TiVo Archives - Page 44 of 149

Netflix Lands On Virgin Media TiVo (Other Updates, Too)

Netflix was just enabled on about 40,000 Virgin Media TiVo boxes housed in Peterborough, Crawley, Andover, Londonderry and Swindon (UK) as a pilot – with all 1.7 million deployed units expected to receive the app later this year. Beyond enhancing the experience for Virgin/TiVo customers, this deal is also notable as the first time Netflix has been offered via a pay television provider. And TiVo CEO Tom Rogers referred to the licensing complexity yesterday from a Merrill Lynch conference:

We enabled Netflix, as I said, through our retail device but because of the peculiarity of the over-the-top studio agreements, Netflix couldn’t be offered to a cable owned set-top box and still can’t be. I personally believe that’s going to be solved […] Virgin Media, because you have a different rights situation over there, Netflix could offer itself through a cable operator owned set-top box.

Related, RCN has stated publicly they’d like to bring Netflix to their US cable customers and were “eager to reopen the dialogue” back when Netflix’s STARZ agreement had expired… yet we haven’t heard anything more on the matter.

We have a love-hate relationship with the CableCARD. -Tom Rogers, TiVo CEO

TiVo Ramps Up Network PVR (With Entone)

Life beyond the lawsuit… we’re beginning to get a clearer picture of TiVo’s long term intentions and they appear quite focused on delivering advanced television software and services on whatever platform potential operator partners have in mind. And, with an emphasis on the European market, TiVo is promoting a new Network PVR solution and IPTV integration from IBC. Europe, via Virgin Media, already represents about 50% of installed TiVo units and may grow at a faster rate given new initiatives underway and this Continental lingo, including “PVR” and “catchup” TV. Beyond a greater willingness from overseas Tier 1 providers to play ball, TiVo also recognizes some cost savings with foreign deployments. From CEO Tom Rogers at their quarterly call:

With our international deployments, all of that infrastructure is hosted by the operator and, therefore, our direct cost of service tends to be significantly lower than it does here in the U.S.

We previously caught an ActiveVideo demo of a cloud-based TiVo experience running via Roku (!), yet it’s looks like this IBC iteration of the TiVo nPVR runs on a Harmonic back-end infrastructure, piped through through Entone Kamai 500 and Cubiware/Evolution Digital set-top boxes.

The most interesting tidbit from TiVo’s recent announcements are the potential social features (which may or may not make it to US retail Roamio customers):

TiVo Roamio Displays Arbitrary Web Pages, Plays Web Video

Beyond easy drive replacement, it’s come to light that the TiVo Roamio and updated Minis are capable of displaying arbitrary web pages and streaming H.264 video. I suppose it’s really no surprise given the Roamio’s Chomecast-esque DIAL capabilities and upcoming HTML5 Opera app platform. Fortunately, this new method of TiVo interface is unprotected and the infinitely useful kmttg has … Read more

TiVo Drops Below 1 Million Retail Subscribers

While TiVo is crushing it with cable partnerships and licensing deals, the retail DVR picture isn’t so rosy. And, for the first time since 2004, they’ve dropped below 1 million subscribers. Having received nearly universal praise, I imagine the company believes they’re posed to turn the tide with the newly released Roamio. Yet, TiVo indicated … Read more

TiVo Web Portal Nears Launch. RCN Up First?

Thanks to TiVo’s recent site refresh, a few interesting items have been surfaced, including an Operator-Branded Web Portal PDF. Of course, we’ve long known TiVo has been prepping this cable company “TV Everywhere” offering and even shot some video of it in action (embedded below) at the Cable Show. And given that particular development site appears to have been redirected to a RCN URL, we can’t help but wonder if launch is imminent. From TiVo’s pitch, the web portal offers:

What to Watch (recommended shows)
Search across TV, operator VOD and OTT content – and get integrated results on what you’re looking for
Schedule and manage recordings and ongoing
Season Pass recordings on your TiVo DVR even away from home
Grid Guide with up to 14 days of programming

Outdated CableCARDs Limit TiVo Roamio Tuning Capabilities

Considering a brand-spanking-new TiVo Roamio Plus or Pro DVR? You might want to hold off a few months. Cable providers who haven’t provided updated firmware for their CableCARDs essentially limit 6-tuner DVRs to 4 streams or pixelate video beyond recognition. Out of the box, beyond the obvious viewing issues, customers in this situation may also end up with a certain percent of unusable recordings and will be unable to fully flex their TiVo Mini whole-home muscles. Yet, for those who find themselves in this predicament, TiVo has provided a method to limit the number of tuners in use until the issue can be corrected. At the moment, the dysfunctional 4/6 CableCARDs appear limited to certain Comcast regions running Cisco/Scientific Atlanta gear with the MSO anticipating upgrade completion in October. Further, FiOS TV subscribers with pixelated content and Motorola cards numbered ######-002 should contact Verizon for replacement.

More detail from the support note quoted below and, if nothing else, this should provide good fodder for TiVo’s FCC CableCARD complaint.

Meet The TiVo Mini Me DTA

The Roamio isn’t TiVo’s only summer set-top launch, as Evolution Digital DTAs featuring the TiVo UI are now being made available to cable partners. This particular, diminutive DTA is HD-capable and the lower cost hardware can obviously be loaded up with TiVo — enabling operators to deliver a consistent experience to secondary televisions. Features of this … Read more