Tivo... why not you? Mobile Scheduling

[magnus]

I really don't like D* but I do have to say they have a great feature that Tivo does not have. Online Scheduling from your phone.

Why does Tivo still have an exclusive with Verizon for this???


m.directv.com

[Mars Rocket]

TiVo is a niche product to begin with - I can't believe the demand for phone-scheduling is really all that high. Can you use the TiVo web-based scheduling from a smartphone?

[scandia101]

I can't imagine that the day would ever come that any TV show would ever be that important that I have to schedule it from my phone.

[LurkMaster]

TiVo is a niche product to begin with - I can't believe the demand for phone-scheduling is really all that high. Can you use the TiVo web-based scheduling from a smartphone?

Yes, you can schedule a recording through your phone. It just isnt formatted very well. It is possible though

Ive only scheduled shows twice in the past six months through my phone, but it is a GREAT help.

Last Saturday, I was at the bar and realized that I forgot to set Saturday Night Live to record. I was bummed at first. Then, DUH, I remembered that I could through my phone. I didnt wanna miss Steve Carrell on SNL!

[RonDawg]

If you have a web-enabled phone, it IS possible to do online scheduling for TiVo, though quite clunky unless it is has a relatively large (for a cell phone) screen like a Windows Mobile device or a Blackberry. And then the ease of doing so will largely depend on the speed of the connection.

In addition to D*, AT&T U-verse also has the ability to do online scheduling using both a web browser and a cell phone, but of course the latter only with an AT&T/Cingular phone.

Like LurkMaster said, it is nice to have the ability for those moments when you're away from a computer and/or WiFi service and realize that you forgot to schedule something.

[bicker]

From Verizon's perspective: Why don't you switch to Verizon? Each party looks at things principally from the perspective of what benefits them the most. For Verizon, offering this service as an exclusive adds one more incentive for folks to switch to Verizon, and so they're willing to provide considerations to TiVo with regard to this service that result in a better overall impact on TiVo than trying to market the idea of remote scheduling from a cellphone without exclusivity.

[GoHokies!]

Even better from Tivo's perspective: Is it better to spend money on servers and coding and the like to allow everyone to do this, or to receive money from VZW to offer this to exclusively to their customers? I'm sure that the money that Tivo gets from VZW far exceeds the money that they get from added subscriptions from people swayed by the feature.

[magnus]

Yep, I can imagine that there are other features that are more important anyway but I thought I would check to see what others were thinking about the subject.

For me... I'd really like to see the ability to schedule shows in tandem anyway. So, if my S3 is already using both tuners.... then my Tivo HD should be able to record the show instead. I think that's the one feature that Tivo could give that I would really like to see.

[magnus]

Well, I think if they want to do something like that.... then they should partner with Intel or IBM.... something like that. The entire website could be powered by IBM etc.... and then that would make better sense to me.

I'm sure that Verizon did not code anything and likely does not host anything (but that's probably a better possibility than their coding it). At the least if Verizon is hosting this and coded it.... then the coding is just to the extent of calling exposed webservices.

Even better from Tivo's perspective: Is it better to spend money on servers and coding and the like to allow everyone to do this, or to receive money from VZW to offer this to exclusively to their customers? I'm sure that the money that Tivo gets from VZW far exceeds the money that they get from added subscriptions from people swayed by the feature.

[bicker]

Well, I think if they want to do something like that.... then they should partner with Intel or IBM.... something like that. The entire website could be powered by IBM etc.... and then that would make better sense to me. But not to any of the people who would actually have to pay for it. Intel and IBM realize they'd get practically nothing from such an alliance. Verizon gets to sell things to consumers.

[magnus]

Yep, but I doubt that anyone is changing from ATT to Verizon... just to get this.


But not to any of the people who would actually have to pay for it. Intel and IBM realize they'd get practically nothing from such an alliance. Verizon gets to sell things to consumers.

[bicker]

"Just" to get this? Of course not. As I mentioned, it is just one of many services that Verizon uses to attract/keep their customers.

[magnus]

Yeah, I guess so but it's not that attractive to me. :)

"Just" to get this? Of course not. As I mentioned, it is just one of many services that Verizon uses to attract/keep their customers.

[Popasmurf]

I would CERTAINLY use it... I've tried on my Moto Q and it's horrible. BTW, I thought this WAS in development and found a few hits...

http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/07/tivo-mobile-schedule-recordings-from-your-cellphone/

http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/14/tivo-finally-gets-around-to-releasing-tivo-mobile-on-verizon/

If this WAS Verizon, couldn't it be formated for ALL providers?

[Popasmurf]

Sorry Bicker, missed your earlier post... I'm not sure who coded it, but there are SO many companies that have mobile formated pages, it would be great if TiVo could do it as well.

I would CERTAINLY use it... I've tried on my Moto Q and it's horrible. BTW, I thought this WAS in development and found a few hits...

http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/07/tivo-mobile-schedule-recordings-from-your-cellphone/

http://www.engadget.com/2007/03/14/tivo-finally-gets-around-to-releasing-tivo-mobile-on-verizon/

If this WAS Verizon, couldn't it be formated for ALL providers?

[tivoman]

:down: I have Verizon, but my phone is not on the list of supported phones for this application. LG V yes, LG enV no..... :down:

[wannaB]

If Verizon had a pay as you need option for say .50 or 1.00 I've had a couple of times I would have used it. But these monthly subs just turn me off big time.

[ClubrhythmEnt]

I schedule recordings all the time from my iPhone 3G and I love it! :up:

I could not believe that this would work on my old HR10-250 but so far it has been flawless! My poor HR10 is holding on by a wing and a prayer waiting to be replaced sometime in 2009 with the new HD DirecTiVo. I was really happy when the software update breathed new life into this antiquated unit. :D

[ZeoTiVo]

If Verizon had a pay as you need option for say .50 or 1.00 I've had a couple of times I would have used it. But these monthly subs just turn me off big time.

exactly - 5$ a month to schedule Tivo shows from my phone??? That is just a crazy charge and i doubt many use it nor would many switch to verison for the ability to pay 5$ a month to schedule shows.

I did it once on my smartphone, but very painful to do. I would find a mobile formatted version of the online scheduler handy on my 3G phone but I concede the point that it would not bring much extra subs to TiVo. Would be a cool marketing point though. Hopefully Verizon exlcusive use ends soon?

[eboydog]

Any news from Tivo about BlackBerrys??

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10039099-94.html?tag=mncol;txt

[windracer]

I've scheduled shows from my Treo 680 in the past. Sure it's not the easiest thing to do but it works in a pinch. I blame that mainly on the crappy Blazer browser.

[jkalnin]

I have scheduled shows from my iPhone, but it was quite a long and painful process. An app would make it faster and trouble free, but I doubt we'll ever see one.

[robm15]

I don't understand why Tivo doesn't have a mobile version of it's website. It would be little to no cost. Netflix does it, and it works terrific. Many companies are providing mobile versions of their websites. Instead of verizon specific applications that require a specific carrier and model of phone, a mobile version of their website would be far better.

[rainwater]

It would be little to no cost.

How would it magically appear then? My guess is it would require significant amount of resources to convert the site (especially accounts management and tivo scheduling) into a mobile site.

[gonzotek]

I have scheduled shows from my iPhone, but it was quite a long and painful process. An app would make it faster and trouble free, but I doubt we'll ever see one.Several times today I tried the scheduling interface from my iPhone, and I have yet to complete the process because Safari keeps crashing out. Have you experienced this too? I've visited a lot of sites with the iPhone, and have only hit one or two other crashers like this. So far, it has crashed when I

Just visit tivo.com/tco (after the redirect)
Attempt to log in (when I clicked the email field Safari went sluggish and the crashed)
Attempt to schedule a recording from the tvlistings.do page (it directed me to the login page, even though it was already showing my personal listings and TiVos)

[gonzotek]

How would it magically appear then? My guess is it would require significant amount of resources to convert the site (especially accounts management and tivo scheduling) into a mobile site.They could publish the API they already have (evidenced by the multiple third party scheduling sites) for virtually no cost and let someone else foot the cost of designing and maintaining the service. Netflix, Google, and Amazon(to name but a few) all manage to use this technique quite effectively.

Speaking of the third-party sites, last time I checked, none of them had mobile versions either :(.

/edit Well, just checked again, and some are offering some mobile services, but not full listings with TiVo scheduling included. The regular Zap2It site looks like it might be able to work ok on the iPhone. At some point in the near future, when I have more time, I'll do some tests and comparisons and will post what I find out.

[jackholexxxx]

Attempt to log in (when I clicked the email field Safari went sluggish and the crashed)


Same here.

[jkalnin]

Update - I just scheduled an online recording on my iPhone (2g)

Try this url:

https://www3.tivo.com/tivo-tco/tvlistings.do

I signed in with no problem (well it was sluggish), picked a show, and was one step away from finishing the task. I stopped before submitting the request but I am pretty sure it would have been fine if I pushed the "schedule recording" button.

[robm15]

How would it magically appear then? My guess is it would require significant amount of resources to convert the site (especially accounts management and tivo scheduling) into a mobile site.

Good question. I agree magic is out of the question.

But I am confident that the experts at Tivo have the knowledge to whip up a mobile version of their website that they can host along side their existing web site, if they decide it would be beneficial to their business and their customers.

[rainwater]

Good question. I agree magic is out of the question.

But I am confident that the experts at Tivo have the knowledge to whip up a mobile version of their website that they can host along side their existing web site, if they decide it would be beneficial to their business and their customers.

I'm sure TiVo has done some research on this. The fact that they haven't done such a website probably means the demand for it is not high enough for it to beneficial.

[Interactive]

I'm sure most of you know this already but I stumbled across this thread and figured I should post the news for anyone who is subscribed to this thread but doesn't frequent TC often.

Check out m.tivo.com from your mobile device.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=411300&highlight=tivo+mobile

Clearly there were people interested in this feature... I am one of them.

[mindchaotica]

m.tivo.com is the site that you can use to schedule from your phone. I think it is still in a public beta, but i am able to use it on my BlackJack 2. It is a great new feature from TiVo.