Mass storage connection of media players, cameras, and storage devices.
Direct copying to portable video players.
Family "zones".
Skinning.
Caller ID.

Service levels:

Pay a half lifetime fee and forfeit Rebate tights to allow either Basic or S1 like operation. Include HME in that, and allow HWO back as a purchase for those not on a full sub.

A lot of those are realisic.

[MikeMar]

I think the upgradeable hard drive would make sense. They dont make money on hardware, so mine as well let us EASILY toss in one.

[tweekerz]

There are some great ideas mentioned.

I like the "already seen it" option, and the management of other networked Tivos.

Keep the ideas flowin'

Too bad this thread has no Tivo employee feedback!



Matt

[Brian Siano]

Okay, my first is to change the option of placing the scroll bar. Sometimes, I want to freeze-frame the credits of a show-- but the scroll bar obscure what I want to read. So, how about an option to place it at the top, middle, or bottom of the screen?

My second change is for closed-captioning. If I can't make out a line of dialogue, I have to _mute_ my TV and replay the section so the closed-captioning text pops up. But, if the _TiVo_ had an option of displaying the closed-captioning with the sound _on_, that'd be a neat feature.

[MikeMar]

Okay, my first is to change the option of placing the scroll bar. Sometimes, I want to freeze-frame the credits of a show-- but the scroll bar obscure what I want to read. So, how about an option to place it at the top, middle, or bottom of the screen?




Hit the clear button and the bar will disappear

[tompage5640]

I apologize if this has been listed already, but I would like to see a password protect option set up to get into the "Now Playing" screen. This would be really useful for those of us with younger kids in the house.

[rcobourn]

Tivo already has good parental controls.. so the individual programs in your Now Playing last can be protected by setting limitations through the parental controls. Where this falls down, at the moment, is in programs brought over from a PC. A way to add Tivo compatible ratings to such files would be useful.

[shouffrey]

I am all for this box being easy to use for Grandma and the like, but I wanna tweak it, upgrade it, expand it. Give us a SATA Port, Firewire, cardslots, etc. Dual tuners all of it.

Simple, bulletproof.

Answer more than one model. How about the basic TiVo box which does nothing and is really easy to use.

Then a TiVo dock the basic box can sit on top of. Put all the ports and modular drive bays in the dock.

Tuners? As many as you want. Make them cards or boxes and stack them up 'till your heart's content.

And please, design all this so it still works when the next one comes out.

[gregpg]

Nothing posted here since last October but I suppose there's no point in creating a duplicate thread. My MINIMUM requirements for Series 3 (or whatever comes after series 2) are:

Dual ATSC tuners (dual NTSC would be nice also but will be useless in less than three years regardless) and either DVI or HDMI outputs.
Add the ability to play a stream of whatever is being displayed on the screen of an ethernet linked PC and whatever is being output through the PC's sound card. Allow the peanut to function as a rudimentary mouse (nav button to move pointer or replace with a trackball, thumbs up and thumbs down for left and right mouse buttons). This would allow ANY media played on the PC to be requested and streamed through the TiVo box without requiring the box to decode native media formats. To avoid IP issues, don't allow recording of streamed media.
Built in 10/100 ethernet to facilitate 2.
300 Mhz processor, 64 MB RAM to facilitate 2 and 3.
Allow external HDD -- would this be more than a software upgrade on current Series 2 units?


Regards,
Greg

[classicsat]

Dual ATSC tuners (dual NTSC would be nice also but will be useless in less than three years regardless) and either DVI or HDMI outputs.

The demoed S3 does that
Add the ability to play a stream of whatever is being displayed on the screen of an ethernet linked PC and whatever is being output through the PC's sound card.

Wait and see, but I doubt it would be doable to any usefulness.

Built in 10/100 ethernet to facilitate 2.

The demoed S3 has that
Allow external HDD -- would this be more than a software upgrade on current Series 2 units?

The demoed S3 does that. It remains to be seen if any eSata drive can be just plugged in, has to be formatted, or a special drive from TiVo.

[wt6972]

My cable company currently offers a cable card, however they tell me I cannot get any pay per view if i go with the card. Will this hold true with the seris 3?

[classicsat]

My cable company currently offers a cable card, however they tell me I cannot get any pay per view if i go with the card. Will this hold true with the seris 3?
So far, yes, as the S3 will have only support for one-way cards. PPV and other interactive features need bi-directional communication and user interface support, neither of which the industry iss nearly ready to launch.

[megazone]

Unless the cable company has an out-of-band method for ordering PPV - such as via their website or telephone. But even then it isn't certain the TiVo would be able to tune and decode those channels.