TiVO

TiVo drops DVR prices--with a catch

TiVo has crafted a holiday offer for its DVRs that will save customers cash in the short term, but potentially cost more over the long term.

The company announced today that consumers can buy the TiVo Premiere for $99.99 if they agree to a one-year service commitment. Even better, TiVo once again has a $0 down offer on its Premiere box with a two-year commitment. Those who want to get their hands on the Premiere XL will pay $299.99 upfront with a one-year commitment.

At first glance, this "limited time" offer seems like a winner for … Read more

Pandora makes its way to TiVo Series3, HD boxes

Pandora's free music service is now accessible on TiVo Series3 and TiVo HD boxes, the DVR company announced yesterday.

Once TiVo owners flip their TVs on, they will be presented with an announcement that Pandora is available. If they decide to try it out, they will be required to input the unique code displayed on their screen on the TiVo Pandora page. A person who already has a Pandora account can then sign in and access previously created "radio stations."

The TiVo Pandora application boasts the same functionality as installations on other set-top boxes. People can give … Read more

Get a TiVo Premiere DVR for $19.99 monthly

Last month, TiVo borrowed a page from cell phone carriers, offering a TiVo Premiere box for $0 and $19.99/month with a two-year contract. It was supposed to be a one-week-only promotion, but obviously TiVo was happy with the results: the deal is back, and it even has its own informercial (see below).

Normally, buying a TiVo works like this: you drop $299.99 on the box (or $499.99 on the XL model), then pay $12.95 per month for service. (You also have the option of paying in advance for one year, three years, or life.)

With … Read more

TiVo intros Web-based Season Pass management

Those hoping for an easy, browser-based system to manage TiVo recordings are in luck: a new tool is coming to the DVR maker's Web site.

Dubbed the Season Pass Manager, the new service will let people modify Season Pass recordings from the Web. Season Pass is TiVo's service for recording all new episodes of a TV series. The new tool will let people prioritize their Season Pass recordings, as well as transfer specific recordings from one TiVo box to another on their account. In addition, TiVo owners can delete series from their Season Pass list.

Season Pass Manager … Read more

DirecTV TiVo DVR delayed to 2011

It's been in the works for years, but DirecTV subscribers hoping to get their hands on a TiVo by the end of the year will have to wait until 2011.

Recently, TiVo changed its DirecTV page to reflect the delayed launch. The site previously said the company would launch the DVR sometime this year. The page now says its "TiVo service is expected to launch to support satellite customers in the future." The DirecTV page discussing the TiVo says the company expects "the new receiver to launch in early 2011."

The new TiVo for DirecTV … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1312: Poor little Tweetiebird gets a worm (podcast)

A nasty worm spreads quickly through Twitter.com but is quickly smashed. Intel wants you to pay $50 to make the CPU in the PC you just bought run at full speed. Facebook hides the "ignore" option on friend requests. And Germans say "nein!" to Street View. With special guest John Falcone.

Buzz Out Loud 1311: Facebook's not building a phone, or is it? (podcast)

Facebook denies that it's building its own phone, despite its own claims of how great it would be.Captchas get replaced with ads (evil?). HP invents the tablet-powered printer. And Jason joins us on the other side of the board!

Pandora makes its way to TiVo Premiere

Pandora is now available on TiVo Premiere and TiVo Premiere XL boxes, TiVo announced today.

All in all, TiVo's Pandora offering isn't all that different from versions of the service available on other devices. Users can access all of their stations from TiVo. They can also create new stations from the set-top box. As with every other Pandora installation, users are able to say whether they like a song to personalize their stations.

TiVo is a little late to the Pandora game. Currently, the music service is available on a slew of devices, including Roku set-top boxes, Viera … Read more

Get a TiVo Premiere DVR for $147 shipped

I don't know if this is a mistake or an oversight or what, but I just ordered a TiVo Premiere for $146.92. A new one, not a refurb. That's less than half the list price, and without question the best deal I've ever seen on a new, current-gen TiVo.

To get it, you need to apply coupon code LABORDAYWEEKEND at checkout. Given that Labor Day weekend ended a little over a week ago, I'm surprised the code still works. But it does, at least as of 9 a.m. ET.

Update: Looks like the deal … Read more

Western Digital ships new DVR Expander drive

Consumers who need to add more space to their digital video recorders now have another choice.

Western Digital announced Tuesday a new My Book AV DVR Expander that works with a large selection of DVRs. This is the upgrade to a device released by the company a year ago.

According to Western Digital, the new My Book AV DVR Expander is TiVo-verified and compatible with TiVo Series3, TiVo Premier, TiVo HD, and many other DVRs, including DirectTV R15, HR20, HR2, HR23, Dish Network VIP722K, and Time Warner Cable Scientific Atlanta 8300HD.

Essentially, the My Book DVR Expander is a 1TB … Read more