David Pogue of the New York Times is throwing some love TiVo's way, with a writeup of some of the new features TiVo has added over the last year or two. With what seems like a new feature added every month, it's easy to forget exactly how many things a Series2 or Series3 TiVo can do that a generic cable company PVR can't.

• Share movies you've uploaded with family and friends over their broadband-connected TiVos.
• Schedule recordings through you Verizon cellphone.
• Watch selected web programs via TiVoCast.
• Rent or buy movies from Amazon Unbox.
• Get local weather and traffic.
• Get local movie listings.
• Listen to internet radio stations or download podcasts.
• Automatically record recommended programs from expert-picked Guru Guides.
• Stream music and photos from your PC to your TV.

There's nothing particularly new in Pogue's writeup. But looking at that list, it's hard to see why anyone would stick with a cable company PVR when they can pick up a Series2 TiVo for next to nothing after rebate. If you want high definition on the other hand, the Series3 box's $800 price tag makes this list a little less attractive.

So TiVo goes and releases it's 8.1 software for Series3 hi-def boxes, and everything's just peachy, right? Now Series3 owners can do almost everything with their expensive TiVo units as Series2 owners can do with the boxes that TiVo had been pretty much giving away for free.

KidZone? Check. WPA support? Check. TiVoCast? Check. TiVoToGo? Umm... still waiting on that one. But let's back up for a second here. TiVoCast is pretty cool, right? Now you can watch your web video in high definition right?

Broadband video content has become plentiful and of a much better quality lately, but there's still the minor issue as to just how willing a person is to sit in front of their computer to watch video content for any extended period of time. Tivo is hoping to change that with TivoCast, which launched yesterday. The service is meant to being broadband video to the television sets of those using the Tivo Series2 with a broadband connection. Content will come from such places as the WNBA, the NBA, Heavy.com, iVillage, and CNET. These can be found in the "Showcases" section of the main menu. Other content providers will include H20; the Here! gay and lesbian network; HipHop on Demand; and Rocketboom, which is already available through Tivo.