TiVo adds external disk support to HD, Series 3 DVRs

TV recorder maker TiVo today quietly slipped out a software upgrade for the TiVo HD and TiVo Series 3 that adds support for external storage to the DVRs. Using the external SATA port that has been present but unused on the devices since launch, the 9.2 update lets users plug in any hard drive that passes TiVo's standards to expand the available recording time beyond the 32 hours of HD for the Series 3 and 20 for the simpler TiVo HD. No special setup is needed beyond restarting the DVR for it to recognize the extra space, according to users who have received the update.

Videos from Amazon's Unbox download service are also now set to download during playback and can start immediately if enough of the video has already been downloaded, according to reports. In tune with most upgrades, TiVo is automatically pushing the update to users gradually rather than allowing selective downloads. A page to ask for a priority update is not yet available and has not been announced. [via TiVo Community forums]