Thanks for the reminders, Virgin Media - but why the record for TiVo?

Well, the 15.3 software update has been out for a while now. Among the improvements are the arrival of reminders for fans of Live TV events. Or rather, 'Record & Remind' as its known on TiVo. Some of you may be wondering why TiVo can't remind you without recording. Well, its partly to do with the way TiVo's tuners work.

On the legacy V+ HD, there were 3 tuners available. But only 2 of them could be used for recordings. The remaining free tuner was always dedicated to showing whatever live TV or VOD content you were currently watching. Hence, when a reminder was activated, it could use always use the 'live tuner' in order to switch over to the programme you wanted to be reminded about. As such, reminders would never conflict with scheduled recordings.

Compare that to TiVo. Like the V+ HD, TiVo has 3 tuners. Unlike V+ HD, all 3 tuners are available for recordings. While this offers more recording flexibility, it also means that in order for a TiVo reminder to work, it effectively has to grab a tuner for the entire duration of the 'reminded' programme, in order to prevent it from being grabbed by a scheduled or suggested recording.

Now, you could ask "why not reserve a tuner for the reminded programme without actually recording that content?" My response would be a question: "yeah....why not?", followed by a questioning look at TiVo.

I'm guessing that the resulting rewrite and re-testing of TiVo's recording logic wouldn't be worth the hassle (or the resulting wait for the result to be deployed to Virgin's TiVo  customers), especially compared to the minor inconvenience of having the reminded programme appearing in the My Shows list. Bear in mind that this 'reminded' programme would be deleted anyway if and when lack of recording capacity became an issue.

Virgin would say that having the reminded programme recorded for you is convenient in case you're unexpectedly away from home when the live, super-duper TV Event blockbuster you wanted to be reminded about is on. Readers of this blog know that I don't always agree with Virgin (the recording defaults feature in 15.3 comes to mind), but in this case, its hard to argue with their logic.

Full rollout for Software Release 15.3 coming soon for Virgin Media's TiVo

Well worth the delay for 15.3

With the end of the Olympics (and Team GB's superb performance in London 2012) coming to an end, its almost time for Virgin to unleash the latest software update (Version 15.3) for TiVo:

We’re updating your TiVo box to enable some great new features

Your update will happen in the early hours one morning between 13th and 24th August. That’s the time we know you're least likely to be watching TV or recording shows, so we hope it won’t interrupt anything. We’ll let you know back here on 27th August to confirm we’ve updated your TiVo box.

Make sure your TiVo box is either turned on or in standby mode overnight during this time, since the update won't start until your box is next switched on. Instead of switching your TiVo box off at the mains every night, it’s best to just put it in standby. That way, any updates (including smaller ones we might not write to you about) can happen while you’re doing other things.

Most importantly, the update will take on average 30 minutes and you won’t be able to watch TV or use the box at all during this time.

If the update is interrupted by someone switching the TiVo box off, there is a small risk you could lose all your saved settings and recorded shows. So, it’s really, really important that you leave your box on and make sure everyone at home knows not to use it during that time.

Also, if you have any recordings planned for that particular time they won’t record.

Thanks

But what extra features are in the update? Well:

• Record and Reminders - Reminders, where even if you do miss the reminder pop-up, you still won't miss your show as TiVo will still record it for you. 
• General stability updates for TiVo and interactive services
• HDMI connection reliability improvements – Some of you who've seen this issue should see a reduction in the number of invalid HDMI error messages.
• Global settings – You can now set default recording options for new single recordings, Series Links, and WishLists
• Streamlined Video On Demand Search – You can now find and play your favourite video on demand shows in a flash

15.3 has been piloted in several areas for a while now, with the full rollout delayed until after London 2012.

Pilot software Version 15.3 rollouts for Virgin Media's TiVo: Reminders & Global Padding coming soon

All settled down after all the excitement of 15.2? Well, the pilot software release for 15.3 (or 15.3.RC4-VMC-2-C00 to be precise) has started according to a post at Virgin's Help and Support Forums:

We've just started piloting the next update to the TiVo software to selected users in the Preston, Ashford, Andover, Stoke, Colchester and Crawley areas. You don't need to do anything to receive the new software, it should download automatically overnight over the next two days if you're part of the pilot. We're hoping to push it out to everyone after the Olympics if the pilot is successful, we'll make an announcement when we've got more news on that.

What's changed in the new software:

Record and Reminders - Reminders, where even if you do miss the reminder pop-up, you still won't miss your show as TiVo will still record it for you.

General stability updates for TiVo and interactive services

HDMI connection reliability improvements – Some of you who've seen this issue should see a reduction in the number of invalid HDMI error messages.

You can check if you're on the pilot by going to Help & Settings > System Info > System Info, the software version will read 15.3 if you're on the pilot.

That's right - reminders, an often requested feature - are indeed coming to Virgin's TiVo. Here's a screenshot (thanks to nicko at Cable Forums):

At first, I thought it odd that a TiVo Reminder would remind you and record - that potentially creates a little extra work since you'll have to remove the 'reminded' programme from your My Shows list. However, this approach does have the advantage of recording the programme for you if indeed you're unexpectedly out when the reminded big game or (shudder) X-Factor Final is on. In effect, a TiVo reminder is an Announced Recording.

15.3 will also bring another requested feature - user-defined global padding for all recordings, as well as reducing the army of screens one must fight through to play VOD content.

The pilot is expected to last 5 weeks, with a full rollout not expected until after London 2012 in order to minimise disruption to the TV services during the Games.