Spotify is now available on Virgin Media’s Tivo for Spotify Premium subscribers. I was expecting to be able to search the Spotify library just like with the desktop application but all you can do is play from your playlists or the “What’s New” section. I was initially disappointed with this but I think I can get over it. Hopefully we’ll be able to search the library in a later release.
My free 30 day trial of Spotify Premium runs out on Friday and I’m seriously tempted to keep pay the subscription fees of £10/month. I would use the BlackBerry app a lot, especially when walking to and from work so I would certainly make use of the subscription.
Last week Virgin Media released version 15.2 of the Tivo firmware which had some major improvements, including the functionality needed to run the Spotify app. One of the fixes included was that pressing Stop button on the remote now stops the playback of a recording! Previously the recording would continue to play in the mini screen on the top right of the TV. I know, it’s hard to believe that a bug like that could get passed testing.
A big new feature is that Network Remote Control is now enabled. This means that desktop and mobile apps can now control the Tivo box from simulating remote control button presses to recording programmes and manipulating series links (season passes in US Tivo speak) without changing what is displayed on screen. Tivo Commander can be used on Android devices and Peanut on iOS devices (iPhones, iPod Touch and iPad). Unfortunately there isn’t one for BlackBerry, or at least I can’t find one 
