Audio Video News

The a/v and online worlds converged just a touch more this week when TiVo activated a new feature that allows subscribers to watch web video content on their TiVo-fed TVs.

To make it work, TiVo's press release explains, you'll need "TiVo Desktop Plus 2.6, an update to the Windows application which also converts TV shows recorded on a TiVo DVR for viewing on portable devices including iPod and Sony PlayStation Portable. TiVo Desktop Plus 2.6 is available for a one-time fee of $24.95, and is a free upgrade to earlier versions. TiVo continues to work with Roxio on delivering equivalent functionality on the Mac platform.

"With this new feature," TiVo continues, "users can choose web videos downloaded on the home PC using web browsers, RSS video clients such as iTunes podcasts, or other video download software to automatically copy to their TiVo DVR's Now Playing List alongside recorded broadcast and cable TV shows. TiVo is also providing an on-screen guide of select web video sources for users to browse and select as individual episodes or get a Season Pass. Subscribers can even use the TiVo service's Season Pass functionality to get their own personal video folders on their PC, where they save their home movies and other video downloads. High Definition television enthusiasts will appreciate that TiVo preserves the original quality of high-resolution web videos, up to 720p, when delivered to TiVo Series3 or TiVo HD DVRs."

Later in the year, TiVo owners will also be able to watch content from YouTube.

According to a survey by Harris Interactive, commissioned by Macrovision, only five percent of viewers watch web content on a TV, with the rest stuck to their computer monitors due to DRM. Will full-featured DVRs like TiVo become the long-awaited bridge between computing and television?