TiVo ToGo
TiVo ToGo is here and you’ll find no complaints from me. This is a new feature that allows you to copy anything stored on your TiVo to your computer. Of course, once on your computer, the possibilities are endless…
Well, they can be endless. DRM crap is involved… This can be rather restricting unless you know what you’re doing. Frankly, I’m amazed that TiVo has done this. Most companies would even be willing to consider doing it. To be realistic, it has the potential to be a copyright nightmare. That is to say, content providers don’t like this type of thing and they could create a nightmare. Therefore, the DRM is an absolute necessity.
What you get when you transfer your programs is a copy of the program stored in a file with a .tivo extension. I wish I could say exactly what it is, but it seems to be some sort of encrypted mpeg2 (the format TiVo and DVD’s use). It’s not really restrictive, but you seem to need windows media player in order to play it back. This might not be the case though exactly….I think you really just need the right codec in order to play the thing, but TiVo isn’t supplying. You also have to input your TiVo’s media access key (designed to tie the content to that particular box) into the transfer software (TiVo Desktop) for it to decrypt. Then apparently you need to buy some special software in order to burn it to a DVD if you want….. no thanks.
As it turns out, it’s pretty easy to convert these things to an mpeg. The original page I found that explained how to get an actual normal mpeg out of a .tivo file can be found here. I later saw other pages that explained more or less the same process as well. It’s pretty easy and it works. You end up with a plain old mpeg-2 file that you can play anywhere and burn with your existing software instead of buying someone else’s. It really makes no sense to me at all to have to repurchase functionality that your computer already has. Not to that anyone should give away their burning software for free just because, but the video is video is video to the end user. I shouldn’t have to pay just because of how it’s stored. Anyways…
Of course the fact that once it’s an mpeg and you can do with it as you please is what scares content providers, as I mentioned before. The trouble is that they don’t have a decent way of ensuring that you aren’t doing something illegal and at the same time grant you all of your rights for how you wish to use said content. This could be a whole post though.
T2G isn’t new exactly. It actually came out around the end of last year. In order for it to work, besides needing a newer TiVo that isn’t one of several less common models, you need both the new version 2 of the TiVo desktop software and an update to the TiVo itself. (my TiVo’s software went from version 4.x to version 7.x……I can’t imagine why) TiVo desktop is easy to download. I already had v1 in order to play music on my TiVo. V2 is a bit prettier and it allows you to use T2G otherwise it looks more or less the same. The update for the TiVo isn’t so easy to get though…..they’re slowly updating all (from what I gather) of the boxes, but if you want you can put yours on a “priority” list by going to their website to help make sure yours gets updated sooner. It only took 6 weeks after I put myself on the list for the update to arrive. Once again, I can’t imagine why. Well, I can, but that would be to save bandwidth as the units dial up. If too many tried to download a big software update at once, all the lines would be busy and a lot of people wouldn’t be able to get program listings. Of course, I don’t even have a phone line and the my box updates across the internet so bandwidth shouldn’t be an issue for it at all. They have their reasons for being slow I guess….maybe it’s really beta and they’re not telling us. 
The transfer itself is rather slow. My original setup had both my computer and my TiVo connecting wirelessly using 802.11b. At the quality level I record things at, an hour long show takes up about 1.6 GB. This took a touch over 2 hours to transfer….ouch. A few tests quickly showed that the network was saturated. I did something I’ve meant to do for a long time and just ran a wire for my computer. I even had a 25′ cable that reaches on hand, I’d just never gotten around to it after I last moved the computer. With only the 1 device using the network, my transfer time is cut in half (big surprise there) which still means it transfers in more or less real time, which is still pretty slow, but it’s better than half that speed…
The TiVo Desktop software is suddenly looking like it could be so much more. I have a feeling that TiVo won’t bother doing much with it, but now that it displays all of my shows just like I’d see them on my TV I get these illusions of scheduling (they offer this now on their website), deleting/saving shows and adjusting other settings all from my computer. One can dream. (So the TiVo itself is literally about 5 feet away from my computer…..that’s through a wall though. It would take literally seconds to walk out into the hallway and into the living room to actually use it. I’m a busy man.)
Anyways, I love new features that I’d like but didn’t ask for and had never expected regardless.
[Update: 10:30pm]
Oh, I almost forgot to mention one of the most fun parts. The TiVo seems to act perhaps a little bit more pokey when a transfer is going on (though it’s so hard to tell since it’s so slow to respond and accomplish seemingly simple tasks normally anyways) but otherwise there is no indication that a transfer is taking place. This means, if you’re like me and have a wireless network, someone can sit outside out pluck the content right off your TiVo and you’ll be none the wiser unless you happen to notice a great lack of bandwidth. Of course, they need the media access key to actually be able to do this, but if they have that secret word then it’s all over and you’d have no clue what’s going on. Fun, no?
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