As The Cable Show kicks off today, TiVo is out with a few whole home-esque product updates.
First, the upcoming transcoding box and functionality that I had christened TiVoToGo 2.0, has received a possibly less compelling name in the “Stream.” This small square device (shown below) sits on one’s home network to access both live and recorded content via TiVo Premiere DVR hardware and beams it around the home to “second screen” devices such as the iPhone and iPad. Both streaming, for in-home viewing, and file downloads, for on-the-go access, are provided. Although, it’s probably safe to assume not all content will be cleared for offloading.
Next up, the TiVo IP set-top box, first announced in February, remains unnamed as their ungainly “IP STB.” This upcoming device, pictured above from the show floor, acts as an extender for TiVo Premiere hardware to other televisions – providing access to both live and recorded programming, in addition to web content, via the familiar TiVo interface. It’s quite similar to, and will coexist with, the TiVo Preview — but by dropping the integrated CableCARD tuner, it becomes a much more economical and compact solution.
Both the TiVo Stream and IP-STB will be available to TiVo’s cable partners and retail customers in the “coming months.” On the cable side, the Stream looks to be a highly compelling “TV Everywhere” offering that a smaller provider like RCN could implement without investing resources to roll their own (head-end solution and associated licensing). On the retail front, I’m looking forward to finally building out a true TiVo whole home environment and intend to acquire both devices… although TiVo’s availability forecast has shifted from summer to fall.
In other TiVo news from The Cable Show, Multichannel reports on the initial fruits of the TiVo Pace partnership, designed to offer both foreign and domestic cable operators more of a turn-key TiVo implementation:
TiVo and Pace are providing details of their first jointly developed product, the Pace XG1, a hybrid QAM/IP video gateway featuring TiVo’s user interface to be available to operators in the Americas later this year. The Pace XG1 includes six tuners, an integrated DOCSIS 3.0 modem, and at least 500 Gigabytes of on-board storage. It will use TiVo’s whole-home capabilities, such as multiroom streaming and support for both traditional set-top boxes and the potential for IP client devices, as well as support for TiVo’s mobile and tablet applications.