Tivo owners now have a new convenient way to view their photos on the TV. Thanks to a partnership with both Picasa and Photobucket, users can access their photos (assuming they’re an account holder for either service) right from their broadband connected Tivo device. Depending on the model of Tivo that they own, they can even view them in HD. Aside from viewing your own photos, users will also be able to search either site by keyword to view random photos.
Lots of Tivo fans are sure to be happy about this, but to be honest, I’m surprised with the move. I’m not surprised at the fact that they’re offering this, but more surprised at who they’ve partnered with. They used to offer support for Yahoo! Photos which we all know is no longer available – Yahoo retired it to focus on Flickr. Given that Flickr is now owned by Yahoo, you would have thought that Tivo would have went on to support Flickr accounts. Any guesses as to why they’re not?
If Alexa is anything to go by, Flickr is currently the most popular photo sharing service on the web. Photobucket is certainly close behind, but Google’s Picasa isn’t too close to either service. Not only did Tivo leave Yahoo behind, they switched to offering support to Yahoo’s competitor, Google! Either way, this new feature will be enjoyed by all of those Tivo users who want to easily share photos with friends and family gathered around the TV. Now I’m wondering when Apple will follow in Tivo’s footsteps and offer something similar?
Very nice…i’m dying to get rid of my cable provider provided set top box…
The title is, “How to View Picasa and Photobucket Photos on Tivo” but you don’t mention how to actually view the photos from either service.
What gives?
They do it all(GOOGLE)
Sorry, I thought I had put the steps in there:
1. Select the Music, Photos, Products, & More menu from TiVo Central
2. Click on Photos & Slideshows
3. Click on Photobucket or Picasa Web Albums
That’s all there is to it! Pretty simple.