A recent FCC filing indicates that TiVo is readying an 802.11n accessory. The device, listed as the AN0100 Wireless 11n AP, appears to be a successor to the current AG0100 Wireless G USB network adapter the company sells for connecting its DVRs to a home network. The current model supports TiVoToGo, multi-room viewing, music, photos, and online scheduling.
Blockbuster on Tuesday launched its On Demand digital rental service over TiVo DVR boxes. The online rentals stream to users through TiVo's Series2, Series3, HD and HD XL DVRs and include a mix of both newer titles as well as older classics. The number of offerings will be expanded in the near future.
The US government has tentatively approved new accounting rules which could significantly impact the iPhone, and possibly the iPod touch, says Fortune. Under influence from corporations like Apple, TiVo and Xerox, the government has relented to pressure and made initial changes to regulations involving subscription accounting. Because Apple releases periodic software updates for the iPhone, the company has had to spread relevant revenue reporting across a two-year time period.
TiVo on Friday won $200 million in extra damages from satellite TV provider DISH and its sibling EchoStar. The award comes after TiVo successfully argued that DISH and EchoStar were in contempt of an injuction that prevented the two from selling DVRs that allegedly infringed on TiVo's patents for its Time Warp feature.
TiVo on Wednesday announced that it has filed lawsuit against Verizon and AT&T for allegedly infringing several patents. The fresh legal battle is similar to the company's fight against Dish Network and EchoStar, a case which lead to a $190 million ruling and an injunction to stop the companies from enabling the patented technology in set-top boxes already owned by customers.
The Digital Entertainment Group today trumpeted a surge in newer video formats for the first half of the year. Although spending as a whole between January and June dropped 3.9 percent versus the early part of 2008, the industry agency says the amount of money spent buying Blu-ray movies jumped 91 percent to $407 million. Direct-download movies also helped offset problems with DVDs and climbed 21 percent to $968 million.
Despite recently being awarded some $190 million in the long-standing legal battle against DISH Network and EchoStar over patents in DVRs, TiVo is seeking nearly $1 billion in contempt sanctions, according to a filing disclosed by TiVo with a US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. While EchoStar was ordered by the federal judge in Texas to disable the functions on the majority of its recorders in subscribers' hands, EchoStar instead claims it built a "design-around" that avoids the patents in question.
Electronics retail chain Best Buy and digital video recorder maker TiVo on Thursday announced a partnership that will see Best Buy carry a specially developed TiVo set-top box that will let Best Buy advertise its products and services to TiVo subscribers, among other benefits. What TiVo execs are calling the biggest marketing move in the DVR company's history, will see Best Buy committing to a multi-year deal to advertise, promote and carry the TiVo devices, though no financial details have been released.
The US Supreme Court today rejected an appeal by film studios and television networks of a New York court ruling that would allow a new type of digital video recorder service from Cablevision. A report says the justices refused to review a ruling made by a US Court of Appeals in New York that said Cablevision's proposed service would not directly infringe the copyrights of the media companies that produce the recorded movie and TV programs. No reason for the rejection was given.
Fresh from a win against EchoStar, TiVo is set to tie directly into pay-per-view systems as well as Time Warner's cable network, according to two sources. The DVR producer is said by Bloomberg to be talking with more than one pay-per-view provider to either allow its recording directly or else to license out the technology for third-party hardware or software. Details are vague, but it would be separate from online-only support for Amazon VOD, Netflix and other services.
A federal judge in Texas has awarded TiVo approximately $190 million in damages in the continuing legal battle with DISH Network and EchoStar, according to Reuters. The conflict involves infringement of patents for technology used in the company's DVR set-top boxes. The judge previously ordered an injunction to prevent the accused companies from using the patented technology in their devices, although TiVo claims the products continue to replicate its Time Warp features.
An expected replacement for DirecTV TiVo DVRs that would allow them to record HD programming has been delayed yet again, as revealed by TiVo's CEO Tom Rogers in the company's recent quarterly earnings call. Instead of sometime in 2009, the new expected date for the upgraded products is early in 2010. No specific reason was given for the delay, though it is likely tied to TiVo's loss of $4.1 million during the past quarter.
Researchers NPD Group today said that 88% of the money consumers spend on home entertainment goes towards purchasing and renting movies on DVD and Blu-ray discs. Of the $25 each US consumer spends on average in a given month, 63 percent was found to be spent on DVD purchases, 7 percent on Blu-ray discs, and 18% went towards renting DVD and Blu-ray movies. The remaining 12 percent was split between video on-demand (VOD) services (9 percent) and digital downloads and online streaming (3 percent).
Alleged screenshots from an online TiVo survey appear to contain questions involving potential names and features for new hardware, according to Engadget. The tested names include TiVo eVO, TiVo OmniBox, TiVo Series4 and TiVo OnDemand. Most of the services on the survey are already available, except for on-demand video.
If accurate, a rumor floated today will see Best Buy leap into its own online movie store. Entertainment magazine Variety claims to have heard from movie studio executives that the retailer is talking to CinemaNow and "other online movie services" to establish a link between itself and one of these services. While what's involved is uncertain, Best Buy is likely to arrange for a cut of the revenues for each movie viewed and may promote hardware with that movie service's features built-in.
Digeo on Thursday rolled out an update to its Moxi HD DVR that significantly expands its role as a media hub. The new version adds DLNA support to stream music, photos and videos from nearby PCs and other devices on the local network, such as PlayStation 3s. It also takes advantage of new paid software from PlayOn that will push web video from Hulu, Netflix and other sites from a PC to the Moxi without needing to visit the web.
Blockbuster yesterday submitted a US Securities and Exchange Commission filing that reveals the company doesn't believe it can continue business. The video store is no longer certain that it can remain a "going concern" and may have to stop operations and close its doors if its financial situation doesn't improve in the near future. The warning comes in spite of a $250 million refinancing loan having been put in place just last week; Blockbuster now says there is "no assurance" that it can meet the requirements of the transaction before it's completed on May 11th.
Rent-by-mail and online video rental company Netflix on Monday notified its subscribers that it would raise prices by nearly 20 percent for its Blu-ray library. Prices for standard-definition offerings on DVD will remain the same, with the new prices coming into effect on or after April 27th. Subscribers who do not wish to get their fees hiked need to disable the Blu-ray preference on their online accounts, Netflix says.
Blockbuster today said it would start delivering movies and TV shows over TiVo's DVRs. The tie-in will give users about 10,000 combined movies and TV shows that can be purchased or rented from any Series 2, Series 3 or HD series device. The company is offering movie rentals for between $2 and $4 and permanent movie purchases between $15 and $20. As part of the deal, Blockbuster says it will also start selling TiVo units in its retail stores.
According to several unnamed and unofficial sources, Amazon will soon add HD content via their Video On Demand store, though it seems that this will be offered on TiVo set-top boxes only. The unofficial sources also say the progressive downloads include surround sound information for a Blu-ray HD movie-like viewing experience. Last week, Amazon began offering its VOD library via the Roku Player, though no HD content is available. Mention of HD Amazon videos on TiVo has been kicking around since last year, when unused shortcuts to HD content in the TiVo menu were discovered.
Netflix on Thursday passed a symbolic milestone and said it obtained its 10 millionth subscriber overnight. The number was achieved after adding about 600,000 new users in the month and a half since the start of 2009 and is growing faster than already seen in the large fall leap, when the movie rental firm added about 718,000 new regular users over the space of the last three months of 2008. The company expects to add between 100,000 and 300,000 more by the end of March.
Sonic Solutions' Roxio has updated its stalwart Toast Titanium and Titanium Pro disc burning and media conversion software, adding enhanced iPhone streaming, TIVo support, an audiobook creation tool and archiving support for AVCHD video. The Pro version comes bundled with a plug-in for Blu-ray support, SmartSound Sonicfire Pro, BIAS SoundSoap, LightZone and FotoMagico. Both versions of Toast are available now.
TiVo today implemented the potentially controversial step of introducing ads to its Pause Menu interface. The move lets advertisers buy text spots that will appear whenever the user either pauses a live or timeshifted show. The ads can appear either cued to a particular show or can be automatically flagged for when certain keywords appear or even for entire genres. Fox and Mercedes-Benz are among the early companies planning to advertise.
TiVo on Monday said that its recently promised Netflix for TiVo should now be active. The service lets owners of Series 3, TiVo HD and TiVo HD XL DVRs that also maintain active Netflix subscriptions stream movies and TV shows from their Instant Queues. Titles can play in HD whenever the content is available, and the TiVo's own remote can be used both for navigating the movie as well as rating movies or checking descriptions before starting.
TiVo has quickly silenced claims of HD Amazon videos coming to its DVRs by issuing a response to SlashGear. The electronics company claims that the appearance of a menu for HD content from Video on Demand was simply an example of "testing" interface options and wasn't an indication of any near-term plans. The link should already have been pulled, a spokesperson says, though the company doesn't explicitly deny any plans.
TiVo and web firm Mobui today rolled out TiVo Mobile. The web app gives the iPhone, iPod touch and other mobile devices with full web browsers the ability to remotely schedule one of TiVo's Series 2 or 3 DVRs and to find shows using most of the criteria the set-top boxes themselves use, including content and keywords from shows as well as daily highlights and popular shows.
Late-night snackers now have another option of ordering pizza in addition to the phone and Internet, as TiVo has teamed up with Domino's Pizza to offer them the option of ordering using their TV sets. Via their Series 2, 3 or HD broadband-connected TiVo DVR boxes, subscribers to the service can order from Domino's menu, opting for delivery or pick-up options. The interface will also allow users to track when they can expect their order to arrive.
Confirming earlier rumors, Blockbuster has announced plans to build a set-top box that will stream digital movies to TVs. The company's CEO, Jim Keyes, further notes that the the device will be associated with its Movielink rental and purchase service, but has not provided details on costs, capabilities or hardware specifications. A release is expected sometime during the holiday season; also in development is support for Blockbuster streaming through Intel chips inside IPTV hardware.
Holiday prices for older Blu-ray players may fall in the $150-200 range over the holiday season, representing a price drop in spite of the industry's forecasts and expectations, according to ABI Research. The analyst group believes Blu-ray manufacturers need to drop their prices in order to fend off competitive pressure from high-definition movie download services and the need for strong sales during the holiday season after the recent market troubles.
Roxio has updated Toast 9.0.4, fixing sync issues, errors and TiVo problems. The CD/DVD/Blu-ray burning software has resolved multiple audio and video sync issues with MPEG video files, and fixed video-related -39 errors, along with compatibility repairs. It features better detection of AVCHD volumes, and repairs an issue with cutting TiVo recordings. The Streamer component has also been upgraded to 1.0.4, resolving an issue where video lists would not update correctly.
TiVo today revealed the surprise addition of Netflix for TiVo (link active soon), its own adaptation of Netflix's Watch Instantly feature. The update will give TiVo's DVRs access to streaming versions of the roughly 12,000 movies available online and will include both the standard-definition versions as well as the recently unveiled HD versions of some titles that will first be available on the Xbox 360. Like earlier implementations, users must manage their online movie queues from a web browser but can play movies or TV shows in any order from TiVo units.
TiVo announced on Thursday it will add to its current on-demand video library with the addition of a Disney and Jaman VOD services. Jaman offers a selection of international independent movies and foreign films and serials and launched on Thursday, while Disney film rentals will come via CinemaNow and begin next week. Either is at least thus far being offered in standard definition only with MPEG-2 encoding. The new content is accessible through Series2 and Series3/HD DVR hardware.
EchoStar and DISH today were told by the US Supreme Court to pay TiVo $104 million for allegedly infringing on some of the DVR maker's patents. The decision comes following an unsuccessful appeal of an original 2006 decision by EchoStar and DISH and will potentially increase further if additional patent lawsuits and claims of contempt are decided in TiVo's favor. The set-top box producer last month accused DISH and EchoStar of violating a stop placed on their own DVRs by continuing to sell satellite TV DVRs with software TiVo says copies its features.
Nero today introduced a new hardware and software combo that aims to bring full DVR features to those who don't have or prefer to avoid built-in tools such as Windows Media Center. LiquidTV includes TiVo's familiar remote, a USB digital TV tuner, and a customized version of the interface from TiVo's video recorders, all of which effectively mimic the features of the dedicated set-top box. Owners can auto-record suggested TV shows, subscribe to season passes and manually specify show recording from the programming guide.
Sling this morning began shipping its long-promised Slingbox Pro-HD, the company's first true HD streaming device. The device carries its own ATSC and ClearQAM hybrid tuner and will pick up either 720p or 1080i TV from cable, satellite and over-the-air broadcasts that can be shared either at home or online; on the local network, computers can watch and control the TV feed at its native resolution. Dual component video connections also help the Slingbox receive HD without disrupting other devices that might need the signal.
Research in Motion and TiVo today announced a plan to add control hooks for TiVo's DVRs into the BlackBerry line. A new software add-on will let the smartphones both view a programming guide from the device as well as schedule the TiVo box to record shows away from home, similar to TiVo's existing web feature. Neither company provides more specifics but explains that the necessary software should be available by the end of the year.
Some unexpected factors could play into tomorrow's scheduled iPod event, argues Piper Jaffray. The research firm suggests for instance that it is unclear if Apple CEO Steve Jobs will be presenting, even though he usually does so; such speculation is based on ongoing rumors of ill health, originally sparked by a gaunt appearance at June's WWDC meeting. Piper says it is "confident" that Jobs will appear, however, in a move that could reassure nervous investors.
TiVo for its efforts at the CEDIA expo rolled out the TiVo HD XL, a deluxe version of its once-basic HD digital video recorder. The set-top box earns its title through the switch to a full 1TB hard drive that TiVo estimates should provide about 150 hours of HD-level recordings, letting it finally replace most standard-definition DVRs. It also includes the higher-end remote of the now discontinued Series 3 recorder and is THX-approved for its picture and audio quality.
Amazon tonight launched the finished version of Amazon Video on Demand, the streaming version of its online video service. The official launch moves beyond the beta stage and lets any Mac or Windows PC purchase, rent and watch movies and TV shows directly from the browser, bypassing the Windows-only nature of the company's Unbox software. It also delivers a beta version of a promised link to Sony's BRAVIA TVs equipped with the Internet Video Link add-on and gives the TVs the same purchasing and renting privileges as a computer.
Satellite TV provider DirecTV and TiVo today extended their cooperation with each other and said they would work together to build a version of TiVo's digital video recorder that can properly capture HDTV from DirecTV's current network. The two provide few details but explain that the set-top box should support features specific to either company, such as TiVo's Swivel Search that can suggest shows based on the presence of certain actors or other metadata from a TV show.
DVR maker and service provider TiVo announced on Wednesday it will partner up with Entertainment Weekly to provide viewers with content that is always available. Under the new agreement, Entertainment Weekly’s What to Watch recommendations will be automatically recorded on TiVo’s Internet-connected digital set-top boxes. Users will also be able to download Entertainment Weekly video content via TiVo, including Just a Minute, Ausiello TV and Idolatry, in addition to behind-the-scenes video from photo shoots.
A Second Circuit of New York appeals court today ruled that Cablevision could go ahead with launching a remote digital video recorder system that potentially changes the approach to offering movie and TV content online. The decision finds that the cable provider isn't infringing on video producers' copyrights by offering a service known as Remote Storage Digital Video Recorder, or RS-DVR, that would let users record shows but store them off-site on servers hosted by Cablevision.
TiVo on Wednesday quietly withdrew its Series 3 flagship digital video recorder from its online store, removing its normal entry for the device and listing the DVR as "out of stock" on its separate product page. The shift leaves the lower-end TiVo HD as the only recorder capable of saving HD video and leaves the analog-resolution Series 2 as the only alternative.
TiVo on Tuesday announced it has teamed up with Amazon to offer buyers the opportunity to buy items associated with the shows they're watching via their TiVo remote. The new Product Purchase feature gives television advertisers to promote products sold on Amazon.com via in-show pop-ups that are related to mainstream TV shows. The feature would not only allow the possibility of viewers purchasing products featured on shows, such as a new album or book of a guest on a talk show such as Oprah.
TiVo on Thursday announced that its Series3 and TiVo HD DVRs will soon support YouTube content, allowing users to browse and view videos on the Google-owned service. In the future, TiVo hopes to introduce a login interface, which would let users access their YouTube accounts, videos, channels, and playlists. Tivo expects to have the update delivered over "the next few weeks" for the aforementioned players.
Warner Bros. Television is expanding its internet distribution, announcing new deals with TiVo, Joost, Sling Media, Daily Motion and Veoh Networks for a “number of advertiser-supported branded channels.” The deal includes TheWB.com ad KidsWB.com, which were announced in April. The move gives Warner more platforms to broaden its reach in the increasingly crowded television marketplace -- and more opportunities to catch the elusive 16-34 year-old advertising demographic.
TiVo is prepping a digital video recorder that would serve as a hub for an entire house, company chief Tom Rogers confirms at the D6 Conference. He notes that current TiVos are essentially limited and can't record or offer content to more than one TV set in the home; the Wi-Fi adapter that lets the TiVo work remotely is only a part solution to the problem, Rogers says. Instead, TiVo is working to produce a version of its self-titled hubs that could give "whole-home" access, though the executive doesn't provide more details.
DVR provider TiVo on Wednesday announced it will offer videos on demand from the Walt Disney Studios library, with some of the content made available in high-definition. The service will be available for all subscribers with Internet-ready Series2 and Series3 terminals via CinemaNow. TiVo made it clear movies in standard definition will be available for a 24-hour period, although how many HD movies will be available and if the timeframe for watching them will differ from the SD offerings was not specified.
The subscription-based TiVo service has quietly brought back its Lifetime Service subscription plan on a permanent basis, extending what was originally a temporary deal. When it originally launched, the service offered similar lifetime subscriptions that were ultimately phased out in July 2003. The lifetime service is receiver-specific, though it is possible to transfer it from an older receiver to another one for a fee of nearly $200 that also maintains a one-year subscription to the TV recording service for the older device.
In response to the ruling against the Dish Network, the company writes that it is disappointed with the court's rejection for an appeal, but that it will not affect current or future customers. According to the note, EchoStar has already developed and deployed a new version of the DVR software to customers as an automatic download. Dish claims the new software does not infringe on patents held by Tivo Inc.
