TiVo software v4.0 has been released (since April 6th). New features include:
- USB Network Adapter support (wired and wireless) [list of supported USB wireless adapters]
- Sorting and Grouping in Now Playing
- In the Program Details screen (use DISPLAY, INFO, or ENTER key to get to it from a program listing) you can now see “Similar Programs” (the name is sometimes deceptive, it actually seems to be “People who like this program also like these other programs”)
- New Part Index added to details screen [“Part 1 of 2”, and so on]
- Channel Up/Down and Skip To End keys work when reordering things in Season Pass Manager
- Skip to End key works to jump to beginning/end of Season Pass Manager and Now Playing (but not in To Do List, Recording History, or Wishlists)
- Skip to End key jumps back to the beginning in the live buffer the same as it does in recorded programs
- Performance improvements in Now Playing scrolling
- Now Playing list remembers where in the list you were when you return to it, even after Standby
- Keep At Most now goes up to 10 episodes
- Auto-scan of channel lineup during Guided Setup (to find channels that actually have signals)
- […]
Though the roll-out has started, I’ve read that it may take “up to 8 weeks” (from April 6th) for it to propagate to all TiVo owners. However, if you’re really jonesing for it, you can jump to the head of the queue through TiVo’s 4.0 Priority Request page. There, you just need to enter your TiVo’s 15-digit service number and your TiVo will be pushed further ahead in the queue (presumably right behind anyone else that’s already signed up).
Does the USB adapter mean you can use a TIVO without a phone line?
Indeed it does! (However, if you ever need to re-run initial setup, be sure to use the 401 prefix)
That is awesome and what we’ve been waiting for. Since we have no land line in our place (but so have a T1 hooked to a router), we didn’t want to pay $50 per month just to hook up a TIVO.
do you know if the 401 prefix will work on non-upgraded tivos? i have no idea what version my tivo is running and would prefer not to pay for a line if i dont have to. of course, i wont know what i have until the weekend of the 16th. :|
Well, you can use the prefix on non-4.0 TiVos but they only support wired USB-Ethernet cards (only 4.0 has support for wireless USB Ethernet). See also this TiVo Community forum thread (and, to be sure, the prefix needed is “,#401”, commas and all). Also, here’s a listed of supported wired USB adapters in 3.x.
I assume hooking your Tivo to your home network will not earn you any other additional features unless you pay for the Home Media option ($99)?
With Xbox about to become $149, and Xbox Live 2 service also offering media streaming from a home network, I see no reason to buy a network adapter and pay Tivo for their software.