Over the last few weeks Virgin Media has been rolling out a software update to Tivo customers across its network. Known simply as 15.2 it has a multitude of features that improve the service and lays the groundwork for future features.
This updates includes software that greatly enhances the performance of the Tivo, gone are the lock ups and the red doughnut of death that would greet viewers when trying to use the device. Tivo is now very stable and channel changing has never been so quick on UK digital cable before. Other features in this update include:
Express Series Link: This nifty little feature allows you to set a series link with one click, except that the options are not user configurable at all. The standard Express Link sets a recording to start 1 minute early, finish 4 minutes after the scheduled end time, set to new and rerun, limited to keeping only 10 episodes and delete when space is required. It’s a great start but if they can make all the settings user configurable then this would be a killer feature lets hope this is taken on board for 15.3
Multi tap text entry: Entering text using an on screen keyboard has always been a pain but now you can use the number keys on your remote like you would on a mobile phone when composing a SMS. However Virgin has gone one better...
Network connection: The Ethernet port is now active and you can now use apps on your Smartphone and tablets to interact and control Tivo. On both the Android Market Place and the Apple App Store you will find various apps that allow you to control your Tivo and most include a QWERTY keyboard that makes text entry a breeze. For those of you who don’t have any such devices or don’t want to network your Tivo the USB port on the back has also been activated and you can use a USB keyboard. Posters on various forums have also confirmed that the Tivo remote with slide out keyboard on sale in the US now works as well.
Parental controls: If you are not a parent or do not have kids at home or just a lousy guardian Virgin now gives you the option of disabling the PIN which prompts you for a number when trying to watch material recorded after the watershed before nine PM. You can now also place restrictions on apps so they either need a PIN to be accessed or can be hidden away altogether.
Live PPV: Believe it or not you couldn’t buy a live PPV on Tivo prior to the update but now you can.
Scart RGB: Again believe it or not prior to the update Tivo’s scart socket did not output a RGB signal which made watching on a non HDTV a horrid experience.
HD Upscalling: There has been an outcry across the internet about the poor picture quality on standard definition channels, even though this update is supposed to fix this issue it seems to have made little or no difference at all.
UI enhancements: The new update is littered with lots of little touches that increase the enjoyment of using a Tivo, the video preview window now shows video for all channels, previously Sky channels were restricted from being shown. When viewing a recording and you press stop it now shows a live TV channel in the preview window instead of continuing with your recording. There is also now a first aired date and genre listing when you press the info button.
Youtube: The Youtube app has been redesigned and you can now play HD video content and the picture looks sublime unfortunately just about everything else about the new app is horrible. You can no longer sign in and use your favourites or subscriptions, videos auto play when you start the app, this even happens when the video you have selected has finished. There are no suggestions after you have watched a video for similar items and worst of all the app seems not to work very often.
Overall it’s a mixed bag the, 15.2 brings lots of new features and lays the ground work for the future services such as Spotify and red button interactivity as well as performance enhancements which make Tivo a joy to use. But simple things like the Express Series Link which should have been a home run have been implemented poorly.
One last feature I would like to touch upon is Multiroom Streaming, if you have two or more Tivo’s at home and have them on your home network they can now talk to each other. Currently you are unable to stream any content due to each file being marked “Restricted by broadcaster” but this could be one of the most exciting things to come from Virgin Media. Imagine starting a recording in your living room, pausing it and then continuing the same recording in another room. It’s almost like living in the future...
