The TiVo Personal video recorder is a consumer video component allowing users to capture television programming to internal hard drive storage. TiVo systems function similarly to VCRs, but use non-removable hard-disk storage, and contain much more sophisticated software to record programming - not only programs the user specifically requests, but also other material the user is likely to be interested in. The device was created by TiVo Inc., a company started by veterans of Silicon Graphics and Time Warner's Full Service Network digital video system. TiVo can also refer to TiVo Incorporated, the company that manufactures the device, as well as the TiVo service, which is the network that the recorder itself communicates with. In the United States, TiVo has also become somewhat of a genericized trademark, and is commonly used as a verb to describe the digital recording of a television program with any DVR hardware or software. The TiVo service is only available to the United States and the United Kingdom at present, but has also been modified by end users to work in Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
TiVos allow a user to specify programming to record by time, program name, genre, or other more complex parameters. Utilizing an internal programming guide (updated nightly via phone or network connection to TiVo headquarters), the TiVo selects and records the desired programming. Programming may be stored until the large internal hard disk is filled to capacity, at which time the unit will dispose of older or less desired programs in favor of space to record new ones. This practice of automatically recording programs for later viewing is often referred to as time shifting. The name TiVo is formed from a combination of the well known abbreviations TV and io: Television Input/Output. This is essentially the concept of the product.
Besides recording programs specified by the users, the units also can automatically record programs that are based on interests of the users; each time the users are watching a program, they can tell TiVo whether they favor that show or not. That is used as a profile and TiVo can start to record programs that might fit to preference of the users without explicitly specifying such programs. This helps the users to discover programs they never heard of but would find interesting. This innovative feature was intended to change the way people watch TV.
In addition to recording specific programs, the TiVo unit constantly records the incoming television signal, allowing users to pause or rewind "live" TV within a short (generally 30 minute) buffer. This allows the users to watch shows that are still being recorded. The classic way to watch "live" TV with a TiVo is to start watching 10-15 minutes after the program you're interested in has started. Thus the TiVo has a 10-15 minute buffer built up that you can use to fast-forward through commercials as the program progresses. This is one of the most obvious advantages of TiVo over traditional VCRs. Seasoned TiVo users hardly ever watch live TV.
Another advantage over traditional tape based recorders is that users can watch a recording from TiVo as it records another program. Some users exchange TV programs via the Internet using file-sharing programs. This has created some legal issues, mainly in the United States.
