The next iteration was released in 2004 and called EyeTV 200. A 2002 article in Macworld said it was the 'first step' in bridging computers and television, but at this point still had 'some kinks'. It also had coaxial and RCA plugs to connect it with a VCR or camcorder. It was a small USB-powered device that contained a cable tuner and hardware encoder in order to convert television video into an MPEG-1 format for watching on a computer. The first EyeTV hardware device was introduced in November 2002. It's a universal binary, but Elgato recommends use with OS X Leopard 10.5.5 and later.The first EyeTV model, introduced in 2002.

EyeTV ships with many OS X-compatible tuners. You can read the entire 3.0.4 update specs over at the Elgato web site. This means you won't lose any channels you've already added even if they're not active at the time of day you're scanning. The editor, which allows you to crop out commercials before you convert a show into iPod- or iPhone-ready format, has been refreshed, and the auto-scan feature now lets you update your channels rather than having to start a full scan. The new version of EyeTV also has a couple of neat new features. I'm looking forward to improved reliability. Given that the software just made its debut, I haven't had a chance to thoroughly test and vet the upgrade. I ended up watching it the next day on Hulu. About halfway through the show, I realized it was still stuck at '0 seconds of 1 hour.' I had to force-quit and restart the recording, losing about half the show and nearly all of the plot. For example, this Monday, EyeTV failed to record Heroes. The new update promises improved stability and performance, eliminates a numbers of crash situations, and, best of all, fixes the bug where the 'Record All Matches' for smart playlists doesn't always record the requested shows. And yet, I rely on EyeTV to capture my grown-up shows, and I don't want to live without it. (I have long since relegated the TiVo to my children's TV-watching tastes.) But it's never quite as trustworthy as TiVo. On one hand, EyeTV gives me the on-Macintosh television access I crave. I have a love/hate/love relationship with my EyeTV software and hardware. EyeTV, which works with many brands of tuners, lets you watch and schedule TV recordings under Mac OS X. Today, Elgato released its 3.0.4 EyeTV upgrade.

Eyetv 3.0