One of the nicer features of TiVo is the ability to schedule recordings remotely from any web browser. The TV Guide used for remote scheduling belonged to Yahoo, in association with channel 7. While technically it worked as advertised, the user experience was pretty poor. Slow page load times and far too many screens required to actually make the recording happen. Furthermore there was never any control for season passes, so TV shows had to be set for recording one at a time.
Launched yesterday is a brand new beta for remote scheduling – TiVo Genie. This provides all the functionality a TiVo owner could want. A very slick ajaxy TV guide, quick access to record shows, the ability to add season passes, even A’La Carte choice from upcoming episodes of your favourite shows.
Mobile users also have remote scheduling in their pocket with a mobile-formatted site. Sure, not as nice as a dedicated app, it’s a nice start. It also provides access to search, guide, 1 click record and more.
My only complaint is that TiVo only grabs updates about every hour, so you have to think ahead of time. It’d be nice if the TiVo received a ping from TiVo Genie to grab updated recording information.
Check it out @ http://genie.mytivo.com.au