The New TiVos Only Have One Killer Feature

TiVo announced a new line of DVRs this morning. They're really expensive, $600 if you want the top-of-the line model that can record a whopping 450 hours of HD video.

Chances are pretty good most people won't want to buy one of the new TiVos, especially because most cable companies will give you a DVR that works just fine for free and charge you about the same monthly service fee that TiVo does.

But!

The new TiVos do have a really cool, super-useful feature that your cable company's DVR doesn't have. They let you beam recorded shows to your iPhone or iPad over your home's WiFi network. Even better, you can download the shows directly to your device so you can watch them if you're not connected to the Internet, which is perfect for plane or subway rides.

That's pretty cool. In a demo with the folks at TiVo last week, the DVR-to-iPad streaming feature worked flawlessly. Eventually, TiVo will have an update that will let you beam videos from your DVR to your iPhone/iPad no matter where you are, as long as you have a WiFi connection.

Is the iPhone/iPad streaming worth a few extra hundred dollars? For most, probably not. But for the TV-obsessed, it's a pretty nice bonus.