After it debuted in 1999,
TIVO became the first company to successfully market a digital video recorder (DVR). Soon, it seemed everyone was talking about “Season Passes,” “Wish Lists,” and of course, the new ability to rewind live television. At its peak, TIVO offered DVRs for cable and satellite TV. They expanded into New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.
Then TIVO lost ground.
As cable companies and satellite TV providers began offering their own DVRs, TIVO’s grip on the market loosened.
But TIVO isn’t dead, not yet anyway.
Today the San Francisco, California-based company released its highly anticipated
TIVO app for the iPad. The concept is great – if you can get past the required setup.
The app lets users take full control of their TIVO device. Users can setup recordings, review “Season Passes,” as well as pause and rewind programs.
The most interesting feature is the app’s “Browse” page. Here you can click on a show and review its credits and episode listings, which is very cool.
As a concept, the TIVO app is pure genius. Unfortunately, its setup is frustrating.
When the app arrived last night, it didn’t take me long to download it. On the first attempt the setup was a breeze, and within five minutes I was controlling my TV exclusively with the app.
Then something bizarre happened.
This morning (as I began writing this article), the app had difficulty connecting to my home network and asked that I reboot my TIVO device. Two hours of frustration later, the app finally began working again for no apparent reason.
I consider myself tech savvy, but there were moments when even I considered throwing my TIVO and iPad out the window.
If you find technology a hassle, I’d suggest waiting until an update is released before downloading this app. You’ve been warned.
Also keep in mind the app will only work with TIVO's latest generation devices: the Premiere and Premiere XL. This limitation will certainly anger many TIVO users, who continue using (and continue paying a monthly fee for) a Series2 or Series3 device.
The free
TIVO app is available in the App Store.
