WeaKnees Blog

The vast majority of remote-controlled consumer electronics devices these days, including all TiVos, are controlled using infrared (IR) technology. While useful and convenient for most uses, IR suffers from one primary drawback: It requires a line of sight from the remote control to the unit that is being controlled.

Increasingly, though, many of our customers are looking for radio frequency (RF) remote controls for their TiVos and other equipment. If you are not using RF now, or if you have not thought about moving from infrared to RF, here are some reasons to do so:

1) Using an RF remote, you can put your TiVo in a closet, drawer or other cabinet (which is often quieter than on top of or next the TV), and run wires from there to the TV. If your TiVo is in your bedroom and are bothered by the drive or fan noise, this can be a marriage-saver!

2) With RF, you can control your TiVo, radio, etc., from any room in your house (presuming it’s not the White House or some other monstrosity—RF does have a limited range). This will help if you want to watch a TiVo on multiple TVs, if you have audio playing throughout your house from a central location, etc.

3) You can use RF to drive people in the house crazy…sitting safely in your bedroom while the person in the living room is trying to watch TV

…and the list goes on.

If you have a device that has an infrared remote (such as a TiVo), but prefer RF, you have a couple of options. One of the easiest and least expensive is this device, the RF Remote Extender, which replaces a battery in the remote with a smaller battery (same voltage) and a special transmitter that sends the remote’s keypresses via RF to a receiver that sits near the TiVo (or other device(s)) that you are controlling. It’s range is up to 150 ft, depending on the type of material the signal has to penetrate.

Alternatively, a number of RF universal remotes will convert IR into RF, although they can be quite expensive, and we are still searching for one that we are happy enough with to stock.

As RF becomes more popular, more consumer-electronics devices have the functionality built-in. DIRECTV is incorporating RF functionality into its more of its higher-end receivers and remotes. The H20 high definition receiver (which is not a DVR, not a TiVo) includes an RF remote control.

Ok—we’re hugely biased. We live, breathe and pay for the kids’ educations with TiVo. But honestly, if you love TiVo and have multiple TVs in your house, it really is cost-effective to purchase a second box.

If you have DIRECTV, you might already know that DIRECTV does NOT charge an additional TiVo service fee for two (or more) units. You do pay $5/mo for the “mirroring charge” (adding an additional access card), but unlike with standalone units, you don’t pay an additional TiVo service fee.

If you have cable, DISH network or a run-of-the-mill antenna, TiVo charges only $6.95/month for additional units in your home, as compared with $12.95/mo or $299/lifetime for the first unit.

There are currently some big rebates in effect (up to $200 for DIRECTV, expiring 2/28/06 and $150 for standalone TiVos, expiring 2/28/06), which make it particularly reasonable to purchase a second unit. Also, if you have DIRECTV and love your DIRECTV DVR with TiVo, the TiVo/DIRECTV receivers are quite scarce and are moving very fast…so if you wait, you may not see one again.

Finally, if you have DIRECTV, until 2/28/06 DIRECTV will install the new unit, AND relocate an existing receiver (including a DIRECTV DVR) for only $99, including the hardware that you need to make it happen! Hard to beat that.

Over the past 5 years, a lot of TiVos have passed through the weaKnees warehouse for upgrades, repairs and the like. The vast majority are all the same—boxes with a bunch of circuits, wires and a hard drive or two.

Some, however, are very special: They take on the characteristics of their owners. And we’re not talking about the owners’ viewing habits.

weaKnees’ very own Max Power is our resident scientist. Do you smoke in the house? Max can tell you what type of cigarettes. Do you like cigars? Max can tell. Max knows what perfume you wear, whether you burn incense, whether you have a dog or cat…all from your TiVo.

Here are some of the latest examples: Yesterday, Max walked around the office with a FedEx pak, insisting that we all smell it. “It’s Indian spices,” he said. “They’re good cooks.” I declined his invitation for a whiff, but had no doubt that it was all true. A few days ago, we got a TiVo that smelled “like Lord & Taylor.” And a week or so ago, referring to a TiVo in for an upgrade, Max asked whether he “could scrape the fan and smoke it.” (Fortunately, we have strict policies against breaking Federal laws while on the job.)

So stay tuned…we’ll update the blog from time to time with the latest TiVo scents. And if you want to send us your TiVo, have no fear: Your secret is safe with us! We do not sell our customers’ habits to any third parties…although we reserve the right to aggregate the statistics and do who-knows-what with them.

For those of you with Series 2 TiVos, the new version of TiVo Central Online is out of beta and up and running. The new version uses Ajax and has lots and lots of additional features, in addition to being faster and much more usable.

This is the update that we mentioned from when we were at CES.

Finally! We smuggled a picture of Bob Barker into the blog!