Yahoo and TiVo announced a deal today that will connect Yahoo’s vast online service to TiVo’s set-top boxes, which, in addition to recording television programs, have a largely unused capability to connect to the Internet.

The first fruits of this arrangement are relatively modest: this month, TiVo users will be able to use Yahoo’s television listings to find programs and, by checking the appropriate boxes, send instructions to their TiVos to record those shows.

In coming months, TiVo users will be able to view on their televisions pictures that have been stored on the Yahoo Photos site, as well as local weather and traffic information from Yahoo.

Notably absent from the deal is a way for TiVo users to watch video via Yahoo.

As Yahoo and most other major media and Internet companies rapidly develop video programming, users may want to watch some of it on big screens in their living rooms, rather than on PC monitors.

Source: New York Times