A review of the apps on Virgin Media's TiVo

A while ago I bemoaned about the lack of movie streaming apps on Virgin Media's TiVo. Perhaps I should have covered the rest of the available apps in that previous post.

When I reviewed TiVo, I said:

Its this combo of Apps plus dedicated broadband connection which makes this PVR ooze with potential. Virgin are already talking to potential suppliers of video content, indeed, Virgin have declared that they have no fear bringing Apps for the likes of Lovefilm (who aren't shy about getting their content on as many devices as possible), Blockbuster and Spotify to TiVo. Virgin intend to have hundreds of TiVo Apps available within the next 12 months, so, watch this space and dream of the possibilities.

Indeed, Cindy Rose, Virgin Media’s director of digital entertainment, explained while talking to PaidContent:UK in December 2010 that:

We’re launching with a handful (of apps); within 12 months, we’ll have hundreds. We needed to start with the household names.

It’s just a question of doing the right deal, making sure our customers actually want it - power to the people; we’re a Virgin company. We’ve got an online forum we’re moderating to ask what they want.”

It would have to be the right deal commercially and add value. If Lovefilm came along and said ‘we’ve got something that adds to this’, we’d be the first ones to embrace them - we’re not precious about that.

I wouldn't imagine for an instant that TiVo would or should have hundreds of apps by now, 13 months later. But a quick look at the apps page for TiVo reveals just 13 apps in total. To be fair, 2 apps have been recently removed, these were promotional movie apps for Harry Potter and Twlight.

As for the rest of the apps:

• YouTube
  The new version of this app fixed the issue of playlists and subscriptions not being recognised when you logged in. How? By removing that feature altogether, much to the disappointment of customers.
• eBay
  I mentioned in my review that you couldn't login to your eBay account to place bids. The situation hasn't changed since then which continues to make this app next to useless.
• BBC iPlayer
  Probably the best app on the platform at the moment, but its had its network issues. Plus, I have to say that the quality of streaming on the TiVo iPlayer app is inferior to the quality provided by the same app built into my Samsung TV.
• VM Shorts
  One of many promotional apps seen on the platform. Speaking of which...
• Sky Movies
  Ditto.
• Sky Sports
  Same again.
• CNBC
  Great. If you have stocks and shares.
• Twitter
  Would be so much better if it could be used with live TV, so that you could truly interact with live TV events such as sending feedback on the latest candidate who has just been fired on The Apprentice.
• Weather, Celebrity and Photo Gallery apps.
  Unchanged, to be fair they did the job already.
• Spotify
  New to the TiVO platform, can't really say much about this because it requires a subscription.
• Millionaire
  Addictive to play. Which probably explains why you now need to pay to play it.

Lets hope that the number of apps increases and soon, because TiVo is in serious danger of being left behind in this area when compared to other devices - my Samsung TV has 19 apps just for watching VOD content, while games consoles like the Xbox 360 and PS3 allow you to watch streamed movies from Lovefilm and Netflix, which isn't an option Virgin's TiVo provides.

Sure, Virgin have a deal with Flimflex (who are the primary providers of VoD Movie content for Virgin), but if Virgin are so worried about stepping on Flimflex's toes, then why encourage talks with the likes of Lovefilm to get Apped-Up on TiVo?

Still, the apps should continue to come, and hopefully they won't all be promotional apps. easeltv's core framework application has already been used for apps on TiVo and that framework will also be used in future apps. Also, we have a BBC Sports app on the way.

Virgin Media TiVo launches channel page on YouTube

As part of Virgin Media's efforts to spread the word about a certain PVR, the cable company have their own TiVo channel page on YouTube where you can watch the TiVo help videos, like this one:

And of course, the adverts which are (or may have already) be coming to a TV near you, like this one:

The videos can also be located at Virgin Media's TiVo website.

Search/Browse & Wishlist functionality shown in latest Virgin Media TiVo video

UKTivo.Blogspot.Com just keeps on uploading the videos showing us functionalty from Virgin Media's TiVo. This latest video production shows off the Search and Browse functionality, focusing on searching for an actor (in this case, Angelina Jolie), and showing some information about Angelina, followed by movies which features her.
 
That's followed by the opportunity to play Salt from the Filmflex VOD service; a quick drive through a Wishlist; A glimpse of the cast for Salt; And finally the creation of an 'Angelina Jolie' Wishlist which is then used to view upcoming programmes on multiple channels which features you-know-who. Its a pretty comprehensive video which shows off a few of TiVo key features:

Video of YouTube video search on Virgin Media's TiVo

The videos just keeping on coming from the new UKTivo.Blogspot.Com Blog. Tonight's video features a search on Virgin's TiVo box for one of the YouTube videos uploaded eariler this week by big_dirk at the TiVo Community Forums:

New YouTube video reveals real-life performance of Virgin Media's TiVo

A new TiVo video is up on YouTube, showing a Virgin Media TiVo user selecting various menus and options. For those of you curious about the real-life performance of the box (and the layout of various user interface screens), its an interesting watch:



Thanks to big_dirk at TiVo Community Forums for the video.

On Virgin Tivo, there will be an App for that.....probably

One of the most exciting features about Tivo is that apps can be downloaded to add extra functionality and features. What, you thought apps were just for your mobile smart-phone? Think again! The Virgin press release goes into more details about what apps will be pre-installed on Virgin's next-generation PVR:

Built on an Adobe Flash-based platform, the latest videos, social networking and information apps will be updated regularly. The service launches initially with apps from major web brands including catch-up TV from BBC iPlayer, videos from YouTube, shopping from the online marketplace eBay, Tweets from Twitter and photos from sites such as Facebook, and the app line up will expand over the next several months

iPlayer is an odd choice, considering that its already available as part of Virgin's TV VOD service. Then again, not all of the web-based iPlayer content isn't available to watch on Virgin's TV version of the service due to content rights issues, so the addition of an iPlayer app could potentially mean all of the BBC's Catch-Up content becoming available, and easily watch-able, on your TV set via Tivo.

YouTube was an obvious first choice, having made an appearance on several networked TVs and media streamers for some time now. On at least some of those devices (like my Samsung C650 TV and WDTV Live Media Streamer), certain content (like some movie trailers) is not allowed to be streamed to TV devices, and no access is allowed to YouTube's HD videos. So don't be too surprised if the same restrictions apply to Virgin Tivo's YouTube App.

Some of the apps will be accessiable from EPG menus. As Cindy Rose, Virgin Media’s director of digital entertainment, explained while talking to PaidContent:UK:

Every search you do on TiVo will yield results that include internet applications as well as the television assets. Important to say - the product we launch this month is not a static environment, it’s a very future-proof platform. There will be a constant drumbeat of new content, applications, features over time - we’ve got a pretty robust development roadmap.

We’re launching with a handful (of apps); within 12 months, we’ll have hundreds. We needed to start with the household names.

As for the future, Rose reveals that Virgin are open to apps from entertainment companies like Lovefilm and Spotify as long as the deal is right and the customers demand the content:

It would have to be the right deal commercially and add value. If Lovefilm came along and said ‘we’ve got something that adds to this’, we’d be the first ones to embrace them - we’re not precious about that. Let a thousand flowers bloom! It’s a managed environment but we’re really open in terms of who we host on the platform - as long as the commercials are right and customers are interested in it.

With the dedicated 10mb broadband connection Virgin are supplying with every Tivo installation, the potential for streaming content from the likes of BBC iPlayer, Lovefilm and YouTube is there - and in HD too - 10mb is certainly fast enough to stream web-based HD content when it becomes available via Tivo. Being a dedicated connection, it won't affect your existing broadband connection, so your enjoyment of watching say, last week's Top Gear in HD from BBC iPlayer on Tivo won't be interrupted by your son downloading the latest content for Call of Duty on his Xbox 360.

So, prepare for the invasion of Virgin Tivo apps, and lets hope none of them make Fart sounds.