Australian TiVo - Top 6 PVR feature demands
By Adam TURNER
The 800 pound PVR gorilla that's been silently lurking in the corner is set to launch next Tuesday in Sydney. I'll be at the launch, but here's what it will take for an Australian TiVo to find a permanent place in my digital lounge room.
Firstly, a "We Were Wrong". While Foxtel will brag about its new high-def Personal Video Recorder to anyone who will listen, the silence from the TiVo camp has been amazing. I expected a marketing Blitzkrieg from TiVo's Australian backers this year, competing for "consumer mindshare" against the likes of Foxtel and the new Topfield high-def box in the lead up to the Olympics. Instead there was a backend restructure after which TiVo declared a media blackout. As a result it almost completely dropped off the radar and I admit I missed the mark in April when I speculated that the Australian TiVo might be dead and buried.
It looks like the Australian TiVo will sell for $AU700 without a monthly subscription fee, which is a little pricey but still not too bad compared to the competition. Apart from the basics like twin HD tuners, HDMI, chasing playback and a big hard drive, here's what I'd like to see for the money. I know most of these features are in the US TiVo, but that doesn't mean we'll necessarily see them in Australia (for example, ad-skipping will probably be disabled on Australian TiVos).
1. Generous recording margin for error
A PVR without this is useless in Australia because the television networks aren't known for starting and finishing shows on time. If you really want to catch *all* of a movie or late night drama, you need to be able to set recordings to start at least 10 minutes early and run at least 30 minutes late. Microsoft's MCE interface sucks in this department, because it's not designed for Australian conditions. This feature also requires intelligent overlap management, especially with the new trend by networks of cutting ads and even credits between shows.
2. Intelligent storage management
The problem with almost every PVR is that when the hard drive fills up it just stops recording, and you don't realise until you've already missed your favourite show. Like Microsoft's MCE software, I want my TiVo to automatically delete old recordings (according to my set preferences) so there's always room for new shows. I'd also like it to email me if there's a problem, but that could be asking too much.
3. Season pass
This is a fancy way of saying "I want it to record every episode of Star Trek, regardless of which channel it's on and when it starts. A feature like this is essential in Australia because the networks love to shuffle their schedules at the last moment and it's easy to miss a show (which has driven many viewers into the arms of BitTorrent). While we're at it, the networks need to pull their collective fingers out and provide decent EPG data. The current so-called seven day guide is still very hit and miss. Unless it improves, TiVo will suck.
Okay, those three are my core demands and, for the sake of family harmony, I've sworn to never again tolerate a PVR that doesn't offer them. Here are my non-core demands that would be the icing on the cake;
4. Online remote scheduling
The ability to program my IceTV-enabled PVR from afar using the website or a desktop widget is fantastic. It's saved my bacon more than once and I'd be reluctant to give it up.
5. Channel surfing restrictions whilst time shifting
If you've resumed a movie after a five minute pause to make a coffee, it's easy to forget that you're time shifting rather than watching live TV. If you change channel during an ad break, the 10 minutes in the buffer is often lost and you're thrown forward to the present with no way of getting that 10 minutes back. My dream PVR would pop up a warning if I tried to change channel whilst time shifting.
6. Ad-skipping
It's a nice luxury but it's not essential - I'd forgive its omission in a PVR that got a tick in every other box. It looks like Australian TiVos will have ad-skipping disabled, which is annoying but not a deal-breaker.
That's my list of demands. What do you consider to be the essential features in a PVR?
UPDATE: I've had my first look at the Australian TiVo, and I'm very impressed.
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24 comments
Create one with "Star Trek" as the title to match against, set the recording options as desired, and that's it. It will record any program with the phrase "Star Trek" in the title.
TiVo won't even talk to Australian journalists, let alone pay them. The commercial networks have fought this kind of technology for years. The Seven Network is in control of the local TiVo, so God only knows how they might cripple it.
I am specifically interested in whether (as stated earlier) shows will record the end even when they have run overtime. I have had instances where my shows run over by 15 minutes.
Can we ensure we don't lose data when the networks can't run shows on time? How does TiVo know this?
Perhaps a stupid question, but will it be possible to feed a standard (non-iQ) Foxtel feed through the TiVo box. If not, am I right in thinking TiVo will just be able to record to handful of FTA channels?
So the launch is DEFINTELY on for Tuesday, 1 July? You've actually been invited to it? I've seen rumours of 1 July, but you're the first I've seen to state it so positively!
Where's the launch taking place, Pyrmont?
cheers
Ron
Thanks for the confirmation re the launch.
The email function (little envelope icon) appears to be broken, BTW.
Cheers
Ron
Like you, the the lead up to the launch has left me scratching my head.
The Australian Tivo website shows less sign of life than the Mary Celeste and it now looks like Tivo will line up on the starters blocks just weeks before the Olympic Games commences.
Over at http://www.incompletegamer.com we've just published 'Ten Reasons to Skip Next Months Tivo Launch in Australia'. On Monday we'll redress the balance with 'Ten Reasons to be First in Line'.
I look forward to hearing your report on the launch on Tuesday.
Cheers,
Jeremy
http://www.gadgetguy.com.au/the-aussie-tivo-the-back-story-article-3130-.html
I do know that there's a review that has been written, it's being polished now and should be published soon. Not before the launch though.
That's true of every dual tuner PVR I'm aware of on the market, TiVo included.
It seems likely that TiVo will allow for up to 30 mins soft post padding. Reference:
http://www.zatznotfunny.com/2006-11/tivo-system-software-81-priority-list-available/
Who knows though. It's not a big issue in the US, so most products from the US only have a few mins of padding (Windows Vista Media Center is a good exmaple). At least with Vista there's a way to add more time with 3rd party software.
"That's my list of demands. What do you consider to be the essential features in a PVR?"
I think you've nailed the main ones. Padding, series record and smart deletion of shows you've told the PVR you don't want to keep are definitely the key features.
My list of not as important, but still nice are:
- Online/mobile remote scheduling.
- Being able to transfer recordings to an iPod or other device.
- The ability to stream from one room to another (with 2x PVRs of the same brand).
- The ability to add an external HD.
That's true of every dual tuner PVR I'm aware of on the market, TiVo included.
Not true, if a box is dual tuner, then if you're recording 2 channels, you can't change to a 3rd. You can however play back something you recorded earlier.
I'm afraid that Tivo just can't survive here on just 5 channels. Potentially if it was able to consume and control austar/foxtel/SelectTV/Optus set top boxes like the US models can through IR passthrough then perhaps it has a chance.
But all the rumors on the street don't support that. Personally I'll get one just for the remote control - but I doubt it will compete against topfield/IQ2/MyStar/MCE/etc.
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The digital lounge room is Adam Turner's office and it's also becoming the new battle ground for the hearts, minds and wallets of the masses. Reporting from the front line where PC converges with AV, Adam offers a view from the couch of everything from digital television and hard drive recorders to piracy and digital rights management.
