Is a new TiVo imminent?

It is no secret that we have a love hate relationship with TiVo. Many of us use them everyday and could easily fill your ear with gripes. It is one of the reasons we've had TiVo on a deathwatch for almost half of the company's 10 year life. Now we do believe it is the best HD DVR set-top on the market --which isn't saying much -- and because we believe that there is something here to salvage, we try our best to offer some constructive criticism. So when our optimistic side saw news about the $50 price break on the current models, we started to think, dream, that this might be a closeout and that a new TiVo might be imminent.

Here are the facts. TiVo hasn't released a new DVR since the TiVo HD in the Summer of 2007. The last major TiVo announcement was September of 2008 when a new DirecTV HD TiVo was revealed. The chip that makes the TiVo magic happen just got a big upgrade when Broadcom announced the super feature rich BCM7125. A new 802.11N WiFi adapter was submitted to the FCC, even though the current TiVos can barely utilize all of a 802.11G connection. Add all of this in with the fact that 2010 is supposed to be the big year for a real tru2way launch, and we officially have our hopes up that TiVo has a big announcement for 10th CES in January. Now before you get too excited, we should point out that TiVo hasn't made any big announcements at CES since 2005, and has even told some that TiVo won't make big announcements at the show because they tend to be overshadowed. Now we'd argue that if you have something big enough to be a highlight of the show, then there is no better time, otherwise yeah, wait for a slow news day. All that being said, the original DirecTV TiVo HD (2004) and the Series 3 (2005) were both announced at the big show. Of course we will have to wait to find out, but in the meantime click through to see our personal wish list.

Here is our TiVo wish list.

• A new 3D 16x9 HD optimized user interface, similar to the look of the new search -- we could go on and on with improvements in the UI, but we'll save that for another post.

• At least four HD tuners -- current CableCARDs can authorize 6 HD streams.

• Real multi-room viewing with automatic conflict resolution and a consolidated ToDo list and Now Playing list -- content should be steamed and not copied so that even Copy Once content will play in any room.

• MoCa 1.1 so the TiVos can communicate without WiFi or Ethernet -- this is how the FiOS multi-room DVRs work.

• Native VOD, PPV and SDV support via tru2way -- we know this is possible, make it happen.

• More and, better integrated, web features -- everyone knows they look tacked on.

• DLNA adoption and maybe even join the RVU Alliance -- this one even seems to good to be a dream.