As it hinted at in an exclusive interview with xchange magazine earlier this year, digital video recorder (DVR) pioneer TiVo Inc. (TIVO) has created software that gives brings DVR functionality – record, fast forward, pause and rewind – to the PC.
TiVo announced the innovative breakthrough with partner Nero AG, creators of liquid media technology. The duo introduced the Nero Liquid TV/TiVo PC. The launch marks the latest milestone in the evolution of TiVo beyond the DVR box.
With Nero LiquidTV/TiVo PC, consumers can also transfer shows among computers throughout the home, or enjoy their favorite shows on-the-go by exporting them to iPod, PlayStation Portable, or burning them to DVD, according to the duo. Other TiVo DVR features such as WishList searches, Season Pass recordings, TiVo KidZone, and TiVo Suggestions can be used on the PC.
The innovative offering launch comes at a time when excitement among service providers, including cablecos and telcos, is building in the wake of a court ruling that could open the floodgates for network-based DVR services. Long anticipated, these remote access content offerings had been blocked by movies studios’ court efforts.
The DVR has also become a mainstay, and a platform for additional viewing features, in many dwellings. This has resulted in telco TV providers Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and AT&T Inc. (T) adding multiroom DVR features to their FiOS and U-verse services, respectively. Both have also enabled consumers to remotely control DVRs in their homes via the web and/or mobile devices.
But what of Internet video and sharing video among devices?
“In recent years the amount of digital entertainment content available to average consumers has exploded,” said Bruce McGregor, senior analyst, Digital Home Services for Current Analysis. “Consumers have increasingly conformed to using mobile devices and the PC as sources of video entertainment; as a result they are looking for ways to port their favorite television content onto multiple mobile formats. There is an emerging opportunity for a PC-based DVR service that offers easy access to television content on a wide variety of devices.”
Nero LiquidTV/TiVo PC doesn’t require technical expertise to install the software on any PC with the Windows XP or Windows Vista operating system, according to the duo. The full retail package comes with a TiVo PC remote; a TV tuner card to allow television signals to be received by the PC; and an IR Blaster to create a wireless, infrared connection between the cable or satellite box and the PC. It also comes with a one-year subscription to the TiVo service, which automatically finds and digitally records a user's favorite shows.
“Nero has done a superb job of bringing the TiVo experience to the PC, and has done so in a way that lives up to the rich TiVo legacy,” said Tom Rogers, CEO and president, TiVo, in prepared comments. “To be able to extend the features of TiVo to a new platform without compromising the integrity of what has made TiVo such a revolutionary product is a significant achievement, one we know both new and old fans of TiVo will love.”
Nero LiquidTV/TiVo PC with one year of TiVo service will be available in the U.S., Canada and Mexico this month with a suggested retail price of $199 for a retail box or $99 for a downloadable software-only version. TiVo service subscription renewal is on an annual basis at $99 a year. The retail box, containing a tuner card, TiVo remote control and IR blaster, will be available at participating retailers in the U.S. and Canada. The software-only version will be available for download to the U.S. Canada and Mexico online at www.nero.com.
