How is Yahoo TV able to use TIVO to record shows while I go off to another country?

Question

It appears that I can get on Yahoo TV overseas and send a message to a TIVO box to record my favorite show that I forgot to program. How does a signal get sent from Yahoo to the TIVO box? This is fantastic!

Answer 1

Yahoo TV scheduling for TiVo works like TiVo Online Scheduling for the Series 2 TiVo:



You select the shows you want to record and this is submitted to a central database. The next time your TiVo connects to update, it'll pick up the recording request and schedule it. The message is not sent directly to your TiVo.

http://www.tivo.com/4.1.faq.asp#7



This implies something important -- recording requests are not immediately picked up by your TiVo. In fact, it could take as much as 36 hours which is approximately the synchronization cycle for the TiVo.



If you want the TiVo to pick up the scheduling more quickly, you need to have TiVo set up for an internet connection:

http://www.tivo.com/4.1.faq.asp#19

Answer 2

The same way you communicate over the internet. The TIVO is esentialy a hard drive that is connected to the internet. You send it a message and it does what you tell it.