3rd tuner activated for Virgin Media's TiVo; Record 3 programmes while watching a recording? Yes it can!

Its been promised, and now, its here. In the early hours of this morning, Virgin dispatched a software update for their TiVo boxes to activate the 3rd tuner. Rejoice.

But wait - not only does this allow the TiVo to record 2 programmes while you're watching live TV/VOD content/another recording, but you can record 3 programmes simultaneously! Better yet, you can watch a recording while recording 3 programmes simultaneously! This is a significant upgrade over Virgin's V+ HD (3 tuners) and Sky's HD (2 tuners), which always use 1 tuner to display the current programme/VOD content.

The software update has also improved the calculation used to report available recording hours. Pre-update, the TiVo reported an available 325 hours of Standard-Definition recording and 99 hours of High-Definition recording. Post-update, that's changed to 477 hours of Standard-Definition recording and 121 hours of High-Definition recording.

According to this thread at the TiVo Community Forums, the update doesn't appear to have killed off any reported bugs, but another update (pre-April?) will hopefully take care of those.

Software development and rollout details for Virgin Media's TiVo

TiVO Community Forum Poster Technix has re-posted the following from the Official Virgin Media Forum:

Hi all

Firstly I hope you are enjoying use of your new Virgin Media TV service powered by Tivo.

I wanted to share some good news which is that we have now launched the BBC iplayer app in our Apps and Games section! Please check it out and let us know your thoughts.

I also wanted to let you know that we are working hard to prepare the product for general commercial availability, which we expect to be in April.

In particular we are in the final stages of creating the the triple tuner functionality (allowing you to record/watch up to 3 channels simultaneously) and we anticipate releasing this software to your boxes around the middle of March. This software will also contain significant bug fixes and other improvements.

I'd also like to address some specific issues which have cropped up quite frequently:

---- Reminders: In "Tivo world" reminders do not exist, because in a world where you have a massive hard disk plus our upcoming three tuners, there is less and less need to watch TV according to reminders. The easiest thing is to simply record programmes if the timing is not convenient for you. We realise this is different to the way some people use our current V+ service but we do believe that "Tivo-type" usage will eventually overtake the use of reminders.

---- Padding: ie giving recordings "leeway" either side to ensure that endings or starts are not missed. We definitely understand the importance of this and is a high priority in our roadmap. Given the cycle of code releases we have with Tivo, this is likely to be available in September.

---- Multitap text entry: Again we understand the importance of this and indeed we do have this on several of our Apps. For core Tivo Search we anticipate this being available in September.

---- Some channels not playing in Picture-in-Graphic (the small video window when you're looking at menus): This is a legal rights-based issue and is the same for our V+ service.

---- Tivo Suggestions in your recordings: Most people are finding these great, while some are finding these more random! Anyway this element of the service should get better and better, especially the more you use Thumbs Up and Down. I would strongly encourage you to use the Thumbs (especially giving more than 2 Thumbs either way!) to allow the system to learn better about you.

---- Finally, regarding our roll out plans, we have deliberately phased the roll-out to non-staff in a VERY tightly controlled way, prior to general commercial availability. We have run 3 promotions - an offer to 1000 of our VIPs (VIPs are our highest spending customers), a prize draw of 1000 Tivo boxes among all XL TV customers who also have Broadband and Telephony from Virgin Media, and a specific promotion to Tivo series 1 users. This has been deliberately done in order to control the roll-out to a very limited numbers of customers. When we move towards general availability we will prioritise those customers who have pre-registered their interest. We realise this has caused some "healthy impatience" in our marketplace but we feel this is right way to manage a controlled release of the product.

Virgin Tivo: 2 tuners now; 3 tuners early next year

People upgrading from the V+ HD boxes should bare in mind that initially, the Tivo will only be able to record 2 programmes at the same. Like the V+ HD boxes, the Virgin Tivo has 3 tuners, however, the Tivo software was originally written to work with boxes sold in the USA that only had 2 tuners. Virgin have decided to release their Tivo box now, rather than delay the launch by completing a rewrite of the software to support 3 tuners.

Therefore, the Virgin Tivo box will only have 2 of its 3 tuners active at launch. A software update will be rolled out by Virgin in early 2011 which will active the 3rd tuner - once activated, you'll be able to watch one programme while recording another 2 programmes at the same time, just like you can now on the V+ HD boxes.