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Widget Watch: Showcase your TiVo's content on your Mac

by Mike Schramm Jan 1st 2008 at 4:30PM


Unfortunately, an HD TiVo was too expensive for me in 2007, and none of my friends or relatives ponied up the cash to get me one as a gift this holiday season, so I'm forced to settle with the extremely inferior Comcast HD DVR box. But for you TiVo owners, here's an awesome plugin to easily and stylishly connect your TiVo with your Mac. Showcase is a dashboard widget that, given your TiVo's IP and MAK, will not only show you what your TiVo is up to, but also let you download and decode shows directly from there on to your Mac.

TiVoToGo was shipped almost exactly a year ago for Mac, but Showcase seemingly does almost everything TTG does, and is available in simple widget form for the low, low price of free. A few users say it's a little slow (not surprising, given that it's doing all of this stuff from a widget interface, not a full application), but if, unlike me, you did have people who loved you enough to get you a TiVo HD this year, it's definitely worth a download.

Thanks, Dave!

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Unfortunately, an HD TiVo was too expensive for me in 2007, and none of my friends or relatives ponied up the cash to get me one as a gift...
 

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StrikerObi

Wow this is pretty sweet. Looks prettier than TiVoDecode... doubt it'll run as well though seeing as it's a widget.

January 01 2008 at 11:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
DJ

I downloaded the widget, entered my IP & MAK and saw my TiVo 3 HD now playing list. Woohoo! But, when trying to download, it says "0% done" then immediately goes to "download complete". I get a 0 sized file. I'm running OS X 10.5.1 and my TiVo is running the 9.2a update. Any thoughts/help?

January 01 2008 at 10:01 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
3 replies to DJ's comment
John Hopper

Glad you guys like the widget... A newer version with better Series3 compatibility will be released sometime soon. And yes, you need VLC or mplayer to play the files.

January 01 2008 at 7:31 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Simon

Thanks for your help everybody. I downloaded VLC, and the files now play fine. Awesome!

January 01 2008 at 7:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ben

so is there DRM on the content (say for broadcast network content and then for content from HBO - HD) that gets downloaded to a computer; if so, is it easily strippable?

January 01 2008 at 6:59 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to ben's comment
eric f

No there is no DRM. Tivo files are in a .Tivo format normally, which will play without conversion in Toast video player. f you want it to play on something else, it can be converted.

January 02 2008 at 11:10 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
eric f

HD content will play fine without conversion using VLC.

January 02 2008 at 11:12 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Josh

This widget has been out for more than a year, even before TTG for Mac was released, I believe. It doesn't seem to work with Series 3 TiVos and the latest software, however. I use Roxio Toast Deluxe instead. For another free alternative, check out TiVo Decode Manager:
http://tdm.sourceforge.net/downloads.html

January 01 2008 at 6:29 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Josh's comment
eric f

It does work with series 3. I just tried it on an HD program from the CW (don't judge me on that one).

You might not be using the newest version, or you may have tried it on a program that is transfer restricted.

January 02 2008 at 11:08 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Roger

Nice widget! I just wish it would toggle between tivos easier.

Tivo Decode Manager (as well as the more costly Toast) will convert the files to m4v and pop them into iTunes for you.
http://tdm.sourceforge.net/
(it hasn't been updated in a year or so, but still works well)

The decoded MPEG-2 files from the Tivo aren't compatible with Quicktime with or without the plugin. VLC plays them fine.

January 01 2008 at 6:29 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Roger's comment
Josh

FWIW, I can confirm that video files extracted from a *hacked* TiVo (or DirecTiVo) play fine inside QuickTime Player, with the MPEG-2 plug-in installed.

January 01 2008 at 6:33 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Simon

The widget connects easily to my tivo, but after downloading a show, quicktime tells me that the .mpg file is not a movie file. What am I doing wrong???

(Macbook with Leopard 10.5.1)

January 01 2008 at 6:10 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Simon's comment
Josh

Try playing the file with VLC. In order to get the file to play inside QuickTime, you might need to install the Quicktime MPEG-2 plug in.

January 01 2008 at 6:18 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
David

Let's get it running straight to the iPod Touch and iPhone and we're in business! That'd be sweet!

January 01 2008 at 5:57 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to David's comment
dave

I wanted the same thing and what I found that works well for not only fixing the files not playing in quicktime problem and getting them to play on a iPhone/touch is iSquint. You just drag the file into iSquint and it converts it to mp4 and in ipod format.

January 01 2008 at 11:45 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ed

Sounds cool, wish I had a tivo to try it out with...

Also, I think you mean MAC, not MAK.

January 01 2008 at 5:47 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
3 replies to Ed's comment
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