TiVo releases Desktop 2.7 for Windows

It's been just under a year since TiVo last updated its Desktop software which allows videos to be shared between a user's TiVO DVR and PC or other networked devices. Now there's a new version for both Desktop and Desktop Plus users.

TiVo Desktop has received some noteworthy improvements, chief among them being the software's ability to group .tivo recordings on the PC by series when they are viewed on the DVR. Also, automatic transfers from the DVR now have the "Keep at Most..." value like Season Pass allows, and .vob are now treated the same as MPEG-2 files.

TiVo Plus now allows Flip camcorder videos to be played back on the DVR, and automatic transfers can be set to portable device conversion. Some MKV files can now be transferred to the DVR, and to quote the software's release notes, it also "may recognize additional video types based on other software installed on your system."

With these updated features, however, the list of potential bugs is substantial.

Among the bugs, there are several which stand out, for example:

"When transferring Web video or user generated video to your TiVo DVR, certain files will consistently fail to transfer completely and will also block subsequent transfers. Restarting your computer will restore the ability to transfer files. Do not make additional attempts to transfer any file that causes this problem."

So, if a particular video fails to transfer, it will completely block all other videos from transferring until the computer is rebooted. Without specific conditions to avoid, some users could face repeated mandatory reboots.

Another rather disconcerting bug is also lacking in detail: "For a small number of users, the TiVo Server process consumes more and more memory over time."