After all the pre-announcements, speculation, and leaks, TiVo’s finally official in Australia. The DVB-T (over-the-air) TiVo will be available July 29th for $699 (AUD):
Under a mutually exclusive agreement, Seven has created the digital platform to enable TiVo’s digital video recorder and service, including the award-winning TiVo user interface. All free-to-air television networks’ digital channels in Australia will be available on TiVo® DVRs. TiVo DVRs will be sold through the Harvey Norman owned complexes
I can’t say I know much, or anything, about the Australian economy and their consumer electronics habits but at the equivalent of $664 US dollars, I don’t see Seven and TiVo gaining much traction down under – even by forgoing the monthly service fee. I’d expect steep price cuts before the holidays…
To buy or not to buy?
Over at http://www.incompletegamer.com we have posted a couple of articles discussing the merits of the new Aussie Tivo. If you’re wondering whether you should you join the ranks of the early adopters and take up your place in the front the Tivo lovers queue at your local HN Superstore, then drop in and have a look.
Hi Dave
Remember me? You let me test your Cable TV box in the US with my Slingbox and my S1 TiVo in Australia a year or two back?
Well, I’m still around, and still a TiVo nut! :)
Actually, the pricing isn’t all that bad, roughly comparable with a TiVoHD at RRP, and a lifetime subscription. I expect it to do okay really, I’ll be buying one for sure.
Cheers
Ron
Oh, I’m sure there’ll be customers. What I wonder is if it’ll be enough to sustain this price point…
Yes, I do remember you Ron – and even if I hadn’t, ZNF does a nice job supplementing my memory. :) Is this going to kill your business, or have you already moved on?
The price isn’t so bad, relatively. Electronics generally cost more in Australia on a an adjusted basis, if anything it is probably a better buy for Australians than a TiVo HD with lifetime is in the US. At that price point it is less expensive than both major FTA DVRs currently in the Australian market – Topfield and Beyonwiz – and the TiVo has more features. Plus the TiVo has no ongoing fees, while those units use the AUD$99/year IceTV guide service.
And the other major competitor is Foxtel’s iQ2, which is AUD$200 – then AUD$10-15 a month *on top of* the required Foxtel subscription fees.
For the market TiVo is one of the least expensive options while having the most features. It should do OK.
Though I still wouldn’t be surprised to see price cuts later in the year. Right now there is pent-up demand, plus the Olympics will provide a huge marketing opportunity for Seven. So they’re going to look to cash in on that demand and marketing surge at first, and once that’s milked we’ll probably see price cuts. Just like TiVo did with the Series3 with the $800 launch pricing.
Hi Dave
Oh, looking at the original Slingbox story jogged my memory That was before I actually bought the Slingbox, it was just a feasibility test using the Slingbox at your end and SlingPlayer on my PC. As a result I did buy a Slingbox of my own, but could never work out a suitable deal with anybody in the US for a reciprocal arrangement, and so I eventually sold the Slingbox, having no other real use for it. Nice piece of gear though.
The Samsung RPTV in the pics is gone too, it died and was replaced by a 50″ Hitachi 1080 Plasma. The DVD recorder’s gone too, replaced by a PS3. And soon a TiVoHD will have to be fitted in somewhere. I’ll probably ditch one of the S1 TiVos to another room, and keep the other 2 for recording Foxtel. I’m not sure if you have heard, but in AU TiVos are for FTA TV only, no PayTV capability at all. There is zero collaboration between FTA and Pay folks here, they hate each other. The main (vitually only) PayTV provider, Foxtel, offers their own PVR box, called the IQ2, but it’s rubbish compared with TiVo, I refuse to pay extra for it.
Well, the TiVo selling business stopped at least 18 months ago, probably just as well, as I’m sure the release of the “real” TiVo here would have sealed its doom anyway. I couldn’t get any more S1 TiVos on a regular, reliable basis and I was getting bored with it anyway.
Email me anytime if you want a “TiVo in AU” update!
Cheers, and great to chat again!
Ron
MZ, you know the relative value and compaitive costs. Educating a nation new to TiVo could be a challenge.
Ron, I’m off on vacation. But when I return, let’s chat. Maybe we can work something out!
I owned a S1 tivo in the USA, with 400+ directTV channels you needed tivo to sort the signal from the noise.
But with only 5 FTA channels, no cable card, no video input/IR controller to consume cable/satellite content AND a market that has accepted monthly bandwidth caps lower than most SD movies … I’m afraid theres no compelling need for this product.
MyStar and IQ2 are set top boxes for local cable/satellite feeds that also have PVR functionality.
The peanut is good but it’s not THAT good.
differents bewteen a tivo and a pvr with built in recorder?