Unfortunately, realtime playback & capture is the only way at the moment to get video off the 522. I doubt we'll see any other means. There is a slight chance they will give a software upgrade to enable the USB port, but solely for connection to the Dish Pod.
Maybe if they do activate the usb port for the DVR portable then someone will be able to make a device enabling it to intercept the signal to go to a hard drive or PSP or something else.