Although TiVo ultimately intends to move beyond Android TV in the consumer space, they’re currently in the thick of things… and continue to iterate, despite staff departures. And a curious pair of TiVo “Brook” remote controls (shown above) has just passed through the FCC.
The original TiVo Stream 4K voice remote (shown below) goes by “Creek” and these new “Brook” remote counterparts could represent an expansion of the TiVo Stream family. The Brook pair consists of a basic model, probably offering identical functionality to the existing Stream remote, and a higher end unit which brings a remote finder, IR learning capabilities, and backlit keypad with associated ambient light sensor and accelerometer.
The lower-end Brook, manufactured by Remote Solutions, likely costs TiVo less money to produce than the UEI Creek. If TiVo continues to follow the Roku playbook, I could envision this remote paired with a new TiVo Stream HD dongle as a means of lowering the price of entry. However, I could also see them simply swapping the existing remote on the consumer side to contain costs, given the the current, favorable TiVo Stream 4K pricing. The higher-end remote could end up bundled with the 4K Stick and/or sold separately as something like “Pro” offering. It’s also possible one, the other, or both Brook remotes could merely be destined for TiVo cable and broadband partners — either Stream hardware or their Android IPTV solution.