Last fall, it was reported that DirecTV had heard the rumblings of the many DVR users it has, and that several updates were on the way in January.

Well, some of the units have been pushed further back, to receive their updates in February, but for now, the HR20-700 will be gaining the ability to be programmed from a customer’s cell phone. With so little that is new on television, it is amazing that this was a feature rolled out first, but it will allow busy people another way to avoid missing favorite material.

Strangely, the promised rewards to the DirecTiVo faithful have yet to materialize. No one in customer service seems to have a clue what is being asked, as they know that DirecTV is no longer selling TiVo units.

Since it was reported in several places, and no retraction has come, it is assumed by this writer that the TiVo updates for DirecTiVos is still on the way - just delayed, kind of like the television programming of the second season.  Checks of the 2 TiVos in this house occur at least twice a week since January 1, to discover any updates to the system. So far, no joy.

perhaps a consultation will bring answers to when the promised upgrades will take place!

With the rather large push DirecTV is making right now, with the typical lulls after the holiday season, it is possible that these little updates are not the first things thought of when advertising dollars are allocated. Everyone knows that the already converted are taken for granted, and the holy grail is conversion of all the non-believers.

For those who own the covered model, almost any cell phone with Internet access and the Internet Explorer or Opera browser will enable distant programming of these DVRs.

-

[tags] DirecTV, remote programming, DirecTiVo, TiVo programming changes, DVR remote control, Opera, Internet Explorer [/tags]