TiVoCast Adds The Watcher On TiVo – And I Finally Get 9.4

Posted on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 by MegaZone

No, that isn’t a redundant subject line, the full name of the new TiVoCast channel is ‘The Watcher On TiVo’. The Watcher On TiVo carries videos from Chicago Tribune TV Critic Maureen Ryan, and would seem to be the content promised in the May announcement of TiVo’s partnership with the Tribune. At the time it sounded like the videos would only be available to Chicago locals, and I wondered in comments on some other blogs why they wouldn’t make them available to all subscribers as it would help promote the Tribune. And it looks like that’s what they’ve done, since Worcester, MA isn’t exactly in the Chicago, IL area.

You can subscribe online or on your TiVo via Find Programs & Downloads -> Download TV, Movies, & Web Video -> Browse Other Videos -> All -> The Watcher On TiVo

And I was right about it being basically a TiVoCast with a corresponding Guru Guide. The Guru Guide is available under You can subscribe online or on your TiVo via Find Programs & Downloads -> KidZone Recommendations & Guru Guides -> Featured -> Best Bets from The Watcher The Guru Guide is also available online.

On a different note, I finally got 9.4 this evening and I’ve had a little time to explore. I tried the YouTube feature and was vastly amused to discover the today’s ‘Most Viewed’ video is a ~10 minute clip from the hentai anime New Angel (aka Shin Angel). Not too graphic, looks like it was edited with a meat cleaver, but still amusing. Ah, YouTube.

But I have to say, poking around and playing different videos, it looks surprisingly good on my 61″ DLP. Much better than I was expecting actually, giving the normal resolution of YouTube videos. Well done TiVo. I hope they make the streaming H.264 generic so other sites can use it.

Being able to Review Thumbs is interesting, but I wish it allowed me to sort it alphabetically. That would make it easier to find a specific program. It looks like it is sorted by some ranking system, since there is no discernible order. There are also odd duplications in the list, with the same program or movie appearing twice.

Everything seems to work as I’d expect, I think 9.4 is a nice update.

About MegaZone

MegaZone is the Editor of Gizmo Lovers and the chief contributor. He's been online since 1989 and active in several generations of 'social media' - mailing lists, USENet groups, web forums, and since 2003, blogging.    MegaZone has a presence on several social platforms: Google+ / Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / LiveJournal / Web.    You can also follow Gizmo Lovers on other sites: Blog / Google+ / Facebook / Twitter.
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  • TIm

    Yeah, was waiting for the “Restart Pending” and saw it late last night. Gave it a reboot and explored a bit. Haven’t done the YouTube yet.

  • Matt Sledge

    Have you heard anything as to when 9.3.1 (support for the digital converter boxes) will be released? The last I saw was “late summer”.

    Thanks!

  • http://www.gizmolovers.com/ MegaZone

    Nothing new since this post.

  • Leonardo DiCrapio

    Check out “Where in the Hell is Matt?”, which has 8 million hits. I am doing a search for “lion” or “lion Christian”, which has a video that has a million hits.

    I also saw a few bits of limp-core porn like two lesbians kissing for about 4 minutes.

  • Glenn

    My upgrade hasn’t been as smooth. A couple of times I’ve gotten into a state where you can fast-forward, but when you press play you get a freeze frame, then a couple of seconds of audio, then nothing. Sometimes repeating this sequence resolves it, sometimes not.

    Also the new Tivo Desktop software is blowing up every time I try and transfer Top Gear to my Tivo HD. The previous version didn’t work reliably, but it didn’t crash every time… not sure this is an improvement.

    I wonder if there’s a way to download the old desktop software…