TiVo today introduced version 2.6 of TiVo Desktop for Windows, adding deeper support for Web videos and podcasts.

Features include:

• You can now transfer all your downloaded Web Video from your PC to your TiVo DVR so you can watch them on your TV.
• Automatic conversions of your TiVoToGo transfers to support portable devices that support MPEG-4 or H.264 video‚ÄîTransfer video to your iPod, PSP, Treo, Nokia and other portables devices.
• Set automatic transfers of your favorite shows and videos from your PC to your TiVo DVR.
• Improved video quality and aspect ratio in the Series3 and TiVo HD DVRs when downloading high-quality video.
• Automatically transfer shows from your TiVo DVR to a Windows PC or laptop.
• Browse and listen to your computer‚Äôs MP3 library from your TiVo DVR.
• Watch full-screen slide shows of your computer‚Äôs digital photo collection on your TV.

In a nutshell, the updated Tivo Desktop for Windows allows you to sync content automatically between your TiVo and Windows computers and peripheral devices.

Unfortunately, TiVo’s support for podcasts is fairly convoluted. Details below.

Here are TiVo’s instructions for downloading Web videos:

Downloads and transfers

In order to transfer web videos to your TiVo DVR, your PC needs to be linked to your TiVo account and your DVR needs to have video downloads and transfers enabled. You can enable these features, from Manage My Account on www.tivo.com.

Transfer videos from your computer to your TiVo DVR! Here’s how:

• Click the Add Video button.
• Browse to any folder that contains video files. (Check the list of supported video formats below.)
• Click Add.
• Set your Publishing Properties, such as whether to transfer videos in this folder to your DVR automatically.
• Click OK. The folder is published, and the videos are ready to transfer to your TiVo DVR.

Note: Video files in the My TiVo Recordings folder on your computer are automatically ready to transfer to your TiVo DVR. Videos that are not auto-transferred can be requested from the bottom of your DVR’s Now Playing list. Where is this folder?

To watch the videos on your TiVo DVR:

• Select your computer from the DVR‚Äôs Now Playing List.
• Highlight a video in the list and press SELECT.
• Choose ‚ÄúWatch on this TV‚Äù to start the transfer. When the transfer starts, you have the option of watching the video immediately or continuing to browse for additional videos to transfer.

For more details, use the “Help->Online Support” menu to search for “web video transfers.”

Supported video formats include:

• Windows Media Video (.wmv)
• QuickTime Movie (.mov)
• MPEG-4 / H.264 (.mp4, .m4v, .mp4v)
• DivX or Xvid (.avi, .divx, encoded with the DivX codec, version 4 or higher, or with the Xvid codec. No other video formats are supported within .AVI files.)

Note: Video files other than MPEG-2 and .tivo files require the TiVo Desktop Plus upgrade key. Files with digital rights management (DRM) or other copy protection are not supported.

QuickTime: Apple QuickTime 7.1.3 or above is required to move QuickTime movies or MPEG-4/H.264 formats to your TiVo DVR.

The new features are powerful, but their complexity is likely to significantly limit their use.

via Slashdot