Chapter 5. TiVo and the Web

Hacks #63-80

It always happens when you’re already halfway across town for that dinner date or soaring toward a week’s vacation in some faraway place: you plumb forgot to set TiVo to record that awards show or season finale.

Sure, in all likelihood, TiVo knows you’d probably want to record the show in question, but it would put your mind at ease to know it’s on the To Do List. It sure would be useful to call up your TiVo and check.

Two solutions provide access to, and manipulation, of your TiVo over the Web: the official TiVo Home Media Option (HMO) and the open source TiVoWeb project. Schedule recordings, prune your Now Playing List, or add season passes; about anything you can do while standing in front of your TV set can be done from any web browser anywhere in the world.

Signing Up for the Home Media Option

Expand your Series 2’s capabilities with TiVo, Inc.’s software upgrade.

The TiVo Home Media Option (HMO) is a $99 add-on (available at http://www.tivo.com/4.9.asp) that you can purchase for your Standalone Series 2 TiVo. The HMO brings a whole slew of features, including the ability to schedule recordings over the Web, play MP3s through your television and attached stereo system, display digital photos on your TV, and even stream television shows between Series 2 TiVos.

Warning

Unfortunately, there is no Home Media Option support for Series 1 TiVos or DirecTiVos (TiVo/DirecTV combination) at the time of this writing.

Signing up for the Home Media Option ...

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