# Tivo Stream 4k Thread



## stuart628

TiVo Unveils a Streaming Player to Compete with Roku, Fire TV, & More - Cord Cutters News
TiVo's $50 Stream 4K dongle takes aim at cord-cutters in April

Just announced at Ces, info still coming out...Looks like it will have live tv streaming services (they mention Sling as the preferred but that tells me that all of them will work with it). I wonder how this will integrate...man I would love to get my hands on one and do a first look!


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## NightmarePatrol

Figures they would do this since I just converted the house to streaming and outfitted everything with a Roku. If it's compelling enough I might just snag one. I'll wait for the reviews to trickle in first.


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## Pokemon_Dad

NightmarePatrol said:


> Figures they would do this since I just converted the house to streaming and outfitted everything with a Roku. If it's compelling enough I might just snag one. I'll wait for the reviews to trickle in first.


Yup. I waited and waited, tried and tried to make my TiVo boxes handle streaming, and then finally went Fire TV throughout the house. Too late, TiVo. Or RiVo. Or XperiVo, or whatever your name is now.

For some reason discussion of this topic took off in another thread posted in the Coffee House approximately 15 minutes later: TiVo Launches $50 Streaming Video Player to Take On Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV

I assume all these threads will get moved to a new Stream 4K forum soon.


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## alexzogh

Does anyone know if this actually works with a TIVO? It doesn't say anywhere.... very strange.


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## Pokemon_Dad

alexzogh said:


> Does anyone know if this actually works with a TIVO? It doesn't say anywhere.... very strange.


It does not. Maybe someday, but no guarantees. This is a very bizarre and sad situation. You'll find more information on this thread, five pages worth so far: TiVo Launches $50 Streaming Video Player to Take On Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV


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## McNublette

Pokemon_Dad said:


> It does not. Maybe someday, but no guarantees. This is a very bizarre and sad situation. You'll find more information on this thread, five pages worth so far: TiVo Launches $50 Streaming Video Player to Take On Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV


This is what i've been trying to figure out. Can i use this to replace physical hardware. I have a few old tivo-mini's that are showing their age, and it's rather hard for me to drop 200 bucks for a room that rarely is used for TV watching. I was hoping that I could shelve all the mini's - and put my bolt in a server closet. Then use these devices as the interface to my 4tb dvr. I love streaming services and IoT stuff, but I prefer to keep my data local!


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## Pokemon_Dad

McNublette said:


> This is what i've been trying to figure out. Can i use this to replace physical hardware. I have a few old tivo-mini's that are showing their age, and it's rather hard for me to drop 200 bucks for a room that rarely is used for TV watching. I was hoping that I could shelve all the mini's - and put my bolt in a server closet. Then use these devices as the interface to my 4tb dvr. I love streaming services and IoT stuff, but I prefer to keep my data local!


It's encouraging that the CEO recently wrote about "when", not if, they will connect the product lines, but he clearly has no specific plan for that at this time. And it sounds like TiVo_Ted and perhaps others at TiVo would definitely like to finish developing the app that would do just that for us, but the reality is, as Ted posted when he recently surfaced here, it's the cable companies with their installed base of TiVo products that may help push TiVo to do it. That is a much larger market than us retail consumers.

What is wrong with your Mini units? Are they working OK with your TiVo? I have a Roamio Pro in a closet and three Mini 93000 units working perfectly (knock-on-wood), as long as I do not use them for streaming. I have Fire TV products for 4K streaming, so I don't really need the Stream 4K at all unless it helps expand my local TiVo network.

I'm also testing Channels DVR, in case TiVo abandons us completely under the current owners or the next. Channels offers client apps for most platforms including Fire TV ...and also Android, so it will likely work on the Stream 4K long before TiVo ever produces a DVR client app for their own dongle.


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## McNublette

Pokemon_Dad said:


> It's encouraging that the CEO recently wrote about "when", not if, they will connect the product lines, but he clearly has no specific plan for that at this time. And it sounds like TiVo_Ted and perhaps others at TiVo would definitely like to finish developing the app that would do just that for us, but the reality is, as Ted posted when he recently surfaced here, it's the cable companies with their installed base of TiVo products that may help push TiVo to do it. That is a much larger market than us retail consumers.
> 
> What is wrong with your Mini units? Are they working OK with your TiVo? I have a Roamio Pro in a closet and three Mini 93000 units working perfectly (knock-on-wood), as long as I do not use them for streaming. I have Fire TV products for 4K streaming, so I don't really need the Stream 4K at all unless it helps expand my local TiVo network.
> 
> I'm also testing Channels DVR, in case TiVo abandons us completely under the current owners or the next. Channels offers client apps for most platforms including Fire TV ...and also Android, so it will likely work on the Stream 4K long before TiVo ever produces a DVR client app for their own dongle.


Problem with the mini's is that they are gen 1's and the streaming apps are such a headache. They freeze a lot of the time. Watching the dvr isn't an issue as i use MocA setup. I was just hoping to avoid purchasing a new tivo mini vox because.

a. I already bough the vox remote for the older tivo.
b. the price of a tivo mini vox is the same price for a 43 inch smart tv where i can use updated streaming apps.
c. I could buy a tivo bolt for less than a tivo mini vox! (yeah i know subscription)

Now what I would love for them to do and I would be happy about, is sell the new remotes! I'm so tired of the giant peanut!! 29 dollars for the new remote to pair to my old devices and i'll forgive you Tivo for not making the stream something to replace the mini's! (for now!)


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## AussieFigjam

I really like the idea of this product, and I know it runs Android TV, which is what I'm most interested in, but I need it to handle casting also, since not every streaming app is available for Android TV.

Can anyone confirm if this has chromecast built in like most Android TV products, so that I can cast from my phone?

Thanks


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## bvigne01

McNublette said:


> This is what i've been trying to figure out. Can i use this to replace physical hardware. I have a few old tivo-mini's that are showing their age, and it's rather hard for me to drop 200 bucks for a room that rarely is used for TV watching. I was hoping that I could shelve all the mini's - and put my bolt in a server closet. Then use these devices as the interface to my 4tb dvr. I love streaming services and IoT stuff, but I prefer to keep my data local!





stuart628 said:


> TiVo Unveils a Streaming Player to Compete with Roku, Fire TV, & More - Cord Cutters News
> TiVo's $50 Stream 4K dongle takes aim at cord-cutters in April
> 
> Just announced at Ces, info still coming out...Looks like it will have live tv streaming services (they mention Sling as the preferred but that tells me that all of them will work with it). I wonder how this will integrate...man I would love to get my hands on one and do a first look!


I like the idea of this device but I'm not a fan of the cloud. Tivo should partner with Synology or Drobo so I can store the recordings locally. I like having my recordings local. I'm my internet goes down I still have content to watch


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## AussieFigjam

bvigne01 said:


> I like the idea of this device but I'm not a fan of the cloud. Tivo should partner with Synology or Drobo so I can store the recordings locally. I like having my recordings local. I'm my internet goes down I still have content to watch


Just use Plex to stream it. There is an Android TV version that works perfectly, and it supports 4k; I use it all the time for this. Plex is also searchable, and it shows up on the Android TV main "keep watching" and "watch next" main menu bars. Google searches on the platform aslo show Plex results from your library, so it would not be too hard to integrate in to the Tivo results (if they were willing).


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## Alpha1847

So, no one is aware of any commitment to leverage the Stream player as an extender? After 15 years of various Tivos, I think I'm done. My 4 Tivo minis are useless for streaming (freeze up) and after dropping mlb.tv last year, I refuse to invest in new hardware. I had been patiently waiting for the Roku, FireTV and Apple TV apps they promised to start rolling out in Q2 2019, only to recently find out they pulled the plug. That was prob the only way I could justify sticking around.


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## Pokemon_Dad

Alpha1847 said:


> So, no one is aware of any commitment to leverage the Stream player as an extender?


No commitment. There is some hope, though it may have feathers: https://www.tivocommunity.com/community/index.php?threads/has-tivo_ted...


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## TeamPace

Ok, tomorrow is April 1st and still no word on when the TiVo Stream 4K will be available, sigh. I guess TiVo has never learned the principal of under promising and over deliver?


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## Alpha1847

This has been a pattern for a while now. Instead of continuous improvements, we get a constantly shifting roadmap with long-term promises that are rarely delivered on schedule. They probably hope this is enough for long-term customers like myself to hang on a bit longer, due to our sunk costs. I think they fail to realize that when we have no choice but to move on from their ecosystem, there won't be any coming back.

My 4 mini boxes are basically useless, as they freeze up when you stream. The iOS app is also terrible, constantly logging out and terribly slow (despite having plenty of horsepower with the latest iPad Pro running on one of the best mesh Wifi systems available). My Tivo setup has become the worst performing part of my setup at home.


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## Pokemon_Dad

TeamPace said:


> Ok, tomorrow is April 1st and still no word on when the TiVo Stream 4K will be available, sigh. I guess TiVo has never learned the principal of under promising and over deliver?


If it were scheduled to be released on April 1st, then the press release would be embargoed until April 1st. But as they can't even go into their offices until May at the earliest, I won't be surprised if this gets delayed.


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## Lenonn

Presumably the interface is going to be TE4. Anyone know if pre-roll ads will be part of the Stream 4K?


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## pfiagra

Lenonn said:


> Presumably the interface is going to be TE4. Anyone know if pre-roll ads will be part of the Stream 4K?


I don't think anybody knows yet (and TiVo hasn't yet highlighted this 'feature' in their Stream 4K promo videos  ).


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## Mikeguy

Gotcha! :smilingimp::smilingimp::smilingimp:


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## mgama

I saw ads on Facebook for the Tivo Stream 4k and am a bit interested. I watched all their videos on their website, with various employees talking the product up, however no actual demo of the product. I have a couple questions that I couldn't find answers to, and maybe no one knows since it hasn't been released. But if anyone knows:

Will it still do Tivo's Season Pass style tracking for shows?

When clicking in the Tivo interface to watch the new episode of a show, does it immediately start streaming, or does it launch you into the appropriate streaming app? If it launches you into the app, do you arrive at the right show/episode and can just hit play, or do you need to do some navigation to find the right episode?


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## Pokemon_Dad

mgama said:


> I saw ads on Facebook for the Tivo Stream 4k and am a bit interested. I watched all their videos on their website, with various employees talking the product up, however no actual demo of the product. I have a couple questions that I couldn't find answers to, and maybe no one knows since it hasn't been released. But if anyone knows:
> 
> Will it still do Tivo's Season Pass style tracking for shows?
> 
> When clicking in the Tivo interface to watch the new episode of a show, does it immediately start streaming, or does it launch you into the appropriate streaming app? If it launches you into the app, do you arrive at the right show/episode and can just hit play, or do you need to do some navigation to find the right episode?


Nobody really knows, because it's not available yet. Maybe next week. Or not. But maybe you'll get good info out of watching their "sneak peak" marketing videos. Or not.

Below is the first one of seven or so they've released so far. (Most discussion of this product is in another thread, here: https://www.tivocommunity.com/community/index.php?threads/tivo-launches...575264/)


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## mgama

Pokemon_Dad said:


> But maybe you'll get good info out of watching their "sneak peak" marketing videos. Or not.


Those are the ones I referred to in my post. Watched them all but none actually show any interaction with the product.


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## Pokemon_Dad

mgama said:


> Those are the ones I referred to in my post. Watched them all but none actually show any interaction with the product.


Well hang in there, the launch may happen this week!


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## vurbano

I dont understand what they are thinking. Its SLING oriented but sling does not offer but one or two of my local OTA channels? Why would anyone want that?


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## Pokemon_Dad

vurbano said:


> I dont understand what they are thinking. Its SLING oriented but sling does not offer but one or two of my local OTA channels? Why would anyone want that?


They're thinking their latest corporate masters want them to add a pure streaming play, and their latest CEO used to be with Dish (owners of Sling), so hey let's do a deal with them. This plan intentionally excludes any thoughts of OTA, or cable, or anything else except having that ticket punched, for now at least.


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## vurbano

I see sling pushing an antenna on their website. OMG back to the 90's and antennas with Directv to get HD locals.


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## Pokemon_Dad

vurbano said:


> I see sling pushing an antenna on their website. OMG back to the 90's and antennas with Directv to get HD locals.


Actually OTA (over the air) reception is a thing again, paired with streaming as part of many a cord-cutting strategy. Another alternative option for locals in some markets is Locast, but to DVR that you'd need to switch from TiVo to something like Channels DVR. (Channels is also beta testing access to locals via TV Everywhere, but that's not really cutting the cord). OTA is moving into a new generation, ATSC 3.0, and new tuners are coming, but nothing from TiVo looks likely.

Oh and in case you didn't see the news in another thread, the Stream 4K has been delayed by at least a few weeks. Sounds like having everyone required to work from home has slowed down the launch.


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## Pokemon_Dad

It's now available for sale here: TiVo Stream 4K | Make your favorite apps feel like TV

The main discussion thread is here: TiVo Launches $50 Streaming Video Player to Take On Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV


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