What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Just wanted to make a thread to point out how much the TiVo has improved with the new firmware version 15.2, as opposed to version 15.1 which I used for a couple of months before I got the update.

I have the 500GB TiVo on the M+ package. My firmware update was done between the hours of 2am and 4am… can’t be more accurate as I was asleep, however a friend of mine in the same area was using his at around 3am or so says that is when the upgrade “kicked in�. Some on this forum have reported that they had theirs either at 2am, or slightly earlier at 1:45am.

The headend for my box is Fareham which is covered under the Solent (Portsmouth) rollout area scheduled for early morning of the 22nd, so the update was delivered on-time, more or less.

There are four lists:

1. Positive Changes, which are things I’ve noticed that fix old problems or introduce great new features.
2. Negative Changes, which are things that were better in the previous 15.1 firmware.
3. Still To Fix/Add, which are any old issues or missing features identified by myself and others that remain to be (hopefully) repaired or added in the next version, presumably 15.3.
4. Untested, for any features touted as new or improved by VM that I am unable to test, or alternatively can test and have not yet for whatever reason.

If I’ve missed things I’ll add them to the first post as and when I find them.

If anyone else wants to contribute I’ll add their findings to the list with the appropriate credit.


POSITIVE CHANGES

• Speed increase.
  • It’s not a huge increase, but menus (especially Flash HD ones) are notably faster than before. Thumbnails on the Discovery Bar seem to cache a little faster and so do the previously very sluggish ones in the Home -> Help & Settings -> Help menu. Jumping from full EPG to Home or vice versa and setting new Series Links is swifter, with the nasty problem where the currently viewed channel jumps from PiP window to fullscreen and back again much less obvious.
• EPG tweaks.
  • I thought the EPG was good before, but it has been made even better.
  • Start/end times appear in brackets just before the program description.
  • There is a green button Options menu allowing navigation to various times/days without scrolling endlessly.
  • When using the reverse EPG the channel number/name moves to the right which makes a lot more sense visually.
  • Pressing OK on something in the reverse EPG with a catchup icon brings up “Go to Catch Up TV On Demandâ€�… I believe it had this feature before but having never really used reverse EPG before now couldn’t say for sure.
• Full-screen info improvements.
  • If you’re recording the show you’re watching, another ® icon appears after the VM logo and before the thumb rating (if any) and channel name, plus in many cases shows will feature both a genre and “first airedâ€� label to the right of the description. Small touches, but nice ones.
• Activation of Ethernet port.
  • This is possibly my favourite improvement that has been made as it really extends what the VM TiVo can do; I have mine plugged into a 16-port switch (see signature).
  • After enabling certain networking options you are able to use an Android app called TiVo Commander (or VM’s proprietary iPhone/iPad app but I didn’t test that) to control the TiVo by a visual remote.
  • Better still, TiVo Commander can manage available content on the hard drive and make it play directly without having to go into the My Shows part of the Flash HD interface. This is a much faster and cleaner way of controlling the box; I really like it, even though sometimes the link between my Samsung Galaxy phone and TiVo was broken, solved by relaunching the app easily enough.
  • Also now Multi-room Streaming is possible (check for other TiVos on the network with Help & Settings -> System Info -> Multi-Room Streaming) although I’m not able to test this because the household only has one TiVo. If all is well other TiVo units should show up at the bottom of the My Shows list. (As a side note, the TiVo Ethernet port appears to be 10/100Mbps.)
• Express Series Links.
  • A much easier way to setup Series Links is here, and it’s pretty much one click.
  • Defaults are: start 1 minute early, end 4 minutes late, 10 episodes until speed needed, new & reruns. These are now the default options for regular Series Links too, which can be changed of course.
  • If you want to make regular Series Links use the Explore this show -> Get this show -> Get a Series Link -> Options menu chain, which incidentally keeps you in the Flash HD part of the TiVo rather than to the old SD one without the PiP in the top right.
  • (When you manage Series Links, that’s still in the old SD menu style though.)
• Disable PIN on recording playback.
  • It was annoying to have to enter a PIN to watch shows recorded after the watershed time(s) in non-watershed times, but this has been mostly done away with now.
  • I still received a PIN request for a show rated by age (18 in that case) rather than time of day though.
  • You can lock apps with the parental control as well, but for some reason the only one that shows up on my list is the old YouTube one.
• Multi-tap text entry.
  • I’ve wanted this feature for a long time, and now it’s here I am not disappointed.
  • So much quicker to enter text on the Flash HD menus using the numeric buttons like writing SMS on older mobile phones.
  • iPlayer app always had it (still does), old YouTube doesn’t as it hasn’t been updated and the old SD parts of the TiVo menus (i.e. when creating or modifying WishLists) still doesn’t so it’s a mixed bag, however.
• All channels in PiP Window.
  • Yes, even the Sky ones. I didn’t expect this to be looked at until 2012 so I’m impressed it’s already been dealt with, because it was a senseless limitation.
• USB keyboards are working. - thanks to mikerr
  • It wasn’t just the Ethernet port that got switched on, the USB ports were activated too.
  • Interestingly if you press F11 you can toggle between Flash HD menus and faster but older original TiVo SD ones which have some “hiddenâ€� options. I’ll post the keyboard layout when I’ve tested it more. From what I can tell though, there is no rewind/fast-forward/play/pause ability which is a shame.
  • My Logitech MK250 wireless USB mouse/keyboard set works perfectly, well the keyboard does anyway! I also tried one of those generic PS2 mouse/keyboard to one USB adapters, and with only the Keyboard plugged in it worked perfectly too.
  • Sadly no support for generic USB Mass Storage devices which don’t need complex drivers like external HDDs, flash memory sticks or smartphones with SD cards.
• Info and Stop button functionality improved.
  • “You’ll be able to use the ‘info’ button in the TV programme guide and the mini guide, while the Stop button now works as you would expect.â€� That’s what Virgin said and so far I agree with them.
• New YouTube app. - thanks to the_pidgeon
  • I did receive the updated YouTube app, contrary to what I first thought.
  • Both old and new are now present on 15.2 VM TiVos.
  • New one is found under Featured apps and Music while the old one is under All Apps & Games.
  • Some have said the new YouTube app is buggy, but in my experience it's okay, just not as loaded with features as the old one.
  • New one autoplaylists by default, plays an annoying VM promo video at launch and lacks features like Subscriptions.

NEGATIVE CHANGES

• Sorting of Apps & Games into folders.
  • This adds nothing when you consider at the moment there are only 14 apps on the TiVo (both old and new YouTube), just results in more button presses to get to what you want.
• Films no longer show the year in brackets in My Shows. - thanks to mikerr
  • For example The Matrix [1999] now just displays as The Matrix.
  • This was a good way of instantly telling films apart from other programmes and it is a shame to lose it.

STILL TO FIX/ADD

• Aspect ratio on 4:3 content when using PiP in Home menu is wrong.
  • A minor issue, but noticeable.
  • When you’re watching an old show or film, anything non-widescreen is displayed correctly in the EPG when the Aspect Correction Mode is set to Panel, i.e. with black bars on either side.
  • In the Home menu, all non-widescreen content is stretched out to fit even when Panel is selected.
• YouTube/old style TiVo SD menus don’t support multi-tap input.
  • The new YouTube app might, but I don’t have it to test.
  • Old style TiVo SD menus still force you to input letters, e.g. for wishlists, by use of navigation keys only.
• Still using old-style TiVo SD menus in some parts of the interface.
  • This will probably never change with VM’s Premiere TiVo derivative, but there’s always a disappointment when going from the slick, fairly decent looking Flash HD menus to the TiVo SD menus that haven’t changed much in a decade.
• No Spotify.
  • It was promised but doesn’t appear to be available yet… I was expecting the app to be downloaded to the TiVo at least, even if it wasn’t usable.
  • I’d like to have Grooveshark and Amazon too, but you can’t have it all.)
• Disabled TiVo Desktop support.
  • You can’t download content from the TiVo still; hopefully in the next update, since the original Premiere is capable of it.
• Can’t use pyTiVo or Streambaby third-party streaming apps.
  • As the VM TiVo differs from the Premiere quite a bit at this point, these excellent features which allow you to stream content from other devices (i.e. a NAS or PC) with transcoding where necessary.
  • Features like this would push the TiVo closer towards being a true media centre hub, but even with the Ethernet port activated and Multi-room/network remote features added we’re unlikely to see support for these at any point. More of a pipe dream, really!
• Negligible difference to SD channel upscaling.
  • I never saw much (if any) difference between the upscaling on Tivo and older V HD /V+ HD boxes but VM did promise an improvement here, which in my opinion has not arrived.
  • My recommendation is, if you’re connected by HDMI it’s wise to turn the Sharpness control on your set up somewhat. All VM boxes I’ve tried benefit from a clearer picture when doing this, which is quite noticeable on SD content and even more so on HD content.
• No red button support.
  • Yes, red button still just takes you to Catchup style options, not proper Freeview-esque support of true red button services.
  • In my case not a big issue as it is something I rarely use (TV has built-in Freeview anyway) but it will undoubtedly tick off some TiVo users.
• No Reminder feature.
  • This legacy function is still missing.
  • Easy enough to implement, so hopefully 15.3 will include it.
  • I see it as a transitional addition to make migrating from V HD and V+ HD boxes easier, especially if you have those and the TiVo in the house.

UNTESTED

• Spotify support.
  • App isn’t there yet, presumably true for everyone with 15.2 right now.
• Skippable Music Playlists.
  • Not something I ever use.
• Live Pay-Per-View Events.
  • I don’t do PPV.
• Connection reliability.
  • Never had a problem with HDMI or SCART connections, personally.

SUMMARY

Overall the 15.2 can be considered a big improvement over the 15.1 in a variety of ways, with some of the lingering problems due to be removed in the next firmware upgrade. Well done Virgin Media, and TiVo US!

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

What do you mean by 15 apps have more appeared in the new update?.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

But an interesting message appears if you do plug a USB HDD into one of the ports:

This TiVo box does not support using USB to connect a device to add recording space (E01)
You can only connect a compatible device using eSATA.
For more information on adding recording space , and a list of compatible devices, visit virginmedia.com

May be just a legacy message (especially as it references eSATA which VM TiVo doesn't have) - or may not be.

It's for when they open up app development (Cindy Rose has previously said there'll be "hundreds of apps", but that may have been marketing speak)

Apps can and will appear independantly of software updates.

Spotify has a launch date of 29th November. It'll appear on your tivo then.

Here's one negative change that's bugging me:

Films no longer show the year in brackets in "my shows".
e.g. The Matrix [1999] .. now just displays as The Matrix

This was a good way of instantly telling films apart from other programmes.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

I strangely have both versions of the You Tube app. The old one is in the All category and the new one is in the featured apps.

I hate the new one, only allows to search for stuff and doesn't allow account functions like subscriptions.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Hang on... as it turns out I can get to both old and new. Perhaps this is the rule for all upgrades? Interestingly the new YouTube app allows entry by USB keyboard whereas the old one doesn't. Shame it plays an annoying VM promo video by default, but that can be paused.

As you said the old one is accessed by going to All Apps & Games. On either the Apps & Games or Music menu it loads the new one. This appears to be an oversight by the designers, but one I would describe as a Good Bad Bug.

Oh wait that should be 13, if you go to All Apps & Games. Need to correct that. I meant "same 13 that were there", although technically it's 14 if you count both kinds of YouTube app. Which I do. I'll correct that!

Probably right about it being a legacy message, but as the Americans say I'll bet dollars to donuts the pins for the eSATA connection are still on the motherboard and with some hacking another HDD could be added. Whether the VM version of the Premiere firmware would recognise it is another matter, but it'd make a good project for a hardware hacker.

You make a good point. I'll add that to the list shortly.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

What to expect.... RSI removing unwanted padding in a very long and unwieldy way... :(

Already struggling with something that worked perfectly before now being unduly clumsy.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

I received my update at about 3am today. I haven't had much time to sheck out all the features yet, but it does now allow my TV (JVC) to start up correctly from standby, which it didn't do before :)

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Can't really believe there's not a screen where you can set your default preferences for express series links.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Spontaneous reboots every 10 to 20 minutes. :-(

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

The new Youtube app is pretty rubbish but at least it lets you play HD videos so that is a big thumbs up. Although annoyingly if it doesn't load up the Virgin video when the app starts up it doesn't play any video you search for. You have to quit the app and go back in.

Over all the new update is pretty good been playing with the main Tivo for a few hours and no RRD, MyShows and explore this show is the slowest to load but the box on the whole is a lot snappier. I also no longer get the preview window blanking out when going between menus. All the little touches make this a great update and best of all is the network stuff. The iOS app can't come quick enough.

And it is a good send being able to type text using my iPhone/iPad with the peanut app.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

It's alot faster I would assume because it seems they are only retrieving data for programs etc when you stop scrolling, where before it did it every time you moved up/down the list.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Overall a lot better I would say.

Have spotted one issue which I think was in 15.1 anayway, there is a process of reviewing your recordings in my shows where the mini screen top rights turns itself off. You have to go into your settings and select that option again then fine.

Doesn't happen all the time and I really need to check next time the actual order of events which create this. Minor issue really but otherwise very happy with 15.2 Padding doesn't cause me an issue in fact pleased it is default to have that "insurance" of not missing start/end of programmes, but find you need to think about your forward schedule of recordings a little more, as you had to do with the V+ anyway.

Moving between screens in particular is quicker and makes Tivo much easier to use, have seen the red ring now and again but if it does appear it is for a much shorter period.

On to the next update in 2012 then and in the mean time we will get additional remote control options e.g. iPAD and multi-room streaming/copying for those who have 2 plus some overdue features like Red Button, this is only the start.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Red button support is in the 15.2 update however all that means is the service is now ready for red button services. There wasn't due to be any actually launching right away.

Also the lack of reminders, VM and TiVO said they would look in to it but that does not mean it will definately be added, and may not be as simple as you think.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

So for what I use it for and yes I have made my lack of need of the "bells & whistles" very clear NOT A LOT !
If my sender works without disabling the Hdmi first that will be a plus.

Still I will wait & see if I spot the difference when it does come.

On the side & unrelated BUT the reason why I got a Tivo. My bill has gone down as promised.:D Saving this month £8 ( part of month only) and get extra box etc:) Still have so say that so far I would have settled for a second V+. However, it is as so many people say not the finished article just have to wait & hope that the one thing I would really like ( Reminders) comes in the not to distant future.:(

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

i have the same issue but you have advised me on how to fix that on the VM forums and again thanks for that

the muti room streaming and ios control so look good, i cant wait for them

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Some interesting responses... I'd like to go back and edit the original post but due to the way this forum is set up the edit option isn't there any more.

I did some more tinkering with the USB keyboard feature, and found the following.

POSITIVE CHANGES

• USB Keyboards now working.
  • Keymap is as follows:
    • Esc = CLEAR
    • F1 = Home Screen/toggle to My Shows if on Home Screen
    • F2 = TV
    • F3 = Guide (EPG)
    • F4 = CLEAR
    • F5 = Thumbs Up
    • F6 = Thumbs Down
    • F7 = Channel Up
    • F8 = Channel Down
    • F9 = Record
    • F10 = Info
    • F11 = Home Screen (Old style TiVo SD menus)
    • Backspace = Delete (only when typing)
    • Both Enter Keys = OK
    • Pause Break = Play/Pause
    • Cursor Left = Left/Back
    • Cursor Right = Right/OK
    • Cursor Up = Up
    • Cursor Down = Down
    • Main Keyboard Numbers/Numpad = 0-9
    • Keyboard Letters = Work for searching in HD and SD TiVo menus, including within new YouTube app, but not within the old one or the iPlayer app.
  • Sadly keys like Insert, Delete and Home don't do anything, and there is no way to control rewind/fast-forward/stop/slow or colour button/last channel/subtitles functions, so it's not a full replacement for the remote.
  • USB keyboard can power up the TiVo if it's on standby (use F1 or F2), but can't power it down.
  • Media keys on certain keyboards appear to have no effect.
  • Using modifiers (Shift/Ctrl/Alt) appears to have no effect, although on Esc - F4 nothing happens suggesting that once they might have done something.
  • Be careful with the two clear buttons, especially when in My Shows!

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Cool. USB keyboard does work. Makes YouTube searching so much easier. :) Now just need full internet access ;)

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

A browser on the TiVo? That would be great, although USB mouse support would need to be added. Can't imagine it'd be impossible though: after all, it already has Flash support and a fairly powerful system-on-chip processor. Perhaps in a year or so, if the apps idea really takes off!

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

It's a lot quicker and one of the best updates is that when you have set a recording as a series link as we do but you happen to be watching the channel live, it used to go blank for about 2 seconds and you lost that audio and missed that part of the programme.

Now instead, it flickers a bit, but you can hear the audio and it's much smoother and no black screen for ages.

It still does that stupid thing where you push my shows and it takes you there, then goes off and re loads the screen.

But on the whole good.

The next update needs to change it so you can set the default series link settings.

1min early, 4 late, new and re-runs, until space needed and 10 eps is not ideal.

2mins early, 2 late, new only, until i delete and unlimited number is best settings.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Yeah I would agree, being able to set default padding in a Settings menu of some kind would be great, even if the option itself is hard to get to.

The speed increase I'm curious about... considering they've added more features and the firmware itself is much the same apart from that, I wonder if that second core has been enabled on the Tegra 2 chip.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

There was really no excuse for how sluggish it was. It is as fast as you would expect and it needs to be now. I don't know how they did it but it was required.

As for reminders. I have no great desire for them. I have never used them, I'm a bit of a geek when it comes to TV and know when everything is on from memory.

1 thing that would be good is some form of auto view feature like on sky. Where you can set it to change channel at certain times. I used to do this on sky where you could watch tv upstairs via the RF out on one channel and get it to change to something you want to wake up to.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Ok so now iam a bit scared after reading most of the posts on here i havent had my tivo up date yet and it should be tomorrow morning now iam a bit worried.:disturbd:

Even though i cant do anything about it.:erm:

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Nothing to worry about windy.. you'll be fine

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Time will tell....but lets hope.:(

Can i put a Ethernet cable from the tivo box to my virgin hub after tonight and if so what will it do and make my experience a " a better place to live" ..see what i done there.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

A little something extra:


POWER DOWN FROM USB KEYBOARD

• Press F11
• Go to help and settings
• Choose standby

Easy! And as mentioned, F1 or F2 to power back on.[COLOR="Silver"]

Did mine before the update so it was all ready to go the next morning. You will need to enable some network settings in order to control it via Android TiVo Commander or iOS Peanut apps though.

STILL TO FIX/ADD

• More controls for USB keyboard.
  • Most users won't need this, but being able to choose the various levels of rew/ff and do colour button fuctions would be a bonus so the TiVo can be controlled entirely by keyboard.
  • Very unlikely to see this, as brilliant as it would be.
• Some kind of internet browser.
  • A real long shot this one, but something that would make the TiVo more of the entertainment hub Neil Berkett and Cindy Rose want it to be.
  • Obviously adding a browser also means adding USB mouse support!
• Random crashes/reboots/teething problems.
  • A lot of users here and on VM Community are reporting a large amount of crashes, freezes and reboots rendering their boxes useless. This needs immediate attention.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

I take it you do the network setting after the update will look in the android market for tivo.
Thanks.

May need your help again.:)

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Just had the update and was wondering is there a step by step guide to setting up the ethernet connection. I've got a 50 meg superhub also tried downloading the tivo commander from Android market and I'm getting a download error if anyone knows something about this as well.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

I can't see us getting an internet browser anytime soon. Seeing as it is all flash enabled, you'd suddenly be able to use your Tivo to stream illegal content straight to your TV-live football, for example-all on a dedicated 10 mb broadband connection. Given that Virgin carry most of the channels people would want to find by other means I think this is the least likely update. As good as it would be to have for legitimate reasons.

---------- Post added at 07:53 ---------- Previous post was at 07:52 ----------

PS, I've been updated now-looking forward to a play once everyone's gone to school and I can get away with interrupting Fireman Sam!

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

l just have checked my Tivo since last night's update and there is definitely a smoother quicker feel to things on there and l am just checking out where the other improvements are and recording a series link is certainly much easier.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

The first thing that is a bit cheeky in my opinion is that "info"from the mini guide is really just "recording options" which you used to be able to, and still can, get by pressing "OK".

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Following this post helped me (#5) after connecting TiVo to router via Ethernet cable.
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/11...droid-app.html

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Here's a quick repost of something I mentioned over at TiVo Community forum to help people get the TiVo Commander Android app working:

The Android TiVo Commander app gives you a virtual remote, virtual keyboard which works on most things and control of My Shows and recordings, to a good extent. It's the quickest way I've found to remote the TiVo, even including using a USB keyboard with the F11 SD menus.

Better still, managing My Shows/recordings etc is done in the background while the TiVo continues to play fullscreen, handy if you have a missus who can't stand the tinkering when she's watching her godawful soaps or whatever. :D

To get it working you do need to enter the TSN, MAK and IP numbers in the Custom Settings menu but after that it's plain sailing.

• Go Home -> Help & Settings -> System Info.
• TiVo Service Number (forth line of text). Make a note.
• Go back.
• Media Accesss Key (MAK) is second option. Press right, enter PIN, make a note.
• Go Home -> Help & Settings -> Settings -> Network.
• TiVo IP address is fifth line on the right text column.
• Go back.
• Go Network Remote Control. Allow.

Type the IP, MAK and TiVo service number into the TiVo Commander app under Custom Settings. When done and pressing back on the Android device, five options should appear:

• Remote
• My Shows
• Search
• Settings
• About

Enjoy!

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Ok, so have new software & as I suspected as far as I am concerned it is only bring the Tivo closer* to my trusty V+ Sorry.:erm:
For the most part I cannot see any real difference in performance ( I don’t have a stopwatch.It would be that small & I never thought it was slow ) I guess I have not used anything else to see the difference.
The picture has been great from the start so again do not “see� the fix.
* Back to coming closer before the “update� I could only use my Digi sender if I removed the Hdmi cable from the TV ( never a problem with the V+).Now I only need to press clear( to get the message off the screen that it does not work) .:D
I was going to swap the boxes around but I think I will hold off now the sender works.
I still feel ,that if all you want is a box that records, plays & gets you to the I player etc. This is on balance NOT worth paying extra for.
So for all you folks how just want to watch tv . Think about it carefully.
As it saved me money I happy, would be sick if I had paid for install etc.
I wonder if the core problem is the fact that it is adapted US software. We have two programmes running in work. One written from scratch in UK & one built around core US software. We are forever amending it as it does not work in the way we would like. One year on its still being tweaked.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Not got any android devices ATM but thanks for that very detailed explanation. I'm sure it will be very helpful for those that have.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Been trying to get TiVo Commander app working across WAN so you can schedule recordings anywhere without using the VM web software. So far no luck... I can open the TiVo's port but it never shows as open leading me to believe either the TiVo has a firewall of some kind or more ports need to be open. I'll have to look into it some more.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Thats good!

Has Red button appeared on Tivo yet

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

The provision for it has been put in, but no, Red Button on channels where it shows the Press ● prompt in the top right still just take you to Catchup where available.

Same deal as Multi-Room Streaming really... the framework appears to be there but it won't be usable until the next update, which hopefully won't take as long to rollout now, especially considering TiVo US just released the Premiere Elite and are promising new software updates for that and everything else in the Series 4 range!

---------- Post added at 13:19 ---------- Previous post was at 13:02 ----------

Oh, something I keep forgetting to point out:

POSITIVE CHANGES

• Full screen info tweaks.
  • When typing in three digits to change channel, there is now no need to press OK or wait, the change is instantaneous.
  • I noticed a "visual cue" I hadn't seen before, namely a hold |<- to go back to the start of the program one while watching a recording.
  • There might be more, I'll add them as I find them.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Did you have to press Ok before when entering the channel number I seem to recall if you did that it would change the channel and then bring up the mini guide.

I also noticed something that I don't think was there before when you press the info button on the right above where it says first aired it also lists the various genre that a show belongs in, although this doesn't seem to show up on a lot of listings yet.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

On 15.1 I used to key in the three-digit channel number and press OK. Then it jumped to the channel but no mini EPG.

Yeah I covered that second part in the initial post, it's great being able to see the genre/first-aired/series/episode information when available. Big improvement!

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Not sure how many of us there are ... but I am a Windows Phone 7 user ... I found an app called TivoRemote in the marketplace (it is free) Very simple but effective and now works with my VM Tivo since the update. I managed to work out the settings myself, but if you follow the instructions mentioned previously in this thread for the Android app you wont go far wrong (although I skipped the MAK - didn't seem necessary but I'm not sure if I might need to add it for some future version of the app - assuming at some point it will get more functionality).

This is a big boost for me as I use an HDMI splitter to route the TIVO to my kitchen but previsouly I had to change channels etc in the living room before wathching in the kitchen, now I can use this remote anywhere in the house.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Out of interest, f you had two tivos, would it change the channel on both or would it know which tivo it's controlling? I guess this question applies to all app type devices.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

On most of these apps you have to specify the IP address of your Tivo or the name of your box so you only control one at a time.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

OK, thanks. Should have known that from reading the thread on android app.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

The Windows Phone 7 app I am using requires you to provide the IP address (as other people have already mentioned), but does support more than one Tivo - you can add multiple and name them with friendly names and then choose which to control (although I only have one so I can only say this based on the options in the interface - I haven't tested this)

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

I'm now able to use TIVO commander from my HTC Desire only problem I had was I couldn't download it in the first place from Android marker. Sorted this by setting phone back to factory settings first, obviouslymaking sure I backed up my contacts music and pictures beforehand via HTC Sync :-). Like the commander very quick and the present Mrs B may use it as she finds the TIVO remote a bit flaky. She doesn't sit directly in front of the TIVO as a rule

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

I have the "won't download from Android Market" all the time... trick is, just download it from a browser instead. No need to reset the whole phone, especially since it's usually an intermittent problem!

I think there's a version of CyanogenMod for HTC Desire, might be worth looking into. I have it on my Samsung Galaxy Ace and it really opens up what you can do... SuperUser app allows root permissions, for example.

It is true, TiVo IR remotes are known for being slow to respond. I much prefer using the app or a USB keyboard to get things done quicker, especially since you can get the SD menus by pressing F11.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Not sure if this is a result of the upgrade, but still...


POSITIVE CHANGES

• The homescreen has a handful numeric shortcuts which you can access both by remote and USB keyboard.
  • 1 - Manage My Series Links (SD Menu)
  • 2 - My Planned Recordings (SD Menu)
  • 3 - WishList Search (SD Menu)
  • 4 - Search All TV (HD Menu)
  • 5 - Browse All TV (HD Menu)

Pretty useful for speeding through the menus!

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

They were there previously to 5.2

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

But are handy to know so cheers!

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

I'm watching the same channel as a recording started, I did'nt get the black screen I used to get as the buffer wiped for the new recording.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

STILL TO FIX/ADD

• Spotify app.
  • Too basic; lacks even a search function.
  • Long playlists won't load beyond the 300th item.
  • Unstable; some users report frequent crashes.
  • A little on the slow side.
  • USB keyboard support.
  • You need a Spotify account. In order to get a Spotify account, you must have a Facebook account. If you don't have or want a Facebook account (don't look at me like that; not everyone likes social networking, especially not one as intrusive and fast/loose with privacy as Facebook) you're basically screwed.

Granted that last one was more of an author tract, but whatever. ;)

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

We've been over this - No you don't need a Facebook account.

Will I need to be on Facebook or create a Facebook account to register for a Virgin Media Spotify account?

If you’re taking one of our cable Broadband or Virgin Mobile offers, you don’t need to be on Facebook to register.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Amusingly, My Virgin Media doesn't work right now to take it from the cable broadband side and my mobile tariff isn't eligible, so :D

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

is there any chance you can email me the tivo commander android app file as i cant find it on the market and no matter how hard i search on the internet i cant find it. its as if its been removed. im using a galaxy s 2

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

I second that i opened an account through spotify themselves no need for facebook at all.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

The weird thing is I had a free Spotify only account, from before the Facebook change, and in the spirit of generosity they've deleted it. Nice message to send to your users, that.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Thankyou :D

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

When you create a wishlist In the 15.2 update there is now a subcategory after you select the HD category. Is This new ?

Also

You can Thumbs up to add favourite channel in the TV Guide and Mini Guide. You can also press thumbs down to remove a favourite channel

You do not need to go into the menus. Is this new ?

Also you can now set recordings on a 2nd TiVo box
http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/...ht/true#M33690

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

I think that's because they are using the TiVo Commander app. The proper TV Guide app hasn't been updated to target a specific box yet

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

They also need a better sort in the suggestions folder as it is just one long list.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

But VM will not want this. They want to keep persuading you to try all those other channels that you don't have in your Favourites;)

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Yep suggestions needs to be tidied up not just one long list. Folders Date, HD etc.

Would be good if you could put in personal information such as favorite sport, football team you support, Fav actors, director, genres etc.

Re: What to expect from your Virgin Media TiVo 15.2 Upgrade
 

Haha... chances are I'll just end up using the TiVo less. :D


Absolutely. Would speed things up in the HDUI too, because as anyone who fills up the HDD will know, scrolling starts to take a looooong time even with Groups on.