TiVo: We Need a Keyboard!
At WeaKnees, we’ve always wanted better access to the letter-entry screens on our TiVos. Originally, we wanted this for finding shows, and creating Season Passes and WishLists.
But now, with the amount of Video on Demand available on these units, it’s becoming untenable to either use a remote with just directional keys, or to shuttle back and forth between a computer or smartphone and a TiVo.
Seems we’re not alone. This NYTimes article talks about a study comparing Amazon VOD to Netflix Streaming (both happily available on many TiVo DVRs) and the while the main conclusion of the small study is that each offering works for a different group of people, each group was united in their need for a better way to manage the possibilities of the video to be streamed.
Enter, the TiVo keyboard. Except, it doesn’t exist. And there are no IR codes for it. Yes, you can do more and more from a computer or a smartphone, but we love our TiVos! We want to do this right in the TiVo interface! Give the people what they want!
8 comments 
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November 4th, 2009 at 9:45 am
I’d think our smartphones could BE our keyboards. Let me pull up a TiVo control panel right on my iPhone or iPod touch and use its on-screen keyboard from the couch.
Of course, we could also go the WebTV IR keyboard route. There must be a bunch of those sitting in a warehouse somewhere…
November 4th, 2009 at 9:58 am
I agree with MHA. TiVo should let us use our phones the same way the Boxee iPhone app does.
November 4th, 2009 at 10:08 am
If you have an iPhone, you can get an app to type on the TiVo keyboard; I use DVR Remote.
November 4th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
I’ve been saying this for years now: http://rbiii.wordpress.com/2007/10/10/tivo-idea/
Michael, does DVR Remote work with a Series 2 TiVo?
November 4th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Thanks, Michael! Just grabbed the lite version to try.
November 17th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
100% True a Key Board would be a great ad on to a large drive TIVO unit. I have gotton real good with the TIVO peanut remote. But still stick a USB port on the side and let us hook up a keyboard.
November 24th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
[...] have been begging for this for ages now, most recently just two weeks ago. GIVE US A REMOTE WITH A [...]
November 24th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
[...] This isn’t the first time that TiVo has mentioned a keyboard remote. I know there are a lot of people out there who have requested this feature so hopefully we’ll see something soon (CES?). “To that [...]