# Smart Home with TiVo



## TiVo_Ted (Oct 3, 2000)

TiVo Introduces Smart Home Integration - TiVo Blog


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## mjthor1 (May 31, 2006)

Exciting. When do you suppose these integrations will be available to use?


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## foghorn2 (May 4, 2004)

NICE! We have 2 dots and a Insteon setup with still some X10 devices. Exciting indeed.

Should release a Fire TiVo Stick too!!


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

Hmm, yet another voice activation method I will never use. Can we get the base functionality working rather than yet one more way to access functions that don't work already?

Lets start with the apps will never find programs that are not in the Rovi database or are listed incorrectly. It will also not find or implement any content stored on the local plex server as the tivo has no idea what is on it. Thus asking for a show via Alexa is kind of pointless....its not there to find in too many instances. Any user interface that is less than about 99% effective is useless as new tech.


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## foghorn2 (May 4, 2004)

I'd love to be able to use the tivo remote to dim or kill the lights before a movie. I have no dot there.


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## stonewallers (Apr 8, 2010)

I found a link where someone has already done this with a Raspberry Pi and IFTTT . As soon as I get my new linux build up and running (mainly as a media/knttg/plex server), I'm going to try this.

When I saw this link I was disappointed because I saw it was set up to work with Alexa and I already made the decision to go with goggle home. Of course then I saw that goggle assistant was also in the image, so nevermind.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

What a refreshing change it would be to see a promotional blurb that actually talked specifics rather than nebulous PR catch phrases. All I can get out of this one is that TiVo's primary mechanism for smart homes is IFTTT -- not particularly impressive IMHO, given the time delays, sometimes excessive, exhibited by this service.

Given the irritating rough edges of Rovi guide data (still there after 1.5 years) and their deleterious effects on One-Pass reliability, I am really unimpressed with this:


> Our customers have fallen in love with our innovative entertainment features - OnePass™ ........


Of course we users know that the OnePass (formerly known as Season Pass) experience has degraded considerably from what is was two years ago, when many of us were already in love with it.

Personally I would rather have a job digging ditches or flipping burgers than being tasked with generating this BS.

Maybe this will be something useful -- just wish they would put the same enthusiasm into fixing the guide data and preventing our clocks from going off by 2 minutes.


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

dlfl said:


> ... TiVo's primary mechanism for smart homes is IFTTT -- not particularly impressive IMHO, given the time delays, sometimes excessive, exhibited by this service...


I've experienced very short delays. I guess what is acceptable vs excessive is in the eye of the beholder.


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

jcthorne said:


> Hmm, yet another voice activation method I will never use.


This is more than "voice" with features that detect events and respond. Most of the example provided such as auto commercial skip have nothing to do with voice.


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## sangs (Jan 1, 2003)

*****, *****, *****, *****, *****. Jesus, some of you people are just miserable for the sake of being miserable. Embrace the future, because there's no going back. Looks good Tivo_Ted and thanks very much for sharing with us.


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## TiffanyAnn (Jan 9, 2018)

This is at CES right? Where are they? I was just coming on to see if anyone knows what booth(s) I can find Tivo at since they are not registered on the CES site. I sent a message about it to the TiVo FB page yesterday and still have not received a response.


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## longrider (Oct 26, 2017)

TiffanyAnn said:


> This is at CES right? Where are they? I was just coming on to see if anyone knows what booth(s) I can find Tivo at since they are not registered on the CES site. I sent a message about it to the TiVo FB page yesterday and still have not received a response.


My understanding is that TiVo is not in the public halls of CES but is set up in a private room that is invitation only


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

sangs said:


> *****, *****, *****, *****, *****. Jesus, some of you people are just miserable for the sake of being miserable. Embrace the future, because there's no going back. Looks good Tivo_Ted and thanks very much for sharing with us.


My dumb as sh** home will do just fine in the future. All I want from TiVo are reliable, easy to use OTA DVRs, if they don't want to be in that business, then I will just wish them well and move on.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

JACKASTOR said:


> So How do I re upgrade my bolt. I can not find my device on the early access request site and repeated calls to customer service are non resultant. Can you or any one advise?


I'm thinking this should be in another tread as that has nothing to do with the Smart Home offering.

I'm just hoping all of these new tweaks will allow me to use skipmode in the Android app and to pause with my Dot.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

sangs said:


> *****, *****, *****, *****, *****. Jesus, ........


Please watch your language! BTW, a complaint about deficient performance does not indicate the complainer is "just being miserable for the sake of being miserable".


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## windracer (Jan 3, 2003)

I'm definitely curious to see what they do/support with the Alexa/Google Home integration.


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## TiVo_Ted (Oct 3, 2000)

I’ll get some more details out soon, but first I’d like to say that this innovation has nothing to do with making the box more stable, fixing Hydra related UI concerns, etc. These are different types of engineers and do not have overlapping skills. 

First, there are 3 things being shown - a standalone Alexa skill, a stand-alone Google skill and IFTTT integration. You can use one, two or all three. Alexa does not require IFTTT. 

Further, all of this functionality will work on Premiere, Roamio, BOLT and MINI devices. Also, gen4/Hydra is not required. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## windracer (Jan 3, 2003)

TiVo_Ted said:


> Further, all of this functionality will work on Premiere, Roamio, BOLT and MINI devices. Also, gen4/Hydra is not required.


Very cool ... looking forward to the actual announcement and getting to try out the new features.


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## mjthor1 (May 31, 2006)

TiVo_Ted said:


> I'll get some more details out soon, but first I'd like to say that this innovation has nothing to do with making the box more stable, fixing Hydra related UI concerns, etc. These are different types of engineers and do not have overlapping skills.
> 
> First, there are 3 things being shown - a standalone Alexa skill, a stand-alone Google skill and IFTTT integration. You can use one, two or all three. Alexa does not require IFTTT.
> 
> ...


Awesome. Thanks Ted.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

ah30k said:


> This is more than "voice" with features that detect events and respond. Most of the example provided such as auto commercial skip have nothing to do with voice.


Alexa and Google Assistant are both Voice user interfaces. That was the whole subject of the press release. The logic exerted on the voice command after the fact is kind of pointless if the data asked for is not present a significant portion of the time.

Essentially what search in the current interface cannot find, this new voice UI will not either. Actually less as the voice recognition is less than 100% and its interpretation of your command vs what shows are actually listed under in the Rovi database will seldom match well.

I really see this as a fun new toy that will go nowhere for real usability.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

TiVo_Ted said:


> First, there are 3 things being shown - a standalone Alexa skill, a stand-alone Google skill and IFTTT integration. You can use one, two or all three. Alexa does not require IFTTT.


Sounds good to me since we just got an Echo for Christmas. Thank you for the more detailed information and always appreciate the information and support that you are providing here.

Scott


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

My last two posts sound very negative and anti progress. That was not my intent so please let me clarify.

I was one person that really bought in to the Tivo 'One Box' or all my video accessible from one place functionality. Tivo got pretty close to making that a reality a couple years ago but its gone WAY too far in the wrong direction. Where tivo seems to be going is a streaming service index function with the only real intent is to show you locations to purchase or pay to stream content. IE spend money. Not to index, find and present to me the content I already pay for and have access to. Search results more and more show streaming services I do not subscribe to when ones I do already have the content. Plex content does not show up at all. And the new Hydra interface, taking away the ability to load content I want to see ON the tivo makes it even less of a one stop shop. IE video is all over the place and I would have to know where its available to watch it on tivo. Exactly the opposite of what Tivo was trying to accomplish.

THIS is why I am so disheartened with the Alexa / Google announcements. Tivo is going further and further away from being a place to find and watch content. Its just a box that allows me to get to content if I already know where it is. Exactly the opposite of what Tivo has been trying to push as an agenda for years. I WANT that box that tivo seems to want to build. A home media unifyer.


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## rdrrepair (Nov 24, 2006)

TiVo_Ted said:


> Further, all of this functionality will work on Premiere, Roamio, BOLT and MINI devices. Also, gen4/Hydra is not required.


 Sound good to me Ted. It seems like some of the newest stuff isn't making it to the Premier. A small example would be Tubi, Hydra would be larger.


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## Tony_T (Nov 2, 2017)

This looks good:
_
Use one of the pre-programmed Applets, and IFTTT can recognize a commercial break and automatically skip right past it, no button press or voice command necessary.
_
&#8230;but it should just be an option in Settings->User Preferences as TiVo SKIP already _recognize(s) a commercial break.
_
(FWIW, I have this working with a Pi Zero, but would prefer it be a TiVo setting)


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

Tony_T said:


> _..._
> &#8230;but it should just be an option in Settings->User Preferences as TiVo SKIP already _recognize(s) a commercial break._
> ...


There must be a legal reason that this hack is needed and not built into the main TiVo options. A hack provided by TiVo/IFTT is better than a hack that I need to create on my own.


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## Tony_T (Nov 2, 2017)

Would a Google Home/Echo, etc be needed for TiVo/IFTT to work?
What does "IFTTT integration" mentioned in the blog mean?

EDIT: Found this: IFTTT helps your apps and devices work together &#8230;reading up on IFTTT integration now 

*EDIT2: So, if I'm reading this right, there will be TiVo Apps available on IFTTT when TiVo gets this up and running?*


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## TiffanyAnn (Jan 9, 2018)

longrider said:


> My understanding is that TiVo is not in the public halls of CES but is set up in a private room that is invitation only


Thanks. That explains why I couldn't find them. I finally got a response to my message on Facebook. It was misspelled and the person said that they couldn't confirm their booth number for me. It was very unprofessional and just generally annoying.

Best, 
Tiffany


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## cwoody222 (Nov 13, 1999)

jcthorne said:


> Search results more and more show streaming services I do not subscribe to when ones I do already have the content.


You do know you can disable any service you don't want to show up in search results, right?


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

The blog from the OP has a video in it... 
Blog - TiVo Introduces Smart Home Integration - TiVo Blog
Demo Video - CES 2018 - SmartHome Demo


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## Tony_T (Nov 2, 2017)

"Good night, sleep tight, l'll record you all night"


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## wish_bgr (Jul 19, 2014)

ah30k said:


> There must be a legal reason that this hack is needed and not built into the main TiVo options. A hack provided by TiVo/IFTT is better than a hack that I need to create on my own.


If I recall, TiVo has a metered/measuring service on the data that TiVo subscribers skip, rewind, ffwd, rewatch, etc that companies can buy to analyze what's being watched (anyone remember when TiVo announced the #1 rewound DVR'd moment was the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake Super Bowl Halftime wardrobe malfunction?) Anything that has to be monitored probably needs user initiation rather than an applet automatically triggering the skip.


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## longrider (Oct 26, 2017)

ah30k said:


> There must be a legal reason that this hack is needed and not built into the main TiVo options. A hack provided by TiVo/IFTT is better than a hack that I need to create on my own.


i suspect it is the same issue that got Dish in a lot of trouble when they first introduced AutoHop. I dont know the current status but back then they had to remove it from some channels and the rest had to wait a day before it became available.


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## adessmith (Oct 5, 2007)

hahahaha.... Classic Rovi guide data FAIL on that video!!!
That's not Family Fued!!! They can't even get their guide data correct for a demo video... hahahaha


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

longrider said:


> i suspect it is the same issue that got Dish in a lot of trouble when they first introduced AutoHop. I dont know the current status but back then they had to remove it from some channels and the rest had to wait a day before it became available.


See also: ReplayTV 'Commercial Advance.'

Forced by lawsuits, the final ReplayTV (55xx) models, prior to the ultimate demise of the company, had eliminated the automatic commercial skipping feature, leaving just the manually-triggered commercial skip functionality, similar to what's offered, today, with TiVo's SkipMode, where the user must take an action to perform the skip.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

Tony_T said:


> "Good night, sleep tight, l'll record ^ you all night"


^for^



adessmith said:


> hahahaha.... Classic Rovi guide data FAIL on that video!!! ... That's not Family Fued!!! They can't even get their guide data correct for a demo video... hahahaha


Heh, nice catch. And it didn't look like a commercial for 'The Talk', though it may have been.








​
p.s. I was underimpressed by the "It's movie time" Netflix launch, since it just took you to the Netflix profiles screen, rather than deeper into the "Movies" section of Netflix under the profile of the person speaking. (Maybe user profiles on the TiVo would help.)


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## adessmith (Oct 5, 2007)

I just want to know when this is happening...


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## MHunter1 (Oct 11, 2007)

wish_bgr said:


> TiVo has a measuring service companies can buy


Stop||Watch


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## Tony_T (Nov 2, 2017)

krkaufman said:


> ^for^


Yes, I know.
I just thought it funny that most of the video used Alexa, but ended with Google Home for: "Good night, sleep tight, l'll record for you all night"

I purposely left out "for" in reference to:
Google Home Mini bug could make it record audio 24/7


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## ah30k (Jan 9, 2006)

adessmith said:


> hahahaha.... Classic Rovi guide data FAIL on that video!!!
> That's not Family Fued!!! They can't even get their guide data correct for a demo video... hahahaha


Funny, but this is likely from a lab environment feed that is jamming a loop of mgeg into a channel. Technically irrelevant but yes, a talking point that they would prefer not be had.


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## scamp (Jun 27, 2002)

Guess I'm glad I didn't buy the new Tivo voice remote for my Roamio as it seems like the same functionality is being offered.


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## buildersboy66 (Dec 9, 2016)

Start fixing what we have today. Must I create a list also? Furthermore stop deleting channels from my guide, and then renaming them something beyond me. Comcast stated they had nothing to do with this round of deleted channels, valid ones in my lineup. Pathetic TiVo you really are.


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## coalponfire (Sep 3, 2015)

So it does what I’ve been doing with the Xbox One for a few years. Nice, Alexa and google assistants win the day I guess. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


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## Tony_T (Nov 2, 2017)

Any idea when this will be available?


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## modnar (Oct 15, 2000)

This is great, but I'd be happy if the VOX functionality on the Roamio would work for me since I bought the new remote...


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## webwzrd (Jan 16, 2018)

Very cool ~ count me in!


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## insane66613 (Nov 4, 2010)

I already use Alexa to perform remote functions such as skip forward, pause, commercial skip etc. I bought a $20 networked Broadlink IR blaster. It has an Alexa skill that requires no separate device to use as a proxy. It is a bit cumbersome to setup since it's made by a Chinese company with sub par English implementation, but its sufficient enough that you can set it up to control any IR command. 

For example, to commecial skip, I say "Alexa, Stop" since I chose to program the stop button to the green D button. You manually program the remote functions by pointing your existing remote at the device. So the same remote can be set to turn on your TV or audio receiver. You can set up multiple remotes as well. I imagine you could set a macro up by programming a channel number with the numbers programmed with the desired commands, ie. you wanted to power multiple devices on with one command.

So while its a bit of a pain to setup and a bit hackish, the end implementation is fairly simple, and you don't have to wait for TiVo's implementation.


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## JACKASTOR (May 26, 2011)

insane66613 said:


> I already use Alexa to perform remote functions such as skip forward, pause, commercial skip etc. I bought a $20 networked Broadlink IR blaster. It has an Alexa skill that requires no separate device to use as a proxy. It is a bit cumbersome to setup since it's made by a Chinese company with sub par English implementation, but its sufficient enough that you can set it up to control any IR command.
> 
> For example, to commecial skip, I say "Alexa, Stop" since I chose to program the stop button to the green D button. You manually program the remote functions by pointing your existing remote at the device. So the same remote can be set to turn on your TV or audio receiver. You can set up multiple remotes as well. I imagine you could set a macro up by programming a channel number with the numbers programmed with the desired commands, ie. you wanted to power multiple devices on with one command.
> 
> So while its a bit of a pain to setup and a bit hackish, the end implementation is fairly simple, and you don't have to wait for TiVo's implementation.


I intergrated my Harmony remotes with Alexa to do the same thing, mind you it was not as cheaply done as you have done. (149$ CD$)


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## mschnebly (Feb 21, 2011)

coalponfire said:


> So it does what I've been doing with the Xbox One for a few years. Nice, Alexa and google assistants win the day I guess.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


I think a lot of folks on this site weren't aware of all the things that other a/v devices have been capable of doing for several years now. Some of these new Hydra features have been available on other equipment for years but now it's "cool" because TiVo is finally trying to catch up.


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## adessmith (Oct 5, 2007)

mschnebly said:


> I think a lot of folks on this site weren't aware of all the things that other a/v devices have been capable of doing for several years now. Some of these new Hydra features have been available on other equipment for years but now it's "cool" because TiVo is finally trying to catch up.


No, it's not just "cool" now that tivo is doing it. It's always been cool, and now I can be excited because I actually USE my tivo and would like to have this capability on IT.
I know the technology has been around and could be used on other devices, but for me it's not just about the existence of the technology, it's the availability of it.
No one ever said this was innovative. I have a harmony hub in 2 rooms of my house and amazon echos in 3...(FWIW, the harmony can only do things like change activities, volume, etc... It can't play specific episodes) I can control all of my lighting via voice, it can lock my front door or even tell me how much gas is in my car. In fact, I can tell it to "play the tonight show on Fire TV" and it will.
All this to say "I am pretty familiar with what other devices can do"... I don't need tivo to score the first points, I just want them to play the same game as everyone else... for me, that is something at least worth looking forward to.


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## Bmaur34 (Aug 1, 2004)

JACKASTOR said:


> I intergrated my Harmony remotes with Alexa to do the same thing, mind you it was not as cheaply done as you have done. (149$ CD$)


Harmony works great with Amazon Echo and the Alexa command, works better than Tivo and Alexa, only need thetovo remote for vox. I bet harmony comes out with a vox type remote if they haven't already.


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## wizwor (Dec 18, 2013)

stonewallers said:


> When I saw this link I was disappointed because I saw it was set up to work with Alexa and I already made the decision to go with goggle home.


Awoke At Last


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