TiVo has announced another avenue for internet downloads: YouTube. A press release says downloads from YouTube will be available later this year to TiVo HD and TiVo Series3 hardware. Presumably, this will be in the form of a software update, and the DVR will need to be connected to broadband.
While it’s great that this will be an officially supported option, and will be yet another way to get video content into a TiVo directly without the use of an intervening computer, there remain a few problems with the announcement.
First, the service only covers the HD TiVos. Considering that YouTube videos are not generally uploaded originally at HD quality, why shouldn’t this option be available to Series2 users with broadband connections as well?
Then, also, this feature has existed for a while on competing video platforms, like Media Center PCs, and the AppleTV. Not to say they shouldn’t also add this to the arsenal of video download methods, but it doesn’t seem to be a huge factor in gaining users to other platforms. In many ways, YouTube is suited best to a computer, since a computer makes the searching process faster, using the keyboard.
With the changes on the video download andscape this year, we’re hoping for more content from larger providers. Netflix, iTunes, and now Hulu are pushing a lot of video out there. Amazon Unbox on TiVo is great, but let’s get another big player on the roster!