You might say the week is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workweek, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Weekly Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past seven days — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Thanks to DVRs, you can watch your favorite TV shows anytime you want. TiVo’s new Roamio line of DVRs will let you watch anywhere you want as well. The Roamio DVRs let you record four to six shows at once. They also integrate with the TiVo app so you can browse shows and schedule recordings on an iOS or Android device. Best of all, you can stream or download media on an iOS device. But all of this wizardry comes at a price.
The first potential dealbreaker with Roamio is in figuring out which model to get, because the DVR has three models. There’s the Roamio, the Roamio Plus and the Roamio Pro. The Roamio can’t stream or upload media to mobile devices on its own. You’ll need to buy the TiVo Stream to get that feature. The Pro and the Plus on the other hand both have that streaming functionality built-in. But if you’re using an HD antenna, the Roamio is your only choice because the Plus and the Pro will only work with a Cablecard from your Cable TV provider.
If you’ve emerged from the jungle of jargon and you’re still interested in getting a Roamio, it’s time for the good parts. As I said, all three models work with the TiVo mobile app so you can browse shows and schedule recordings even if you’re not in front of your TV. The Roamio can record up to four shows at once, while the Plus and the Pro can both record up to six shows at once.
All three models also have Wi-Fi connectivity, although they still have Ethernet ports.
As I mentioned above, the Pro and the Plus will let you stream or download media to iOS devices. For now, this only works while you’re on your home network. But TiVo will soon add a software update that extends this feature to any Wi-Fi connection. Both the Pro and the Plus will also get an update that will allow you to watch live TV from an iOS device. In fact the only difference between the Plus and the Pro are their hard drives. The Pro has a 3TB drive while the Plus “only” has a 1TB drive, but since all three models have two USB ports, I’d say save your cash and get the Plus. You can connect additional storage as you need it.
You can order the Roamio, Roamio Plus and Roamio Pro from Amazon, Best Buy or directly from Tivo. The Roamio costs $200 (USD), the Roamio Plus costs $400 and the Roamio Pro costs $600. But you also have to sign up for TiVo’s service, which is another $15 a month. Whew. And that’s the TiVo Roamio line: confusing and a bit costly, but convenient. Now I know why people love Netflix so much.
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
If you’re a TV power user who demands quality software on your DVR along with the ability to record six channels at once without worrying about running out of space, the TiVo Roamio Plus and Roamio Pro are worth the …
TiVo has announced its latest line of DVRs, the TiVo Roamio, Roamio Plus, and Roamio Pro. All three devices bring to the table a slew of new features and functionality, among them being improvements to the software. This DVR expansion has been a long time coming, with its last major DVR series having been launched […]
You’ve got a TV, cable box, Roku or Apple TV, Blu-ray player, stereo system, and who knows what else clogging up your living room, each with its own peculiarities and taking up space. When did watching TV become so much work? TiVo’s new Roamio DVR/Cable receiver helps you do one thing we all desperately need to: simplify.
The dream of watching whatever we want, wherever we want, just got one step closer with the new “Roamio” DVR platform from TiVo. Also known as the Series 5, the Roamio family includes a revamped user interface, up to six tuners and 3TB of storage. That’s certainly enough space and tuners to record almost anything you might want, save for maybe the 4K director’s cuts of Lord of the Rings. Perhaps more exciting, though, is the addition of out-of-home streaming. The Roamio Plus and Pro both include integrated TiVo Stream functionality, except it’s not limited to the confines of your home network any longer — an update will bring this to the existing TiVo Stream first, while Roamio customers will have to wait a bit longer. The other new update — also coming to existing hardware — is the long-awaited dynamic tuner allocation for the TiVo Mini, which frees up more tuners for recording and expands the new room limit to nine. What to Watch Now is coming to TiVo Central and there are new guide filters to help you find stuff to watch. Last but not least, there’s a new HTML5 engine that powers a fresh YouTube app and Netflix app has received a minor update as well.
All three models also include a new RF remote as well as WiFi (finally!), but only the top two feature MoCA. You can pre-order the Roamio, Roamio Plus or Roamio Pro now for $199, $399, and $599, respectively (plus service). If you want to know more, then don’t miss our full review. %Gallery-slideshow73096%
It’s been three and a half years since the last major TiVo release and while the company has offered some new features since — via hardware revisions, software updates and accessories — we’re very excited to tell you that TiVo is back. The three new TiVo Roamio DVRs range in price from $200 to $600 (plus service), all with at least four tuners and built-in WiFi. And the Pro and the Plus have integrated TiVo Stream functionality. The cool new trick is out-of-home streaming for both live and recorded shows, with the ability to download shows to your iOS devices while away from home. (Note: this feature isn’t coming to the Roamio until this fall, so we tested it with a TiVo Stream instead). There’s also a new remote that no longer relies on IR, as well as a refreshed user interface, which includes the What to Watch Now feature and new Netflix and YouTube apps — that launch quickly now. We’ll get into all the highs and the lows in just a moment, but we’re pretty confident in saying these are TiVo’s best boxes to date.%Gallery-slideshow73029%
Been wondering what it would be like to watch the tube through an IPTV box? Brush up on your Swedish: Com Hem is having its TiVo IPTV testers blog about it. The Stockholm-based TV provider dished out twenty (familiar looking) Samsung built receivers to select customers last week, asking them to document their experience on a company’s website. The box promises participants the usual suite of TiVo features, including support for TiVoToGo and simultaneous DVR recording of up to three HD channels. The handful of participants who were at the launch event seem pretty jazzed, though updates quickly came to a halt as they settled in for some weekend TV time. Care to read up? Prime a Google Translate tab and hit the attached source link.
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