It looks like embattled TiVo scored a sweet deal: according to the New York Times, the DVR pioneer is gettin’ chummy with Yahoo!, resulting in some nifty additional features available to TiVo owners. Finally making use of TiVo’s built-in (and until now, largely unused) networking, the first fruit of the partnership lets TiVo owners program their units via the Yahoo! television listings page. Yeah, so this is only a few steps above the gimmick stage, but NYT says it will be followed by the rollout of additional services, including the ability to view images from the Yahoo! Photos site and see local weather/traffic information. I know I’m always willing to endorse ways to facilitate meteorologist avoidance.
At least the NYT mentions the elephant in the room: so where’s the location switching? Yeah yeah, Slingbox and Orb have that down, you say? Y’all know a little more competition makes the party interesting, and with TiVo’s market penetration, the sooner they get to the point where this can be done, the better for them. Combine that with the ability to view online content on your television (sadly, I’m still waiting for my 56-inch widescreen monitor) and you truly have a sweet piece of hardware.