I had a chance to work with the software recently prior to its official release; Here's what I found.
The Tivo2Go interface
Browsing your Tivo files is a simple process, assuming your Tivo is media enabled and active on your home network. Just get the media access code form your online Tivo account or from the DVR and enter that code when launching Tivo Transfer for the first time.
Inside the Tivo Transfer application you will see all the media-enabled Tivo systems on your network. Simply choose the files you want to download to your computer and click start transfer; Yes, it's that easy. For shows with a season pass, your can create an auto-transfer that will download your files whenever the Tivo transfer application is launched and a new episode is available.
Once you have downloaded the file, it can be viewed in Toast 8 using the Toast Video Player Application. As you can see, there are a number of options within the application, including support for multiple aspect ratios. Of course, you can also use the DVD-burning feature and copy the Tivo files to a DVD or export them to iTunes.
The only problem I had with Tivo's to go system -- and it's actually the same complaint that PC users have had with the service -- is that downloading from the Tivo takes a very long time. If you have one of the original Series 2 systems with the home media option, you are working from a USB 1.0 device and the download will be excruciatingly slow. Options for increasing download speed are to get a Series 3 Tivo with Ethernet or get the special Tivo 802.11g USB 2.0 adapter, which provides, in Tivo's words "Optimized wireless performance with your Tivo DVR."
As I understand it, this adapter outputs burst data as it is read from the drive and was designed to work in sync with the Tivo for that purpose only rather than operate as a standard network device. I have not tested it, so I can't confirm or deny that claim, but it's a potential solution for some users.
Other TV formats
On the video side, Toast 8 also delivers support for the other two TV formats a Mac user will most likely encounter besides Tivo. Toast 8 recognizes the multiplexed format that ElGato's EyeTV uses and can import directly without re-encoding. Plus, it can mount DVD-VR discs directly to the desktop. DVD-VR is the format that DVD set-top boxes record. Support for these two formats, plus Tivo, is what Adam Fingerman, director of product management at Roxio, calls the TV trifecta.
What else is new?
There is a lot that's new in Toast 8 that deserves to be mentioned. Roxio's goal with its updated software was to make it a one-stop app for anything to do with a DVD/CD, from labeling to cross-platform usage.
Immediately noticeable is a cleaned-up user interface. The tabs that once went across the front of the UI have all been consolidated. The media browser supports the usual movies, music and pictures, plus it has added file browsing, Tivo and a spotlight search for media.
There is an option for burning cross-platform photo discs of files from Apple's iPhoto software. Normally, the output of a CD from iPhoto is, well, less than user-friendly if the person is not using iPhoto. Toast 8 adds a feature that puts a cross-platform slide show application on the CD, allowing for easy viewing. Unlike an export of pictures to a photo DVD, images are not down-sampled, meaning the high quality of your original images remains.
Also included is an audio tool that incorporates the best of Jam, allowing the end user to create audio mixes with a much higher level of precision than is available in iTunes. Granted, this level of control has a high level of complexity, but it is certainly an option some users will want. There is also an assistant to walk you through capturing and digitizing your personal audio media from cassette and other formats.
Professional features
For the creative professional, there are a few nifty features and tools in Toast 8, including support for Blu-ray DVDs and cross-platform data-spanning backups. Blu-ray support is just that: support for all the blue-ray DVD burners being announced this week at MacWorld. The Blu-ray support in Toast is dynamic, meaning it will treat your disc just like a hard drive volume. With capacity of 50GB per disc, Blue Ray makes a great backup medium, among its other uses.
Cross-platform data-spanning is a very handy feature for creative professionals who create their media on Macs but may need to share it with PC-based clients. Prior to the availability of this option, files had to be compressed to fit on a single disc. Or if there was a series of discs, you had to package up a separate viewer and catalog for each disc -- a time-consuming process. The data span option in Toast automatically creates a catalog and viewer on each disc, so that no matter which disc from the series your client inserts, the entire catalog will be available, and it will prompt them for the correct disc. As I said, professional output houses will love this feature.
Summary
Overall, Toast 8 is a real winner. There are many new features that make the purchase or upgrade worthwhile. And since Toast 8 is the exclusive enabler of Tivo2Go for Mac users, that alone makes this package a must-have.