Rule of Tim - TiVo type stuff

I've got one, it's very nice ...

As I understand it TiVo hold all sorts of intellectual property rights on this smart recording thing, and so no-one else is going to get a look in any time soon. TiVo's biggest US competitor, ReplayTV, don't do it, so you'd imagine that TiVo have it pretty much sewn up.

Not that that really helps you.

I've never used SkyPlus but from what I can gather, it's a similar idea, isn't it? Maybe somebody could clarify.

D

The chap at your local TV emporium may be red hot on the TV business, but he's rather less well-informed on the computer side of things.

There are problems, but when you look at this as a computer problem all the parts are there, with TV input cards for a PC, open source software by the shedload, and a lot of smart people figuring how to put it all together. TiVo packaged existing tech. There are problems making that sort of package, but there's better tech now.

It'll be a lot of work putting it together yourself, but the fanless PC with the power to do a worthwhile job is within reach. And a general- purpose computer can be programmed to do all that.

I've thought about this sort of thing, but given the problems I've had burning a DVD video from my computer (non-copyright btw) I'm really of the opinion the software has a LONG way to go yet. That's why I'd rather be lazy and get somebody else to suss out all the problems!

I heard Pioneer were going to add subscription-based programming to their HDD/DVD recorder range - anybody know anything about this?

D

Hi David,

Bruv in Aus has two TiVo's ('cos he argues with the wife about what to record!). They are dirt cheap to import from the US and he has retrofitted big drives without drama. I came back to the UK determined to get one.

However, Sky own the rights to TiVo in the UK, so they are expensive and the subscription doesn't seem hackable like the US / Aus equivalent, so there are no cheap dodgy ones on Ebay.

So I bought a Hauppauge PVR card which does the same. The software is crap, but it can be made to work. I have a free (or £10, can't remember) subscription to

I also have a bit of software from Hauppauge which logs into my account on that website and reads which programmes I have 'ticked' and records them for me.

Great, but a few limitations. Firstly, the free trial of the Hauppauge interface software has expired and disappeared from their website so I can't buy it (still waiting for a response from Hauppauge), and the TV card has to be on (and 'on screen') to record the programme. If you interrupt it (by accidentally closing the monitor app e.g.) it buggers up your recording. And you can't watch one program and tape another. It would work really well on a PC dedicated to doing the recording.

There is now a box out there which will stream DVD quality video over

802.11b, which means I can watch on the TV in the living room while the PC remains in the conservatory, but I haven't managed to squirrel away a couple of hundred in untraceable notes to be able to buy one yet ;-)

So maybe back to ebay after all...

Do you mean that you can use US boxes in Aus but not in UK? That's a shame, as I could have picked one up in the US, and also Pioneer do a TiVo / DVD recorder box in one unit in the US market.

If only TiVo hadn't made such an appallingly bad job at marketing in the UK, we could all have one. The concept was so good that an untrained monkey could have sold them. Whoever was in charge of TiVo UK's marketing should be taken out and shot, as they must have gone to some considerable lengths to screw it up. If somebody could take a concept as good as TiVo and fail to market it successfully, I struggle to understand how they could market

*anything*. It's like giving somebody a winning lottery ticket, and they manage to lose. Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. The mind boggles.

David

Isn't there a Linux Distie thats built for doing this out of the box ? I thought I've seen it on mini-itx.com or somesuch ?

Steve

Shy don't own the rights to TiVo in the UK. TiVo (foolishly, IMO) entered into a marketing and support agreement with Sky, but that was as far as it went.

TiVo don't offer an Aus subscription service, so some clever people have got together to provide their own. There's nothing like that in the UK, largely because TiVo do provide a genuine one here.

Aus and the UK both have the PAL-NTSC issue to deal with, so (subscription aside) it's just as easy to use a US box here as in Aus.

Alas, they left it to Sky.

See my previous comment.

So is there any way to get a TiVo working in the UK without giving Sky a fortune every month?

I see they have refurb models on the US website for $99!

OK, I see where you're coming from. If you take out a UK subscription on a UK TiVo, you're paying TiVo UK not Sky. UK subs are £10 per month or £200 for a "lifetime" sub which (on past evidence) means forever, as they can be transferred between owners and TiVos.

Using a US TiVo in the UK is more problematic. You have the NTSC-PAL issue, but this can be largely avoided if you connect using AV cables (US TiVos have no SCART sockets, 'cos this is a European thing). Also, you can't get a UK subscription for a US TiVo because they run different software. Nor can you hack a current-model US TiVo, as the "Series 2" hardware and software are different from the "Series 1" boxes we get.

However, if you get a US "Series 1" TiVo, you could hack it as per the OzTiVo info page:

Bear in mind that you will need to find a UK source of program listings info, wrestle it into shape for TiVo, and that the software written for doing this in Oz has the following licence term:

"The license on the software only allows it to be used in those parts of the world which cannot obtain a program subscription service from TiVo, Inc."

You'll be miffed to hear that I managed to buy a second TiVo from a guy at work the other week for £50. He did neglect to mention that there seemed to be a problem with the picture breaking up (like a weak Freeview signal). It turned out to be the hard disk. And would you believe it, I just happened to have a spare one from when I upgraded my first TiVo. Took about 10 minutes to repair.

intelligence

TiVo is still very popular in the US and is far from obsolete. They're lucky enough to have TiVo 2. TiVo were talking to manufacturers about supplying TiVo 2 to the UK, but I don't know how far they've got. The biggest mistake that TiVo made in this country was to hand over the marketing to Sky.

Of all the gadgets that I have (and I have lots, believe me), TiVo is the killer gadget. It's got a phenominally high WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor). The main one connected to my Sky box has a network adaptor and large HDD. The network adaptor means that I can connect to its internal web server from anywhere in the world (or even from work) and configure it from there.

To date, there's nothing else that comes close (and PC software like ShowShifter certainly don't come anywhere near).

Checkout uk.tech.digital-tv all the answers to your questions and some you haven't thought of are all there

In the writings of David French, the scrolls contained these prophetic words:

Couple of TiVo PC information links on how to build them, maybe of use to you?

I used to do a lot of video editing on my Radeon All in wonder card, it's a nice bit of kit even if it's a tad on the expensive kit. I dropped it in and worked from the word go. Shame I no longer have it :o(