TiVo put together demo of its brand new TiVo Search to get everyone better acquainted with the new interface. First off, the redesigned graphics are a great improvement over the original non-HD TiVo menus. In fact, jumping out of the new TiVo Search back to the older system is jarring.

Feedback welcome

Keep in mind that this new feature is in beta and TiVo is looking for feedback. Strangely, you cannot rate the new TiVo Search on the actual TiVo device using the Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down feature. When I mentioned that to the Director of Product Marketing for Core DVR, Bob Poniatowski, he appeared a bit intrigued and said, “That would be a good idea.” So if you see that feature in an updated beta, you know where it came from. Additionally, there is no timetable as to how long this product will be in beta, but don’t expect this to be one of those endless Google betas.

Normally, you could search for shows on a TiVo, but it was far from elegant. Today, January 7, 2009, TiVo announced its upgraded TiVo Search that should allow for users to still get search results, but also discover content.

Content suggestions are pulled from television listings and also from the Internet. You might find a clip from YouTube that is related to a television show that you watch. With thousands of programs on television, it’s hard finding new things to watch. A “discovery engine” is a great idea to find fresh shows.