If you had any doubts that Best Buy will be launching an Insignia-branded, TiVo-powered HDTV any day now… well, I can pretty much put them to rest. Since my previous speculative coverage, a treasure trove of product packaging photos have come my way – providing a decent amount of detail:
The only TV that combines the power of the Internet with the legendary TiVo user interface, all in stunning HD. You’ll find entertainment from both broadcast TV and the Internet with just a few clicks of your remote. Now get what you want when you want it.
Award-winning TiVo experience: Easily access all your favorite TV shows, movies and more with the easy-to-use TiVo user interface.
Broadband connected: Delivers a plethora of new entertainment choices, including TV, Movies, Music and Games.
Intelligent Search: Search by title, actor, director, keyboard and more…
Access to the best entertainment: Enjoy movies from Netflix, CinemaNow and Insignia On Demand, music from Pandora, and much, much more.
As expected, the 1080p HDTV features “TiVo Design” but “No DVR Included”. However, there’s also no monthly fee. Basically, what we have here is a connected television (via dual band 802.11n or Ethernet). And it looks as if TiVo’s app platform is about to expand with a few newcomers such as Twitter, Facebook, and Chumby offerings joining Pandora and Netflix. Based on the descriptions, I assume the LED LCD provides over-the-air ATSC tuning… but no digital cable CableCARD capabilities. There’s also no mention of TiVo Premiere-to-HDTV streaming. But that may be too technical for box marketing and the feature hasn’t been officially announced. So I’m still holding out hope. Lastly, the backlit universal remote looks a bit like a TiVo peanut and Samsung controller got together…
As far as timing and pricing, I’ve seen nothing to contradict materials declaring 7/31 as the big day and I’m told Best Buy’s Insignia HDTV TiVo will ship in two models — a 32″ running $599 and a 42″ version pegged at $999.