Verizon Enables TiVo Addicts to Schedule Recordings from Afar

For $1.99 per month, Verizon Wireless customers who also subscribe to TiVo digital video recorder (DVR) services will be able to use their Get It Now-enabled mobile phones to access the TiVo user interface remotely and record their favorite shows. Now they needn't miss a minute of American Idol.I think we've all been there. Stranded somewhere, far away from our homes, when the realization hits us: We forgot to program the TiVo to record (insert favorite television show here) tonight. For me, it always seems to be when I travel. With so many things to do before walking out the door, hitting up the TiVo always seems to slip my mind. And it's not that I am missing Law & Order re-runs, it always seems to be a major show that I am addicted to, like 24 or Battlestar Galactica. Argh!

Well, I no longer need throw up my arms in frustration. The new service from TiVo and Verizon will only work with select handsets to start, and TiVo Series2 and Series3 set-top boxes. Even so, we've come a long way from having to program the VCR to record television shows.

The service comes in the form of an application developed by Action Engine that you download to your phone through Verizon's Get It Now portal. Of course, you have to pay a $1.99 per month subscription fee. But hey, think about all the heartache you'll save.

AT&T and Sprint are working on similar service, but have yet to announce anything.