In a rather low-key surprise announcement today, U.S. Satellite provider DirecTV will be working with Tivo to address customer issues and provide new enhancements with the DirecTV Series 2 Tivo DVRs. DirecTV previously had told Tivo to take a hike while it marketed its own DVR platform, but customer complaints have been mounting due to problems with DirecTV’s branded DVRs, and customers are refusing to part with their old Series 2 Tivo boxes as a result.

Tivo will develop new enhancements and fixes for DirecTV customers with Series 2 Tivo units. Some of these new enhancements are said to include support for a recently deleted folder with overlap protection and support for DirecTV’s Remote Booking feature. The new software is expected to arrive sometime in early 2008.

In addition, DirecTV says that they will “continue to explore ways to bring future enhancements to DirecTV customers with Tivo receivers.” I am a DirecTV subscriber and from my perspective I would really like to see the introduction of a new DirecTV HD Tivo with support for the new MPEG 4 satellites. It would also be nice if this new receiver would incorporate all of the new features found in Tivo’s HD CableCard Series 3 Tivo! DirecTV made a mistake when it abandoned Tivo and developed its own DVR platform.

The DirecTV DRVs do not hold a candle to Tivo in the ease of use and features department. At least now there is hope that DirecTV will see the light, and new Tivo units with DirecTV support will arrive at some point in the future. The two companies working together again is a great first step.